1984 French Grand Prix

1984 French Grand Prix
Race 5 of 16 in the 1984 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date	20 May 1984
Official name	70e Grand Prix de France
Location	Dijon-Prenois, Dijon, France
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	3.801 km (2.361 miles)
Distance	79 laps, 300.279 km (186.519 miles)
Weather	Dry
Pole position
Driver	Patrick Tambay	Renault
Time	1:02.200
Fastest lap
Driver	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG
Time	1:05.257 on lap 59
Podium
First	Niki Lauda	McLaren-TAG
Second	Patrick Tambay	Renault
Third	Nigel Mansell	Lotus-Renault
Lap leaders

The 1984 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Dijon-Prenois near Dijon, France on 20 May 1984. It was race 5 of 16 in the 1984 FIA Formula One World Championship.

This was the final Formula One race to be held at the 3.801 km (2.362 mi) Dijon-Prenois circuit, as it was deemed too short by governing body FISA. Fittingly in France, Frenchman Patrick Tambay, in the all-French team (French car, French engine, French tyres and French fuel) scored the Equipe Renault team's last pole position until their return to the sport in 2002.

Double World Champion Niki Lauda won the race in his McLaren-TAG, his first win in France since 1975. Tambay finished second in his Renault RE50, with the Lotus-Renault of Nigel Mansell third. Lauda's team-mate and World Championship leader, Alain Prost, could only manage seventh after he was forced to pit to change a loose wheel.

Andrea de Cesaris failed to qualify his Ligier, but nonetheless started the race and finished tenth. De Cesaris' Friday qualifying time was disallowed when his car's onboard fire extinguisher was found to be empty, before rain in the Saturday session prevented him from setting a time fast enough to make the grid. Ligier took the bizarre step of withdrawing their second car, driven by François Hesnault (who had qualified 14th), in order to allow de Cesaris to start 26th and last.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Q1	Q2	Gap
1	15	Patrick Tambay	Renault	1:02.200	1:24.855	—
2	11	Elio de Angelis	Lotus-Renault	1:02.336	1:20.859	+0.136
3	1	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-BMW	1:02.806	1:30.893	+0.606
4	6	Keke Rosberg	Williams-Honda	1:02.908	1:30.872	+0.708
5	7	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG	1:02.982	1:25.397	+0.782
6	12	Nigel Mansell	Lotus-Renault	1:03.200	1:20.061	+1.000
7	16	Derek Warwick	Renault	1:03.540	1:23.363	+1.340
8	14	Manfred Winkelhock	ATS-BMW	1:03.865	1:28.393	+1.665
9	8	Niki Lauda	McLaren-TAG	1:04.419	1:25.567	+2.219
10	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	1:04.459	1:22.749	+2.259
11	28	René Arnoux	Ferrari	1:04.917	1:22.707	+2.517
12	5	Jacques Laffite	Williams-Honda	1:05.410	1:27.917	+3.210
13	19	Ayrton Senna	Toleman-Hart	1:05.744	1:28.225	+3.544
14	18	Thierry Boutsen	Arrows-BMW	1:05.972	1:25.252	+3.772
15	22	Riccardo Patrese	Alfa Romeo	1:06.172	1:28.124	+3.972
16	23	Eddie Cheever	Alfa Romeo	1:06.281	1:23.770	+4.081
17	2	Teo Fabi	Brabham-BMW	1:06.370	no time	+4.170
18	20	Johnny Cecotto	Toleman-Hart	1:08.109	1:31.359	+5.989
19	17	Marc Surer	Arrows-Ford	1:08.457	1:26.943	+6.257
20	4	Stefan Bellof	Tyrrell-Ford	1:08.608	1:29.539	+6.408
21	10	Jonathan Palmer	RAM-Hart	1:09.047	no time	+6.847
22	9	Philippe Alliot	RAM-Hart	1:09.447	no time	+7.247
23	3	Martin Brundle	Tyrrell-Ford	1:09.554	1:28.555	+7.354
24	21	Mauro Baldi	Spirit-Hart	1:09.629	1:31.021	+7.429
25	24	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Osella-Alfa Romeo	1:11.625	1:32.541	+10.431
26	26	Andrea de Cesaris	Ligier-Renault	no time	1:22.388	+20.188
—	25	François Hesnault*	Ligier-Renault	1:05.850	1:22.272	—

* François Hesnault qualified 14th with a time of 1:05.850 in the first qualifying session. However, Ligier withdrew his entry in order for their #1 driver Andrea de Cesaris to start, after the Italian's Friday time was disallowed due to an empty on-board fire extinguisher in his JS23 and he could not post a quick time in the wet final session.

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	8	Niki Lauda	McLaren-TAG	79	1:31:11.951	9	9
2	15	Patrick Tambay	Renault	79	+ 7.154	1	6
3	12	Nigel Mansell	Lotus-Renault	79	+ 23.969	6	4
4	28	René Arnoux	Ferrari	79	+ 43.706	11	3
5	11	Elio de Angelis	Lotus-Renault	79	+ 1:06.125	2	2
6	6	Keke Rosberg	Williams-Honda	78	+ 1 Lap	4	1
7	7	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG	78	+ 1 Lap	5
8	5	Jacques Laffite	Williams-Honda	78	+ 1 Lap	12
9	2	Teo Fabi	Brabham-BMW	78	+ 1 Lap	17
10	26	Andrea de Cesaris	Ligier-Renault	77	+ 2 Laps	26
11	18	Thierry Boutsen	Arrows-BMW	77	+ 2 Laps	14
12	24	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Osella-Alfa Romeo	74	+ 5 Laps	25
13	10	Jonathan Palmer	RAM-Hart	72	+ 7 Laps	21
DSQ	3	Martin Brundle	Tyrrell-Ford	76	Disqualified	23
Ret	21	Mauro Baldi	Spirit-Hart	61	Engine	24
Ret	16	Derek Warwick	Renault	53	Accident	7
Ret	17	Marc Surer	Arrows-Ford	51	Accident	19
Ret	23	Eddie Cheever	Alfa Romeo	51	Engine	16
Ret	19	Ayrton Senna	Toleman-Hart	35	Turbo	13
Ret	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	33	Engine	10
Ret	20	Johnny Cecotto	Toleman-Hart	22	Turbo	18
Ret	22	Riccardo Patrese	Alfa Romeo	15	Engine	15
Ret	1	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-BMW	11	Turbo	3
DSQ	4	Stefan Bellof	Tyrrell-Ford	11	Disqualified	20
Ret	14	Manfred Winkelhock	ATS-BMW	5	Clutch	8
Ret	9	Philippe Alliot	RAM-Hart	4	Electrical	22
Source:

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Alain Prost	24
2	Niki Lauda	18
3	Derek Warwick	13
4	René Arnoux	13
5	Elio de Angelis	12
Source:

Constructors' Championship standings

Pos	Constructor	Points
1	McLaren-TAG	42
2	Ferrari	22
3	Renault	20
4	Lotus-Renault	16
5	Williams-Honda	10
Source:

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Points accurate at final declaration of results. Tyrrell and its drivers were subsequently disqualified and their points reallocated.