1983 Canadian Grand Prix

The XXII Grand Prix du Canada was the eighth meeting of the 1983 Formula One Season, hosted in Montreal at a circuit named for the Ferrari fighter whom lost his life over a year ago at Zolder.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Canadian_Grand_Prix In tribute to the Canadian hero, the Île Notre-Dame Circuit was renamed the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, with the words Salut Gilles painted across the start finish line. His brother, Jacques, would also enter the 1983 Canadian Grand Prix for RAM Automotive, although he could not replicate his fallen brother's pace and hence failed to qualify.http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr381.html
The race itself was won by Rene Arnoux for Ferrari, with team mate Patrick Tambay (using the number 27 which Villeneuve had made his own for the tifosi) taking third. Eddie Cheever split the two Ferraris for Renault, while Alain Prost extended his championship lead to three points by taking fifth.
==Background==
The circuit remained unchanged from a year before, with the death of Riccardo Paletti at the previous year's race seen as an unfortunate accident, rather than an inherent problem at the circuit.http://f1.wikia.com/wiki/1982_Canadian_Grand_Prix The entry list, on the otherhand, had a surprise in store, with RAM returning to the grid despite missing out on Detroit the week before. Although Eliseo Salazar had left, his seat had been filled (for one race only) by Jacques Villeneuve Sr., brother of Gilles and uncle and namesake of the future champion Jacques Jr. No other changes were made to the entry list before the race.
In the championship, Alain Prost held a slender one point lead over Nelson Piquet, having failed to score at all in Detroit. Patrick Tambay still held third, although he was also losing his advantage over his nearest competitor, with Keke Rosberg's second place in the US putting his tally one behind Tambay's, while John Watson, and his McLaren team, remained outside contenders for both championships in fifth. Because Ferrari and Renault had both failed to score in Detroit, Williams were now up to second, just four points behind the French outfit. Brabham had also closed in to the top, coming into Canada four behind the tifosi in fourth.
==Entry List==
The full entry list for the is shown below:
No.	Driver 	Entrant 	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Model 	Tyre
1 	Keke Rosberg 	TAG Williams Racing Team 	 	FW08C 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
2 	Jacques Laffite 	TAG Williams Racing Team 	 	FW08C 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
3 	Michele Alboreto 	Benetton Tyrrell Team 	 	011B 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
4 	Danny Sullivan 	Benetton Tyrrell Team 	 	011B 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
5 	Nelson Piquet 	Fila Sport 	 	BT52 	 	M12/13 L4t 1.5	
6 	Riccardo Patrese 	Fila Sport 	 	BT52 	 	M12/13 L4t 1.5	
7 	John Watson 	Marlboro McLaren International	 	MP4/1C 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
8 	Niki Lauda 	Marlboro McLaren International	 	MP4/1C 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
9 	Manfred Winkelhock 	Team ATS 	 	D6 	 	M12/13 L4t 1.5	
11 	Elio de Angelis 	John Player Team Lotus 	 	93T 	 	EF1 V6t 1.5 	
12 	Nigel Mansell 	John Player Team Lotus 	 	92 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
15 	Alain Prost 	Equipe Renault Elf 	 	RE40 	 	EF1 V6t 1.5 	
16 	Eddie Cheever 	Equipe Renault Elf 	 	RE40 	 	EF1 V6t 1.5 	
17 	Jacques Villeneuve, Sr.	RAM Racing Team March 	 	01 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
22 	Andrea de Cesaris 	Marlboro Team Alfa Romeo 	 	183T 	 	890T V8t 1.5 	
23 	Mauro Baldi 	Marlboro Team Alfa Romeo 	 	183T 	 	890T V8t 1.5 	
25 	Jean-Pierre Jarier 	Equipe Ligier Gitanes 	 	JS21 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
26 	Raul Boesel 	Equipe Ligier Gitanes 	 	JS21 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
27 	Patrick Tambay 	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC 	 	126C2B 	 	021 V6t 1.5 	
28 	René Arnoux 	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC 	 	126C2B 	 	021 V6t 1.5 	
29 	Marc Surer 	Arrows Racing Team 	 	A6 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
30 	Thierry Boutsen 	Arrows Racing Team 	 	A6 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
31 	Corrado Fabi 	Osella Squadra Corse 	 	FA1D 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
32 	Piercarlo Ghinzani 	Osella Squadra Corse 	 	FA1E 	 	1260 V12 3.0 	
33 	Roberto Guerrero 	Theodore Racing Team 	 	N183 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
34 	Johnny Cecotto 	Theodore Racing Team 	 	N183 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
35 	Derek Warwick 	Candy Toleman Motorsport 	 	TG183B 	 	415T L4t 1.5 	
36 	Bruno Giacomelli 	Candy Toleman Motorsport 	 	TG183B 	 	415T L4t 1.5 	
==Practice Overview==
Dry practice and qualifying sessions allowed the field to cover plenty of distance before the race, a luxury which had been missed at the last four Grand Prix. Jacques Sr. was some way off the pace, two seconds away from the next slowest driver, while Ferrari and Renault proved the potence of turbo power, with the Ferraris in particular the only cars to dip into the 1:28.000s.
==Qualifying==
A dry qualifying session. with no rain since practice, meant the track improved, meaning the majority set quicker times. Yet, Arnoux still topped the timesheets, with Alain Prost and Nelson Piquet finding enough pace to split the two Ferraris (an issue for Tambay prevented him from setting a competitive time in qualifying). Manfred Winkelhock impressed once again in the ATS, taking seventh ahead of Andrea de Cesaris, while Keke Rosberg claimed ninth (the best of the non-turbo cars).
Back to form, Piercarlo Ghinzani dropped out of qualifying in the V12 Alfa Romeo powered Osella, being beaten by team mate Corrado Fabi by half a second. He was joined by Jacques Sr., whom was half a second off the pace, despite finding almost two over night. This was good news for Mauro Baldi, whom scraped through in 26th, six seconds off of Arnoux's pole time.
===Qualifying Results===
Pos. 	No. 	Driver 	Constructor 	Time 	Time
Pos. 	No. 	Driver 	Constructor 	Q1 	Q2
1 	28 	René Arnoux 	 	1:28.984 	1:28.729
2 	15 	Alain Prost 	 	1:29.942 	1:28.830
3 	5 	Nelson Piquet 	 	1:30.366 	1:28.887
4 	27 	Patrick Tambay 	 	1:28.992 	1:46.258
5 	6 	Riccardo Patrese 	 	1:31.227 	1:29.549
6 	16 	Eddie Cheever 	 	1:30.225 	1:29.863
7 	9 	Manfred Winkelhock 	 	1:31.756 	1:30.966
8 	22 	Andrea de Cesaris 	 	1:31.813 	1:31.173
9 	1 	Keke Rosberg 	 	1:31.583 	1:31.480
10 	36 	Bruno Giacomelli 	 	1:32.208 	1:31.586
11 	11 	Elio de Angelis 	 	1:33.231 	1:31.822
12 	35 	Derek Warwick 	 	1:32.351 	1:32.116
13 	2 	Jacques Laffite 	 	1:32.185 	1:32.632
14 	29 	Marc Surer 	 	1:32.931 	1:32.540
15 	30 	Thierry Boutsen 	 	1:32.643 	1:32.576
16 	25 	Jean-Pierre Jarier 	 	1:34.403 	1:32.642
17 	3 	Michele Alboreto 	 	1:33.664 	1:33.175
18 	12 	Nigel Mansell 	 	1:33.588 	1:34.010
19 	8 	Niki Lauda 	 	1:34.452 	1:33.671
20 	7 	John Watson 	 	1:34.008 	1:33.705
21 	33 	Roberto Guerrero 	 	1:35.283 	1:33.721
22 	4 	Danny Sullivan 	 	1:34.680 	1:33.791
23 	34 	Johnny Cecotto 	 	1:36.260 	1:34.314
24 	26 	Raul Boesel 	 	1:34.967 	1:34.486
25 	31 	Corrado Fabi 	 	1:35.554 	1:34.544
26 	23 	Mauro Baldi 	 	1:34.988 	1:34.755
DNQ 	17 	Jacques Villeneuve 	 	1:37.858 	1:35.133
DNQ 	32 	Piercarlo Ghinzani 	 	1:35.493 	1:35.171
Bold indicates a driver's fastest lap.	Bold indicates a driver's fastest lap.	Bold indicates a driver's fastest lap.	Bold indicates a driver's fastest lap.	Bold indicates a driver's fastest lap.	Bold indicates a driver's fastest lap.
==Race==
The start was delayed for 40 minutes after a power failure causing the timing system to fail.http://www.espn.co.uk/f1/motorsport/story/137703.html This problem was resolved, however, with the race starting as normal, with no changes to the grid order before the race.
===Report===
It had been a faultless weekend for René Arnoux so far, and one that was to continue after a perfect start gave the Frenchman a huge advantage into the first corner. Prost slipped into second, while the fast starting Riccardo Patrese leapt from fifth to third, beating PIquet and Patrick Tambay into the first corner. Furtherdown Jean-Pierre Jarier and Marc Surer became the first retirements of the day, neither making it round the first lap with mechanical issues, while Elio de Angelis suffered a throttle linkage failure on the second.
As Arnoux pulled ahead, Patrese dived up the inside of Prost, grabbing second in short order and setting off to try to challenge the Ferrari. Piquet, Tambay and Eddie Cheever remained in touch of the pair, although that would soon change. Piquet suffered a throttle linkage failure while defending from Tambay on lap sixteen, causing him to retire and allowing Tambay and Cheever past. Tambay then picked up a misfire in his Ferrari engine, allowing Cheever to blast past on the straight and catch his team mate.
Luckily for Tambay, the Ferrari engineers had fitted a switch in the cockpit to be used in the event of a vapour lock. The device effectively bled the system automatically, removing the lock and (it was hoped) restoring the engine to full power. Tambay was back up to speed, but the damage to his race had been done, with the Frenchman requiring some luck to get onto the podium.
The race entered a stalemate after the pitstops, with Arnoux only losing the lead to Patrese (whom went further on his fuel and tyres) for three laps until the Italian stopped on lap 38. Then, on lap 56, Patrese pulled into the pits with a gearbox failure, promoting Prost and Cheever into second and third. As the American closed in on his team mate in the closing stages, the championship leader suffered a puncture, putting him into the pits for a late change. Cheever was now second and Tambay, still wounded from the misfire, taking third.
Arnoux, by this stage, was well out of sight and duly crossed the line to take victory by 42 seconds. Cheever and Tambay held station in second and third, while Keke Rosberg claimed fourth, after an epic struggle to get past Andrea de Cesaris cost him a potential podium. Prost glided home in fifth, with John Watson, after another drive from the lower leagues of the grid, claiming the final point in sixth.
===Results===
Pos.	No.	Driver 	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Pts
1 	28 	René Arnoux 	 	70 	1:48:31.838 	1 	9
2 	16 	Eddie Cheever 	 	70 	+42.089s 	6 	6
3 	27 	Patrick Tambay 	 	70 	+52.610s 	4 	4
4 	1 	Keke Rosberg 	 	70 	+1:17.048 	9 	3
5 	15 	Alain Prost 	 	69 	+1 lap 	2 	2
6 	7 	John Watson 	 	69 	+1 lap 	20 	1
7 	30 	Thierry Boutsen 	 	69 	+1 lap 	15 	
8 	3 	Michele Alboreto 	 	68 	+2 laps 	17 	
DSQ 	4 	Danny Sullivan 	 	68 	Underweight 	22 	
9 	9 	Manfred Winkelhock	 	67 	+3 laps 	7 	
10 	23 	Mauro Baldi 	 	67 	+3 laps 	26 	
Ret 	6 	Riccardo Patrese 	 	56 	Gearbox 	5 	
Ret 	35 	Derek Warwick 	 	47 	Turbo 	12 	
Ret 	36 	Bruno Giacomelli 	 	43 	Engine 	10 	
Ret 	12 	Nigel Mansell 	 	43 	Handling 	18 	
Ret 	22 	Andrea de Cesaris 	 	42 	Engine 	8 	
Ret 	2 	Jacques Laffite 	 	37 	Gearbox 	13 	
Ret 	26 	Raul Boesel 	 	32 	Halfshaft 	24 	
Ret 	33 	Roberto Guerrero 	 	27 	Engine 	21 	
Ret 	31 	Corrado Fabi 	 	26 	Engine 	25 	
Ret 	34 	Johnny Cecotto 	 	17 	Differential	23 	
Ret 	5 	Nelson Piquet 	 	15 	Throttle 	3 	
Ret 	8 	Niki Lauda 	 	11 	Spin 	19 	
Ret 	11 	Elio de Angelis 	 	1 	Throttle 	11 	
Ret 	29 	Marc Surer 	 	0 	Transmission	14 	
Ret 	25 	Jean-Pierre Jarier	 	0 	Gearbox 	16 	
==Milestones==
*Last entry for Jacques Villeneuve, Sr.
*Fifth victory for René Arnoux.
*50th entry for Alain Prost.
==Standings after race==
Alain Prost extended his championship lead to three points over Nelson Piquet by finishing fifth, but he was still under pressure from behind. Patrick Tambay was now level with Piquet on 27 points, with Keke Rosberg now only five behind on 25. René Arnoux's victory meant he entered the top five for the first time since the United States Grand Prix West, his tally of seventeen one more than that of John Watson.
In the Constructor's struggle, Ferrari and Renault left North America tied on 44 points, with the French outfit deemed ahead through Prost's lead in the Driver's Championship. Williams dropped back to third and were now nine points adrift, with Brabham and McLaren slowly slipping away in fourth and fifth respectively.
1983 Drivers' World Championship	1983 Drivers' World Championship	1983 Drivers' World Championship
Pos. 	Driver 	Pts
1 	Alain Prost 	30
2 	Nelson Piquet 	27
3 	Patrick Tambay 	27
4 	Keke Rosberg 	25
5 	René Arnoux 	17
Only the top 5 drivers are displayed.
1983 Constructors' World Championship	1983 Constructors' World Championship	1983 Constructors' World Championship
Pos. 	Team 	Pts
1 	 	44
2 	 	44
3 	 	35
4 	 	27
5 	 	26
Only the top 5 constructors are displayed.
==References==
Category:Grand Prix articles
Category:Canadian Grand Prix
Category:1983 Grands Prix