1983 Monaco Grand Prix

The 1983 Monaco Grand Prix served as the fifth meeting of the 1983 Formula One Season, with the city of Monte Carlo hosting the race.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Monaco_Grand_Prix A wet start to proceedings caused several teams to opt for wet tyres, with Williams the only major team to bolt a set of slicks to their cars.http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr378.html The gamble paid off, as Keke Rosberg claimed victory, ahead of Nelson Piquet and an improving Alain Prost.
Rosberg's win is also notable for the fact that his son, Nico, went on to take the 2013 Monaco Grand Prix victory at the same circuit thirty years later. This feat meant that they were the first father and son duo to win the Monaco Grand Prix.
==Background==
The grid remained unchanged from the San Marino Grand Prix two weeks earlier, with 28 cars entering the race. However, due to the restrictive nature of the circuit, the organisers decided to limit the number of grid places to 20, and so it would be a battle to see whom could survive the bigger elimination section. The only change on the development front was at McLaren, whom brought an updated set of Cosworth DFY engines to the principality, hoping to close the gap to the turbo field.
In the 1983 World Championship, the standings were notably in favour of Alain Prost, whom, despite being tied on 15 points with Nelson Piquet, was getting the results to match his pace in the Renault. Patrick Tambay's win at Imola meant he sat a point behind them in third, while John Watson and Niki Lauda were one point apart in fourth and fifth respectively. Ferrari sat atop the Constructor's table, although McLaren were just a point behind with Renault closing the gap. Brabham and Williams completed the top five in the table.
==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 	Eliseo Salazar 	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 	Chico Serra 	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==
Because of the reduced grid capacity, practice served as an elimination session to reduce the field to 26 cars for the full qualifying session. As it turned out, the two s were not running too well, with both Johnny Cecotto and Roberto Guerrero failing to set a time. Otherwise, the session ran smoothly, with Alain Prost setting the fastest lap of the day, as expected.
==Qualifying==
The main qualifying session itself was meant to reduce the field from 26 down to 20. However, Saturday saw a down pour, meaning that no one could improve their times from practice, and hence meant that Prost was on pole, with former team mate Rene Arnoux lining up alongside. Eddie Cheever beat the second Ferrari of Patrick Tambay, while Keke Rosberg had secured fifth and was the best of the non-turbo cars.
But the biggest story was further down, in the eliminated section of the session. McLaren had struggled in the Thursday practice session with their Michelin tyres, with Niki Lauda in 22nd and John Watson 23rd. A strong Saturday was needed for them to avoid elimination, but the rain prevented them from improving, meaning both McLarens were eliminated for the first time in a qualifying session. They were joined on the side lines by the Osellas of Corrado Fabi and Piercarlo Ghinzani (whom was slower than his team mate despite the V12 Alfa Romeo engine in his car), Eliseo Salazar in the RAM, and Bruno Giacomelli in the second Toleman.
===Qualifying Results===
Pos. 	No. 	Driver 	Constructor 	Time 	Time 	Gap
Pos. 	No. 	Driver 	Constructor 	Q1 	Q2 	Gap
1 	15 	Alain Prost 	 	1:24.840 	1:52.845 	
2 	28 	René Arnoux 	 	1:25.182 	1:52.183 	+ 0.342
3 	16 	Eddie Cheever 	 	1:26.279 	1:52.434 	+ 1.439
4 	27 	Patrick Tambay 	 	1:26.298 	1:53.987 	+ 1.458
5 	1 	Keke Rosberg 	 	1:26.307 	1:52.000 	+ 1.467
6 	5 	Nelson Piquet 	 	1:27.273 	1:56.736 	+ 2.433
7 	22 	Andrea de Cesaris 	 	1:27.680 	1:54.335 	+ 2.840
8 	2 	Jacques Laffite 	 	1:27.726 	1:53.580 	+ 2.886
9 	25 	Jean-Pierre Jarier 	 	1:27.906 	1:55.986 	+ 3.066
10 	35 	Derek Warwick 	 	1:28.017 	No Time 	+ 3.177
11 	3 	Michele Alboreto 	 	1:28.256 	2:00.969 	+ 3.416
12 	29 	Marc Surer 	 	1:28.346 	1:56.836 	+ 3.506
13 	23 	Mauro Baldi 	 	1:28.639 	1:56.398 	+ 03.799
14 	12 	Nigel Mansell 	 	1:28.721 	1:56.560 	+ 3.881
15 	30 	Chico Serra 	 	1:28.784 	No Time 	+ 3.944
16 	9 	Manfred Winkelhock 	 	1:28.975 	2:01.178 	+ 4.135
17 	6 	Riccardo Patrese 	 	1:29.200 	No Time 	+ 4.360
18 	26 	Raul Boesel 	 	1:29.222 	1:59.110 	+ 4.382
19 	11 	Elio de Angelis 	 	1:29.518 	1:56.762 	+ 4.678
20 	4 	Danny Sullivan 	 	1:29.530 	2:09.076 	+ 4.690
DNQ 	36 	Bruno Giacomelli 	 	1:29.552 	No Time 	+ 4.712
DNQ 	8 	Niki Lauda 	 	1:29.898 	1:52.448 	+ 5.058
DNQ 	7 	John Watson 	 	1:30.283 	1:53.772 	+ 5.443
DNQ 	31 	Corrado Fabi 	 	1:30.495 	No Time 	+ 5.655
DNQ 	17 	Eliseo Salazar 	 	1:31.229 	No Time 	+ 6.389
DNQ 	32 	Piercarlo Ghinzani 	 	1:35.572 	No TIme 	+ 10.732
DNPQ 	34 	Johnny Cecotto 	 	1:33.817 	1:33.817 	
DNPQ 	33 	Roberto Guerrero 	 	1:38.389 	1:38.389 	
Bold indicates a driver's fastest time	Bold indicates a driver's fastest time	Bold indicates a driver's fastest time	Bold indicates a driver's fastest time	Bold indicates a driver's fastest time	Bold indicates a driver's fastest time	
==Race==
The morning before the race saw heavy rain, although as the start time approached, the circuit was beginning to dry up. Most teams, including , and , opted to play it safe and fit wet tyres to their cars. Only the cars of Keke Rosberg and Jacques Laffite, and the of Derek Warwick, were fitted with slicks on for the start, meaning it would be hero or zero for the reigning World Champion on the opening lap.
===Report===
As it turned out, that trio made the correct choice, as Rosberg leapt from fifth to second off the line, and soon slid his way past Prost on the second lap. It was a clean get away throughout the field, until Nigel Mansell and Michele Alboreto came together at the Swimming Pool before the end of the first lap. A further accident claimed Manfred Winkelhock and Raul Boesel on the third lap, as the slick shod cars began to take the initative.
By lap seven, the minds of the wet tyred teams were made up, with a mass exodus into the pits to change. Only Rosberg, Laffite, Marc Surer and Warwick stayed out (Arnoux came into the pits to retire after hitting the wall on lap six). Rosberg pulled well ahead of his team mate, whom established a gap over Surer and Warwick as they battled for third. The order would remain unchanged, however, as Nelson Piquet and Prost (who both somehow managed to stay on the lead lap) led the charge back up to the front.
By lap 49, Piquet had caught the back of Warwick, whom was becoming increasingly frustrated in his attempts to get past Surer. Coming into Sainte Devote, Warwick attempted to get inside of the Arrows, although had nowhere to go when Surer closed the door into the corner. Surer hit the wall and was out, with Warwick limping back to the pits to retire, leaving Piquet with a clean run to the back of Laffite.
Piquet was then gifted second a few laps later, as Laffite suffered a gearbox failure, which also meant that Prost was promoted to third. The order remained unchanged until the end, with Patrick Tambay the only other man to stay on the lead lap, finishing fourth. Danny Sullivan and Mauro Baldi claimed the remaining points, although they were both two laps down, as was the only other finisher, Chico Serra.
===Results===
Pos.	No.	Driver 	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Pts
1 	1 	Keke Rosberg 	 	76 	1:56:38.121 	5 	9
2 	5 	Nelson Piquet 	 	76 	+ 18.475s 	6 	6
3 	15 	Alain Prost 	 	76 	+ 31.366s 	1 	4
4 	27 	Patrick Tambay 	 	76 	+ 1:04.297 	4 	3
5 	4 	Danny Sullivan 	 	74 	+ 2 laps 	20 	2
6 	23 	Mauro Baldi 	 	74 	+ 2 laps 	13 	1
7 	30 	Chico Serra 	 	74 	+ 2 laps 	15 	
Ret 	6 	Riccardo Patrese 	 	64 	Electrical 	17 	
Ret 	2 	Jacques Laffite 	 	53 	Gearbox 	8 	
Ret 	29 	Marc Surer 	 	49 	Accident 	12 	
Ret 	35 	Derek Warwick 	 	49 	Accident 	10 	
Ret 	11 	Elio de Angelis 	 	49 	Halfshaft 	19 	
Ret 	25 	Jean-Pierre Jarier	 	32 	Suspension 	9 	
Ret 	16 	Eddie Cheever 	 	30 	Engine 	3 	
Ret 	22 	Andrea de Cesaris 	 	13 	Gearbox 	7 	
Ret 	28 	René Arnoux 	 	6 	Suspension 	2 	
Ret 	26 	Raul Boesel 	 	3 	Accident 	18 	
Ret 	9 	Manfred Winkelhock	 	3 	Accident 	16 	
Ret 	3 	Michele Alboreto 	 	0 	Accident 	11 	
Ret 	12 	Nigel Mansell 	 	0 	Accident 	14 	
==Milestones==
*First time that both McLarens had failed to qualify for a Grand Prix in qualifying.
==Standings after race==
1983 Drivers' World Championship	1983 Drivers' World Championship	1983 Drivers' World Championship
Pos. 	Driver 	Pts
1 	Nelson Piquet 	21
2 	Alain Prost 	19
3 	Patrick Tambay 	17
4 	Keke Rosberg 	14
5 	John Watson 	11
Only the top 5 drivers are displayed.
1983 Constructors' World Championship	1983 Constructors' World Championship	1983 Constructors' World Championship
Pos. 	Team 	Pts
1 	 	25
2 	 	23
3= 	 	21
3= 	 	21
3= 	 	21
Only the top 5 constructors are displayed.
==References==
Category:Grand Prix articles
Category:1983 Grands Prix
Category:Monaco Grand Prix