F1 Legend Sim/Seasons/1983

1983 F1 Season

15 races · Brabham BT52

1983 was the year of the turbo. Nelson Piquet won the championship in a Brabham with a turbocharged BMW engine, the first drivers' title for a turbo engine, and he did it against another turbo, Alain Prost's Renault. The constructors' title, on the other hand, went to Ferrari with 89 points, ahead of Renault on 79 and Brabham on 72.

Prost won more races, four to three, and arrived at the final round, at Kyalami, in front. There he retired with a broken turbo while Piquet finished third, and the title changed hands on the last afternoon: 59 to 57. It was the first of two years in a row in which Prost would lose the championship by the narrowest of margins.

The year also produced the biggest winning comeback in history. At Long Beach John Watson started twenty second in the McLaren and won the race. There were eight different winners and six teams able to win, in a season in which turbo power was starting to outweigh everything else.

Drivers’ Champion

Nelson Piquet

Brabham BT52

Constructors’ Champion

Ferrari

15 races

Ver en español

Key moment

«At Kyalami, the final race, Prost retired with a broken turbo and Piquet took the title from him by two points.»

How 1983 actually ended

The official final standings, from the Brazilian Grand Prix to the South African Grand Prix. This is the real result.

DriverPointsWinsPodiumsPoles
1Nelson PiquetBrabham59381
2Alain ProstRenault57473
3René ArnouxFerrari49374
4Patrick TambayFerrari40154
5Keke RosbergWilliams27121
6John WatsonMcLaren22130
7Eddie CheeverRenault22040
8Andrea de CesarisAlfa Romeo15020

It came down to 2 points: Piquet and Prost finished closer than a fourth place is worth. 8 different drivers won that year, and the final Grand Prix went to Riccardo Patrese.

Official FIA standings via Jolpica (formerly Ergast).

1983, race by race

All 15 races: who started first, who won and from where, and how many cars reached the flag.

8different drivers won: Prost 4 · Arnoux 3 · Piquet 3 · Alboreto 1 · Rosberg 1 · Patrese 1 · Tambay 1 · Watson 1.

6different teams won: Brabham 4 · Ferrari 4 · Renault 4 · McLaren 1 · Tyrrell 1 · Williams 1.

7different drivers took pole: Arnoux 4 · Tambay 4 · Prost 3 · Angelis 1 · Rosberg 1 · Patrese 1 · Piquet 1.

13different drivers stood on the podium.

2one-twos for a single team: Ferrari 1 · McLaren 1.

3 of 15races were won from pole position.

0first-ever wins: every winner had won before.

From 22ndthe win from furthest back: John Watson, United States Grand Prix West.

26 years, 164 daysthe youngest winner of the year: Michele Alboreto, Detroit Grand Prix.

47%of starts reached the flag (182 of 384).

7 of 20cars finished the Monaco Grand Prix, the race with fewest survivors.

#Grand PrixWinnerStarted
1Brazilian Grand PrixNelson PiquetBrabham4th
2United States Grand Prix WestJohn WatsonMcLaren22nd
3French Grand PrixAlain ProstRenault1st
4San Marino Grand PrixPatrick TambayFerrari3rd
5Monaco Grand PrixKeke RosbergWilliams5th
6Belgian Grand PrixAlain ProstRenault1st
7Detroit Grand PrixMichele AlboretoTyrrell6th
8Canadian Grand PrixRené ArnouxFerrari1st
9British Grand PrixAlain ProstRenault3rd
10German Grand PrixRené ArnouxFerrari2nd
11Austrian Grand PrixAlain ProstRenault5th
12Dutch Grand PrixRené ArnouxFerrari10th
13Italian Grand PrixNelson PiquetBrabham4th
14European Grand PrixNelson PiquetBrabham4th
15South African Grand PrixRiccardo PatreseBrabham3rd

Pole goes to whoever started first, after penalties. «Finished» counts classified cars that took the flag. Our source has no fastest laps before 2004.

1983 predates 1988, the year our simulator starts, so this page tells what happened and has no simulation. From 1988 on, every season can be run again a hundred times with its drivers and cars.

See 1988, the first simulated season →

Drivers of 1983

Alain Prost★ 4Riccardo Patrese6 winsMichele Alboreto5 wins
All seasons 1980-2025

Keep reading

What we have measured about 1983 and about what decided it, with our own numbers.

All articles