1983 Detroit Grand Prix

1983 Detroit Grand Prix

The 1983 Detroit Grand Prix is the 7th race of the 1983 F1 Season. It was won by Nelson Piquet with Patrese 2nd and Alboreto 3rd.

Qualifying

Prost took pole ahead of Arnoux and Tambay. Corrado Fabi failed to qualify

Race

The first attempt at a start was halted just as the green light was about to come on, when Andrea de Cesaris signalled from the grid that his Alfa Romeo had stalled. The whole process was begun again, with another pace lap that reduced the race distance from 61 laps to 60, and this time the green light came on. This time, however, Patrick Tambay's Ferrari, in the second row, stalled on the grid! He held his breath while everyone made their way safely around him, and then, expecting a push-start, instead was removed from the circuit by tow truck!

Prost made an excellent start and beat Arnoux to Turn One. He led after the first lap, with Arnoux ahead of de Angelis, de Cesaris, Alboreto, Derek Warwick, Rosberg (already up from twelfth) and Cheever. The two leaders quickly began to separate themselves from the rest, while a four-way nose-to-tail battle raged for fourth. On lap five, Cheever retired with ignition failure, de Angelis forfeited third place with a broken gearbox and Piercarlo Ghinzani abandoned his Osella in the pits with an overheating engine.

Arnoux, after steadily closing the gap to Prost, overtook the Brabham into Turn One and gained the lead on lap 4. Prost let him through without a fight, knowing that the Ferrari was planning a fuel and tire stop, while he was not. When Rosberg finally got by de Cesaris for third at the end of lap 5, he was almost 15 seconds behind Piquet, but clearly faster. Alboreto, in fifth place and also threatening de Cesaris, had started on full tanks and, like Piquet, was not planning a pit stop.

By lap 10, Rosberg had caught up with Prost and easily went by to take second, about twenty seconds behind Arnoux. On lap 13, the Ferrari's lead was up to almost 30 seconds when Arnoux came into the pits, as expected, followed soon after by Rosberg's Williams, whose intentions had been unclear. Arnoux rejoined after a stop of just 13.5 seconds, still barely in the lead; by the time Rosberg was able to get back on the track (his stop lasted 17.5 seconds), he was in fifth place behind Piquet, Alboreto and Jacques Laffite, none of whom had stopped. But just three laps after his pit stop, Arnoux suddenly coasted to a halt on the circuit with an electrical failure.

When Patrese pitted, Piquet was in the lead, with Alboreto up to second and Rosberg third, 25 seconds back. John Watson, having started in 21st position on the grid, was now in fourth, making his regular charge through an American Grand Prix field. It looked as if Nelson Piquet and Brabham-BMW were on their way to victory as Alboreto was doing all he could to stay close. on lap 17, Prost slowed with a punctured left rear tire, and as he made his way back to the pits, Alboreto and Rosberg went by. While he was in the pits, Watson also came through. All that was left was for Alboreto to bring the Tyrrell home over the final nine laps, taking it rather easy since he was too far in front for Rosberg to catch him. Watson, meanwhile, was doing anything *but* taking it easy, and he set the race's fastest lap (1.6 seconds faster than his qualifying time!) while just failing to catch the Williams for second place. Piquet won the race, ahead of Patrese in the second Brabham and Michele Alboreto.