When the F1 world arrived in Monaco, everybody was still in shock of the death of Gilles Villeneuve in Zolder. Pironi was the only Ferrari driver attending.
The controversies remained in Monaco. It started before the trainingsessions and it concerned Theodore and Ensign. They had no tyres. The boss of Avon, Bernie Ecclestone, had announced their retirement from racing just a few days before. And before this announcement he had given his stock of tyres to team March and their chief John McDonald. That had upset Teddy Yip.
On Thursday morning, there was a pre-qualifying session for eight drivers. Jochen Mass, again March, faked an engine problem and steped into his spare race car just after the technical and weight inspection. Despite the complaint from Toleman and the press, the marshals closed their eyes. Five drivers did not make the pre-qualification. On top of that it became known that Jean-Marie Balestre had forbidden to Amedée Pavesi to be race-director; he found that he could not represent the Auto Mobile club Monaco.
But all eyes were on the side skirts of the Ligier JS19. They were new designed and extended further than the rear tyres. “according to the rules” said Jean-Pierre Jabouille, the brain behind it. “illegal” said the officials. They had to be trimmed down! And yes, both Lafitte and Cheever went slower and were way behind on the grid.
Thursday afternoon first session saw Rene Arnoux setting fastest time. That was a surprise because one never had seen a Renault so fast on a street circuit. This was thanks to a new electronic injection with a smoother engine and less fuel consumption.
On Friday, there are numerous reunions. The Irpa, the journalist association, is there to present their yearly prices; the FOCA discussed their future reglementation and the PRDA ( pilots) discusses safety and Jaen Graton presents the new Michel Vaillant album. ”Rififi en F1”
On Saturday after a chaotic F3 race ( Alain Ferté won after hitting his team mate Philippe Alliot), time for a second qualifying. Rene Arnoux pulled out a banzai-lap with his Renault RE30B just at the end of the session. Patrese (Brabham BT49B) was second and surprisingly Bruno Giacomelli (Alfa Romeo 182) third, Prost on P04 and Pironi P05.
Among the non-qualifyers were Jan Lammers( Theodore #33), Warwick (Toleman#35), Guerrero(Ensign #14), Mass and Jarier. (#4= Brian Henton, Tyrrell)
Sunday race day. Twenty cars got away from the start grid. Arnoux got away in front of Giacomelli, Patrese, Prost (Renault ),Pironi (Ligier), De Cesaris (Alfa),Alboreto (Tyrrell 011), Rosberg (Williams FW08),Mansell(Lotus 91) and Daly (Williams). While Arnoux in the lead builded up a gap, Alain Prost confirmed the superiority of th Renaults and passed Patrese in lap2 and Giacomelli in lap 4. Bruno had the race of his life, but his transmission broke down.
Arnoux controlled Prost over 7 seconds…until the 15th lap when he lost control of the rear of his Renault and his car spun at the Piscine-S curve. Surrealistic scene: the Renault stalled in the middle of the road, without touching anything. The V6 turbo had stopped and the battery power was too low to start again. The cars tood in a dangerous position, but no marshall had the intention to give a “push-start” as is stated in the rulebooks. René left his car and saw his team mate Prost leading the race with 6 seconds in front of Patrese.
The Grand Prix was into a relax moment further with only retirements as highlights. The ATS from Salazar and Winkelhock and both the Ligier cars had to stop. In lap 22 Rosberg had passed Alboreto for fifth place and in Lap 25 Watson passed Daly. But in lap 37, his ignition failed. Derek Daly then got stuck behind the Lotus of Mansell. In lap 46 Mansell touched Brian Henton(Tyrrell) in an attempt to lap him and had to change tyres.
In the meantime, the race got spiced up again by Nelson Piquet. He was forced to drive the Brabham BWM turbo. When he was about to be lapped by leader Prost, he ignored the blue flags for two laps because he knew his team mate Patrese was not far behind. The other Brabham was able to close the gap. Pironi could not do this and was threatened by De Cesaris and Rosberg.
Free again, Prost was in the lead like he always does. Building the gap greater again, passing smoothly without losing too much time. Nothing happened until 10 laps to the end apart from the retirements of Piquet and Lauda. Prost was eight seconds in front of Patrese. Big dark clouds are moving in the Monaco sky. In lap 65, Rosberg had enough of De Cesaris and tried to pass him. He ended in the guard rails. Alboreteo had a suspension failure after a touch with the barrier in lap 70. So the order was Prost – Patrese- Pironi -De Cesaris and Daly when the rain arrived. A thin layer, but mixed with oil a dangerous combination and the track became an ice skate ring. Hoping for a red flag, Prost raised his hand. It did not work.
In lap 74 out of 76, Prost lost his Renault in the harbour chicane and flew nose first straight into the barrier and bounced back. When he left his wreckage, Patrese became the leader. A few moments later, Derek Daly spun around at the Bureau de Tabac and damaged his rear wing and, as was detected later, the oil radiator. The Williams got going again spaying his oil on the tarmac. In the next lap, Patrese was not prepared for this and spun at Mirabeau. To get the Brabham out of the way, the marshals stated to push the car towards Loews. But thanks to the decline, he got going again.
It is Pironi in the lead now for the last lap followed by De Cesaris. The tifosi went wild until… the entrance of the tunnel. He thought that he ignition of the Ferrari had been broken, however the car stopped because there was …no fuel. Who is going to win now ? De Cesaris ? No, the Alfa Romeo also had no fuel and rolled to a halt at Casino square. Who then? Daly ? No, his gearbox had no oil left anymore ! He stopped at Rascasse. It is Patrese who crossed the line as the winner, but he might be disqualified. But it can also be De Angelis who got secretly up from the last place. No, it is his team mate Mansell who had passed him in a moment of not paying attention. He crossed the line behind Patrese, but was a lap down.
After reviewing the video, the commissionaires estimated the pushing of the Brabham a legal thing and Ricardo Patrese won his first F1 race. Mansell will be classified as fourth behind Pironi and Ce Cesaris who did one lap more than him. Elio de Angelis is fifth in front of Daly.
Results:
5 of the 10 finishers were not running at the flag
Fastest lap: Patrese 1m26.354 on lap 69
Publication: 23/03/2024Back to overview
