1985 Portuguese F1 Grand Prix Race Report & Results
Event: Portuguese Grand Prix
Track: Autódromo do Estoril
Weather: torrential rain throughout
Ayrton Senna won his 1st F1 World Championship race at the 1985 Portuguese Grand Prix on the road. The Lotus-Renault driver started from pole and won on the Estoril circuit for the 1st time. It was his 1st win in F1 and the 73rd win for the Lotus F1 team, his first F1 pole, his first F1 victory, and Lotus's first since Colin Chapman's death.
Arnoux out, Johansson into Ferrari
On Tuesday 16 April Rene Arnoux was summoned to Maranello, expecting routine. In two sentences Piccinini fired him on the spot. Enzo Ferrari himself thanked him "for everything" and offered no clear explanation; an hour later Arnoux signed a statement citing "health reasons." The real cause was never publicly explained. Stefan Johansson, only days into a Toleman contract, was released by Alex Hawkridge and signed by Ferrari, "as nervous as if I had met the Queen of England." Zakspeed made its F1 debut with Jonathan Palmer at the wheel of an all-German, all-new design.
Senna's first pole
Senna took the first pole of his career, seven-tenths clear of Piquet's 1984 mark, with Prost second. Rosberg third in a Williams that had been rebuilt around a sidepod air intake copied from the spare FW09. De Angelis fourth, Alboreto fifth, Warwick sixth. The race began in light rain that became torrential before lap 5. Rosberg stalled on the grid; the field threaded around him except Palmer, who hit the Williams and damaged his Zakspeed's front-right suspension. Mansell, Martini and Cheever started from the pits. Senna swept away into the gloom.
The Lotus on a different surface
Senna led de Angelis by 6.4 seconds on lap 1, by 12.8 by lap 6, and by 30 by lap 20. Prost held second from de Angelis at the start, but the Lotus's straight-line pace pushed him back. Hesnault aquaplaned out on lap 4; Alliot followed in the same corner. Patrese and Johansson collided on lap 5; Bellof and Winkelhock touched in the wreckage. Berger spun off on lap 14, Boutsen retired with a soaked engine on lap 32, de Cesaris parked his unsalvageable Ligier on lap 34, Cheever's plug failed lap 38, Lauda's piston broke lap 50. The only error Senna made all afternoon was to put four wheels onto the grass on lap 37; the car straightened itself and he was gone.
Prost's spin, drivers begging for a red flag
On lap 31 Prost lined up to dive past de Angelis down the start-finish straight; the McLaren slid sideways on a sheet of water, pivoted and crashed into the inside wall. Out, and bitter: "These races in the rain are completely stupid, mad. My accident is not serious in itself, but the cause displeases me." Lauda and Ducarouge walked to race control and asked for the red flag; the door was locked. Senna kept gesturing at clerk Amedee Pavesi at each lap. Pavesi refused. The two-hour ceiling intervened on lap 67. Senna took the flag a minute and 03 seconds ahead of Alboreto, the only other driver on the lead lap. Tambay third, de Angelis fourth, Mansell fifth, Bellof sixth in the Tyrrell-Cosworth, extraordinary in the conditions. First Lotus win since Chapman; first Renault engine win since Austria 1983; first F1 win for Senna. "Magic" had announced itself for real.
Classification 1985 Portuguese F1 GP
Fastest lap: 1:44.121 min by Ayrton Senna (Team Lotus 97T) in lap 15
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