1985 French Grand Prix

Qualifying report

Qualifying saw Keke Rosberg take pole position in his Williams-Honda with a time of 1:32.462, averaging 140.561 mph, with Ayrton Senna alongside him on the front row in his Lotus-Renault. On the second row were Michele Alboreto in the Ferrari and Alain Prost in the McLaren, and on the third were Nelson Piquet in the Brabham and Niki Lauda in the second McLaren. Completing the top ten were Elio de Angelis in the second Lotus, Gerhard Berger in the Arrows, and the two factory Renaults of Patrick Tambay and Derek Warwick, Tambay driving a 'B' specification of the RE60.

Rosberg's Williams teammate, Nigel Mansell, had set a time good enough for eighth on the grid when he had a high-speed crash at the Signes corner, located at the end of the 1.8 km long Mistral Straight. A puncture caused the car to plunge off the track at over 200 mph and into catch fencing; one of the poles struck Mansell on the head, giving him a concussion which forced him to miss the race.

The race was also the first in which the Tyrrell team used Renault turbo engines, thus becoming the last F1 team to go over from naturally aspirated engines to turbos. However, only Martin Brundle drove the new Renault-powered 014 car, while teammate Stefan Bellof continued to use the Cosworth-powered 012. Brundle could only qualify 20th, but was still over four seconds faster than Bellof in 25th. After qualifying, Brundle described one lap coming onto the Mistral about 50 metres behind Bellof in the Cosworth car (with Bellof also on a quick lap), and by the time the 014 got to Signes, the older car was just a dot in his mirror. While only running the oldest and slowest of the available Renault turbo engines (the Renault EF4 turbo was putting out around 800 bhp, which was a significant upgrade on the 540 bhp from the Cosworth), Brundle was speed trapped at 310 km/h, significantly faster than Bellof in the non-turbo who could only reach 278 km/h.

During qualifying, Marc Surer in his Brabham BMW recorded a seasons high 335 km/h on the 1.8 km (1.1 mi) long Mistral Straight.

Qualifying classification

Race report

At the start, Rosberg led away from Senna and Piquet, while Prost slipped to eighth. The early laps saw both Ligiers retire, Jacques Laffite suffering a turbo failure on lap 3 and Andrea de Cesaris dropping out with steering problems two laps later. Alboreto also suffered a turbo failure on lap 6 while running fourth.

On lap 7, Piquet overtook compatriot Senna on the Mistral Straight. He then closed up to Rosberg, who was struggling for grip, before passing him for the lead at Beausset on lap 11. At the same time, Lauda and Prost moved up to third and fourth respectively, ahead of de Angelis. On lap 21, Berger collided with the Minardi of Pierluigi Martini, putting both drivers out.

Senna, who had dropped down the order due to gearbox problems, retired in dramatic fashion on lap 27, when his engine failed and oil from it leaked onto his rear tyres, causing him to spin off backwards into the catch fencing and crash massively at Signes. He escaped with bruises, while his Lotus caught fire. Lauda retired on lap 31 when his own gearbox failed, promoting Prost to third; Brundle also suffered a gearbox failure on lap 33.

On lap 38, by which time Piquet had extended his lead to over 20 seconds, Prost overtook Rosberg for second at the Verrerie bends. The Finn promptly pitted for new tyres, emerging in fourth behind de Angelis. He then made a charge, quickly passing the Lotus and setting the fastest lap of the race on lap 46, before retaking second from Prost on the final lap.

Up front, Piquet cruised to victory, taking the chequered flag 6.6 seconds ahead of Rosberg. Prost finished 44 seconds ahead of the second Ferrari of Stefan Johansson, who passed de Angelis for fourth on the final lap, with Tambay taking the final point for sixth.

Race classification

Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings

;Constructors' Championship standings

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

References

| Previous_year's_race = 1984 French Grand Prix | Next_year's_race = 1986 French Grand Prix

References

1. "Motor Racing Programme Covers: 1985". The Programme Covers Project.
2. Jenkinson, Denis. (August 1985). "The French Grand Prix – Normality returns".
3. (1985). "Grand Prix - 1985 Formula One World Championship". Garry Sparke & Associates.
4. (1985). "[[AUTOCOURSE]] 1985–86". Hazleton Publishing.
5. Pritchard, Anthony. (March 2006). "Lotus: The Competition Cars". Haynes Publishing.
6. "1985 French Grand Prix". formula1.com.
7. "France 1985 - Championship • STATS F1".