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1983 South African Grand Prix
Race 15 of 15 in the 1983 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date	15 October 1983
Location	Kyalami Transvaal Province, South Africa
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	4.104 km (2.550 miles)
Distance	77 laps, 316.008 km (196.358 miles)
Weather	Dry
Pole position
Driver	Patrick Tambay	Ferrari
Time	1:06.554
Fastest lap
Driver	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-BMW
Time	1:09.948 on lap 6
Podium
First	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham-BMW
Second	Andrea de Cesaris	Alfa Romeo
Third	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-BMW
Lap leaders

The 1983 South African Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami on 15 October 1983. It was the fifteenth and final race of the 1983 Formula One season. The 77 lap race was won by Riccardo Patrese driving for Brabham. This would be Patrese's last win for nearly seven years until he won for Williams at the 1990 San Marino Grand Prix.

Race summary

Before the race, three drivers were still in a position to win the World Drivers' Championship: Alain Prost (Renault) led the championship with 57 points, followed by Nelson Piquet (Brabham-BMW) with 55 and René Arnoux (Ferrari) with 49. Piquet qualified second, behind Patrick Tambay (Ferrari) in pole position and ahead of Riccardo Patrese (Brabham), Arnoux and Prost in third, fourth and fifth. At the start Piquet passed Tambay to take the lead, with Patrese moving into second place. Arnoux retired with engine failure on lap 9. Prost fought his way up to third place, but he also retired on lap 35 with turbo failure. Needing only to finish fourth or higher, Piquet slowed and was overtaken by Patrese, Niki Lauda (McLaren) and Andrea de Cesaris (Alfa Romeo). Lauda's engine failed on lap 71. The race finished with Patrese in first place, de Cesaris in second and Piquet in third, and Piquet won the championship by two points. Ferrari won the Constructors' Championship despite not finishing in the points in the last race for the second consecutive year. John Watson, completing his last full Formula One season, was disqualified for overtaking other cars on the parade lap.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Q1	Q2	Gap
1	27	Patrick Tambay	Ferrari	1:06.554	1:07.029	—
2	5	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-BMW	1:06.792	1:06.821	+0.238
3	6	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham-BMW	1:08.181	1:07.001	+0.447
4	28	René Arnoux	Ferrari	1:07.222	1:07.105	+0.551
5	15	Alain Prost	Renault	1:07.186	1:08.136	+0.632
6	1	Keke Rosberg	Williams-Honda	1:07.256	1:07.344	+0.702
7	12	Nigel Mansell	Lotus-Renault	1:09.443	1:07.643	+1.089
8	9	Manfred Winkelhock	ATS-BMW	1:07.726	1:07.682	+1.128
9	22	Andrea de Cesaris	Alfa Romeo	1:08.970	1:07.759	+1.205
10	2	Jacques Laffite	Williams-Honda	1:07.931	1:08.652	+1.377
11	11	Elio de Angelis	Lotus-Renault	1:07.937	1:07.980	+1.383
12	8	Niki Lauda	McLaren-TAG	1:07.974	1:08.587	+1.420
13	35	Derek Warwick	Toleman-Hart	1:08.061	1:08.301	+1.507
14	16	Eddie Cheever	Renault	1:08.069	1:08.360	+1.515
15	7	John Watson	McLaren-TAG	1:08.328	1:10.635	+1.774
16	36	Bruno Giacomelli	Toleman-Hart	1:08.350	1:08.439	+1.796
17	23	Mauro Baldi	Alfa Romeo	1:09.364	1:08.628	+2.074
18	3	Michele Alboreto	Tyrrell-Ford	1:11.096	1:11.284	+4.542
19	4	Danny Sullivan	Tyrrell-Ford	1:11.750	1:11.382	+4.828
20	30	Thierry Boutsen	Arrows-Ford	1:11.988	1:11.658	+5.104
21	25	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Ligier-Ford	1:12.017	1:12.538	+5.463
22	29	Marc Surer	Arrows-Ford	1:12.309	1:12.049	+5.495
23	26	Raul Boesel	Ligier-Ford	1:12.745	1:13.330	+6.191
24	17	Kenny Acheson	RAM-Ford	1:13.352	no time	+6.798
25	31	Corrado Fabi	Osella-Alfa Romeo	1:14.483	1:13.656	+7.102
26	32	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Osella-Alfa Romeo	1:14.903	1:15.503	+8.349
Source:

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Tyre	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	6	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham-BMW	M	77	1:33:25.708	3	9
2	22	Andrea de Cesaris	Alfa Romeo	M	77	+ 9.319	9	6
3	5	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-BMW	M	77	+ 21.969	2	4
4	35	Derek Warwick	Toleman-Hart	P	76	+ 1 Lap	13	3
5	1	Keke Rosberg	Williams-Honda	G	76	+ 1 Lap	6	2
6	16	Eddie Cheever	Renault	M	76	+ 1 Lap	14	1
7	4	Danny Sullivan	Tyrrell-Ford	G	75	+ 2 Laps	19
8	29	Marc Surer	Arrows-Ford	G	75	+ 2 Laps	22
9	30	Thierry Boutsen	Arrows-Ford	G	74	+ 3 Laps	20
10	25	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Ligier-Ford	M	73	+ 4 Laps	21
11	8	Niki Lauda	McLaren-TAG	M	71	Electrical	12
12	17	Kenny Acheson	RAM-Ford	P	71	+ 6 Laps	24
NC	12	Nigel Mansell	Lotus-Renault	P	68	+ 9 Laps	7
NC	26	Raul Boesel	Ligier-Ford	M	66	+ 11 Laps	23
Ret	3	Michele Alboreto	Tyrrell-Ford	G	60	Engine	18
Ret	27	Patrick Tambay	Ferrari	G	56	Turbo	1
Ret	36	Bruno Giacomelli	Toleman-Hart	P	56	Turbo	16
Ret	15	Alain Prost	Renault	M	35	Turbo	5
Ret	31	Corrado Fabi	Osella-Alfa Romeo	M	28	Engine	25
Ret	11	Elio de Angelis	Lotus-Renault	P	20	Engine	11
DSQ	7	John Watson	McLaren-TAG	M	18	Overtaking on Formation Lap	15
Ret	28	René Arnoux	Ferrari	G	9	Engine	4
Ret	23	Mauro Baldi	Alfa Romeo	M	5	Engine	17
Ret	9	Manfred Winkelhock	ATS-BMW	G	1	Engine	8
Ret	2	Jacques Laffite	Williams-Honda	G	1	Spun Off	10
Ret	32	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Osella-Alfa Romeo	M	1	Engine	26
Source:

Championship permutations

• • Alain Prost (57pts) needed either
    • 1st
    • 2nd, ahead of Piquet
    • 3rd, with Piquet 2nd or lower
    • 4th or 5th, with Piquet 3rd or lower
    • 6th, with Piquet 4th or lower and Arnoux 2nd or lower
    • Piquet 5th or lower and Arnoux 2nd or lower
  • Nelson Piquet (55pts)
    • 1st
    • 2nd, with Prost 4th or lower
    • 3rd, with Prost 6th or lower
    • 4th, with Prost 7th or lower and Arnoux 2nd or lower
  • René Arnoux (49pts) needed 1st with Prost 6th or lower and Piquet 4th or lower

• Ferrari and Renault were also fighting for the Constructor's Championship
  • Ferrari (89pts) needed either
    • To score 5pts or better
    • 4th, or 5th and 6th, or higher, with the Renaults 1st and 3rd or lower
    • 5th or better, with the Renaults 1st and 4th or lower
    • 6th or better, with the Renaults 1st and 5th or lower
    • The Renaults scoring fewer than 11pts
  • Renault (78pts) needed either
    • 1st and 2nd with the Ferraris scoring fewer than 5pts
    • 1st and 3rd with the Ferraris scoring fewer than 3pts
    • 1st and 4th with the Ferraris 6th or lower
    • 1st and 5th with the Ferraris 7th or lower.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Nelson Piquet 59 2 Alain Prost 57 3 René Arnoux 49 4 Patrick Tambay 40 5 Keke Rosberg 27 Source:

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Ferrari 89 2 Renault 79 3 Brabham-BMW 72 4 Williams-Ford 36 5 McLaren-Ford 34 Source:

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

1. "Southern Sun Hotels Grand Prix - QUALIFYING 1". formula1.com. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
2. "Southern Sun Hotels Grand Prix - QUALIFYING 2". formula1.com. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
3. "Southern Sun Hotels Grand Prix - OVERALL QUALIFYING". formula1.com. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
4. Hamilton, Maurice, ed. (1983). AUTOCOURSE 1983–84. Hazleton Publishing Ltd. p. 216. ISBN 0-905138-25-2.
5. "1983 South African Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 21 October 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
6. "1983 South African Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive". GPArchive.com. 15 October 1983. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
7. ^ "South Africa 1983 - Championship • STATS F1". statsf1.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.

External links

• 1983 South African Grand Prix at Grandprix.com

• South African Grand Prix
• 1983 Formula One races
• 1983 in South African motorsport
• October 1983 sports events in Africa