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  • 17/05/2025
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00:00:00The unique Chichisco Mountains meet the warm South Atlantic Stream leading into
00:00:05Gombada Bay and form a semi-tropical setting for beautiful Rio de Janeiro.
00:00:11This location was discovered by Portuguese explorers in 1505, making Rio
00:00:18one of the oldest cities in South America. But its fresh vitality for life
00:00:25and living has given Rio a well-deserved reputation for being an
00:00:31exotic playground. Not only for its festive five million inhabitants, but
00:00:37also for the world's jet-set elite who fill the sun-baked beaches of Copacabana
00:00:43and Ipanema by day and the samba bars all night. Everyone from October to March
00:00:51successfully escaping the northern hemisphere's cold gray winter in the
00:00:56process. This makes Rio de Janeiro a fitting location for the start of a
00:01:02sports season that shares many elements of the same reputation. The charisma of
00:01:09beautiful people living on the limit and life's fast lane is the rightful basis
00:01:15for Formula One Grand Prix motor racing's bizarre atmosphere. These are the
00:01:211,200 pound single-seater open-wheel vehicles that fly on the ground.
00:01:28Their 1,500 cc purebred racing engines develop a staggering 660 horsepower,
00:01:36pushing man and machine well over 200 miles an hour. The Grand Prix of Brazil
00:01:43is the first of 16 events moving from Rio to South Africa, then all across
00:01:49Europe and North America. At the end of this eighth month trek awaits the fame
00:01:56and million-dollar fortune of becoming the world champion of drivers or
00:02:01constructors. The popularity of Grand Prix racing in Brazil is illustrated by the
00:02:08fact that during the past 12 years four world driving championships have been
00:02:14claimed by two Brazilian drivers, starting with Emerson Fittipaldi in 1972
00:02:21and 74, then Nelson Piquet in 81 and 83. It is the ultimate dream of every young
00:02:30Brazilian to follow their example and become a national hero via this most
00:02:35dangerous and difficult international sport. This is a very warm John Bisignano
00:02:42in a very hot Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I'll be your host along with Simon Taylor for
00:02:49this 90-minute ESPN coverage of the Brazilian Grand Prix for Formula One
00:02:54racing cars. Simon and I will be presenting technical reports, driver
00:02:59interviews, all the latest F1 updates, plus the fantastic Grand Prix race action.
00:03:05So please join us after this short message for the first Grand Prix of 1984
00:03:11and a detailed look at the hot spots of Formula One. We'll be right back.
00:03:23With outside temperatures hitting a hundred degrees plus, track and cockpit
00:03:28readings can easily soar over the 160 mark. This puts maximum stress on every
00:03:34F1 component that is already being pushed to its limit. Now there are three
00:03:39areas that are most vulnerable, the engine, tires, and driver. These are the
00:03:45hot spots of Formula One. Normal operating temperatures for engine oil
00:03:52and water are around a hundred and seventy-five degrees Fahrenheit. With
00:03:57weather conditions such as at Rio, these needles will nearly be off their gauges
00:04:02at 220 plus. This is actually well beyond water's boiling point and
00:04:09therefore doesn't offer much cooling. Only the finest race-proven lubricants
00:04:15and coolants can survive this ultimate test. We asked Brian Hart, designer of the
00:04:22F1 Hart Turbo, about some of the strategies and designs used to combat
00:04:30these problems. Why cannot a cooling system be designed to deal with these
00:04:36temperatures here at Rio? Well the biggest problem is fundamentally fitting
00:04:41the size of such a system into a modern racing car under the regulations which
00:04:47we have to design the cars. It would be too big, too heavy, and undoubtedly too
00:04:53complicated. So you actually could cool the engines but you'd have several
00:04:59hundred gallons of water to do it and radiators that wouldn't fit into the car.
00:05:02Yes, and you'd therefore have aerodynamic and weight problems. So it's a trade-off.
00:05:07You have to give away some temperature for weight. Yeah, the vital thing about
00:05:15current Formula One is the minimum weight limit. Being on the minimum weight
00:05:19limit really prohibits some potential, you know, technical innovations you could
00:05:26use. Brian, it's obvious that many of the teams here are actually cooling the
00:05:31fuel to almost freezing temperatures before going into the cars. What's the
00:05:35strategy behind this? Well basically you can change the specific gravity and
00:05:40therefore actually physically put into a certain capacity tank more fuel, which is
00:05:48an advantage. There is an extra possible advantage in here that you can run the
00:05:54engine slightly leaner and this is good because of the fuel limitation and it
00:06:01does possibly help the engine run a little cooler in a modern turbocharged
00:06:05engine. But the main fundamental reason here is to put more fuel in
00:06:11than actually physically you would do at normal ambient. Your engine is being used
00:06:16in several Formula One cars here. I bet you breathe a little easier when the
00:06:20outside temperatures are less relative to your cars being able to finish. Oh yes,
00:06:26yeah, here it taxes the systems a little bit. The correct operating
00:06:33temperature for tires is a fine line. Maximum grip is produced between 200 and
00:06:41220 degrees Fahrenheit. If the heat is allowed to build up only 30 degrees to
00:06:47250, the rubber compound becomes too soft for efficient braking and cornering.
00:06:54Tire race manager Lee Gogg explains the problem. Well there's a certain range of
00:07:01heat that the tire operates best with. In other words, we must get it warm enough
00:07:05above normal daily temperature up to around 200-220 degrees. At the same token
00:07:12if you get it too hot then it'll get slippery and will not, will lose its grip,
00:07:16will not do any cornering or any braking. So the problem is find a compound that'll
00:07:20operate in the area that we want. Now drivers can cool off their tires by
00:07:26their driving style during a race. Their tires get hot and they do a few laps
00:07:32less damaging to them and they'll actually cool down. Is that correct? Yes,
00:07:37they'll definitely cool down. When you're up at 230-240 degrees temperature and you
00:07:42take a slower lap, you may drop to 20-30 degrees very quickly. Now certain
00:07:46compounds will come back up and you can reheat them and they'll be just as good.
00:07:49Other compounds won't. So that becomes another factor to worry about. I bet your
00:07:53job is made a little easier at the cooler tracks such as Belgium or England.
00:07:59Not these 110 degree temperatures with 160 degree track temperatures. Well on a
00:08:05surface that sounds like it might be right but that's not necessarily true
00:08:08because when we go on a cooler different track we may use hotter running
00:08:12compounds and we'll select something that in Formula One it's highly
00:08:15competitive and we're basically at the limit all the time. So the tire hot spot
00:08:20for you travels from track to track? Most certainly. It's different every track
00:08:23but you're going to have to be at the limit if you expect to win.
00:08:28Anyone who has experienced a good sauna bath
00:08:31knows the effect of 100 degree plus temperatures on the human body.
00:08:36But in a sauna you're sparsely clothed and not exerting much energy.
00:08:42A Formula One driver is dealing with the same temperatures
00:08:46but wearing six layers of fireproof material
00:08:50while his body is being subjected to constant battering
00:08:54and pulling over two g-forces for almost two hours.
00:08:59He must maintain his physical and mental ability to the maximum efficiency.
00:09:06Testing proof of true athletic fitness. Nigel Manser of John Player Team Motors
00:09:13describes the situation well. What's it like driving at 160 degrees in the
00:09:19cockpit? Well it isn't cool that's for certain.
00:09:22It's rather warm in fact. The only problem you can get if you get
00:09:25sweat in your eye it starts stinging a lot. Must be terrible
00:09:30for your concentration though to maintain
00:09:32both a physical and mental fitness under those conditions.
00:09:36Oh it's certainly hard but the thing is you you do training over the winter and
00:09:39you come down here in January like we did and test
00:09:42and it was very very hot there. I think I saw 170 degrees in my car the one time
00:09:47and you just got to get used to it. Yeah but Nigel you live on an island off the
00:09:52English coast where 70 degrees is a record breaker.
00:09:56How can you train for something like this down here
00:09:59170 in the cockpit? Well you can't but what you have to do you have to come a
00:10:03little earlier to acclimatize yourself to the conditions
00:10:06and that's what we all do but it's a problem but it's not too bad.
00:10:12What about towards the end of the race you actually feel yourself being worn
00:10:16down by the g-forces and the heat and the
00:10:18battering? There's no doubt about it towards the end
00:10:21of the race you start feeling completely drained your neck
00:10:25muscles and your arms everything starts aching but
00:10:30you still pull through especially if you're in a good position you don't feel
00:10:33any of the problems you only feel the problems when you stop.
00:10:37Last year Riccardo Patrese actually passed out in the race
00:10:41do you feel that you've ever been in a situation like that?
00:10:44No I don't think so but it can happen to any one of us really it's just a
00:10:48question whether we can breathe properly in the cars and I think Riccardo
00:10:52had a problem breathing in the car because it wasn't ventilated properly
00:10:56and I just hope none of us have the same problem.
00:10:59Would you come in if you felt yourself getting terribly weak or would you just
00:11:02keep going until the same thing happened to pass out?
00:11:05Well you never know do you until that happens so but for sure if you're a
00:11:08professional driver you keep going until your car stops.
00:11:12Do you change your driving style do you rest at any time and try and build up
00:11:17your strength again? No you try and breathe properly going
00:11:20down the straight because going down the straight is the easiest place
00:11:23to relax but this track is very demanding so
00:11:27you've only perhaps got five seconds seven seconds a lap at the most to have
00:11:31a have a rest that's all. So you have to maintain your cool in the
00:11:35hottest conditions possible? Something like that.
00:11:39Now the next time you're stuck in traffic at 100 degrees
00:11:43try and imagine what it's like for a Formula One driver
00:11:46with his cockpit temperatures up to 160 and again
00:11:50in full race attire so put yourself in a position of sitting there
00:11:54in that traffic but maybe in full ski dress
00:11:58with parka turtleneck warm-up pants for deep powder skiing
00:12:02boots and then add a helmet that's the situation
00:12:05that each Formula One driver here at Rio has to face for over a two-hour period
00:12:11now in those two hours he will lose between six and seven
00:12:14pounds of body weight. Simon Taylor will be back
00:12:19right after this short message with the qualifying story
00:12:23of the Brazilian Grand Prix.
00:12:35And this is where the new 1984 Grand Prix season really gets underway with the
00:12:40crucial final qualifying session here in the
00:12:43heat of a Rio de Janeiro Saturday afternoon
00:12:46the qualifying session which will decide the starting grid positions
00:12:50for tomorrow's race. A lot of new drivers in new cockpits
00:12:54new cars new engines and new regulations this year
00:12:57because the refueling stops mid-race which
00:13:01added so much excitement to last season are no longer allowed. The cars will be
00:13:06making pit stops during the race for fresh tyres
00:13:09almost certainly but they've got to run the whole race on
00:13:12220 litres of fuel that they're allowed to carry
00:13:16and that means that fuel consumption is going to be crucial
00:13:20because these turbocharged engines if their turbo is turned up too much if the
00:13:24turbo boost is wound on can be very very thirsty
00:13:27indeed. There's been a lot of testing of course
00:13:32during the off-season most of these cars have been tested both here in Rio and
00:13:37in the south of France and in South Africa so already a lot of
00:13:41testing miles under the belts of most of these drivers with their new cars
00:13:46and here comes the man who we hear now from the timekeepers has taken pole
00:13:51position one minute 28.39 seconds for the lap
00:13:55an average speed on this twisting circuit of 127 miles an hour
00:13:59the aristocratic young Italian Elio De Angelis
00:14:02with the John Blair Lotus. We're with the pole setting driver Elio De Angelis with
00:14:08team Lotus. Elio this is your second pole position
00:14:12ever in your career. Is it harder to start from pole and have to lead the
00:14:16group? I think it will be much more easy than
00:14:19start from the back of the group. No I think it will be quite easy
00:14:25because our car is very well balanced and with race tyres we are in good shape
00:14:31What about the heat here at Rio? It's one of the hottest tracks you'll attend all
00:14:35year. Actually it's quite hot but not as hot as it was in January so
00:14:40will be feasible will be will be good. Elio you're one of the few drivers in
00:14:45Formula One that has stayed with the same team
00:14:48throughout the years. This is your fifth year with Lotus. You must be pleased that
00:14:52things are coming about right for you now. Seems to be that is the right choice
00:14:57At times you must have wanted to change teams or seriously considered it though
00:15:02Yes but I thought that I must give something to
00:15:10my boys to my team and I guess that sometimes it's not the
00:15:15same things to winning for somebody else when you feel now I feel
00:15:19to a victory for Lotus should be a good one
00:15:23and it's the same thing that I have for myself. Tomorrow is their 300th
00:15:28Grand Prix start. Wouldn't you like to win that for them?
00:15:32Yes sure. Any race strategy for tomorrow? No. Stay out in front and right from
00:15:39flag to flag? That's right try to be there at the end
00:15:44Michele Alboreto the new boy in the Ferrari team
00:15:47and René Arnoux who was with them last year
00:15:51quite a lot of healthy rivalry between these two Ferrari drivers but it was the
00:15:55young Italian the newcomer who was quickest in practice and
00:15:58so Alboreto half a second slower than De Angelis
00:16:02puts his Ferrari on the front row alongside the Lotus
00:16:05and it'll be Alboreto who'll be carrying so much of the Italian hopes for
00:16:10tomorrow's race no doubt they'll all be looking at their television screens
00:16:13thousands of miles away in Italy tomorrow. Third quickest in practice
00:16:18another newcomer to a great team it's Derek Warwick
00:16:21who's joined the Renault team just this year after plugging away for so long
00:16:25with the less than competitive Toleman team
00:16:29now Warwick is joint number one with Patrick Tambay
00:16:32in the Renault team and he's shown what he can do with really competitive
00:16:36equipment by being third quickest in practice and
00:16:40looking already very confident indeed in the French car
00:16:43looking already like a race winner. Derek you've qualified third in the first
00:16:48Grand Prix of 1984 how do you feel your performance went
00:16:51today? Fairly mediocre really because
00:16:56we we should have done I think a 28.5 I done a 29 because
00:17:01it's very difficult to get a clear lap here today and
00:17:04every time I went out there I got tripped over by someone
00:17:07and when I got the the last lap in with the qualifiers I screwed up
00:17:14so I blame nobody but myself we done a 29.0
00:17:17and we should have done a 28.5 which would have put a second on the grid so
00:17:21how do you feel about the greatest competition coming from a Lotus car
00:17:25powered by Renault engines? Well I think that's a compliment to
00:17:30Renault engines because it goes to show they get the same
00:17:33equipment as us and it's all down to tires driver and
00:17:36chassis you know Renault are always very fair
00:17:39when it comes to that they just they just pick 10 engines we take them to a
00:17:42race meeting and Lotus will have two and four we'll
00:17:46have six and seven and Ligier will have eight and ten or whatever you know we
00:17:50there's no favoritism at all. You're one of the drivers who made a
00:17:54major team change this year after several years with the Tolman team
00:17:58is it a great difference going off to another team new mechanics new
00:18:02management with the Renault team? Yes it is a big
00:18:05difference I'd say the big difference really is is
00:18:09the language although it's not such a problem because
00:18:12Renault sort of put me in the center of an English
00:18:17Renault team so it's it's it's not so bad for me.
00:18:21And the competition with Patrick Tambay? Well you always get competition between
00:18:26two drivers and it's going to be no different between
00:18:30me and Patrick as anybody else the difference is Patrick's a
00:18:34gentleman you know we we confer a lot we decide what we're going to do
00:18:39and there's no backbiting amongst us and I think that's good between
00:18:43teammates. Starting third on the grid tomorrow what
00:18:45is your race strategy? Well I mean to try and keep as cool as
00:18:50possible because obviously the the temperature
00:18:52affects your performance quite a lot. I think as long I think I think
00:18:59Michelin have a better race tire than Goodyear
00:19:01both the cars in front of me are Goodyear shod so
00:19:05I think that we're looking fairly good for the race we've done a lot of
00:19:08full tank setups during practice and I'm fairly confident for the race.
00:19:15Fourth quickest in practice just three tenths of a second slower than Derek
00:19:19Warwick the man who was driving for Renault last
00:19:22year who so nearly won the world championship for them
00:19:25and who then left the team after a row immediately after the final Grand Prix
00:19:29last year some say he was fired some say he walked
00:19:33out but Alain Prost the Frenchman who was with
00:19:36Renault for so long is now with McLaren using a tag turbo built
00:19:41Porsche designed engine in the back of the McLaren and wanting to turn the
00:19:45tables on Renault very badly in tomorrow's race. Fifth
00:19:49quickest Nigel Mansell he was fastest of all in
00:19:53practice yesterday on Friday but he's had a spin today
00:19:56which spoiled his best time he's had to be satisfied with his Friday time
00:20:01alongside him sixth quickest Niki Lauda one of the great
00:20:05Grand Prix names of all time Niki Lauda who never seems to
00:20:10be ruffled by anything that happens in Grand Prix racing who brings his cool
00:20:14calm cold calculating air to Grand Prix racing
00:20:18and here's the Brazilian hero Nelson Piquet the reigning world champion
00:20:23but not happy here in practice to be back on the fourth row
00:20:27not the best place to start your home Grand Prix from
00:20:32Nelson you're looking at the qualifying sheet for this year's
00:20:35Brazilian Grand Prix you also don't look too happy about it
00:20:38well it's not true i'm seventh position but
00:20:42we had a couple of problems today we should have been
00:20:47much better what were the problems now we have one
00:20:51one kind of qualifying engine that blow up in the first lap
00:20:55and we could not do the time and it used the normal engine that
00:20:58today is how you know you have to do a good qualifying engine
00:21:04Nelson here in Brazil you're the current world champion
00:21:07and a Brazilian does that add extra pressure over beyond a normal Grand
00:21:11Prix for you no that's normal i'm champion i'm
00:21:16champion from last year now this is completely different
00:21:18but the press are all over you they're in your hotel they're at the track
00:21:22well that's normal if i'm a champion not that's in Brazil you know it's
00:21:26it's normal what is your race strategy tomorrow starting from that good
00:21:30position well try to finish the race because i
00:21:33think it is very hard for the car very hard for the drivers
00:21:37i think the most important thing is to finish the race if we finish the race
00:21:41for sure you finish well are you planning a pit stop for tires
00:21:46well even if i do i cannot tell you it's some secret we have
00:21:51maybe we play if we don't stop and we see
00:21:55last year you won here do you think you can win from this grid position
00:21:59well i win the last two years but uh and in 1981 i went from sevens also but
00:22:05every year is different i don't think tomorrow will be very easy
00:22:09but it is possible you've proven that everything is possible
00:22:13Patrick Tambay the ever personable ever courteous ever polite frenchman
00:22:18with Ferrari last year now with Renault and he's put his car
00:22:22on row four eighth quickest remember his teammate Derek Warrick
00:22:26third quickest so he's very anxious to show that he's worth his joint
00:22:31number one position with the young englishman very experienced driver very
00:22:36canny very thinking driver and always a man to bring his car to the
00:22:39finish Keke Rosberg now former world champion he was world
00:22:43champion before Nelson Piquet and he's now tasting turbocharged power
00:22:49with the Honda engine in the back of the Williams
00:22:51most of last year he spent using the less than competitive
00:22:55non-turbocharged Cosworth engine there he is talking to Patrick Head the
00:22:59Williams designer and the Frank Williams team always very
00:23:02very competitive the cheerful little frenchman René Arnoux here
00:23:07rather a varied season last year very quick when it was going well not so
00:23:11quick when it wasn't so a driver who can surprise by going
00:23:15extremely quickly a driver who can turn in a lacklustre
00:23:18performance perhaps it'll be his day tomorrow
00:23:21and Riccardo Petrezzi another italian he won the final grand prix of last year
00:23:26when he was number two for Brabham he's now moved to the all italian
00:23:31Alfa Romeo team and he is back on the sixth row
00:23:3611th fastest 12th fastest alongside him his own teammate the american Eddie
00:23:41Cheever also a newcomer to the Alfa Romeo team
00:23:45because he was with Renault last year and a man who can
00:23:49turn in a very very hard charging performance a lot of good
00:23:52bases under his belt but he's never won a grand prix yet
00:23:56stay with us for ESPN's coverage of the Brazilian Grand Prix
00:24:08Sunday afternoon here in Rio de Janeiro it's hotter than ever
00:24:12and ahead of 26 drivers lie 61 laps of this
00:24:16twisting tortuous circuit the opening round of the 1984
00:24:21world championship grand prix is going to be a very tough race indeed and
00:24:25there's an enormous crowd of Brazilians here
00:24:27to see the fun obviously the man they're cheering on
00:24:30their own hero the reigning world champion Nelson Piquet there's the
00:24:34Brazilian flag which is going to wave madly
00:24:37if he can repeat his last two wins here but on pole position Elio de Angelis
00:24:43alongside him Michele Alboreto Derek Warrick, Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell,
00:24:48Niki Lauda all determined to keep Nelson Piquet
00:24:52away from that three wins in a row there at
00:24:55the front of the picture number 27 that's the red Ferrari of Michele
00:24:58Alboreto number 11 the black lotus moving away
00:25:02off the grid this is the final warm-up lap you'll see the cars
00:25:06weaving to get some heat into their tires that
00:25:09sounds strange on a day as hot as this but it's very important that
00:25:13these slick tires are sticky and giving the
00:25:16maximum grip right from the green light so de
00:25:20Angelis in the black lotus Alboreto in the red Ferrari leading the
00:25:2326 cars on this final warm-up lap there's Derek
00:25:27Warrick in the yellow Renault number 16 the third of those cars
00:25:31behind him Alain Prost with the red and white
00:25:33McLaren Nigel Mansell in the lotus Niki Lauda in his McLaren and there you
00:25:38see Warrick starting to weave to get some warmth into the tires
00:25:42and the crowd absolutely agog they're throwing bits of paper they're cheering
00:25:48they're waving they've been sitting in those bleachers
00:25:50for a long time building up the atmosphere and now in a few moments
00:25:55the excitement that they've waited all year for
00:25:58the Brazilian Grand Prix will be underway
00:26:01de Angelis with only the second pole position of his career
00:26:05very anxious indeed to turn in a good performance for John Player Lotus using
00:26:10of course the turbo Renault engine so four six in fact Renault turbo
00:26:16engines in this race because the Renaults use them the Lotus's use them
00:26:20and so do the French Ligiers for the first time this season
00:26:25all the 26 cars coming up to take their allocated places indicated by the yellow
00:26:29sign boards the starting procedure will be a red
00:26:33light and following the red light will be a
00:26:36green the green starts the race actually only 25 cars on the grid because
00:26:42the Italian Andrea de Cesaris will start from the pit lane after problems with
00:26:46his gear linkage with the Ligier there are the lights now wait for the
00:26:50red there's the red now wait for the green
00:26:52there is the green and the 1984 season gets underway a marvellous start
00:26:57from Nigel Mansell who comes leapfrogging up from the third row
00:27:00clipping the grass but it's the Ferrari of Michele Alboreto that goes in front
00:27:04it's Derek Warwick and the yellow Renault in second place
00:27:07and that's Nelson Piquet Nelson Piquet has got
00:27:10left on the grid the Brazilian couldn't start his car he needed a push start to
00:27:15get away and so world champion Nelson Nelson Piquet in
00:27:19Brabham number one starts absolutely at the back of the
00:27:23field but it's Michele Alboreto in the Ferrari
00:27:26in front it's Derek Warwick in the Renault in
00:27:28second place then the two Lotus's of Nigel Mansell and pole position man
00:27:33Elio De Angelis who's back in fifth place having started from pole
00:27:37so not such a good start for the Italian Niki Lauda is coming through
00:27:41also but it's the Ferrari at the front
00:27:46storming round now on this first of 61 laps
00:27:50Alboreto, Warwick, Mansell, De Angelis, De Angelis fourth, Lauda is fifth
00:27:56Alain Prost was down there in the traffic somewhere he's made a fairly
00:27:59slow start as well so the second row man Alain Prost well
00:28:04done but there is Piquet Nelson Piquet coming
00:28:06charging through at the back of the field he's got a long long way to make
00:28:10up on this man the leader Michele Alboreto Ferrari number seven
00:28:14number 27. Alboreto then leads through the right-hander down by
00:28:20the water in his mirrors Derek Warwick coming up to
00:28:23complete the first of 61 laps it's Alboreto but he can't relax
00:28:27because Warwick is there with him Mansell a little bit further back in
00:28:31third place and I think already Niki Lauda is looking for fourth place
00:28:35Niki Lauda looking to demote Elio De Angelis to fifth
00:28:40Alboreto on his way on this second lap the new Ferrari designed by the
00:28:46Englishman Harvey Postlethwaite a very small neat car smaller indeed
00:28:51and lighter than last year's car and from the way it's looking it's going to
00:28:55be a quick one for Ferrari this year Alboreto his first drive for Ferrari
00:29:00and he's in the lead Derek Warwick his first drive for Renault
00:29:04and he's in second place Nigel Mansell is still there in third Ferrari
00:29:09engine leads Renault engine in second place Renault engine is third
00:29:12and in the background you see already up into fourth place is Niki Lauda
00:29:16and Niki Lauda is challenging for third Niki Lauda up alongside Derek
00:29:21Nigel Mansell now as they come down the straights Niki Lauda alongside and
00:29:27past Niki Lauda is third Nigel Mansell pushed down to fourth place
00:29:34and we see it again and not a lot of room between these two cars but nobody
00:29:38was going to keep Niki Lauda from the third place that he wanted
00:29:41Lauda then third and already pulling away from the two lotuses
00:29:46fourth then Nigel Mansell still fifth Elio De Angelis Patrick Tombe in the
00:29:51second Renault is sixth and René Arnoux in the second Ferrari
00:29:55is seventh Tombe also charging now up to De Angelis I think Tombe is going to
00:30:00have a look at De Angelis the lotuses so quick in practice already
00:30:05seem to be faltering there is Tombe attacking
00:30:08Lotus number 11 the yellow Renault all over the back of the
00:30:12black Lotus Renault powered both of them but now
00:30:16De Angelis recovers and closes back up on his own teammate
00:30:20Nigel Mansell
00:30:24already this race being run at an enormously
00:30:28hard pace very very hot here and don't forget that fuel consumption
00:30:34could well play a vital role in this race no fuel stops allowed they've got
00:30:38to make their 220 litres last if they turn up
00:30:42the cockpit boost control of their turbochargers too greedily
00:30:47they could find themselves running out of petrol towards the end of the race
00:30:51third man Lauda fourth man Mansell fifth man De Angelis sixth man
00:30:56Tombe and Tombe trying on the outside of De Angelis but De Angelis is on the
00:31:01left of the road keeps the door shut that's Mansell his teammate who's fourth
00:31:05and still hanging on to this fifth place is De Angelis there is Lauda
00:31:09there is Mansell there is De Angelis there is Tombe and Arnoux
00:31:13and that's Alain Prost attacking the Williams and passing the Williams
00:31:19of Keke Rosberg so both of the McLarens seem to be running very very strongly at
00:31:24the moment we see it again the yellow car is the Williams the red and white
00:31:28car is the McLaren Alain Prost passing Keke Rosberg and we'll
00:31:32be right back after this short break with more ESPN
00:31:36Grand Prix race action
00:31:45and you rejoin us on lap four of the Brazilian Grand Prix with Patrick Tombe
00:31:50now attacking Elio De Angelis for fifth place and taking it so the notices are
00:31:54split by the Renault number 15 of Patrick
00:31:57Tombe and as they go through that long long
00:32:01left-hander we turn now to the man who's charging as hard as anybody
00:32:05Nelson Piquet he started at the back he's working his way up through the
00:32:09field already he's got a very very long way to go
00:32:13still Michele Alboreto leading in the Ferrari still Derek Warwick second in
00:32:17the Renault still Nicky Lauda third in the McLaren and Nigel Mansell this
00:32:21man in the picture now is still fourth with Lotus number 12
00:32:25there is Nicky Lauda and there's Mansell so the gap between third and fourth not
00:32:29very much the gap between fourth and fifth very very close indeed because
00:32:32Tombe is now up to Nigel Mansell and having
00:32:36passed De Angelis is now pushing Mansell very very hard Patrick Tombe
00:32:41charging along closing on the Englishman then there's
00:32:45the Rene Arnoux Ferrari which has moved up so Rene Arnoux's Ferrari has also
00:32:50passed De Angelis these two Notices which shone so much in
00:32:54practice Mansell quickest on Friday De Angelis
00:32:57quickest of all earning the pole on Saturday
00:33:00but in the race now they're slipping back and slipping back Rene Arnoux
00:33:04now ahead of De Angelis and De Angelis is under pressure
00:33:08from the second McLaren that is Alain Prost after his tardy start coming through
00:33:14De Angelis slipping back all the time and
00:33:17Prost challenges De Angelis now De Angelis moves across to the right of the
00:33:21road but he just lets Prost go by Prost glances across a little way
00:33:25and tucks back onto his own side of the road to follow
00:33:29Rene Arnoux in Ferrari number 28 on his way
00:33:32up the field so now Tombe still fifth Arnoux is now sixth Prost is now
00:33:39seventh De Angelis demoted down to eighth place
00:33:42Keke Rosberg is ninth in the Honda powered Williams
00:33:45and the race being run at a tremendous pace
00:33:49in the Brazilian heat battles all the way down the field
00:33:53and there was a glimpse of Piquet that indeed is Nelson Piquet already
00:33:58up on our lap charts in about 15th place
00:34:02so he started 26th and dead last this is the race he's won for the last
00:34:07two years running it's his home Grand Prix he's the reigning world champion
00:34:12and we see the positions at the end of lap five
00:34:154.2 seconds the gap between Alboreto the leader and Derek Warwick in second place
00:34:21Niki Lauda a further seven seconds almost behind and Nigel Mansell
00:34:26not very far behind Lauda so the battle's
00:34:29still well and truly joined and now we see Prost
00:34:33close to Arnoux that's the battle for sixth place and you get a championship
00:34:39point for sixth place so it's a very important position Arnoux
00:34:43really being pushed remember it's his teammate the newcomer who's in front in
00:34:47the lead but that's Prost going past Arnoux with no trouble at
00:34:52all slotting the tag Turbo McLaren
00:34:57I say no trouble at all but he was right up the kerb that time
00:35:00and you don't want to bang one of these very delicate very very sensitively
00:35:06balanced Formula One cars across a kerb too often because that can really upset
00:35:11the razor-sharp handling of the car and we've got a pit stop already it's
00:35:16Ayrton Silva de Sena the young Brazilian there he is coming
00:35:20into the pits with Vettel and he's waving his hands at the mechanics he's
00:35:24saying it's all over his first Grand Prix is all over he was
00:35:28in Formula Three last year up to Formula One but
00:35:31already out of the race there the two alphas going through number four is
00:35:34Stefan Bellof behind Bellof is Jacques Lafitte at the back of that queue
00:35:38already is Nelson Piquet so he's already up in what's that about 14th place now I
00:35:44think on the lap chart so from 26th to 14 in less than a dozen
00:35:50laps that shows the pace that Nelson in fact he's already passing somebody that
00:35:54is Nelson Piquet making up a place he's past Jacques Lafitte
00:35:59and now we've got a battle for second place Niki Lauda up alongside Derek
00:36:03Warwick they touch but Lauda it is who forces the McLaren
00:36:07past the Renault Derek Warwick pushed down literally by
00:36:11Niki Lauda the ex-world champion from Austria
00:36:15and already Derek Warwick has dropped back that was quite a clout
00:36:19that the Renault took on its front left-hand wheel but Niki Lauda has
00:36:23elbowed decisively past Derek Warwick and McLaren number eight is now into
00:36:28second place Michele Alboreto still the leader with
00:36:31the Ferrari Niki Lauda number eight the McLaren still we're going to see it again
00:36:36and definitely the back right-hand wheel of the McLaren touching the front
00:36:42left-hand wheel of the Renault but that is the man who's still in the lead
00:36:45Michele Alboreto looking very smooth out in front with Ferrari number 27
00:36:50Michele Alboreto the young Italian leads for Ferrari
00:36:55the veteran Austrian Niki Lauda in second place for McLaren
00:36:59and the British driver Derek Warwick third now
00:37:03for Renault Nigel Mansell still fourth Patrick Tambay still fifth
00:37:09now is Niki Lauda going to be able to close the gap up to Michele Alboreto
00:37:14through the shimmering heat down the long straight goes the Ferrari do we see
00:37:19there we do there's the McLaren behind there's the Renault behind so the first
00:37:24three cars still very very close indeed and Alboreto
00:37:27will be able to see in his mirrors a glimpse of the new
00:37:31second man Niki Lauda even before his pit signals tell him
00:37:35as they will indeed that it's 5.9 seconds back to second man Niki Lauda
00:37:41and Alboreto's got to keep the pressure on already
00:37:44Warwick more than a second behind Lauda in third place
00:37:47Alain Prost starting to show well in fact Alain Prost starting to close on
00:37:51Patrick Tambay there they are that's Mansell number 12 and there is
00:37:56the battle for fifth place because Patrick Tambay
00:38:00under real pressure once again a Renault being attacked by a McLaren
00:38:06so Patrick Tambay under the same sort of pressure from Alain Prost as his
00:38:10teammate was Derek Warwick was from Niki
00:38:14Lauda Prost tucked in behind the in the slip
00:38:18stream of the Renault Tambay weaves a little to try and throw him
00:38:22off and indeed does throw him off a bit down the long straight
00:38:25can Prost now close up again on the corners he does and remember
00:38:29there's a lot of needle between these two because
00:38:33Prost was with Renault last year and that's
00:38:36Stefan Bellof in the pits the young German having his first Grand Prix with
00:38:41the Tyrrell team the mechanics around the car but it
00:38:45looks as though his race has been badly delayed
00:38:47now stay tuned for more ESPN Auto Racing 84
00:38:51we'll be right back
00:38:55lap 12 of the Brazilian Grand Prix 49 laps still to go and still in the lead
00:39:01Michele Alboreto of Italy with the Ferrari the new second man
00:39:05Niki Lauda with the McLaren and Lauda starting to put the pressure on
00:39:10Alboreto now so a very very open race indeed oh and
00:39:14that is Alboreto that is Alboreto off the track and that's Niki Lauda going
00:39:18through that's Derek Warwick going through
00:39:20a spin for Michele Alboreto with the Ferrari
00:39:24and that's dropped him to third place so Niki Lauda now goes into the lead
00:39:29that's a glimpse of René Arnoux in the other Ferrari he's still going but oh
00:39:33and that's Alboreto off again Alboreto spinning twice now clearly
00:39:38there's something badly amiss with the handling of that Ferrari
00:39:42oh yes he's slowed right down Michele Alboreto
00:39:45led this race from the start after only 12 laps he's going slowly I think he's
00:39:52making for his pits and there we see Alain Prost moving up
00:39:56another place past Patrick Tambay Alain Prost finally
00:40:00who's been working away at Patrick Tambay has finally
00:40:04sneaked by so in just one short lap as we see
00:40:08Prost moving past Tambay again a very straightforward maneuver down that
00:40:13long straight he's been sitting patiently in the slipstream and now
00:40:17he's used every ounce of horsepower in the tag turbo engine in the McLaren
00:40:21to move ahead but with Michele Alboreto two spins and
00:40:26he's now out of the race we now look down the
00:40:29order because it's changed quite a lot we've now got Niki Lauda in the lead
00:40:33with the McLaren in second place Derek Warwick
00:40:37with the Renault in third place Nigel Mansell the new fourth man is Alain
00:40:43Prost Patrick Tambay demoted to fifth place
00:40:46and René Arnoux is sixth and there is the Ferrari in the pits
00:40:50they're changing the tires but I think that's a routine thing to do there's
00:40:54something going on on the front right hand
00:40:57brake by the look of things yes it is the brake they're pouring water on the
00:41:00brake at the front and I would guess that
00:41:04that brake has jammed on the man in the blue
00:41:07shirt is Mauro Forgieri the technical chief
00:41:10of Ferrari and they're trying to cool that front brake
00:41:15Alboreto sitting disconsolately in the car there's nothing he can do but they
00:41:19put the wheel back on and I think they're going to try and put that car
00:41:22back in the race the water has turned to steam it's
00:41:25obviously terribly hot at the front of that car but Alboreto
00:41:29rejoins he's back in the race with the Ferrari
00:41:33having lost the lead with what we think must have been
00:41:37front brake trouble now we look at Eddie Cheever
00:41:40with Nelson Piquet on his tail Nelson Piquet's rapid progress up the
00:41:46field has got him up to Eddie Cheever's Alfa Romeo Eddie
00:41:50Cheever driving a strong race his first drive with the turbocharged Alfa
00:41:55but Nelson Piquet's pace is greater and Piquet is now
00:41:58tucked in behind Cheever and looking for a chance to dart by
00:42:05Cheever a very very experienced hand indeed not at all ruffled by
00:42:09the world champion's presence in his mirrors
00:42:13but Piquet I think won't be denied because he's come
00:42:16right up through the field he's got Jacques Lafitte's
00:42:20Williams behind him
00:42:24through the long S-bends here at the Rio circuit a very very demanding track
00:42:29indeed and the heat absolutely relentless and
00:42:33remember that a lot of these cars are going to make pit stops you saw a
00:42:37glimpse of two Ferraris there because Michele Alboreto has come out
00:42:43just behind his teammate René Arnoux after they've worked on the front of
00:42:47that car and Nelson Piquet is past Cheever
00:42:50no trouble at all he just darts alongside
00:42:53going down the long straight and pulls away
00:42:56and there is Alboreto back in the pits whatever the trouble was they obviously
00:43:00haven't cured it they've gone straight back to the front
00:43:03of the car they've taken that front wheel off they're putting another
00:43:07front wheel on perhaps the wheel that they put on was
00:43:10snagging something and there is another McLaren moving up that
00:43:14is Alain Prost going ahead now of Nigel Mansell
00:43:18so Alain Prost makes up another place Prost now goes into third place Nigel
00:43:23Mansell is demoted to fourth once again the overtaking taking place
00:43:28down this long straight where the cars are getting up to about
00:43:31175 miles an hour and that's a pit stop for Jacques Lafitte
00:43:37Jacques Lafitte with the second of the two Honda powered Williams
00:43:42cars as we look back now at Niki Lauda the
00:43:45leader Niki Lauda on his way in the lead and
00:43:49that's Jacques Lafitte again Lafitte has come
00:43:51out of the pits whatever his problem was he's parking
00:43:55the Williams Honda Nelson Piquet makes up another place and that's an easy one
00:43:59for him to make up it's his own teammate Tao Farby
00:44:03who certainly didn't get in the world champion's way but just let him through
00:44:07and so Piquet's progress up the lap chart has got him now into
00:44:12ninth place an incredible ninth place from
00:44:1526th starting position because you'll remember he got left
00:44:19stranded on the grid Niki Lauda still the leader Derek Warwick still in second
00:44:23place Alain Prost the new third man Nigel
00:44:27Mansell is fourth so it's McLaren Renault McLaren Lotus
00:44:32Renault then the Renault of Patrick Tambay in
00:44:34fifth place Rene Arnoux's Ferrari is sixth
00:44:37the Lotus of Elio de Angelis the man you'll remember who started from pole
00:44:41position has slid back to seventh place the
00:44:45self-surviving Williams Honda of Keke Rosberg is eighth
00:44:49and Nelson Piquet charging hard is ninth Eddie Cheever the American in the alpha
00:44:54is tenth
00:45:00there you see the positions at the end of 18 laps
00:45:03and 4.2 seconds is the gap from Lauda to Warwick it's not very much
00:45:08and another 5.6 seconds down comes Alain Prost with the McLaren Prost is
00:45:14catching Warwick Warwick is not losing Lauda
00:45:17and Mansell is only 13 seconds behind the leader
00:45:21so a very very open race indeed and as I was about to tell you earlier don't
00:45:25forget that there are pit stops still to come
00:45:29for most of these runners because most of the cars
00:45:32are going to have fresh rubber halfway through the race
00:45:36that's Johnny Cicotto the Venezuelan former motorcycle world champion
00:45:41into the pits with the Toleman we've already seen Ayrton Senna retiring and
00:45:45Eddie Cheever makes up a place Eddie Cheever passes
00:45:48Teo Fabi turbo alpha passes turbo BMW Brabham and Eddie Cheever moves up a
00:45:55place to follow Nelson Piquet past Teo Fabi
00:45:59Teo Fabi the Italian who will be doing American racing this
00:46:04year as well as Grand Prix racing and he's having his first run in the
00:46:10Brabham where he's replaced Riccardo Petrezzi as the number two
00:46:15so Nelson Piquet charging hard Nelson Piquet
00:46:21carrying number one on the Brabham which of course denotes that he is the world
00:46:24champion and not a very good start so far for the
00:46:29Brabham BMW team but the car always so immaculately turned out designed by
00:46:34Gordon Murray the South African and always the Brabham one of the
00:46:38prettiest and most intelligently designed of the
00:46:42Grand Prix cars the positions at the end of lap 20 6.1
00:46:49is now the gap from Lauda to Warwick but it's 4.1 from Warwick back to Prost
00:46:55so Prost keeping the pressure on Prost relentlessly catching
00:46:59Derek Warwick the McLaren catching the Renault for second place
00:47:04Nigel Mansell is still fourth with the Lotus Renault Patrick Tambay still
00:47:08fifth with his Renault René Arnoux still sixth with the Ferrari
00:47:13ESPN race action will continue after this short break
00:47:17stay with us
00:47:2721 laps completed in the Brazilian Grand Prix
00:47:3140 laps still to go and this man Niki Lauda in McLaren number eight still
00:47:36setting a scorching pace in third place his teammate Adam Prost
00:47:41starting to close the gap relentlessly to the second man Derek Warwick and in
00:47:46the pits now Brabham number two Tao Farby I think this must be the
00:47:50first of the routine tyre stops and the
00:47:53Brabham mechanics really know how to make a quick tyre stop
00:47:56that was about 12 seconds by my stopwatch and
00:48:00away on its fresh tyres goes Brabham number two a little puff of flame from
00:48:04the exhaust pipe so typical of these turbocharged
00:48:07cars and we look now at Derek Warwick number
00:48:1116 in second place and let's see how close
00:48:14Alain Prost has got McLaren number seven to him
00:48:18there it is the two of them very very close indeed now and Derek Warwick will
00:48:22know from his mirrors that Prost is creeping closer creeping
00:48:26closer behind them one of the Arrows cars which
00:48:29they've both lapped and now Warwick a clear road in front of
00:48:34him and he's got to ensure that he doesn't make a single mistake
00:48:37he doesn't let that McLaren creep any closer
00:48:41always a driver prefers to attack rather than defend his position and while
00:48:45Nicky Lowder is comfortably out in front it's Derek Warwick now who's got to
00:48:50start to drive defensively see how that McLaren is creeping closer
00:48:54all the time diving closer on the braking and
00:48:57remember that it was Warwick who got clouted by
00:49:00Nicky Lowder on lap 10 when the McLaren forced its way past Warwick
00:49:05and now Warwick's got another McLaren to contend with and look how close Prost got
00:49:09under braking for this sharp right-hander now under acceleration
00:49:14over the start finish line can the Renault engine
00:49:17throw off the tag turbo engine in the McLaren the McLaren creeping alongside
00:49:22but Prost can't get close enough he has to
00:49:25tuck in behind once more both of the cars drifting through that
00:49:28right-hander and accelerating away the Renault pulls away a little bit
00:49:32under braking the McLaren closes a bit a superb battle between two very very
00:49:38fine Grand Prix drivers and once again remember that Prost is no
00:49:42lover of the Renault team anymore he left them at the end of last season
00:49:46after quite an argument and he's going to be very keen to show
00:49:50the Renault team that he's quicker than they are today
00:49:53Derek Warwick on his first drive for the Renault team
00:49:57after having spent so long with the less than competitive Toleman team and
00:50:01Warwick the first chance in his career to show
00:50:04what he's really made of but I think Prost is going to attack
00:50:07Prost tucked into the slipstream he pulls out
00:50:10it's the classic move this is where Lowder did it
00:50:13and this time no collision Prost goes smoothly on his way and there's
00:50:19absolutely nothing that Derek Warwick can do about it and
00:50:22we see it again out of the slipstream up alongside
00:50:26on the brakes as late as you can take a tight line for the left-hander at the
00:50:30end of the long straight and Warwick now has to eat the exhaust
00:50:35of the McLaren so we've now got McLaren first McLaren
00:50:40second Renault third Lotus Renault fourth
00:50:46all of these cars v6 engines with turbochargers
00:50:51there is the leader number eight Niki Lowder
00:50:56the most experienced of Grand Prix drivers two world championship titles
00:51:01behind him that dreadful accident which so nearly killed
00:51:04him in 1976 at the Nürburgring and he's still racing he's lapping in
00:51:10fact the Osella the blue car is the Osella of the
00:51:13Italian Piercarlo Ginzani and Niki Lowder neatly laps him and we
00:51:19look back now in fact we look at the gap and it's 11
00:51:22and a half seconds between the two McLarens Derek Warwick already 3.2
00:51:27seconds back after 25 laps Nigel Mansell still fourth
00:51:32Patrick Tambay's Renault still fifth and René Arnoux in the sole surviving
00:51:36Ferrari is sick remember that Arnoux's teammate
00:51:39Michele Alboreto who led the opening stages
00:51:43is out oh and that's Tambay in the pits and Tambay almost spinning his car in
00:51:47the pits Tambay rushing in for fresh tires and
00:51:51almost overshooting his pit jamming on the brakes and going
00:51:54completely sideways almost scattering the mechanics
00:51:57and that will have thrown the very careful
00:52:00routine that the mechanics have they have an arrow painted in the road which
00:52:05they like the car to park on exactly so that they can make their pit
00:52:09stop their wheel change absolutely as quickly as possible with the power
00:52:13wrenches but that will have delayed Tambay a little bit
00:52:16and that's one of the Ligiers out that is Francois Hainault
00:52:20uh parking his Ligier with a cloud of smoke
00:52:23from its engine and he must be out of the race
00:52:27Teo Fabi being lapped oh and not being lapped by
00:52:31uh the leader Niki Lauda Teo Fabi not uh making it particularly easy for
00:52:37Niki Lauda and remember that Fabi is now on fresh
00:52:41tires he's getting the blue flag there from the corner marshals
00:52:45which means there's a car behind you you must overtake Hainault walks away from
00:52:49his car that's his first Grand Prix over but now
00:52:52Niki Lauda has lapped Teo Fabi, Fabi on fresh tires giving
00:52:57Lauda quite an anxious moment before the Austrian was able to
00:53:02scramble past the Brabham driver and go on his way
00:53:07so Lauda completes his 29th lap 32 laps to go and we've got a pit stop for
00:53:12the third place man Derek Warwick comes into the pits with Renault number 16
00:53:17and he parked perfectly on the arrow in the road the yellow arrow drawn in the
00:53:21road the mechanics all around the car and here comes Nigel Mansell, Mansell
00:53:25into the pits as well so the third place man and the
00:53:28fourth place man simultaneously in the pits
00:53:30four uh fresh tires and the front wheels are done the back
00:53:35wheels aren't done uh Nigel Mansell already engaging a gear
00:53:39and spinning the rear wheels before the car was off the jack
00:53:42that nearly sent one of the mechanics flying but Mansell now back
00:53:45in the race as we now have Riccardo Patrese making his pit stop
00:53:49with the Alfa Romeo number 22 so all the action now in the pits and this is the
00:53:54moment when all the lap charters sharpen their
00:53:56pencils and knit their brows because the race can become very very confusing
00:54:01indeed but still out in front there is Niki
00:54:04Lauda with the McLaren very comfortably out on
00:54:08its own he knows that he's got his own teammate
00:54:11Alan Prost in second place and he shouldn't get too much of a challenge
00:54:15from him so he can afford to drive a smooth
00:54:18relaxed race keep a watch on his gauges make sure he
00:54:22laps the back markers without getting into trouble
00:54:25and wait for his tire stop because we assume he'll make one
00:54:29you remember that Nelson Piquet was telling us earlier he wasn't going to
00:54:33tell us whether he was going to make a pit stop
00:54:35or not he's going to keep that all very canny
00:54:38and in front of Nelson Piquet now we've got Keke Rosberg
00:54:43and Rosberg is seventh that means Nelson Piquet is eighth
00:54:47on our lap chart there's less than one minute between Nelson Piquet
00:54:52in eighth place and the leader Niki Lauda and it's going to become seventh
00:54:57place because Piquet goes past Keke Rosberg number one
00:55:02passes number six and Nigel Mansell on fresh tires after his pit stop
00:55:06is immediately behind Keke Rosberg so Rosberg
00:55:11is passed by Piquet and Mansell is going to pass him soon there is Eddie
00:55:16Cheever the American in the pits and we'll be right back
00:55:20after this short break with more ESPN Auto Racing 84
00:55:25from the Brazilian Grand Prix
00:55:34just after half a distance in the Brazilian Grand Prix
00:55:3731 laps gone 30 to go and still Niki Lauda dominating the race for McLaren
00:55:43oh and there's the sixth place Ferrari that is René Arnoux with his car
00:55:47on fire the turbocharger must have blown this is a problem that we saw so many
00:55:54times last season on these turbocharged cars
00:55:57and in the heat here in Rio de Janeiro that's one turbocharged engine that's
00:56:01cried enough René Arnoux glancing in the mirror to
00:56:05get out and that's Nelson Piquet in the pits
00:56:07Piquet wasn't going to tell us whether he was going to make a tire stop or not
00:56:11but he has this is the tire stop his teammate Teofabi has already been
00:56:15in Nelson Piquet was delayed at the
00:56:17beginning of the race but has driven a storming race up the field
00:56:21and is going to get into the points I would think
00:56:24pretty soon back out again goes Nelson Piquet
00:56:29back into the race on fresh tires and now with only a half fuel load and
00:56:35now we're really going to see the Brazilian start to charge on his
00:56:38home circuit Piquet with his head tucked down into the cockpit moving up
00:56:43through the gearbox scrubbing in his new fresh tires and
00:56:46settling down for a drive to the flag on all that charge
00:56:51after that pit stop he is now down in ninth place
00:56:56Niki Lauda and Alain Prost the leaders in the McLarens they haven't made their
00:57:00pit stop Derek Warrick in the Renault is in third
00:57:03place and he has had his pit stop Elio de Angelis in the Lotus is fourth he
00:57:09hasn't stopped yet Nigel Mansell is fifth he has stopped
00:57:13Patrick Tambay is sixth he has also stopped
00:57:16and there you see the order after 31 laps with Patrick Tambay sixth
00:57:22Mansell fifth de Angelis fourth Warrick third and still those
00:57:27magnificent McLarens of Lauda and Prost at the top of the field and that's one
00:57:31of the Brabham stopping that's Tao Fabi in Brabham number two
00:57:35and his car's come to a complete halt and
00:57:38we don't know what the problem is but clearly
00:57:42Tao Fabi's race is over he's out of the car he's looking at the back of the car
00:57:48and there is his teammate Nelson Piquet on his way
00:57:52but whatever Tao Fabi's problem is clearly his race is run Nelson Piquet
00:58:00then charging on his way and it's now that Piquet's oh Piquet
00:58:04pulling off the track that is Nelson Piquet parking we've
00:58:08just seen his own teammate stop and Piquet has stopped as well
00:58:14he's sitting in the cockpit looking down at the instruments he's undoing his
00:58:17seatbelts he's getting out I think yes out comes Piquet there's oil smoke
00:58:23billowing out of the back of the car and so
00:58:26the man who won the race in 1982 and in 1983
00:58:31is now out of the race Nelson Piquet's retired
00:58:35now we see Niki Lauda the leader and behind him he's got
00:58:39Keki Rosberg and Keki Rosberg who is a lap down
00:58:43is in fact fighting back and looks as though he could well
00:58:47unlap himself on the leader Niki Lauda now clearly Niki Lauda
00:58:51is driving to finish he's not going to worry too much
00:58:55about Keki Rosberg because he knows that Rosberg is a whole lap adrift
00:59:01and he also knows does Lauda that it's his own teammate Alain Prost in second
00:59:06place and that's Elio de Angelis making his
00:59:09pit stop at last they're showing him a sign which says
00:59:12brakes which means keep your foot on the brakes while they
00:59:15change the tires so that in fact the rear tire's already spinning
00:59:20they've got a problem with the left-hand rear
00:59:23they haven't got the left-hand rear on the mechanic's still battling with that
00:59:28rear left-hand tire the wheel is not on so a real delay these tire stops when
00:59:34they're done quickly can last about nine or ten seconds but that must have
00:59:38cost another 15 or 20 seconds but now de Angelis back in the race and
00:59:43now Keki Rosberg is trying to unlap himself
00:59:46on the leader Niki Lauda he's alongside as they go down the
00:59:49straight and Lauda lets him through so the V6 Honda in the Williams
00:59:56out drags the V6 tag turbo engine in the McLaren we see it again
01:00:02Lauda wasn't quite sure whether to let him by or not
01:00:05but in fact Rosberg does go through and so Rosberg in eighth place
01:00:10has unlapped himself Brundle the young Englishman in the Tyrrell has come up to
01:00:14sixth place he hasn't made his pit stop yet
01:00:17Tambay and Mansell now very very close about 0.2 of a second between them
01:00:22Mansell's place under threat and that's Mansell in the fences
01:00:27Mansell under threat from Tambay and Tambay has pushed Mansell into a mistake
01:00:31and that is Nigel Mansell in Lotus number 12 with his car
01:00:35absolutely buried in the fences he's still in the car he's now getting out
01:00:40the marshals have pulled the restraining catch fencing
01:00:44away from the car and we've got news of the leader
01:00:49Nicky Lauda there he is is slowing Nicky Lauda's in trouble
01:00:54Emilio De Angelis goes past him his own teammate Alain Prost is closing on him
01:00:59there is De Angelis there is Prost who's gone ahead
01:01:03and Nicky Lauda has slowed right down Alain Prost has gone
01:01:07into the lead and I think Prost is coming into the pits there is Lauda
01:01:11going slower and slower on his way to the pits and Alain Prost
01:01:16indeed does come into the pits Prost's car still sounding healthy
01:01:20he's coming in with the mechanics waiting this is his routine tyre stop
01:01:25and Alain Prost has briefly taken the lead but
01:01:28as he's in the pits Lauda comes in much more slowly behind him
01:01:35and Lauda's engine sounding very silent indeed
01:01:39Lauda out of the car Nicky Lauda who led this race
01:01:43ever since Alboreto went off is out of the car
01:01:46doesn't even glance at his teammate Alain Prost who rejoins the race
01:01:51Prost rejoins the race in fact in second place
01:01:54because Derek Warwick has gone through now Warwick has had his pit stop
01:01:59Prost has now had his so they're back on equal footing there is Alain Prost back
01:02:04in the race but the new leader of the Brazilian
01:02:07Grand Prix now is Derek Warwick the Englishman with the
01:02:10French Renault this is lap 39 and there is the new
01:02:15second man I say new second man he was second before to Nicky Lauda he's now
01:02:20second to the new leader Derek Warwick with the Renault so Prost is second
01:02:25Tambay is third Rosberg is fourth and this is the battle for fifth place
01:02:30number three is the amazing young British driver Martin Brundle his
01:02:35first Grand Prix a non-turbocharged car and he's holding
01:02:39off Elio De Angelis, De Angelis has had a pit stop
01:02:42De Angelis is on fresh tyres Martin Brundle hasn't stopped yet
01:02:45but Brundle holding on to fifth place ahead of Elio De Angelis I think he's
01:02:49going to lose that fifth place any minute he does
01:02:52De Angelis goes through but Brundle is still sixth with the Tyrrell
01:02:56and that's a magnificent performance in his very first Grand Prix
01:03:01and just out of the top six in a strong seventh place the American driver Eddie
01:03:06Cheever he's still looking good we'll be back with more ESPN Auto Racing
01:03:1284 and the conclusion of the Brazilian Grand Prix after this
01:03:16short message
01:03:23we're into the closing stages of what has been a tremendously exciting
01:03:27opening to the 1984 Grand Prix season here in Brazil
01:03:31as we see the race leader Derek Warwick lapping Martin Brundle
01:03:35now in sixth place with the Tyrrell Derek Warwick
01:03:38on his way with the Renault now a clear half minute
01:03:41ahead of second man Alain Prost and this is Riccardo Patrese
01:03:46in the Alfa Romeo number 22 and he's going a lot more slowly than he should
01:03:50he's coming to a halt in fact he's pulling his car
01:03:53well over to the right of the road trying to keep out of the traffic
01:03:57there's third man Tambay in the other Renault and into the pits comes Andrea
01:04:02with the Ligier the sole surviving Ligier Renault and he's coming in rather
01:04:07more slowly than a routine stop would indicate
01:04:09I think he's got terminal troubles with that car
01:04:13and meanwhile we've got Martin Brundle coming in Brundle coming in
01:04:16from sixth place and this looks like a much more rapid stop indeed this is
01:04:21going to be a tyre stop I would think for the Tyrrell
01:04:24team the mechanics jump onto it now they're putting in
01:04:27water on the right hand side of the car as well
01:04:31as changing the tyres that's to bring the ballast
01:04:35weight of the car up to the legal minimum that's a new little
01:04:40tweak way of getting around the rules this year the ingenious Formula One
01:04:45teams will always think of a new way and they're adding water partway through
01:04:49the race to make sure that when the car is weighed at the end
01:04:53it is up to the minimum weight limit and it means of course that it can
01:04:56without breaking the rules do the early stages of the race
01:05:00slightly underweight this is Keke Rosberg about to be lapped by race
01:05:05leader Derek Warrick as Elio de Angelis comes up behind them to
01:05:08lap Marc Surer in the arrows that's the arrows having just been lapped by the
01:05:13Black Lotus and ahead of them Keke Rosberg just in
01:05:17front of Derek Warrick they're both passing
01:05:20Jonathan Palmer in the ram another man a newcomer to Grand Prix
01:05:25racing having only his second Grand Prix here today he's running a
01:05:29reliable steady race at the back of the field
01:05:32and now Derek Warrick lines up to lap Keke Rosberg in the Williams
01:05:38Warrick with a comfortable lead he's not going to force this he's not going to
01:05:41chance anything by lapping Rosberg who's a quick man
01:05:45and Rosberg is wanting to go as quickly as he can because de Angelis
01:05:49is not very far behind him Warrick pulls up alongside the Williams
01:05:54Rosberg lets him go but Rosberg doesn't want to waste any time because his
01:05:58fourth place is now being threatened by the Black Lotus behind him who is fifth
01:06:02and that's Elio de Angelis the battle's going on all the way to the
01:06:06chequered flag in this wonderful race so Rosberg being caught all the time by
01:06:11de Angelis who is right up in the Williams' slipstream
01:06:15now Warrick is moving away Warrick is clear of the Williams Honda
01:06:21but the Williams Honda is being threatened there's Warrick there's
01:06:24Rosberg there is de Angelis and that's the battle
01:06:27behind Warrick for fourth place Eddie Cheever now is sixth
01:06:33with Martin Brundle in seventh place still going well after his pit stop
01:06:38and Alain Prost of course in a rather lonely second place in the McLaren
01:06:43Patrick Tambay in an equally lonely third place
01:06:47in the Renault so it's Renault first McLaren second
01:06:51Renault third Williams fourth Lotus Renault fifth
01:06:55and Alfa Romeo sixth
01:06:59that is an indication if any indication were necessary of what a competitive
01:07:04season this is proving to be because several makes of car
01:07:08still running at the front of the race Warrick taking a wide clean line
01:07:15coming out of that S-Bend there using all the road but no more
01:07:19keeping clear of the kerbs making sure that he doesn't make any
01:07:23mistakes now he's all on his own this is the time when
01:07:26a driver's heart is in his mouth he's not under pressure
01:07:30he's already starting to think of the chequered flag waiting for him
01:07:34but it's now that he looks at the gauges it's now that he listens to the engine
01:07:37note it's now that he hopes that nothing is going to go wrong and cruelly steal
01:07:43the race from his pocket Keke Rosberg has pulled away a little bit from Elio
01:07:48De Angelis he's thrown off this challenge from the Lotus
01:07:52for his fourth place and De Angelis has just slipped back a little bit
01:07:56Keke Rosberg driving like the ex-world champion he is has managed to
01:08:00pull a little bit extra out of the bag and he's shaken the Lotus off
01:08:05so still the pressure really on and it's now also
01:08:08that the drivers must be worrying about fuel consumption have they had their
01:08:13turbos turned up too high in the early stages of the race are they going to be
01:08:16running low on fuel will their 220 litres
01:08:21prove to be a little bit marginal at the end of the race so crucial
01:08:25is the fuel capacity that several of the teams
01:08:28cooled their fuel to increase its specific gravity to get more fuel into
01:08:32the tanks and De Angelis they're still working
01:08:37hard in the cockpit of the Lotus Renault
01:08:39but slipping back all the time from Keke Rosberg Rosberg able perhaps just
01:08:45to relax a little bit more not having to drive quite so defensively
01:08:48there's a yellow flag there that's Warwick
01:08:50that's Warwick on the grass the yellow car on the grass
01:08:54was Renault number 16 and Derek Warwick the leader is off the track
01:09:00Derek Warwick has spun on that sharp left-hand hairpin there he is he's got
01:09:04the car going again but look at that left-hand front wheel
01:09:08look at the angle of that left-hand front wheel i think something has broken
01:09:13at the front of the Renault you can see Derek Warwick looking down at that wheel
01:09:17and clearly all is not well with Renault number 16 and clearly everything's very
01:09:21well now with McLaren number seven there is
01:09:24Alain Prost he was in a steady second place and
01:09:28suddenly he's found himself in these closing stages in the lead
01:09:33Warwick in the pits pointing to the front left-hand wheel the Renault
01:09:37mechanics wave their arms with a finality of
01:09:41gesture and that car number 16 the Renault of
01:09:44Derek Warwick which has led for so long is out and here is McLaren number seven
01:09:49of Alain Prost and you'll remember we've said he's no
01:09:53lover of Renault these days and he must have chuckled inwardly to see
01:09:59Derek Warwick's Renault parked by the side of the road he's now
01:10:0264 seconds in front of the other Renault of Patrick Tambay
01:10:06and Patrick Tambay under a lot of pressure now from Keke Rosberg
01:10:10Rosberg has thrown off de Angelis's challenge
01:10:13and indeed is right up with Patrick Tambay and challenging him now for
01:10:17second place still the action and the drama goes on
01:10:20here in Brazil because with Alain Prost leading very
01:10:24comfortably indeed for McLaren second place
01:10:27is about to change because Keke Rosberg goes storming past
01:10:31the other Renault Renault number 15 of Patrick Tambay Derek Warwick out of the
01:10:36race Patrick Tambay demoted down to third
01:10:39place I would think all is not well with his car either
01:10:42because Keke Rosberg made absolutely no bones at all about that and is up to
01:10:47second place so Alain Prost starts his final 61st lap
01:10:52of this dramatic Brazilian Grand Prix with a comfortable
01:10:56lead with the McLaren tag in second place now Keke Rosberg with
01:11:01the Williams Honda Tambay in a faltering third place it's
01:11:05Elio de Angelis in fourth Eddie Cheever in the alpha is fifth
01:11:10and Martin Brundle's back in the points with the Tyrrell he is sixth
01:11:14so oh and that's Tambay that is Tambay coming to a complete halt
01:11:19on this final lap it must have been fuel starvation that was delaying him because
01:11:23I would wager that that Renault has run out of petrol
01:11:27we knew that the fuel consumption would be marginal on a lot of these
01:11:31cars and Patrick Tambay's car has come to a
01:11:34halt cruel cruel luck on this final lap as the chequered flag is
01:11:39there Tambay walks disconsolately away from his car
01:11:45and Alain Prost wins the opening Grand Prix of 1984 for McLaren
01:11:50Keke Rosberg with the Williams Honda is second Elio de Angelis with the Lotus
01:11:55Renault is third Eddie Cheever's Alfa Romeo fourth Martin
01:11:59Brundle's Tyrrell fifth and Patrick Tambay's Renault sixth
01:12:04ESPN Auto Racing 84 will be back after this short break
01:12:08to speak to winner Alain Prost
01:12:16just won the Brazilian Grand Prix in a textbook drive
01:12:19Alain you've just proven that you can win in the McLaren chassis
01:12:23did anyone challenge you throughout the race in the later stages
01:12:27I think I proved today that I was as competitive than last year with the
01:12:30Renault and I think we proved today together with McLaren
01:12:34team and Michelin tire and the tag Porsche
01:12:36engine that were very very competitive this year
01:12:39and I hope to win this championship because I lost for two points last year
01:12:43and I do a very very good beginning of
01:12:46season and I hope to continue in the same step
01:12:49same step when you went by the Renault did that
01:12:53add a little bit of thrill to your heart to realize that you were that
01:12:56competitive in another team and proving to everyone that you're a
01:12:59Grand Prix winner I think I need to prove that I can win
01:13:04every Grand Prix on each car you know that's
01:13:08that's the best thing for me you know I proved that I could I was able to win
01:13:11some races in the Renault team and I'm able to win some races in the McLaren
01:13:14team that's the most important for me but now the second step is
01:13:18to win the championship that I haven't it's my tenth victory
01:13:22today but I never win a championship it's not normal
01:13:24your first nine points very early in the championship helps that
01:13:28that effort yes because we have a complete brand new car
01:13:31and brand new engine and I'm completely new in the team
01:13:35and my first win today is fantastic for me and for everybody
01:13:38when Niki Lauda went out so not early in the race but middle of the race did that
01:13:43give you any worries about your mechanics
01:13:47yes because we I did not know what happened in the engine of
01:13:52I know that it's nothing it's only an electric problem but I was a bit worried
01:13:55but my engine was very was perfect and my car too
01:13:59I was just waiting in the middle of the race to change the tires
01:14:02but problem today I did a very bad start and I was obliged to go
01:14:06very quick at the beginning of the race to be not too too far from Niki
01:14:10and no problems in the pit stop yes a little problem with the
01:14:14rear wheel I think I spent too much time in the pit stop but anyway it must not
01:14:18have been too big of a problem no it's not a big problem
01:14:20congratulations thank you very much this has been John Bisignano and Simon
01:14:25Taylor we've enjoyed bringing you this ESPN
01:14:28coverage of the Brazilian Grand Prix thank you for joining us