South African Grand Prix 1983-10-15

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Event
South African Grand Prix

Date
Sat 15th October 1983 (UTC)
Sat 15th October 1983 (Local)

Timestamp
1983-10-15T00:00:00

Time

00:00:00 UTC (00:00:00 Local)

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League
Formula 1

Season
1983

Round
15

Status

Location
Kyalami Racing Circuit

Video Highlights

Description

The season finale was the South African Grand Prix at the fast, high-altitude Kyalami circuit between Johannesburg and Pretoria. Tambay took pole with Piquet, the best-positioned of the title contenders, in second. Arnoux was fourth with Prost fifth. If the race finished like that, Piquet would be champion. Piquet assumed the lead at the start to further enhance his chances. Prost fought his way up to third, while an early engine failure for Arnoux put him out of the running. With Prost in third and Patrese in second, Piquet's teammate kept Prost behind him. However, when Prost's turbo failed on lap 44, Piquet needed only to finish in the top four. He backed off, and eventually surrendered the lead to Patrese, who became the season's eighth winner. Piquet also allowed Lauda through into second place, but the Austrian's electrics failed three laps later. De Cesaris also passed Piquet before the end, securing his second podium of the year for Alfa Romeo. Third for Piquet was enough to secure him his second world championship, while Warwick once again finished in the points for Toleman in fourth. Rosberg and Cheever rounded out the points. Only two points separated Piquet and Prost at the end, the Frenchman having led in the title race for most of the season. Renault also lost the Constructors' Championship, with Ferrari securing the title for the second year in succession.