1984 Italian Grand Prix

This is the complete race as broadcast on LIVE TV.

A significant race, as the FIA Court of Appeal confirmed a ban on the Tyrrell team for the rest of the
season, so the 1984 Italian Grand Prix would be the first all-turbo race in F1 history. With Tyrrell out,
their lead driver Stephan Johansson was looking for a ride, and he found one over at the Toleman Team,
who had just suspended their star driver Ayrton Senna when they discovered the Brazilian had signed a
contract to race for Lotus in 1985. There were also rumors that Nigel Mansell would be leaving Lotus to
head over to Williams to replace Jacques Laffite. Also, the lower budget ATS team brought out a second
car, and signed newcomer Gerhard Berger, who would place 6th in this race, but was ineligible to score
points because ATS had only registered one car for the season, and Berger was listed as a second driver.

Pole position went to Nelson Piquet, followed by Alain Prost’s McLaren, then Elio de Angelis’ Lotus, and
fourth was Prost’s McLaren teammate Niki Lauda. At the start, Piquet took the lead over Prost, with Elio
de Angelis quickly falling behind a fast-starting Patrick Tambay. This race quickly became a game of
attrition, as cars began having all sorts of mechanical and electrical problems. Alain Prost was out on lap 3
with an engine failure. The Ferrari of Rene Arnoux was next, breaking his gearbox on lap 4. Andrea de
Cesaris and teammate Francois Hesnault both retired on lap 7, ending the day for Ligier. Then a couple
laps later, the Williams cars of Keke Rosberg and Jacques Laffite retired with engine problems. Next up,
it was the Lotus Team of Nigel Mansell and Elio de Angelis both retiring, followed by Derek Warwick in
the Renault. By lap 31 of 51, half the cars that had started this race were out.

In the final 10 laps of the race, Teo Fabi (Brabham) retired when an oil line burst. On lap 43, Patrick
Tambay broke the throttle linkage in his Renault, and a couple laps later, Eddie Cheever (Alfa Romeo) ran
out of fuel. With only a handful of cars remaining, it was Niki Lauda taking the victory, followed by
Michele Alboreto in the remaining Ferrari, and Riccardo Patrese rounding out the podium.

There are some Japanese subtitles, as well as a segment that has Japanese commentary, but the vast
majority of this broadcast is the famous BBC broadcast team of Murray Walker and James Hunt. This
footage is very clear, and fans of vintage F1 racing will see how these turbo cars ran back in 1984.