1985 Portuguese Grand Prix

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1985 Portuguese Grand Prix
Race 2 of 16 in the 1985 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date 21 April 1985
Official name 14º Grande Prémio de Portugal
Location Autódromo do Estoril, Estoril, Portugal
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.35 km (2.702 miles)
Distance 67 laps, 291.45 km (181.034 miles)
Scheduled distance 70 laps, 304.5 km (189.14 miles)
Weather Overcast, Cold, Rain
Pole position
Driver Lotus-Renault
Time 1:21.007
Fastest lap
Driver Brazil Ayrton Senna Lotus-Renault
Time 1:44.121 on lap 15
Podium
First Lotus-Renault
Second Ferrari
Third Renault
Lap leaders

The 1985 Portuguese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held in Estoril on 21 April 1985. It was the second round of the 1985 FIA Formula One World Championship and was won by Ayrton Senna from pole position, taking both his first pole position and win in the process. Senna demonstrated his proficiency in wet racing by finishing the race at least one lap ahead of every car except second-place finisher Michele Alboreto.

Qualifying[edit]

Pos No. Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap
1 12 Brazil Ayrton Senna Lotus-Renault 1:21.708 1:21.007
2 2 France Alain Prost McLaren-TAG 1:23.887 1:21.420 +0.413
3 6 Finland Keke Rosberg Williams-Honda 15:59.178 1:21.904 +0.897
4 11 Italy Elio de Angelis Lotus-Renault 1:23.306 1:22.159 +1.152
5 27 Italy Michele Alboreto Ferrari 1:22.831 1:22.577 +1.570
6 16 United Kingdom Derek Warwick Renault 1:24.538 1:23.084 +2.077
7 1 Austria Niki Lauda McLaren-TAG 1:23.670 1:23.288 +2.281
8 25 Italy Andrea de Cesaris Ligier-Renault 1:24.723 1:23.302 +2.295
9 5 United Kingdom Nigel Mansell Williams-Honda 1:26.459 1:23.594 +2.587
10 7 Brazil Nelson Piquet Brabham-BMW 1:25.588 1:23.618 +2.611
11 28 Sweden Stefan Johansson Ferrari 1:25.136 1:23.652 +2.645
12 15 France Patrick Tambay Renault 1:25.718 1:24.111 +3.104
13 22 Italy Riccardo Patrese Alfa Romeo 1:24.519 1:24.230 +3.223
14 23 United States Eddie Cheever Alfa Romeo 1:24.880 1:24.563 +3.556
15 9 West Germany Manfred Winkelhock RAM-Hart 1:34.876 1:24.721 +3.714
16 18 Belgium Thierry Boutsen Arrows-BMW 1:24.747 1:26.695 +3.740
17 17 Austria Gerhard Berger Arrows-BMW 1:26.154 1:24.842 +3.835
18 26 France Jacques Laffite Ligier-Renault 1:24.943 1:26.181 +3.936
19 8 France François Hesnault Brabham-BMW 14:46.042 1:25.717 +4.710
20 10 France Philippe Alliot RAM-Hart 1:27.430 1:26.186 +5.179
21 4 West Germany Stefan Bellof Tyrrell-Ford 1:27.284 1:27.474 +6.277
22 3 United Kingdom Martin Brundle Tyrrell-Ford 1:28.694 1:27.602 +6.595
23 30 United Kingdom Jonathan Palmer Zakspeed 1:28.166 +7.159
24 21 Italy Mauro Baldi Spirit-Hart 1:30.231 1:28.473 +7.466
25 29 Italy Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 1:31.205 1:28.596 +7.589
26 24 Italy Piercarlo Ghinzani Osella-Alfa Romeo 1:30.855 +9.848

Source: ChicaneF1.com.[1]

Race[edit]

Jonathan Palmer was the first driver to retire and was able to bring his Zakspeed into the pits and retire with suspension problems. Wet weather caused spinouts frequently early in the race. Philippe Alliot retired trackside for this reason on lap 3. François Hesnault retired trackside with an electrical problem on the same lap.

On lap 4, Riccardo Patrese made contact with Stefan Johansson while attempting to pass him on the inside line. Running 10th and 11th at the time, both cars were spun out into a gravel trap by the contact. Patrese was beached, and Johansson was able to rejoin the race after a delay, several positions down. Soon after, Stefan Bellof and Manfred Winkelhock made contact on track; both were able to restart their cars and rejoin the race. Numerous other small offs and spinoffs continued through the wet conditions.

By lap 10, Ayrton Senna had pulled away from 2nd position by almost 13 seconds. Elio de Angelis, Alain Prost, and Michele Alboreto (in order) were closely contending second position, and Derek Warwick was 15 seconds behind them in 5th. Gerhard Berger and Pierluigi Martini both spun off and retired on lap 12. The top four held steady to lap 15, with Niki Lauda and Patrick Tambay in 5th and 6th, 25 seconds behind 4th place Alboreto. Keke Rosberg spun his car on track on lap 16, and it came to rest in the middle of the track, causing a local yellow. Rosberg's car was not immediately cleared and remained on track in the same position for numerous laps.

At 20 laps, Senna had extended his lead on his teammate de Angelis to 30 seconds, with Prost and Alboreto still close behind. The two Renaults of Tambay and Warwick were more than a minute behind Senna in 6th and 7th. Only 9 cars remained on the lead lap. Nelson Piquet pitted repeatedly around lap 25, finally retiring with a tyre issue. Rain, which was already falling at the start of the race, continued and got heavier. Near lap 30, Mauro Baldi spun out and ended on track with damage to his car and leaving a lot of mud on the racing surface, and Alain Prost retired with damage after spinning and striking the rear of his car on the track barrier. Still in the lead, Ayrton Senna signaled to race officials along pit lane asking them to stop the race. The race was not stopped or interrupted, but did continue at an unusually slow pace because of the poor weather conditions.

The 1985 Portuguese Grand Prix was originally scheduled for 70 laps. At the beginning of lap 67, race leader Ayrton Senna was given a "one lap to go" indication from the race director, as the race had exceeded the prescribed two-hour time limit. Senna crossed the line, having led every lap of the race, and with only one other car on the lead lap, that of second-place Michele Alboreto. Patrick Tambay and Elio de Angelis, both one lap down, took third and fourth. Nigel Mansell and Stefan Bellof took the final points-paying positions, two laps down.

Senna's win was his first of two in the 1985 Formula One season, and the first of what would be 41 Formula One Grand Prix victories.

Race classification[edit]

Pos No. Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/retired Grid Points
1 12 Brazil Ayrton Senna Lotus-Renault G 67 2:00:28.006 1 9
2 27 Italy Michele Alboreto Ferrari G 67 + 1:02.978 5 6
3 15 France Patrick Tambay Renault G 66 + 1 lap 12 4
4 11 Italy Elio de Angelis Lotus-Renault G 66 + 1 lap 4 3
5 5 United Kingdom Nigel Mansell Williams-Honda G 65 + 2 laps 9 2
6 4 West Germany Stefan Bellof Tyrrell-Ford G 65 + 2 laps 21 1
7 16 United Kingdom Derek Warwick Renault G 65 + 2 laps 6
8 28 Sweden Stefan Johansson Ferrari G 62 + 5 laps 11
9 24 Italy Piercarlo Ghinzani Osella-Alfa Romeo P 61 + 6 laps 26
NC 9 West Germany Manfred Winkelhock RAM-Hart P 50 + 17 laps 15
Ret 1 Austria Niki Lauda McLaren-TAG G 49 Engine 7
Ret 23 United States Eddie Cheever Alfa Romeo G 36 Engine 14
Ret 2 France Alain Prost McLaren-TAG G 30 Spun Off 2
Ret 25 Italy Andrea de Cesaris Ligier-Renault P 29 Tyre 8
Ret 7 Brazil Nelson Piquet Brabham-BMW P 28 Tyre 16
Ret 18 Belgium Thierry Boutsen Arrows-BMW G 28 Electrical 10
Ret 3 United Kingdom Martin Brundle Tyrrell-Ford G 20 Transmission 22
Ret 21 Italy Mauro Baldi Spirit-Hart P 19 Spun off 24
Ret 6 Finland Keke Rosberg Williams-Honda G 16 Spun off 3
Ret 26 France Jacques Laffite Ligier-Renault P 15 Tyre 18
Ret 17 Austria Gerhard Berger Arrows-BMW G 12 Spun off 17
Ret 29 Italy Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford P 12 Spun off 25
Ret 22 Italy Riccardo Patrese Alfa Romeo G 4 Spun off 13
Ret 10 France Philippe Alliot RAM-Hart P 3 Spun off 20
Ret 8 France François Hesnault Brabham-BMW P 3 Electrical 19
Ret 30 United Kingdom Jonathan Palmer Zakspeed G 2 Suspension 23

Sources: Formula1.com,[2] GP Archive.[3]

Championship standings after the race[edit]

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

References[edit]

  1. ^ "1985 Portuguese GP – Qualifying". www.chicanef1.com. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  2. ^ "1985 Portuguese Grand Prix". Formula1.com. Archived from the original on 17 February 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  3. ^ "1985 Portuguese Grand Prix". GPArchive.com. 21 April 1985. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Portugal 1985 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.


Previous race:
1985 Brazilian Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1985 season
Next race:
1985 San Marino Grand Prix
Previous race:
1984 Portuguese Grand Prix
Portuguese Grand Prix Next race:
1986 Portuguese Grand Prix