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F1 World
  • 17/05/2025
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00:00:00Mountain cowbells from a herd of lazy dairy cattle as they move across one of these lush green rolling meadows is in heavy contrast to the
00:00:0912,000 rpm roar
00:00:12Blasting from 26 Formula One cars as they streak to speeds touching 200 miles per hour
00:00:19But here in the very center of Austria at the challenging
00:00:22Osterreich ring Grand Prix circuit both live in perfect harmony
00:00:27This beautiful countryside providing the setting for one of the world's most testing GP circuits
00:00:343.7 up-and-down miles of tight chicanes ultra-fast straights and long sweeping bends
00:00:40Demand the most from men and machines
00:00:43and like the
00:00:45unpredictability of a mountain climb
00:00:47Osterreich ring has always produced
00:00:50Unpredictable Grand Prix weekends
00:00:51This is the 15th Formula One World Championship event in Zeltway and only three pole setters have ever gone on to victory
00:00:59With the tough conditions taking their toll on many race leaders in the closing laps
00:01:05With such a fast layout. It's definitely a terrible circuit, but these
00:01:101,500 CC
00:01:11700 horsepower motors have only claimed the checkered flag twice
00:01:16The countryside doesn't only provide a
00:01:18Challenging track line, but also some of the best spectator vantage points possible
00:01:23Over 80% of the course is visible from several hillsides and four large grandstands provide covered seating for
00:01:3220,000
00:01:34Austria shares common borders with six other countries helping to make its GP one of the most
00:01:40international races on the f1 tour
00:01:42The home fans find themselves a minority and a crowd of a hundred and fifty thousand plus
00:01:49over 40% of the ticket holders are Italians some 15%
00:01:53Follow up their Grand Prix by traveling from Germany. And this is the closest GP to the
00:02:00Communist Eastern Bloc countries attracting thousands of fans from Yugoslavia Hungary and Czechoslovakia
00:02:07What a great example a Grand Prix weekend must make is the ultimate Western capitalistic sporting event
00:02:14So to be heard
00:02:16Locals must shout in unison for Austrian national hero
00:02:19Nikki Lada who has returned seeking his first victory for ten starts at the home circuit and win number four this season
00:02:28This is John Bisignano about a hundred and twenty beautiful miles southeast of Salzburg in Zeltweg, Austria
00:02:35I'll be your host along with Simon Taylor for this 90-minute ESPN coverage of the Austrian Grand Prix
00:02:42for Formula One race cars
00:02:44Simon and I will be presenting special reports driver interviews all the latest f1 updates plus the fantastic
00:02:51Grand Prix race action. So please join us after this short break for the 12th round of the
00:02:581984 season and a detailed look at the cost and return on investment of Formula One
00:03:05We'll be right back
00:03:07The Austrian mountains surrounding
00:03:10Austerlich ring helped generate a more relaxed atmosphere throughout a normally high-tension f1 paddock
00:03:17So we decided to use this cordial situation to help offset some of the heavy-weighted questions concerning
00:03:24cost and return on investment of Formula One
00:03:27After Jackie Oliver retired from driving f1 machinery. He turned his talents to team management
00:03:34Jackie has been owner-manager of the Barclay Arrows Racing Team Limited since its formation in
00:03:411978 this weekend will mark the team's
00:03:44100th Grand Prix start
00:03:48Jackie what's the total budget needed to campaign to Formula One cars in a winning manner throughout a Grand Prix season?
00:03:55Well, that's always a very embarrassing question to ask anybody so without actually referring to my own team
00:04:01I think if you talk total sponsorship a
00:04:05Small team would want about two million dollars to do the job a median team between three or four
00:04:10And the major team that's a world championship team, for example
00:04:14We'll probably ask for around eight million, but these are just rough figures. Of course, don't hold me to it
00:04:18How much does money influence the team's performance?
00:04:22well
00:04:2425% of the cost of racing comes from spectators and that percentage may be even lower with some of the bigger teams
00:04:31So that if money is success and it's green colored then winning races has to be green
00:04:37You can't do it unless you've got the right budget. You can't hire the right drivers. You can't get the right engines
00:04:43You can't do the right development or the testing and you can't use the right materials
00:04:47So it's the budget is one of the most important things
00:04:50So every aspect of the team is affected by how much money you have to spend on it. You mentioned testing and
00:04:56R&D research and development
00:04:58So if someone has more money that they can go further down the line in in developing the best car. I
00:05:04Think one can get the wrong idea by saying unless you've got money
00:05:08You can't win and there are examples in the past of people that have had small budgets
00:05:13They have one you're gonna have the right people a little bit of luck and the right engine. It's not just money
00:05:18It's an important role, but it's not the major thing. So that's your approach to
00:05:23Competing against some teams that Jackie that have twice the budget that you do
00:05:27Well, if you take some of the major manufacturers, for example, that don't have a budget
00:05:31You know, it's war and you don't go back and the front line and the colonel say I need more money to finish this war
00:05:37You know, you do whatever is necessary and and Renault for example have an unlimited budget
00:05:42But they haven't won the World Championship
00:05:44They were beaten quite fairly by Nelson Piquet in the Babham last year and I dare say on a much smaller budget
00:05:51How do you go out to search for millions of dollars you might be approaching
00:05:55Executives of a company who have never been to a Formula One race
00:05:59You just can't show up at the front door and say I need two million bucks. Well, there is no particular form
00:06:05I think
00:06:06Sports marketing is now a viable fourth alternative to television or print media or outside door advertising
00:06:14The trouble is with sports marketing is that any sports marketing is a very complex subject
00:06:19of which most people don't know anything about it is a it's a it's a box of worms if you like and
00:06:26Some companies have gone into sports sponsorship and got their fingers burned because they haven't hired the right people
00:06:31Or haven't looked at it or studied it closely enough to begin with
00:06:36I think what you have to do is you have to get away from the idea that sports marketing is now a
00:06:42Pet hobby of the president of the company. It's not there's too many good examples of company
00:06:47That are successfully marketing their products worldwide with sports marketing
00:06:51Once you've approached the company that seems to be looking at that
00:06:55Alternative and I think it is an alternative to television advertising for example
00:06:59Then you have to look at their needs and then once you've done that I think you put forward a logical marketing process
00:07:05Which involves a Grand Prix team and its drivers and the country in which it races and if it makes sense
00:07:11Then normally they buy it if it doesn't they don't how about the drivers bringing in sponsorships?
00:07:16How does that work within the system? Well any sport is very nationalistic skiing is very nationalistic
00:07:24Grand Prix racing fortunately or unfortunately is not
00:07:28There's a little bit of flag waving, but not not too much
00:07:31It's more international, but there's no doubt that if you have a German driver and you market in Germany
00:07:36You're going to get more publicity there
00:07:38So a lot of people that have got a main market in Germany would probably want a German driver
00:07:44It's not so good from a team's point of view because there may not be the best driver coming from Germany or from
00:07:49Off in the United States if those two things should fall in line
00:07:53Then it's perfect for the team, but normally we like to sort of hire our drivers
00:07:57and they get our sponsorship differently, but there are a number of examples of in the sport of
00:08:03Companies or individuals sponsoring the driver to put them in a Formula one team
00:08:08Jackie what do you actually provide your sponsors for a return on their investment?
00:08:13Well sports marketing is always difficult to quantify if you buy a TV campaign
00:08:18Then you know exactly what you're going to get but with sports marketing and Grand Prix in particular
00:08:23Though we we televise each of the Grand Prix's to 44 countries
00:08:27You can't always guarantee that you're actually going to get on the TV with your car with your name on
00:08:32So when you look at the figures you have to look at the overall effect
00:08:36And there are an awful lot of people and I know I meet them at the airport
00:08:39So interested in Grand Prix, and if someone's interesting in a field of endeavor any sponsor involved in there
00:08:45it's going to get some feedback and
00:08:48To quantify it we can 44 countries and so many viewers, but the figures are far greater than anything you can quantify
00:08:56So it's a it's a great image builder, and it's a great way to meet their target market. Yes
00:09:01It's it's a young market 18 to 45 or the viewers and so forth and that
00:09:07The statistics are 50 million viewers for a Grand Prix watch it on television
00:09:12One and a half million people a year pay
00:09:15To come and watch it in there in the Tribune at 16 locations around the world and it's predominantly male
00:09:21And it's a young market
00:09:23It's up market bias highly technical
00:09:27Thrilling a glamorous sport Grand Prix racing if that sort of fits into your market
00:09:31Then you certainly get your money's worth
00:09:34Jared Flosdorf is the marketing manager for Ross which is a men's clothing company just outside of Stuttgart
00:09:41To us on the Formula One circuit. He's known as Flossie
00:09:44Flossie
00:09:47There isn't a huge
00:09:49Identification of boss on the McLaren car that the television cameras really couldn't pick it up at speed or so forth
00:09:55What's the idea of being a strong secondary sponsor?
00:10:00through your marketing program
00:10:02First of all you must see our product. We have a very exclusive product very expensive product and in our mind
00:10:09we think that we have to do an understatement sponsorship that means that we
00:10:15Mustn't have it so big so large than Marlboro and
00:10:20The second thing is that
00:10:22Both drivers Alan pros and Niki Lauda are very important for us
00:10:26And that means that the whole sponsorship at McLaren is built around the drivers
00:10:33You know on the car. We are only there where the drivers names is
00:10:38From our position. I think that's the right way to do it for us. Anyway, if you have a bigger
00:10:44Name on the car we think it's not so effective because the red and white Marlboro signs are so strong
00:10:51It's not good to have it so big there
00:10:54So when I the positioning of the drivers patches on these two world-class
00:11:00people who are leading the championship that is also very important as far as the
00:11:05Photography of the results from the race and so forth
00:11:08That's the most important thing for us if you see pictures in magazines and newspapers
00:11:13You know, I think 80% of the pictures
00:11:18Profile pictures from the drivers and if you have a picture you always see the bus sign on the pictures
00:11:23This doesn't come inexpensive just because the size is smaller
00:11:27I mean, it's a heavy investment for the company for the bus company is a heavy investment
00:11:32I think it's we spent
00:11:35nearly 45% of our whole advertising budgets in sports in tennis and in motorsport and
00:11:42That means that motorsport will get 60% of the sports budget
00:11:48And how many countries is boss marketed around the world and whole Europe?
00:11:54without Italy
00:11:56United States Canada
00:11:59That is our main market, how does it work have you been happy with the return?
00:12:05Yes, we are very happy
00:12:07Especially this year with McLaren and we have fantastic results and let's say after five races
00:12:13we had all we get all the money back what we expect for the whole year, but I
00:12:19Think important is that your personal interesting in the sport what you are sponsored?
00:12:25Because you can't find a direct result if you get it back or not
00:12:29But if you have every year an increase about 40%
00:12:33Then that can't be wrong what you are doing in
00:12:37Advertising and sponsorship you must be doing something right with 40% increase in sales a year
00:12:41Yeah, because it's not just the McLaren drivers
00:12:44It's it's many drivers that at least carry your patches or a helmet sticker is is that to go back to certain local markets?
00:12:51Yes, we have
00:12:53The main market is a German market and therefore we have the both German drivers
00:12:58Stefan Belov and Manfred Winkelhardt
00:13:00From this position because Germany it's the strongest market then we for the Scandinavian markets. We take Stefan Johansson
00:13:09for the United Kingdom Jonathan Palmer and Nigel Mansell and that's good for the all
00:13:15Other markets it's enough with McLaren, you know, Nikki. It's the best you can get
00:13:21So it's an exclusive line of men's clothing and a very exclusive line of sports
00:13:26Yes, I would like to say that and that's where you meet your target market
00:13:30Yes, sure as far as the return on investment that all of these f1 sponsors are looking for
00:13:36It was best illustrated to me while I was at a Hockenheim Formula two race and the Long Beach Grand Prix was going on
00:13:43Some 8,000 miles away. They're sitting in a hotel room 11 o'clock at night watching a two-hour broadcast live
00:13:51from Long Beach with all of the f1 sponsors very well represented that same telecast was going to some
00:13:5740 other countries worldwide as far as the cost
00:14:01No one has ever summed it up better than the late and great Graham Hill when he said speed costs money
00:14:08How fast do you want to go?
00:14:11We'll be right back after these short messages with Simon Taylor and the fantastic qualifying story at the Osterreich ring
00:14:21You
00:14:28Here at the Austrian Grand Prix one driver that all the Austrian crowd have come to see is Nikki Lauda
00:14:34currently lying second in the world championship for the McLaren team of Ron Dennis and
00:14:39After a scorching practice lap, he's fourth quickest on the grid
00:14:44Nikki Lauda at his home Grand Prix here in Austria trying for his first win for ten starts
00:14:50Nikki you've won at virtually every Grand Prix circuit around the world that Austria has always alluded you to this point, right?
00:14:57Yeah, so we see how it goes tomorrow. It's gonna be very difficult race
00:15:00I think between BK Prost and myself, but it's very difficult to say today. What will happen?
00:15:04Yesterday you were actually quicker in qualifying than today. Was that changes to the car or track conditions or trying new time?
00:15:10I didn't set my car up as well as I did yesterday. So I had an oversteering problem
00:15:14So therefore couldn't go as quick
00:15:15Were you going to try and make a faster time right at the end of practice and then the oil went down
00:15:19Is was that what you were waiting for to try and get another run?
00:15:22Yeah, try to get another one, but I couldn't do it. The track was gone by then
00:15:26That was gone, but I was quickest which is good enough for you
00:15:29Like that starting position frying you would rather be on pole, but that's a scoring qualifying position here
00:15:34Oh, it's very good here because you can pass and that's no problem. One of your favorite circuits your home course
00:15:39I like it. It's one of
00:15:40All of them. I don't have a favorite but it's okay
00:15:44The third row is all Renault with Patrick Tambay fifth quickest and this is the first Grand Prix in history
00:15:51Where every single starter will be turbocharged
00:15:54It's amazing to remember that it's seven years now since Renault introduced turbocharging to Grand Prix racing
00:16:00And they put so much development into it over that period of time and now everybody is using a turbocharged system
00:16:08Patrick Tambay the amiable Frenchman then is fifth quickest and alongside him his own teammate the cheerful Englishman Derrick Warwick
00:16:16Who is sixth quickest?
00:16:17So 15 and 16 side by side on row three of the grid
00:16:22Tambay who's had an unlucky season in terms of points
00:16:25But Derrick Warwick who has been scoring points again recently and is currently fifth in the world championship
00:16:31Just one and a half points behind René Arnoux and still with a theoretical chance of getting to the head of the championship table
00:16:41As Derrick Warwick goes out
00:16:43Let's move down the grid to a man who always goes quickly
00:16:47Always seems to have bad luck and is very much an underrated driver
00:16:51The American who lives in Italy who drives for the Italian Alfa Romeo team Eddie Chiva
00:16:57Austria Recring has been an exciting track for you in the past last year. You had a very close finish here
00:17:03Yeah, it is a nice track, but it's one of those tracks that we have to have a lot of horsepower because it's so fast
00:17:09Our Alfa Romeo this year is a little bit underpowered and we have an old engine and we're right in the middle of a process
00:17:14Of changing all the technicians and the engines and so it's a we're in a very difficult period
00:17:19So I don't really think my position on the grid, which is 16th is that promising for tomorrow?
00:17:24A lot of changes for you this year. Not only with the team but
00:17:28Yourself and getting used to a new team coming from Renault
00:17:33How difficult is it to adjust to a new situation like that? It's very difficult
00:17:37In fact, that's probably the reason the main reason why I'm going to stay here again next year at the Alfa Bennett
00:17:41I'm because I I think it's
00:17:43Important that you work with people a long time so you get to know what each other wants
00:17:47So you don't waste too much time when you're testing or building an engine or building a car around something
00:17:51I'm part of a plan right from the beginning now instead of coming into something else. It's already been done
00:17:57So that has to help every time you go out in the machinery, you know, it definitely helps
00:18:01But the most important thing is that you have to have good machinery. So this year we haven't had good machinery
00:18:05Our engine is not fuel economic. It's not that powerful and qualifying and we pay the price
00:18:11You know, we've paid we've been in running
00:18:13We've never been really up there except once in Detroit, but we could have won but we had a problem with a heat exchanger
00:18:18We've always been a bit farther back because we can't run with the amount of fuel that we'd like to
00:18:23That must be terribly frustrating. I mean here you are out there battling
00:18:26You know that the engine is capable of more power
00:18:28But if you use it all you're not going to make it to the finish line
00:18:32Jack Brabham said once to finish first you have to first finish so you just realize that I mean
00:18:38I begin the race knowing what my possibilities are. So I don't just start it's frustrating the first or second time
00:18:43But after a while you get used to it, but you don't really want to get used to it
00:18:46Now I'm used to doing the race
00:18:48But this winter I'm gonna make a lot of noise and shout and rant and rave
00:18:51To make sure we get a much better fuel system than we have now
00:18:56When you're on a power circuit like this some of the longer straightaways, it must be
00:19:02Heartbreaking to have someone just power their way past you. I mean, it's like the old Cosworth turbo days returning to you
00:19:08It's a recurring nightmare. You're having a 10 mile difference between the fastest car here at our car
00:19:13That's a lot that's hard to make up on their brakes or some other element of the car
00:19:17There's no way you can make it up. They have 200 horsepower more than we have we run in qualifying probably
00:19:23670 maybe 700 and some cars run with 900. I heard the BMW runs at 950 horsepower
00:19:29That's a jumbo. I think he's gonna call the control tire and asked to take off at the end of the straight
00:19:34I mean they really get going but that's good. That's a formula ones all about technology
00:19:38Alpha have been on a on a bad streak for 20 years
00:19:41They had the wrong technicians in the in the in the wrong place and they've taken some really aggressive action
00:19:48They've changed a lot of things and now we're gonna see if their ingredients are right whether it comes out correctly or not
00:19:52Do you enjoy racing in the States? Oh, I enjoy racing everywhere
00:19:55But for me to race in the States is probably more interesting because I'm an American
00:20:00It has a special meaning to everybody. I think to go back
00:20:02From qualifying we now look ahead to the Austrian Grand Prix race itself and ESPN
00:20:08Autoracing 84 will be back with the full story after this message
00:20:24So to the
00:20:251984 Austrian Grand Prix
00:20:2851 laps run this twisting curving plunging circuit
00:20:323.7 miles round which is the fastest circuit in terms of average speed that the Grand Prix Circus comes to all year
00:20:39Nelson Piquet averaged
00:20:41154 miles an hour round here yesterday to set his pole position time and a huge crowd
00:20:47estimated at
00:20:49150,000 has come to see the battle between McLaren and Brabham and Lotus and Renault and they're all going to be cheering for
00:20:56Their local hero Niki Lauda to see whether he can indeed score his first victory in his home Grand Prix
00:21:04But there's no doubt that the Brabhams are quick and Nelson Piquet wants to better his score so far of only two wins
00:21:11This year and no points from any of the other races due to a succession of mechanical failures
00:21:18Alain Prost on the other hand leads the world championship after a tremendously successful season
00:21:24He's won four Grands Prix
00:21:26He's got forty three and a half points and his nearest challenger is his own teammate Niki Lauda in second place
00:21:33Elio de Angelis has had a very consistent year. He's scored points in all but two of the races
00:21:39But third in the championship
00:21:41He's now a long way on points behind the leading McLaren's and here's the man in second place the man the Austrians love
00:21:4939 points after three wins so far this year Niki Lauda the Austrian veteran and
00:21:55The highest championship points scorer of all time
00:21:59This week, it's Patrick Tambay who's the faster of the two Renault drivers, although he's only scored nine points this year his best finish
00:22:07second in his own French Grand Prix at Dijon earlier in the season and
00:22:12Here's his English teammate Derek Warrick two second places two thirds so far this season
00:22:19But he still never won a Grand Prix
00:22:22So the field now coming out for their final warm-up lap 25 cars on the grid now instead of the usual 26
00:22:30That's because the German driver Manfred Winkelhoff has had transmission trouble at the very last moment with his 80s BMW and can't start
00:22:38There is however one 80s in the race and that's being driven by Gerhard Berger
00:22:44The young Austrian Formula 3 star who will have his first Grand Prix ever in front of his home crowd
00:22:50Actually three Austrian drivers in this race because we've also got Joe Gartner having another round in the second azella
00:22:57But there's Lauda and he is very much the Austrian number one
00:23:01but number one in the whole queue and carrying of course number one as he
00:23:05Is entitled to do as the reigning world champion is Nelson Piquet and he's leading the field now round on this final warm-up lap
00:23:14Once again, the current world champion and the current world championship leader up at the front of the grid
00:23:21Piquet and Prost
00:23:23Elio de Angelis, Niki Lauda
00:23:25Patrick Tambay, Derek Warrick, Tao Farby in the second Brabham, Nigel Mansell in the second Lotus and
00:23:33Keke Rosberg the man who had that wonderful win in Dallas but has had such a difficult season so far apart from that run in the
00:23:40Williams Honda following through
00:23:45Round the
00:23:49Downhill right-hand Jochen Rindt curver come the field slowly to take up their starting positions
00:23:56Pole position on the outside of the circuit for this track
00:23:59So you see the dark blue and white Brabham taking up the pole with the red and white McLaren of Prost behind
00:24:04Then the black and gold Lotus and the red and white McLaren of Lauda and the two yellow Renaults
00:24:10With Ayrton Senna next up in the Toleman and alongside him Nigel Mansell in the other Lotus
00:24:17there's Lauda on the second row and
00:24:20We wait now for the traditional start the red light
00:24:24Which brings everybody to redness then the green and I don't think we even had a green light there properly
00:24:29But everybody seems to have moved away a slightly muddled start there and a couple of cars left on the grid
00:24:35Because Elio de Angelis seemed to stall completely
00:24:38De Angelis left the grid Patrick Tambay stuck behind him
00:24:42But it's Alain Prost who's taken the lead
00:24:44Prost from Piquet from Lauda from Senna Ayrton Senna has come right up
00:24:48into fourth place from tenth place on the grid the rest of the field fuddling through and
00:24:53Elio de Angelis has got away and is following the rest through at the back a very confused start
00:25:00But up in front there's no confusion because it's the battle between Prost and Piquet well and truly joined
00:25:06Up the hill they go to the Tirok curva along from the Tirok curva to the downhill Bosch curva
00:25:14Which they take at a hundred and fifty five miles an hour
00:25:17Coming now down to the Bosch curva Prost, Piquet, Lauda, Senna then a gap before we get Rosberg
00:25:24Mansell, Derek Warrick, Theo Fabi and
00:25:27Andrea de Cesaris who's also made a good start in the Ligier moving up
00:25:32And we've got red flags waving down here at the start
00:25:36I thought that start was pretty confused and the officials have decided it was a false start
00:25:41That's Hugh Bruttengatter the Dutchman charging off into the corn in the spirit Honda
00:25:46But we've got red flags here at the line and the race is being stopped now
00:25:50This means that that first one lap they had had will be annulled and the whole race will restart at its full length
00:25:59So red flags here the field being brought in and we've got another start to come here at the Austrian Grand Prix
00:26:19Back at the Austrian Grand Prix
00:26:21We've got the field
00:26:23Reassembled for a new start and the word is that the starting lights didn't function correctly the red stayed on
00:26:30Opinions differ as to whether the green light ever went green
00:26:34Elio de Angelis stalled there you see him with his hand raised and Niki Lauda going round the back of him and that was a further
00:26:41complication and
00:26:42You can see in this replay just how Ayrton Senna managed to go from tenth
00:26:48Right up to fourth
00:26:49He's on the extreme left of the picture almost going into the pit lane as he leapfrogs past the Renaults ahead of him and makes a wonderful start
00:26:58Unfortunately, that's done no good for him at all
00:27:01Because although he's fourth in that picture, he will have to take up his original starting grid position for the restart
00:27:07We go for the full 51 laps
00:27:10Everybody has been allowed to top up their fuel again. And this is one more warm-up lap
00:27:15Green flag for the final warm-up lap and we go through the entire process again
00:27:20so Prost and Lauda going away in the McLarens just behind Elio de Angelis and
00:27:25Nelson Piquet, Piquet glancing in his mirrors
00:27:28You'll see several of the cars weaving to try and warm up their tires
00:27:33And in fact, the McLarens have gone as far as fitting fresh tires
00:27:37They'd only had a couple of laps where one racing lap and one warm-up lap
00:27:42But they're sufficiently concerned about tire wear here in Austria to put on fresh tires for the race
00:27:49That's the Kroener curve the curve that used to be called the Bosch curve way up at the top of the hill above us and
00:27:59155 miles an hour is the speed that the cars go through that curve in fourth gear on their fifth five-speed gearboxes
00:28:05When they're racing
00:28:06But this is still the gentle warm-up lap away from the Kroener curve on down through the switchback section to the downhill
00:28:14Jochen Rindt curver the corner named after Austria's first
00:28:18Motor racing world champion. He got the title posthumously in 1970
00:28:23Niki Lauda, of course a twice world champion for Austria since then
00:28:2825 cars you saw Hugh Brottengatter the Dutchman going haymaking halfway around that first lap
00:28:35But they've sorted him out and with all the straws scraped out of his undertray. He's back on the grid once more
00:28:41We look at Niki Lauda there on the second row
00:28:44we hope that the starting lights work properly now and
00:28:48We've got a red light the engine notes rise
00:28:52Waiting for the green there's the green and PK is slow to move Nelson PK on pole position moves slowly De Angelis up alongside him
00:28:59It's Alan Prost who goes into the lead
00:29:01Prost leads up the hill PK darting up alongside him PK trying to snatch the lead
00:29:06Further down the field the yellow car darting across the road
00:29:09That was Berger being clouted by somebody else but at the chicane at the Niki Lauda chicane
00:29:15It is PK who's in front a couple of the Osella's nerfing each other
00:29:19There's two blue cars across the curb further down
00:29:22But it is Nelson PK who has taken the lead despite that rather slow start which gave Alan Prost the lead to start with
00:29:30Somehow Nelson PK snatched the lead on the braking for the chicane. It's PK's Brabham up the hill towards the Tirok curver
00:29:39It's PK from Prost with Tombey
00:29:43De Angelis and Warwick following
00:29:46Brabham, McLaren, Renault, Lotus, Renault, McLaren then
00:29:51Nigel Mansell just ahead of Ayrton Senna
00:29:54So Ayrton Senna hasn't been able to repeat that wonderful start that he had in the first running
00:30:03But he does make up a place there that's Senna going past Nigel Mansell so Senna making up a place already on Nigel Mansell
00:30:11over the brow down now towards the
00:30:13Jochen Rindt curver the two Ferraris running together, but it's Nelson PK pulling ahead in the Jochen Rindt curver
00:30:20with Prost, Tombey
00:30:23In second and third places then De Angelis and De Angelis loses a place there to Derek Warwick, Derek Warwick
00:30:29You just saw a glimpse of Renault number 16
00:30:32Passing Elio De Angelis and going ahead. So it's Renault, Renault
00:30:36There's De Angelis trying to make his place back. Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell follow
00:30:41But the leading trio starting to pull away Warwick 4, De Angelis 5th, Senna 6th and another
00:30:48place lost for Nigel Mansell because
00:30:51Keke Rosberg in the Williams snatched a place going into the chicane as usual the Austrian Grand Prix
00:30:58Absolutely full of action and the action at the front is PK trying to pull away from Prost and Prost not letting him get away
00:31:06PK over the Bra into the downhill kink along the top straight just out of this kink they get up to
00:31:13195 miles an hour before they break and take fourth gear for the Kroener curve. Alain Prost in the McLaren closes briefly
00:31:21Out of the Kroener curve the Brabham perhaps pulls away a little bit down to the panorama corner the long left-hander with two apexes
00:31:30PK takes the first apex
00:31:32Comes across clips the second apex there
00:31:37So Nelson PK leads for Brabham Prost pursues for McLaren Niki Lauda's moving up through the field the Renault's are there too
00:31:45More Austrian Grand Prix excitement after this short message
00:31:49Nelson PK still leads the Austrian Grand Prix, but Alain Prost is doing everything to ensure that he doesn't get away
00:31:56It's a classic battle between Prost and PK
00:31:59Between McLaren and Brabham and it's the McLaren at the front at the moment in third place Patrick Tombe for Renault
00:32:05Keeping a watching brief and those three have pulled away from the pursuit led by Derek Warwick in fourth place
00:32:12Keeping a watching brief and those three have pulled away from the pursuit led by Derek Warwick in fourth place
00:32:19But Niki Lauda is fifth and cheered on by the Austrian crowd Niki Lauda is charging
00:32:26Brabham, McLaren, Renault there they go the leading trio and
00:32:31Prost very close now tucked in under the rear wing and
00:32:35Lauda has moved up to fourth. There is Niki Lauda in fourth place Derek Warwick demoted to fifth
00:32:41It's Elio de Angelis sixth Ayrton Senna is there in seventh place
00:32:46De Angelis and Senna going through the Kraner Kurve there and on downhill and
00:32:53Once more we're back with this leading battle and there's nothing to choose between these two
00:32:59Nelson PK doesn't seem to be able to make a break Prost doesn't seem to be able to get close enough to make an attack
00:33:05The
00:33:06Osterreich ring a circuit which demands very very hard work from the driver indeed with these constant ups and downs these constant
00:33:14High speed corners. That's the Jochen Rind Kurve taking at fourth gear at
00:33:19145 miles an hour out of that corner by the time they cross the start finish line there
00:33:24They're already doing 170 miles an hour by the time they reach the Brau there
00:33:28They're doing 190 and then it's hard on the brakes for the chicane
00:33:32Tombay already being caught for third place by Lauda. There is Warwick de Angelis and Ayrton Senna
00:33:38Keke Rosberg Nigel Mansell then the two Ferraris
00:33:42Battles all the way down the field, but Niki Lauda is not at all satisfied with fourth place
00:33:48And he is right on Patrick Tombay's tail now. I
00:33:54Would guess that Tom that Lauda must be the quickest man on the circuit at the moment and he certainly lost no time
00:34:02Having passed Derek Warwick in closing on
00:34:06Patrick Tombay, there's Tombay over the Brian third place Lauda behind him. So it's McLaren second McLaren fourth
00:34:12It's Renault third. It's Renault fifth
00:34:14It's Brabham BMW leading and the other Brabham BMW car number two that of Teo Farbi
00:34:20Well done the field because Teo Farbi it was who lost out in the second start
00:34:25He was left on the grid when we had the second start
00:34:28But the car's going well now and Teo Farbi is moving up through the field currently in 16th place out of the 25 and
00:34:36Charging and there you see Lauda closing under braking for the Panorama. That's the long downhill left-hander over the brow that follows it
00:34:44Lauda with his head characteristically on one side tucked down relaxed in the cockpit over the brow before the yacht and rink curver
00:34:51Patrick Tombay
00:34:53Equally unruffled
00:34:54It must be a very unnerving experience to have Nicky Lauda filling your mirrors and knowing that he's caught right up with you in
00:35:00The last couple of laps and he's waiting for you to put just one four-wheel run
00:35:05cross follows PK
00:35:08Lauda follows Tombay
00:35:10Derek Warwick in the background in fifth place
00:35:14Tombay very neat very tidy Nicky Lauda equally neat and tidy in the chicane that's now called the Nicky chicane
00:35:21After Austria's greatest racing driver
00:35:25And Lauda
00:35:26Four or five lengths behind all the time closes up just a little bit under braking
00:35:31But he's still not close enough to charge
00:35:34So just as Prost doesn't seem to be able to make any further impression on PK
00:35:39so Lauda doesn't seem to be able to make very much impression on Patrick Tombay and
00:35:45At this early stage in the race to make too hurried a charge
00:35:50Can wear your tires too badly
00:35:53Very often we've seen this season drivers making a tremendous spurt early
00:35:58Only to need fresh tires partway through the race 0.9 of a second between the two leaders
00:36:030.5 of a second between third and fourth 0.7 of a second between Warwick and Senna battling for fifth place
00:36:09battles all the way down the field here at the Oesterreichring and
00:36:13Still Lauda trying to get on to terms with Tombay in this third place fight
00:36:20Elio de Angelis and the Lotus still seventh still in eighth place
00:36:24It's Keke Rosberg ninth now is Nigel Mansell. The American in the Alfa Romeo has moved up into twelfth place
00:36:33There go the two leaders over the brow once more
00:36:36There's the second place battle once more and still nothing to choose between
00:36:40Tombay and Lauda in the chicane
00:36:43And Warwick under real pressure now from Ayrton Senna in the fifth place battle
00:36:53But I must say it's very impressive to see how well Patrick Tombay is dealing with the challenge of Niki Lauda
00:36:58In fact, there is fastest lap of the race so far and it goes to Tombay
00:37:04133.2
00:37:05230 kilometers an hour average
00:37:07So Tombay responding to the challenge of Lauda and I think that that battle between Tombay and Lauda is pushing them closer
00:37:15To the leading battle and we could have instead of two duos battling we could have one quartet
00:37:22Through the crater curver goes Tombay
00:37:24Still Niki Lauda on his tail 0.384 of a second the gap between these two cars on the screen now
00:37:3142 laps still to run and we'll be back after this
00:37:38Yeah
00:37:45There goes Nelson Piquet still leading the Austrian Grand Prix Alain Prost still on his tail
00:37:51Patrick Tombay still holding off Niki Lauda for third place
00:37:55Two superb battles and plenty more behind them in the Austrian Grand Prix
00:38:00This undulating high-speed curving circuit proving a tremendous test of man and machine
00:38:06Up the hill to the crater curve and now Niki Lauda really is close
00:38:09Niki Lauda now is close enough to the slipstream of Tombay's Renault to close right up under braking
00:38:15Tombay under real pressure for third place now the Austrian crowd willing on Niki Lauda cheering and waving their programs
00:38:22There's first and second Piquet and Prost over the brow come Tombay and Lauda and still Lauda hasn't been able to find a gap
00:38:31After that fast kink they get up to
00:38:33194 miles an hour before they break change down to fourth for the Craner Curver
00:38:38And Lauda very close now Lauda really is close Lauda pounces. He's alongside. He's through
00:38:45Side by side go Lauda and Tombay into the panorama
00:38:48But Lauda forces across takes his line Niki Lauda moves into third place
00:38:54Patrick Tombay demoted to fourth a
00:38:57Superb maneuver there by Niki Lauda because he took a tighter line on the entry to the Craner Curver
00:39:04And that was enough to enable him to dive inside
00:39:07Patrick Tombay when Tombay moved across to take up the full space of the road coming out of the corner
00:39:14that's how it's done a very calculating move by Niki Lauda and
00:39:19Lauda now in third place
00:39:21It'll be interesting to see how quickly he can shake off Patrick Tombay and close up on his own
00:39:27Teammate Alain Prost in second place still Nelson Piquet's Brabham leads
00:39:31Still Alain Prost's McLaren in second place
00:39:34Niki Lauda's McLaren now third and there is Tombay in the pits
00:39:39Tombay has come straight in the pits having lost that position. He's obviously
00:39:43punished his tires in his efforts to stay ahead of Niki Lauda a
00:39:49Quick stop about eleven and a half seconds by my unofficial hand timing
00:39:54So that's the pressure off Lauda and we've got Keke Rosberg coming into the pits
00:39:59now the Williams Honda coming in a tire change for him, but it looks a little bit longer than a tire change and
00:40:06in fact Rosberg having a word there with Patrick Head the car's designer and
00:40:13They're now working on the front of the car. They're adjusting the angle of the aerofoil there
00:40:18So he must be complaining of handling problems. And here is his own teammate Jacques Lafitte also in trouble
00:40:24Jacques Lafitte in Williams Honda number five trailing a plume of smoke from his Honda engine and
00:40:30The Ferrari of our new which is battling with the two Alfa Romeos has gone past Lafitte Lafitte on his way back to the pits
00:40:37Eddie Cheever ahead of Riccardo Patrese in the two Alfa Romeos. That's René Arnoux in the Ferrari
00:40:44currently, they're battling over 11th place, which will become 10th now with the
00:40:50departure of the Williams Honda and
00:40:52Look at those two Alfa's closing up under braking for the Panorama corner. René Arnoux in the Ferrari
00:40:59Frenchman in the Ferrari the American and the Italian in the two Italian
00:41:03Alfa Romeos
00:41:05Just one of several excellent close battles that we've got all the way down the field here in the Austrian Grand Prix
00:41:12Still Nelson Piquet leads, still Alain Prost is second
00:41:16Niki Lauda closing up on Alain Prost in his third place with Patrick Tambay having made that pit stop
00:41:22Elio de Angelis is now fourth, Derek Warrick is fifth and
00:41:26Sixth place belongs to Ayrton Senna just ahead of Nigel Mansell and Michele Alvareto
00:41:31Tambay in fact has come out again in ninth place, that battle there is the battle for 10th between Arnoux and the two Alfa Romeos and
00:41:38Teo Fabi in the picture briefly there following the two Alfa's, Teo Fabi has come through now to 12th place
00:41:46And remember he started right at the back of the grid on this restart and has come carving through
00:41:51He's just passed the Belgian Thierry Boetsen and there finally after his long slow drive back to the pits is
00:41:58The Frenchman Jacques Lafitte with the Williams Honda, he gets straight out of the car
00:42:02He knows that his race is run, doesn't even bother to ask the mechanics to have a look at it
00:42:08The leaders meanwhile, Nelson Piquet, Alain Prost positions just the same as they were
00:42:13Piquet not able to shake off the McLaren, Prost not able to close the gap
00:42:18But coming up now to lap one of the Ram Hearts, it's the English Dr. Jonathan Palmer
00:42:24Who keeps over to the right of the road, letting Nelson Piquet go through on the left down towards the Panorama
00:42:29So Piquet is through, did Prost get past Palmer as well?
00:42:33Now that they're starting to lap back, Marcus, this can often play a role in either delaying one or other of the cars
00:42:40And changing the gaps between them
00:42:42Piquet briefly has empty mirrors as he goes up the hill, over the brow, down towards the Jockenrind Curve
00:42:49Has he at last been able to throw off the attentions of the red and white McLaren of Alain Prost?
00:42:55Well we'll soon see when we get back to the Austrian Grand Prix action in ESPN Auto Racing 84
00:43:12And here at the Austrian Grand Prix we've got another Renault in the pits
00:43:15And here at the Austrian Grand Prix we've got another Renault in the pits for fresh tyres
00:43:19This is Derek Warwick, his team mate Patrick Tambay has already been in for more tyres
00:43:23Derek Warwick off the jacks, but there's one rear tyre that's been a bit slow
00:43:28They've got it done now, Derek Warwick rejoins, down goes the visor on his crash helmet, the rear wheels spin
00:43:34That stop will have cost him three places I reckon
00:43:37And as Nelson Piquet still leads, we've got Keke Rosberg back in the pits with the Williams Honda
00:43:43This time he's out of the car, he's talking to Patrick Head, gesticulating
00:43:48And he looks pretty upset about the way the car's been handling, and he's obviously decided to call it a day
00:43:55There's Prost going over the brow
00:43:57Now the Frenchman's in a pretty interesting sandwich, because he's got Niki Lauda behind him
00:44:03He's got Nelson Piquet ahead of him, and he apparently can't do anything about either of them
00:44:09Piquet of course is his real goal, but Niki Lauda behind him is a worry as well
00:44:15Although they're both in the same team, they are allowed to race against each other
00:44:19There are no team mates that say they can't
00:44:21The only clause in their contract I understand says that if it's ten laps from the end and they're running low on fuel
00:44:28They're meant to hold station and not run out of fuel having a battle on their own
00:44:32But that's not the situation here
00:44:34These men are close in the championship
00:44:36Alain Prost, there he is, number seven, the championship leader
00:44:39And that's Derek Warrick parking
00:44:41Derek Warrick who's just made a pit stop for fresh tyres
00:44:44Parking with Telltale Smoke out of the back of the car
00:44:48He's parked between the Craner Curver and the Panorama
00:44:51Got the car well out of the way
00:44:53And clearly Derek Warrick is out of the race
00:44:56So far not a good run for Renault
00:44:59Both of them have had to have tyre stops
00:45:01Derek Warrick now out
00:45:03And Alain Prost has closed the gap a little, quite visibly
00:45:08Alain Prost has responded to the pressure from behind of Niki Lauda
00:45:12He's moved away from Niki Lauda, he's moved closer to Nelson Piquet
00:45:16So once more we've got a battle for the lead
00:45:18There's Piquet, there's Prost
00:45:20You saw a glimpse in the background of Niki Lauda
00:45:23In the other red and white, Barbara McLaren
00:45:26And Prost has now decided that the time has come for him to make a charge
00:45:31It could be that now we're past the first one third of the race
00:45:35That Prost, having driven perhaps to preserve his tyres a little bit in the early section
00:45:40Now reckons that he can start to put the pressure on Nelson Piquet
00:45:44A little twitch there from Piquet's car
00:45:46A little slide from the tail end of the Brabham as they went through the Tiroch Curver
00:45:50They're now in the curving but flat out section
00:45:54At the top of the track
00:45:56There's Ayrton Senna over the brow
00:45:59Now ahead of Nigel Mansell
00:46:01Nigel Mansell has caught up to Ayrton Senna and is starting to put pressure on him
00:46:06Elio de Angelis, remember, still in fourth place
00:46:10We've now got Lotuses, therefore, fourth and sixth
00:46:14With Ayrton Senna and the Toleman between them in fifth place
00:46:20Still Niki Lauda third
00:46:22Still the battle for the lead between Piquet and Prost
00:46:26It is the fifth place battle between Senna and Mansell coming up to lap
00:46:30The Austrian Gerhard Berger in the ATS
00:46:33Who's doing a good workman-like job in his first Grand Prix
00:46:36He's currently running in 15th place
00:46:38Senna has gone past Berger, Mansell is still stuck behind him
00:46:41Mansell now goes through on the inside of the Craner Curver
00:46:45That has allowed Senna to get just a little bit ahead now of Mansell
00:46:51And it'll be interesting to see how long it takes Mansell to close up again
00:46:54Certainly Nigel Mansell charging very well in sixth place
00:46:57His own teammate is fourth
00:46:59So the Lotus-Renault is once again proving to be extremely competitive on this circuit
00:47:05Interestingly, the first three cars at the moment using Michelin tyres
00:47:10The Lotuses in fourth and sixth places are on good years
00:47:13Ayrton Senna's Toleman's on Michelin's
00:47:15Although the Toleman team started the year with a Pirelli contract
00:47:19And always the contracts with the tyre manufacturers are a lot more than just choosing your favourite rubber
00:47:25They involve considerable amounts of development costs and sponsorship
00:47:29And usually very weighty contracts indeed
00:47:34And in the Craner Curver, Prost is right up with Piquet once more
00:47:39About four lengths between them as they go through that 150mph downhill right-hander
00:47:44Now down to the Panorama
00:47:46Little puffs of flame from the Brabham's exhaust pipe as Piquet changes down through the gearbox
00:47:53Now can Nelson Piquet respond to this renewed pressure from Alain Prost?
00:47:57I think he's going to have trouble to do so
00:47:59And I think Alain Prost could now be poised for a kill
00:48:03The Austrian Grand Prix still running at an extremely exciting pitch
00:48:07Brabham, McLaren, McLaren, Lotus, Toleman, Lotus
00:48:11The first six cars
00:48:13And plenty more action still to come here from the Oesterreich Ring
00:48:16ESPN Auto Racing 84 will be back after this short message
00:48:27As the Austrian Grand Prix approaches half-distance here at the Oesterreich Ring
00:48:31We've got more excitement with René Arnoux bringing the Ferrari in for fresh tyres
00:48:36The Renaults have both had fresh sets of tyres and now René Arnoux's needed fresh rubber
00:48:40He's now back in the race but that will have dropped him out of the tenth place that he'd been holding
00:48:45And that's Elio De Angelis on fire!
00:48:48Clearly very serious engine problems there for Elio De Angelis
00:48:51There's oil spraying out of the back of the car
00:48:53There's smoke, there's flames
00:48:55And Elio De Angelis who was holding third place in the Lotus-Renault is obviously out of the race
00:49:02You can see a black oil slick following the car around as De Angelis goes slowly back to the pits
00:49:08Takes off the oxygen line, the safety line that goes to his helmet
00:49:12Gets ready to abandon ship as he comes in and parks it in the Lotus pit
00:49:16And already fire extinguishers on the back and Elio De Angelis out of the car
00:49:21A little pat on the shoulder from Bob Dance, the senior Lotus mechanic
00:49:26And now here is Piquet coming through
00:49:29Oh and a little twitch there from Piquet on the oil that Elio De Angelis has put down
00:49:34And Prost is off! Alain Prost, the second place McLaren is off on that oil
00:49:39Obviously put down by Elio De Angelis
00:49:42Out of the car, he runs across the track
00:49:45A little look over the shoulder at his abandoned car buried in the Armco barrier
00:49:50Ron Dennis with the Marlborough sign, the McLaren team manager
00:49:53Wondering what's happened looking up the road
00:49:56But already Prost has his crash helmet off, his balaclava helmet off
00:50:00And the current world championship leader is out of the race
00:50:04Just as we thought that he was about to pounce on leader Nelson Piquet
00:50:08But now look at this, Prost may be out
00:50:11But there's still a red and white McLaren right on the tail of the Brabham of Nelson Piquet
00:50:17Because Niki Lauda has taken over where Alain Prost left off
00:50:22And Niki Lauda has now caught right up from third place as he was behind Prost
00:50:27He's caught right up to Nelson Piquet
00:50:30And I think it's now going to be him that will challenge for the lead
00:50:34A great cheer of partisan and slightly unkind delight
00:50:39From the Austrian crowd when they saw that Alain Prost had gone off
00:50:43Because it promoted their beloved Niki Lauda one more place
00:50:46And Niki Lauda is after one further more place because he wants the lead
00:50:51And as they come through the Jochenrind curve and over the start-finish line
00:50:54Niki Lauda is closer now than Alain Prost ever was
00:50:57They're like three legs between them as they go up the brow
00:51:00Passing a slower car that's just come out of the pits
00:51:02Niki Lauda has a little look at the inside as they brake for the Niki chicane
00:51:06Out of the chicane, clipping those apexes oh so neatly
00:51:12Niki Lauda who drives like a cold calculating machine
00:51:15Never wants to put a wheel wrong
00:51:17Almost never see Niki Lauda using curbs or getting his car out of shape
00:51:22And as they go now through the Tiroch curve
00:51:25Flags waving among the Austrian crowd
00:51:28Lauda is now close enough to pounce
00:51:31Lauda tucked into the slipstream under the rear aerofoil wing of the Brabham
00:51:35Moving from one side then the other and really harrying Piquet
00:51:39Piquet must now really be feeling the pressure of Niki Lauda
00:51:43And Lauda is an old hand at this
00:51:45He knows all about pressure from behind in a motor race
00:51:50Out of the Craner curve, 4th gear, briefly into 5th gear
00:51:53Down to the Panorama, on the brakes
00:51:56Little puffs of flame from the exhaust pipes
00:52:014th gear here
00:52:04And Lauda is there all the time across the second apex
00:52:08Past this huge crowd and they're all getting very very excited
00:52:12Now from the Panorama, downhill, uphill, downhill again
00:52:17To the still oily Jochenridt curve
00:52:20This is where they will pass the abandoned McLaren of Kroos
00:52:25There it was, out of the Jochenridt curve
00:52:28And Piquet seems to have responded just a little bit
00:52:31By our watches here on the start-finish line
00:52:35I make that gap 0.9 of a second, it was 0.6 a lap ago
00:52:39But then under braking for the chicane
00:52:41Lauda is very very close indeed again
00:52:43And they've got a slower car in front of them to lap
00:52:46In fact two cars, it's Francois Hainaut's Ligier ahead of them
00:52:49With Theo Fabi who's the next car ahead
00:52:52That of course is Nelson Piquet's own teammate
00:52:54So that could be interesting when they get a bit closer to him
00:52:57But Hainaut is just ahead
00:53:01And is this going to give Lauda a chance?
00:53:03No, Hainaut keeps well out of the way
00:53:05Lauda goes through, but Lauda is very close indeed now
00:53:07Lauda follows through, the blue flags are waving
00:53:10Lauda looking first at one side, then the other
00:53:12Moves across from one side of the track to the other
00:53:15And he can't do it there
00:53:17So he decides to wait, they're on the brakes now
00:53:20They're down to fourth gear for the Kroener Curve
00:53:22And now Piquet pulls ahead just a little bit
00:53:25But Lauda is back again, on the straight
00:53:27Lauda is close again, Lauda is in the slipstream
00:53:30Under braking, the gap stays constant
00:53:33It's Theo Fabi ahead of them
00:53:35That's Piquet's own teammate
00:53:37And it may well be that Fabi can perhaps split the two of them
00:53:41And let Piquet past and not Lauda
00:53:43It's going to give Piquet just a little bit of breathing space
00:53:46Lauda with his head still on one side
00:53:49That characteristic profile
00:53:51And that is Nigel Mansell
00:53:53Nigel Mansell's race is run
00:53:55We've already seen the retirement of Elio de Angelis
00:53:58That oily retirement
00:54:01So both Lotuses out
00:54:03Still this superb battle between Nelson Piquet and Niki Lauda
00:54:06In the Austrian Grand Prix
00:54:08We'll be back with more action after this message
00:54:13Piquet vs Lauda
00:54:23Can Nelson Piquet lap his teammate Theo Fabi quicker than Lauda?
00:54:28No, in fact they both go through here at the Austrian Grand Prix
00:54:32It could have well have been interesting
00:54:34If Theo Fabi had been able to split the two leaders
00:54:36But it didn't work out like that
00:54:38And Lauda is still absolutely on Nelson Piquet's tail
00:54:41Piquet under very real pressure now
00:54:43They're on the top section
00:54:45155 miles an hour up to 190 miles an hour before they break
00:54:49Take fourth gear for this corner now
00:54:51The Craner Curve
00:54:52And once again Lauda drops back on the corner itself
00:54:56And meanwhile we've got Ayrton Senna in the Toleman
00:54:59In the pits
00:55:00Senna who'd got up to third place following de Angelis' retirement
00:55:04He's now dropped to fourth with Tambay going by
00:55:07And he's now in the pits
00:55:09So that's a shame for the young Brazilian
00:55:12Who's been going so well in Grand Prix racing recently
00:55:15So behind this pair, Tambay's Renault
00:55:17Now a lonely third
00:55:19And in fourth place it's Michele Alboreto's Ferrari
00:55:22Who is about to be lapped
00:55:23It's Michele Alboreto's Ferrari just in front of Nelson Piquet
00:55:27Holding fourth place and about to be lapped
00:55:29And as the leading pair go up the hill
00:55:31There is Alboreto's Ferrari
00:55:32There's Piquet
00:55:33There is Lauda
00:55:34Lauda weaving under braking
00:55:36As he strives to make back the yards here and the yards there
00:55:40He seems to lose on these high-speed corners
00:55:43And then be able to close up on the straights
00:55:46And somebody has just said near here in the commentary box
00:55:50That when Piquet went by a few laps earlier
00:55:53They seemed to hear him missing a gear
00:55:55It may well be that what has delayed the battle
00:55:58And allowed Niki Lauda to get so close
00:56:00Is a gear selection problem
00:56:02That could perhaps explain why Piquet is able to shake Lauda off
00:56:06In some parts of the circuit
00:56:07On other parts of the circuit Lauda gets very, very close indeed
00:56:10Which is exactly what he's doing now
00:56:12Now Michele Alboreto isn't going to be an easy man to pass ahead
00:56:15And that could well be a factor
00:56:16Through the Kroener Kurve once more
00:56:18Piquet pulls away just a little bit
00:56:20But Lauda is closer this time
00:56:22Lauda catches up again on the straight
00:56:24Alboreto ahead still to be passed
00:56:25Piquet hanging on to this lead by the narrowest of margins
00:56:29Lauda lunging up close in the braking area
00:56:31Through the panorama with its two apexes
00:56:33Past that huge spectator enclosure
00:56:35And they're all cheering on Niki Lauda
00:56:37Michele Alboreto ahead of them to be lapped
00:56:39Over the brow goes Alboreto, Piquet, Lauda
00:56:42Down to this oily and slippery Jochenrit Kurve
00:56:46Which caught Alain Prost out a few laps ago
00:56:49Alboreto holds the line
00:56:51Lauda takes a slightly wider line on the entry
00:56:54Takes a tighter line on the exit
00:56:55Once more there's a little twitch from the Brabham
00:56:57And now Lauda is charging
00:56:58Lauda had a look at the inside
00:57:00Tucks back inside
00:57:01But as they go back up the hill
00:57:02Lauda's going to move to the right of the road
00:57:04No he's not, yes he does
00:57:05Lauda has nowhere to go
00:57:07Because now Piquet's moving across to try and lap Alboreto
00:57:10Piquet doesn't get through
00:57:12Lauda has nowhere to go
00:57:14It's the status quo
00:57:15And the Brabham a little sideways twitch there
00:57:18As they came out of the chicane
00:57:20And that's allowed Lauda to get close
00:57:22Lauda's alongside
00:57:23Lauda is through
00:57:24Niki Lauda takes the lead
00:57:27And a great roar from the Austrian crowd
00:57:30Greets the fact that Niki Lauda is now leading his home Grand Prix
00:57:34And at once he seems to pull away from the Brabham
00:57:37Michele Alboreto is still ahead of them to be lapped
00:57:40So is Philippe Alliot in the Ram Heart
00:57:43Of course he is a further lap down
00:57:45At least on the Ferrari of Alboreto
00:57:47Which is now fourth
00:57:48So Niki Lauda leads
00:57:51Nelson Piquet is demoted to second place
00:57:54Still in third place it's Patrick Tambay in the Renault
00:57:57Fourth is Alboreto in the Ferrari
00:57:59Alboreto has now gone by Alliot
00:58:02Niki Lauda is tucked in behind Alliot
00:58:05And Alliot not making it easy
00:58:07Alliot keeps to the inside line
00:58:09But Lauda goes confidently and easily around the outside
00:58:12And the big public enclosure at the Panorama
00:58:16Have just realised that their man is leading
00:58:18And they've just erupted in a great wall of sound
00:58:21And a great waving of flags and programs and scarves
00:58:24Michele Alboreto in the Ferrari
00:58:26Ahead still of Lauda
00:58:28And Lauda apparently in no great hurry to lap him
00:58:32Because as the McLaren team look delightedly on
00:58:37And watch their man go through in the lead
00:58:39We see a replay of that little sideways twitch
00:58:44There it was from the Brabham
00:58:47And that was what delayed Piquet for a fraction of a second
00:58:52And that allowed Lauda to get a run on Piquet
00:58:55He goes to the outside of that uphill right-hand curve
00:58:58Which leads to the Tiroch Curve
00:59:00And by the time they get to the bottom of the dip
00:59:03Before the Tiroch Curve he's alongside and he's through
00:59:08And Piquet doesn't seem to be able to do anything at all about it
00:59:11Because Lauda has now pulled comfortably ahead of Nelson Piquet
00:59:15Here is Lauda now once more in the Craner Curve
00:59:18And the Brabham of Piquet has dropped way, way back
00:59:23It's the slower cars that are much closer
00:59:24And Lauda slows! Lauda slows down!
00:59:26Lauda raises his arm
00:59:28And Aliot goes by again to un-lap himself
00:59:33And Niki Lauda is apparently in trouble
00:59:35But now he speeds up again
00:59:37Lauda slowed right down there
00:59:39We can only guess at what the problem was
00:59:42But Niki Lauda slowed down, he raised his right arm
00:59:45Philippe Aliot went by to un-lap him in the ram
00:59:49And there is Theo Fabi coming up to un-lap himself now
00:59:52Theo Fabi, over the Brough, moves past and across Niki Lauda's bows
00:59:58And goes comfortably ahead
01:00:00And Niki Lauda has slowed
01:00:01Is he coming into the pits?
01:00:03He doesn't go into the pits
01:00:04He carries on, he still leads
01:00:07But we're in for an exciting finish here
01:00:09At the Austrian Grand Prix
01:00:12And another car has cried enough in the Austrian Grand Prix
01:00:27Because Patrick Tambay has parked his Renault
01:00:30He's telling the fire extinguisher man
01:00:32Don't do that, it was only a turbocharger fire
01:00:35Don't make it any worse than it already is
01:00:37But Patrick Tambay, no doubt, extremely disappointed
01:00:40Without having been in third place
01:00:43And meanwhile, Niki Lauda still has the lead
01:00:46But there's a real mystery about him
01:00:48Because you saw him slow, you saw him raise his right arm
01:00:52He then allowed a further car to pass him
01:00:55That was the ram of Jonathan Palmer
01:00:58Which went easily past
01:00:59But now Lauda has speeded up again
01:01:01And he's trying to get back past Palmer
01:01:03Palmer is several laps behind
01:01:05So Lauda still has the lead
01:01:07But without any disrespect to the ram team
01:01:09Or to Jonathan Palmer
01:01:10One would not expect a healthy McLaren
01:01:14To be beaten by a healthy ram
01:01:17Niki Lauda still in the lead then
01:01:20You saw a glimpse just then of Nelson Piquet
01:01:23Who is still in second place
01:01:25But he's fallen way, way back
01:01:2717 seconds or so behind
01:01:29So even though Niki Lauda has slowed
01:01:32So has Nelson Piquet
01:01:35In third place now
01:01:36We've got the Ferrari of Michele Alboreto
01:01:38Who's inherited that place from Patrick Tambay
01:01:41Whom you just saw retire
01:01:43In fourth place now
01:01:44We've got Theo Fabi
01:01:46So he's come all the way up to fourth
01:01:48Brabham second and fourth now
01:01:50Fifth is now Riccardo Patrese in the Alfa Romeo
01:01:54And in sixth place
01:01:55We've got Thierry Bootsen in the Arrows
01:02:00Jonathan Palmer over the brow
01:02:02Niki Lauda's dropped back a little bit
01:02:04Clearly all is not well with that car
01:02:07But at the same time
01:02:08Niki Lauda, a man who doesn't believe
01:02:10In winning a race by any larger margin
01:02:12Than the minimum that is necessary
01:02:14Never believes in wearing his car out
01:02:16In the closing stages
01:02:17Lauda's pit signals will have told him
01:02:20That Piquet too is in trouble
01:02:23And his pit signals will tell him
01:02:25Exactly what the gap is in seconds
01:02:27Back to Piquet
01:02:29And he isn't going to want to go
01:02:31Any faster than he can
01:02:32The camera lingers on the back section
01:02:34And there is Piquet in second place
01:02:37So he is a long, long way down now
01:02:40Piquet still going
01:02:42Lauda nursing his car home
01:02:44Piquet even more nursing his car home
01:02:47And the theory about Nelson Piquet's trouble
01:02:49Apart from a possible gear selection difficulty
01:02:52Is that the car has handling troubles
01:02:54It was starting to look very ragged indeed
01:02:57In the last couple of laps
01:02:59Before Niki Lauda did get by
01:03:01And on the odd sections that we've been able to watch it
01:03:05The tail of the car is sliding badly
01:03:08And we guess that Nelson Piquet's tyre wear
01:03:11Is now so severe
01:03:13That he simply can't find any more pace
01:03:15To try and catch up with Niki Lauda
01:03:17Lauda then, on his way to the Jochenrind Kurve
01:03:22Piquet in a lonely second place
01:03:25Michele Alboreto almost a lap behind them
01:03:29In third place, Theo Fabi
01:03:31Also very nearly a lap down fourth
01:03:38Lauda reels off another lap
01:03:40That's the 50th lap
01:03:42This is the 51st and the last lap
01:03:44Over the Brouw, up to the Niki Chicane
01:03:47Goes Niki
01:03:50Turning through this triple apex corner
01:03:53On his way up the hill
01:03:55For the last time towards the Tiroch Kurve
01:03:58That is where he took the lead
01:04:0011 laps ago
01:04:05Into the Tiroch Kurve
01:04:06The crowd are already waving and cheering
01:04:08As far as they're concerned
01:04:10Their man has already won the race
01:04:12But all sorts of things can go wrong
01:04:14On a final lap
01:04:16And we know that Niki Lauda's car is not healthy
01:04:18Once again the camera lingers to pick up
01:04:20Second place man, Nelson Piquet
01:04:22Who comes into sight
01:04:24Out of the Chicane section
01:04:27And on towards the Tiroch Kurve
01:04:29As Niki Lauda already is underbraking
01:04:32Down to fourth gear for the Kroener Kurve
01:04:38And Lauda, you could hear his gear change then
01:04:42And I think that that may be his problem
01:04:44He sounded as though he was taking the Kroener Kurve in third
01:04:48And then changing right up to fifth
01:04:50You heard the engine note drop far more
01:04:52Than it normally would
01:04:54In a close ratio change between fourth and fifth
01:04:57Perhaps he lacks fourth gear
01:04:59Anyway the crowd are cheering
01:05:01Anyway the car is on its way now
01:05:03Towards the final Jochenrindkurve
01:05:05The last corner of the 51st lap
01:05:07Which is going to take Niki Lauda
01:05:09To his 23rd Grand Prix win
01:05:11And his first ever win
01:05:13In the Austrian Grand Prix
01:05:15The marshals are waving
01:05:17The crowd are waving
01:05:19The chequered flag is ready to wave
01:05:21Down towards the finish line goes Niki Lauda
01:05:23The chequered flag waves
01:05:25Niki Lauda is the winner
01:05:27Of the 1984 Austrian Grand Prix
01:05:29He has won his home Grand Prix at last
01:05:32At the 10th attempt
01:05:34Behind Alboreto's Ferrari
01:05:36Favi is fourth in the Bramham
01:05:38The two arrows of Butzen and Suria
01:05:40Cross the line almost side by side
01:05:42For fifth and sixth
01:05:44And we're going to be having a word
01:05:46With winner Niki Lauda
01:05:48After this short break
01:05:56Points for a win here in the Austrian Grand Prix
01:05:58And with his teammate Alain Prost
01:06:00Failing to score
01:06:02Niki Lauda goes to the head
01:06:04Of the Drivers' World Championship table
01:06:06With only four races left to run
01:06:08Elio De Angelis still has his third place
01:06:10René Arnoux is fourth
01:06:12And Nelson Piquet fifth
01:06:14Ahead of Derek Warwick
01:06:16In the Constructors' Championship
01:06:18McLaren now have an enormous lead
01:06:20And a completely unbeatable
01:06:2291.5 seconds
01:06:24But Ferrari and Lotus are close
01:06:26In second and third places
01:06:28So now on the winner's rostrum
01:06:30The spoils of victory
01:06:32For Niki Lauda who gets the laurel wreath
01:06:34Michele Alboreto and Nelson Piquet
01:06:36Are up there with him
01:06:38The crowd absolutely delighted
01:06:40The champagne will spray in just a minute
01:06:42But we're going to try and have a word
01:06:44With the Austrian Grand Prix winner
01:06:46And hear what sort of a race it was for him
01:06:48Niki Lauda in a great home victory
01:06:50Here at Ostererkring
01:06:52Niki, let me ask you
01:06:54When you were trying to catch Nelson
01:06:56Where was your advantage coming from?
01:06:58I don't know, my car was maybe going quicker
01:07:00It seemed like he had more power
01:07:02But in the corners you had better handling
01:07:04My car was working all right, I had no problem
01:07:06And at the end you held your hand up
01:07:08At one moment there
01:07:10Did you have a mechanical problem right at the closing lap?
01:07:12I lost my fourth gear
01:07:14So I could only use third and fifth
01:07:16A little bit of a confusing start, Niki
01:07:18What happened on the start?
01:07:20I saw a green light
01:07:22Yes, there was a green light
01:07:24Winning your home Grand Prix
01:07:26Has to be a fantastic boost
01:07:28To your personal pride, yes?
01:07:30Yes, sure, winning the home Grand Prix is good
01:07:32But it's more important to make nine points
01:07:34This has been John Bisignano and Simon Taylor
01:07:36At a very exciting Austrian Grand Prix
01:07:38We've enjoyed bringing you this ESPN coverage
01:07:40Please watch your local...