1984 F1 Season

The 1984 Season is the eighth Season of the Sim Series and features the 1984 Drivers Championship and 1984 Constructors Championship

Driver changes for 1984

Brabham retained their 4-cylinder BMW engines, now rated at 900 bhp (671 kW; 912 PS), along with reigning World Champion Nelson Piquet. Italian brothers Teo and Corrado Fabi replaced Riccardo Patrese and shared the #2 seat, allowing older brother Teo to honour commitments in the US-based CART World Series. Piquet and the Fabi brothers drove the Gordon Murray-designed BT53.

* Tyrrell had an all-new driver line up. Michele Alboreto and Danny Sullivan were replaced by F1 rookies Martin Brundle and West German sports car driver Stefan Bellof. Tyrrell were the only team to run the full season with the naturally aspirated, 530 bhp (395 kW; 537 PS), Cosworth DFY V8 engine. Brundle and Bellof would drive the Maurice Philippe-designed 012.
	+ Williams retained their 1983 line up of 1982 World Champion Keke Rosberg, and veteran Jacques Laffite. Williams also had exclusive use of the 800 bhp (597 kW; 811 PS) Honda V6 turbo engine for the entire season after having only run it in the last race of 1983 in South Africa. The Honda turbo would power the Patrick Head and Neil Oatley-designed FW09.

* McLaren had exclusive use of the 750 bhp (559 kW; 760 PS) TAG-Porsche turbo engine that had debuted in the Netherlands the previous year. Frenchman Alain Prost, who had finished second in the 1983 Drivers' Championship, re-joined the team after being sacked from the factory Renault team, replacing John Watson. Prost joined double World Champion Niki Lauda to drive the John Barnard-designed MP4/2. While the TAG engine was the least powerful of the main contenders, its fuel economy and the superior aerodynamics of Barnard's MP4/2, especially at high speed, as well as the driving and car set up skills of Lauda and Prost, compensated for the lack of power.
	+ After a 1983 season which saw the factory Renault team lose its way at the end of the year, costing Alain Prost the Drivers' Championship and the team the Constructors' Championship, the major changes to the national French team was its drivers as well as the loss of designer Ducarouge. Prost and American Eddie Cheever were replaced with Frenchman Patrick Tambay (formerly of Ferrari) and Englishman Derek Warwick (formerly of Toleman). The all new RE50 was designed by Michel Tétu and Bernard Dudot and was powered by the 800 bhp (597 kW; 811 PS) EF4 V6 turbo engine.
		- Toleman, who were an up-and-coming team in Formula One, lost Warwick to Renault and released Bruno Giacomelli, but signed former Grand Prix motorcycle World Champion in the 350 and 750 classes, Venezuelan Johnny Cecotto (only the second Venezuelan driver in F1 history), as well Brazilian Ayrton Senna, the reigning British Formula 3 Champion. The team continued to use the turbocharged, 4-cylinder Hart 415T engine for the 1984 season to power their 1983 car, the TG183B, and their new car which appeared for the first time in France, the TG184
		- Euro Racing continued to run the factory-backed Alfa Romeo team, but they lost major sponsor Marlboro. Replacing the red and white colours of the cigarette giant was the green and red of Italian clothes manufacturer Benetton. Also gone were drivers Andrea de Cesaris and Mauro Baldi, replaced by Riccardo Patrese and Eddie Cheever. The team continued to use the fuel-hungry, and moderately powerful (680 bhp (507 kW; 689 PS)) 890T V8 turbocharged engine for the season.

* Ferrari introduced the latest version of their successful 126C model, the 126C4 designed by Mauro Forghieri and Harvey Postlethwaite, which was powered by the 850 bhp (634 kW; 862 PS) Tipo 031 V6 engine. After releasing Patrick Tambay who subsequently signed for Renault, the team signed its first Italian driver since 1973 with Michele Alboreto to join Frenchman René Arnoux, who had finished third in the Drivers' Championship for Ferrari in 1983. It was reported that Enzo Ferrari broke his own rule against signing an Italian driver when he signed Alboreto, making him the first Italian driver at Ferrari since Arturo Merzario.

* Ligier also joined the ranks of the turbos, dumping the Cosworth V8 in favour of the Renault engine. The V6 turbo powered the Michel Beaujon and Claude Galopin-designed JS23. Drivers were Frenchman François Hesnault, and Italian Andrea de Cesaris.

Grands Prix

World Drivers Championship

World Constructors Championship