see more Formula 1 on :
https://F1World.Sports-Classics.stream
https://F1World.Sports-Classics.stream
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00:00We're cruising down the fantastic E4 Autobahn just south of Frankfurt on the way to Hockenheimring and the German Grand Prix.
00:00:08The E4 is to Europe what Interstate 80 is to the USA.
00:00:12I could take it from where I live just north of Copenhagen, Denmark, all the way to my grandfather's old village in the southernmost part of Italy.
00:00:21Now for the majority of such a trip, I could cruise at nearly 90 miles an hour and be perfectly within the law.
00:00:29And here, on the German Autobahn, with excellent driving conditions, the 190 kilometers we're doing, that's nearly 118 miles an hour, is perfectly legal.
00:00:43The average speed of the drivers around me is a very quick but safe 90 to 100 miles an hour.
00:00:50In Germany, it's a quite different approach to safety while driving.
00:00:54The strong emphasis is put on driving correctly with a very high level of concentration at all speeds.
00:01:01Here, the most serious violations are like blocking the passing lane.
00:01:06That's number one.
00:01:07Not wearing your seatbelt, drunken driving, following too close or failing to signal a lane change.
00:01:14Not just speeding, but poor driving is the emphasized danger here.
00:01:21I think I explained it best to a highway patrolman just outside of beautiful Breckenridge, Colorado, when I said,
00:01:27in Europe, it's a privilege to drive, and you're right to do it quickly.
00:01:32He reminded me where we were and said, in Colorado, it's your right to drive, and no one is privileged to do it quickly.
00:01:41Well, the German population deals with and enjoys their privilege of high-speed driving and performance automobiles every day.
00:01:49Remember, this is the very industrialized nation that produces some of the finest road cars in the world.
00:01:56Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Opel, Volkswagen, Audi, and BMW are all manufactured within 150 miles of Hockenheimring.
00:02:06No one more than the competitive Germans appreciate maximum performance automobiles and the people who drive them well.
00:02:14That is why the national impact of this international motorsports event is so high.
00:02:20Over a three-day period, nearly 170,000 fans will pass through the gates of this exciting and challenging Hockenheimring facility.
00:02:30For those who can't attend on Sunday afternoon, all televisions will be tuned to their Grand Prix championship event.
00:02:38That great national pride will be pulling for a German victory via the BMW or TAG Porsche-powered cars.
00:02:47This is John Bisignano in a very active Hockenheimring paddock.
00:02:52I'll be your host along with Simon Taylor for this ESPN Auto Racing 84 coverage of the German Grand Prix for Formula One race cars.
00:03:02Over the next 90 minutes, Simon and I will be presenting the complete Grand Prix story, including technical reports, driver interviews,
00:03:11all the latest F1 updates, plus the fantastic Grand Prix race action.
00:03:16So please join us after these short messages for the 11th round of the 1984 season
00:03:23and a detailed look at how Formula One helps the development of safety and efficiency in road cars.
00:03:30We'll be right back. Join us.
00:03:38Automobile racing is as old as the invention itself.
00:03:42From the earliest days, creative engineers and daring drivers have teamed up to squeeze the last tenth of a second
00:03:50from hopefully an improved design, always looking for a better way to achieve higher speeds and lower lap times.
00:03:58From the beginning, manufacturers have supported the sport with millions and millions of dollars.
00:04:05If used wisely, this investment brings an excellent return by providing the most economical research and development process possible
00:04:15while creating a strong marketing base.
00:04:18Today in Formula One, you have the involvement of more major international automobile factories than in any other form of the sport.
00:04:27Renault, Ferrari, Honda, Lotus, Ford, Alfa Romeo, and Porsche are all participating at different levels but for the same results,
00:04:38to push the design of their road cars ahead in the quickest, most cost-effective way possible.
00:04:45If they didn't use motor racing as the toughest proving ground for testing their new ideas,
00:04:50the expenditure of time and money for trying to gain the same knowledge would be astronomical.
00:04:57The end products are highly improved road cars with every element of chassis, suspension, body shape, and motor
00:05:05becoming more safe and economical, even fun, for us to use in everyday driving.
00:05:12How much of a factory's racing effort goes into its road cars?
00:05:17If you start with a sleek Lotus or Ferrari, you might think quite a lot, but what about a car we all might enjoy?
00:05:24Who better to ask than Jean Sage, team manager of Renault Sport.
00:05:30Jean, relative to the influence of future designs of Renault road cars, how much communication is there between Renault Sport and the factory?
00:05:43There's much communication. There's a very strong relationship between Renault Formula 1 team and the production factory.
00:05:50I think this is the best test bench you can have to test all the new materials and the new technical research on the Formula 1 car.
00:06:03For example, at the moment we are testing all what could lighten a car and save fuel.
00:06:09For example, the disc brakes, which are saving about 20 to 25 pounds on a car.
00:06:16And testing also the intercoolers for the turbo cars.
00:06:20We can test really a lot of things. It saves time and money, and it improves both racing cars and road cars.
00:06:29Another fact is that an engineer working in the factory on road cars, it must give him a great amount of enthusiasm
00:06:35to know that Renault Sport is out there against all the other factories in the world on different racetracks all over the world.
00:06:41It must give him a sense of pride in his own work.
00:06:44Yes, of course. All the engineers are much concerned by what we are doing.
00:06:48We are called every day to come to the tracks to see what we are doing.
00:06:53It gives Renault a bigger name in technology around the world.
00:06:59And all the company, the 200,000 people of the company around the world, are much concerned about what we are doing.
00:07:05We have internal information papers, technically and also promotionally, to promote and to give details of what we are doing inside the company.
00:07:18And not only the engineers are concerned, but all the people.
00:07:21Right down to the sales force and everything.
00:07:23Yes, yes. It gives more enthusiasm to everybody, including the sales people, to sell their product, which is improved by the Formula One test bench.
00:07:33Well, a very improved product is the Renault Fuego.
00:07:37Now, here's a car that has disc brakes, independent suspension, stabilizing bars, front and rear.
00:07:43The engine is fuel-injected, turbocharged, intercooled, overhead cam.
00:07:49I mean, all those elements of that road car are the same elements you have in your F1 car.
00:07:53Yes, that's true. All the details you give, plus the aerodynamics also is very good on the Fuego.
00:07:59And this is, you know, the results of what we have been doing in Formula One since 1977 and in Formula Two before 1975-76.
00:08:09Jean, the world is very interested in getting the most fuel-efficient cars at the moment, too.
00:08:15Now, in Formula One, last year you were allowed to use 250 liters.
00:08:19You've been cut down to 220 liters for the 84 season.
00:08:23Now, this must be an area where your research is really helping to get the road cars further down the road on the same fuel or less fuel.
00:08:32Yes, we had 30 liters less at the beginning of the season.
00:08:35That gave us some problems, but they are solved now.
00:08:39And we have done a lot of improvement on fuel consumption, really.
00:08:44And we are on the road. We were already the champions of the fuel consumption with our small cars.
00:08:50That's, you know, really on both sides we are trying to have the best efficiency in road cars and in Formula One.
00:08:58The technical feedback begins with the Formula One driver.
00:09:02Patrick Tambay has driven for Ferrari and Renault in the last two seasons.
00:09:07How does he feel about this all-important collaboration?
00:09:11As a driver, I'm just racing with the equipment they are giving me and trying to push it to its limits.
00:09:19Therefore, we are learning something from it.
00:09:21But the technicians of the teams are indeed learning something.
00:09:27There is a lot of new composite materials involved in racing now.
00:09:31Carbon discs, carbon fibers for the construction of the chassis, construction of the aerodynamics, airfoils.
00:09:42Special, very exotic materials for suspension parts.
00:09:46And all that, in the long term, is going back towards the production cars.
00:09:53As far as the engine is concerned, yes.
00:09:55Electronics is getting a big development because we have to consume less and have more horsepower.
00:10:01Therefore, our electronics are really working hard.
00:10:04Turbos are also being developed at a high rate.
00:10:08They have to be more reliable, they have to produce more boost and be stronger.
00:10:12So, yes, in the medium to long run, I'm sure the technicians will learn something,
00:10:17pass it on to the industrial technicians, the ones that are designing the road cars.
00:10:21And then the people buying those cars will eventually benefit from our racing experience.
00:10:29Now, not only the huge manufacturers are involved in automobile racing,
00:10:33but virtually every product in the automobile aftermarket has something to prove by supporting the sport.
00:10:40Everything from motor oil to shock absorbers, spark plugs, tires, fan belts, brake pads,
00:10:47are all out there trying to achieve technical superiority while meeting their target market
00:10:52in one of the most economical and demanding ways possible.
00:10:56Now, if you still don't believe that automobile racing makes a serious contribution to your road car,
00:11:02every time you look in the rearview mirror, remember the fact that this device was first time ever used
00:11:08at the Indianapolis 500 back in the very early days.
00:11:13Stay with us after this short break when Simon Taylor returns with the qualifying story here at the German Grand Prix.
00:11:28The Hockenheim track has been the home of the German Grand Prix ever since 1977,
00:11:34when it superseded the no longer suitable Nürburgring.
00:11:38It's a circuit which has long straights, even though nowadays they are divided by tight chicanes.
00:11:45And so one of the most important ingredients for a quick qualifying lap round the Hockenheim ring is a strong engine.
00:11:52A further problem in final qualifying has been rain.
00:11:56It's rain during the morning, the track was still wet when the final hour of qualifying began,
00:12:01and it's only in the last 10 minutes that the circuit is dry enough to set a really quick lap.
00:12:07So in that last 10 minutes the track is very, very crowded indeed,
00:12:10as all the fastest men in Grand Prix racing try to set a perfect qualifying time and get the all valuable pole position.
00:12:17And the man who does it better than anybody else and gets the pole is the current world championship leader Alain Prost.
00:12:25A good last 10 minutes of qualifying for you Alain.
00:12:28Yes, we had to wait the last minute because the track was not completely dry,
00:12:33and my car was much better than yesterday because I got some problems with the engine yesterday,
00:12:38and I was waiting for the right moment, but it was a perfect lap.
00:12:42Alain, it must have been a perfect lap. Everyone was trying to knock Elio de Angelis off pole.
00:12:48You go out there with 10 minutes left, and you go a full second quicker than anyone has ever done here in qualifying with the new regulations.
00:12:56Where does that time come from?
00:12:59I think the track was quick anyway because it was raining before, the weather was a bit more cool,
00:13:05and my car was fantastic. I had a good engine, the chassis was fantastic,
00:13:10and I did a good lap that we can do sometimes, no traffic at all.
00:13:15That's why I was so quick, but sometimes you can't explain exactly how you do a time like that.
00:13:21Well, maybe the part you can't explain is a mental build-up for such a thing.
00:13:25You have to prepare yourself to go out there and risk it all.
00:13:28Yes, exactly. I was prepared to do a good time because yesterday it was a bit difficult for me,
00:13:33and after Brandstad's race, everybody said,
00:13:36OK, Niki is going to be in front of you and push me.
00:13:40And I said, yes, he was pushing me anyway.
00:13:43But today, with a car, with a perfect car, I had to prove that I was quicker.
00:13:49And I went on the track, I was sure to get the pole position. Sometimes you are like that.
00:13:55Now, leading the World Championship, I know it's difficult to compare,
00:14:00but you were in the same position last year.
00:14:02Do you feel more secure at this point in the championship than you did last year?
00:14:06I'm more cool because my car is very good this year,
00:14:12and I think it should be OK until the end of the year.
00:14:15Last year, the same stage, I was not quite sure about the performance of my car,
00:14:21and about the reliability of my car.
00:14:23This year, I am confident in my team, so I am more cool,
00:14:26and I think if I get some problems, like last week in Brandstad,
00:14:30that's race, that's life, I can do nothing, but I try to get more easy.
00:14:42Second quickest on the grid is the man who this year has been the most reliable runner of all in Grand Prix racing.
00:14:49He's finished every race this year, and he's scored championship points in all but one.
00:14:54Elio de Angelis with the Renault-powered Lotus.
00:14:58Talking there to Peter Waugh, his very delighted team manager.
00:15:02A front row starting position for Elio, and perhaps some more championship points tomorrow.
00:15:08Third quickest, another man to be powered by the Renault turbo engine,
00:15:12but his car is all Renault, and this is Derek Warrick.
00:15:15Currently sixth in the world championship, and fresh from a good second place at Brands Hatch two weeks ago.
00:15:22Derek, as in Brands Hatch, you must have found the right combination here in Hockenheim.
00:15:26Were you pleased with the qualifying?
00:15:28Fairly pleased, yes. I think potentially we could have gone a lot quicker.
00:15:32On my quickest lap this afternoon, I passed something like about seven or eight cars,
00:15:37so I wasn't particularly happy, although two of those cars I did get a good tow,
00:15:41so it's swings and roundabouts.
00:15:43At Brands we changed the car quite a bit with different underbody,
00:15:46and I said that hopefully at Hockenheim, when we get to know the car a bit better,
00:15:52we should be more competitive, and I think certainly we are.
00:15:55Well, third place on the grid is very competitive.
00:15:58Have you done testing at this track? Did you have a lot of information coming into here?
00:16:02Nothing. We missed the pre-race test because we were testing at Dijon,
00:16:08and we didn't bother to do it.
00:16:11So, you know, we're more the happier now.
00:16:14The Renault motors have certainly been doing well in the last two days of qualifying.
00:16:18Your race setup, you must have a lot of power going down that straightaway.
00:16:23Yes, I mean, the engine's producing more power now in a race situation,
00:16:27and with the balance of the car that we had this afternoon, which was quite superb,
00:16:33I think we can look forward to a very, very interesting race.
00:16:37And your fuel consumption problem also seems to be solved.
00:16:40You're not having to hold off too much.
00:16:42Yes, I mean, the fuel consumption's a lot better at Brands Hatch.
00:16:45We have plenty of fuel left, which is quite a hard circuit on fuel.
00:16:49So, you know, hopefully we shouldn't have too many problems tomorrow.
00:16:52It's good to see your teammate, right, back up there after his Monaco accident.
00:16:57He seems like he's in top form once again.
00:16:59Yes, I mean, it's nice because it pushes me that little bit harder,
00:17:03and it extracts more from the team, and, you know, we're able to give more information.
00:17:07So it's good for both of us.
00:17:09So Patrick Tambay will be one of your biggest competitors tomorrow.
00:17:12I hope so, because then that would mean that Renault are dominating the race,
00:17:15and I don't mind that at all.
00:17:23Well, Patrick Tambay was certainly very happy with his second-row grid position,
00:17:28fourth fastest, because it's been a difficult season for Tambay.
00:17:32Partway through the year, in the Monaco Grand Prix,
00:17:35he broke a bone in his leg in an unfortunate accident,
00:17:38which also involved Derek Warwick, his own teammate.
00:17:41And since then, he's been nursing himself back to fitness.
00:17:44He's now tenth in the World Championship, and now absolutely back on the top of his form.
00:17:52On the third row, a man who's also had mixed luck this season,
00:17:56the reigning world champion, Nelson Piquet, with the Brabham BMW.
00:18:00Piquet has only finished two races this year, and he's won both of them.
00:18:05But the rest of the time, ill fortune and mechanical failures
00:18:09have seen him retire before the chequered flag.
00:18:12Hockenheim, he hopes, will bring him better luck,
00:18:15and there's no doubt at all about the out-and-out speed
00:18:18of the needle-nosed Brabham with its BMW engine.
00:18:22They've also been having a tough season at Ferrari.
00:18:25Michele Alboreto has won one race, but has only finished in one other.
00:18:29But things are going well for him at Hockenheim,
00:18:32and he's hoping for a better race here.
00:18:35Michele, are the Ferraris having trouble qualifying up front this year,
00:18:39or are you happy with the way the car runs in qualifying?
00:18:42Well, I'm not very happy, because I prefer to start in the race in the first line.
00:18:49But here we have a problem in the slow part of the track,
00:18:57because in the street lane my car was very good,
00:19:00but in the motodrome we have not grip enough.
00:19:05I hope for tomorrow, for the race.
00:19:07Well, that can be a problem, setting the car up for Hockenheim,
00:19:10because you have the very long straights where you have to try and get maximum speed,
00:19:14and then you come into the stadium with all the turns,
00:19:17so you have to give something up, right?
00:19:19Yeah, we need a very good compromise between the top speed
00:19:22and the handling in the middle of the motodrome.
00:19:27Now I think the best compromise was for the McLaren and for the Lotus.
00:19:32They seem to have found the right combination.
00:19:34In the race, which would you rather have, the top speed?
00:19:37Is it easier to pass with the top speed?
00:19:40If you have a very good top speed, yes,
00:19:43but if your top speed is not very good,
00:19:49to be quick in the motodrome is not enough,
00:19:52because it's much better to have a very good top speed.
00:19:55So we hope you have the highest top speed possible tomorrow.
00:19:58Yeah, me too.
00:20:00One man that all the experts have been talking about for most of this season
00:20:04is the young Brazilian Ayrton Senna.
00:20:06Last year, he was only doing Formula 3.
00:20:09This year, second in the Monaco Grand Prix,
00:20:11and a very fast man for Toleman.
00:20:13He's on the fifth row.
00:20:16Hey, Ayrton Senna.
00:20:17A frustrating afternoon here for you at Hockenheimring.
00:20:20Yesterday, you put your Toleman car in fifth qualifying position,
00:20:24pushed back to ninth.
00:20:25What was the problem this afternoon?
00:20:27We couldn't get a clear run.
00:20:29The first lap, I had two slow cars in front of me,
00:20:33plus the engine running with a lot of misfire.
00:20:37And then I tried even the second lap with the qualifiers,
00:20:40which were not very good anymore,
00:20:42and the engine just wouldn't run.
00:20:44I had a big misfire, all the straight line,
00:20:47so I didn't have the power to make a lap.
00:20:50Of course, at Hockenheim, that's a big problem,
00:20:53because this is a power circuit with long straights,
00:20:56so it must have been very difficult going down there,
00:20:59knowing that you were slower than yesterday.
00:21:01Yeah, yeah, but I guess that can happen with anybody, anytime.
00:21:06Unfortunately, it was with me today.
00:21:08Hey, Ayrton, a much improved season,
00:21:11especially with a new car and a new tire company.
00:21:16You must be very pleased with the way things are going,
00:21:18your first season in Formula 1.
00:21:21Yeah, the car is improving all the time,
00:21:24the engine, everything is running better and better.
00:21:29And we are getting more and more competitive,
00:21:32but still not enough to compete with those
00:21:35that are in the first positions.
00:21:37Well, what about next year?
00:21:38This is a time when rumors start going through the paddock
00:21:41of what drivers are going where.
00:21:43Are you going to stay with the Toleman team?
00:21:45What are your plans now?
00:21:47I don't know. I don't know at the moment.
00:21:49No decisions, nothing clear.
00:21:51We have to wait more time to see what happens.
00:21:55You're not going to be satisfied
00:21:56until you're in a winning position, are you?
00:21:58I believe if you are doing something like competing,
00:22:01like motor racing, you either do well or forget it.
00:22:05Well, that's the qualifying story here from Hockenheim
00:22:08and the German Grand Prix.
00:22:10We'll be back with the race story after this short break.
00:22:20Race day at Hockenheim for the German Grand Prix.
00:22:24It's a hot, muggy, overcast day with a hint of rain.
00:22:28An enormous crowd of Germans filling the banked grandstands
00:22:32around the stadium section at the bottom of the circuit
00:22:36with the long straights feeding out into the forests
00:22:39and feeding back, divided by chicanes,
00:22:42a high-speed testing circuit.
00:22:4444 laps ahead of the 26 cars and 26 drivers
00:22:48who are now assembling on the grid.
00:22:51And at the front of them, in the privileged pole position,
00:22:54the red and white Marlboro McLaren of this man,
00:22:57Alain Prost, the little hook-nosed Frenchman
00:23:00who has been dominating Grand Prix racing this year.
00:23:03The current championship leader, 34.5 points,
00:23:06just 1.5 points ahead of his own teammate, Niki Lauda.
00:23:09But this is Elio De Angelis, the Italian,
00:23:12who hasn't won a Grand Prix this year,
00:23:15but keeps finishing, keeps scoring points
00:23:18with the very reliable and usually very quick John Player-Lotus.
00:23:22On the second row of the grid, the popular Englishman, Derek Warwick,
00:23:26who had a great start to the season, then had some bad luck
00:23:29and broke that run of bad luck with a fine second place
00:23:32two weeks ago in the British Grand Prix.
00:23:35His own teammate, Patrick Tambay, is alongside him
00:23:38with the other Renault.
00:23:40Obviously now totally recovered from the accident at Monte Carlo
00:23:44when he broke a bone in his leg.
00:23:46Fifth fastest on the inside of row three,
00:23:49the reigning world champion, the brilliant Brazilian, Nelson Piquet,
00:23:53with the Brabham that is always so quick,
00:23:56but this year it's only finished two races, and Piquet's won them both.
00:24:00Michele Alboreto, in the Ferrari, only one win so far this year in Belgium,
00:24:05only two other points scored all season,
00:24:08quick when it's going well, not so quick when it's not,
00:24:11but he's further up the grid than he has been recently.
00:24:14And now, with two minutes to go before the final warm-up lap,
00:24:18the umbrellas are going up in the crowd
00:24:20because there's a brief shower of rain.
00:24:22It doesn't seem to stay, and everybody is on dry tyres
00:24:26and on a virtually completely dry track
00:24:28as the field goes off on its final warm-up.
00:24:31Prost and de Angelis in McLaren and Lotus respectively
00:24:34at the front, then the two Renaults,
00:24:37Piquet's Brabham and Alboreto's Ferrari.
00:24:39On row four, it's Niki Lauda,
00:24:41the current runner-up in the World Championship
00:24:43with the second McLaren,
00:24:45and alongside him the second Brabham of Teo Fabi.
00:24:48Row five, Ayrton Senna with the Toleman
00:24:51and René Arnoux with the other Ferrari.
00:24:53Only one Toleman in the race, incidentally,
00:24:55because Johnny Ciacotto, the Venezuelan
00:24:57who normally drives the other one,
00:24:59is still in hospital with leg injuries
00:25:01after his crash two weeks ago in the British Grand Prix.
00:25:04Row six is the Ligier of Andrea de Cesaris, the Italian,
00:25:08and Frenchman Jacques Lafitte in the Williams-Honda.
00:25:11Keke Rosberg, the leader of the Williams-Honda team,
00:25:14is right back on the 10th row in 19th place on the grid.
00:25:18And another man who's had an unhappy qualifying period
00:25:21is Nigel Mansell.
00:25:23He's 16th on the grid with the second Lotus
00:25:26and has to look at his own teammate, Elio de Angelis,
00:25:29right up on the front row.
00:25:31But that was in qualifying.
00:25:33It's a long race to go and all sorts of things can happen.
00:25:36Mansell number 12.
00:25:38There is Eddie Cheever, the American,
00:25:40brief glimpse of him in the green Alfa Romeo number 23.
00:25:44The rest of the field fuddling round,
00:25:47trying to get some warmth in their tyres.
00:25:50At the back, the 26th and final qualifier,
00:25:52is Stefanie Hansson, the Swedish driver,
00:25:55in the Tyrrell, the only non-turbocharged car in the race.
00:26:01So, 26 cars ready.
00:26:03There'll be the usual red light and then green to start the race.
00:26:07It's 44 laps.
00:26:09The tail enders are now in position.
00:26:11The course car's behind.
00:26:13The starter will be looking down with his hand ready on the button.
00:26:16There is the red light.
00:26:18There's the green. The field move away.
00:26:20Oh, and Derek Warwick makes a good start from the second row.
00:26:23In fact, he almost tries to squeeze between the front two cars,
00:26:26but he's tucked in behind de Angelis.
00:26:28Prost is pushed to the outside.
00:26:30It's de Angelis who's got the line in the black Lotus.
00:26:32De Angelis leads. Prost is second.
00:26:34Warwick must be up there in third place.
00:26:36Tambay is there, too, in fourth place,
00:26:38I think, with the Renault as they go away from the stadium section
00:26:42on the first long straight
00:26:44that leads into the first of the three chicanes
00:26:46from 190 miles an hour on a flying lap.
00:26:49They'll come down to 90 here,
00:26:51and it is de Angelis' Lotus that leads.
00:26:53Prost in second place in the McLaren.
00:26:55Derek Warwick third.
00:26:56Nelson Piquet has come up to fourth in the Brabham.
00:26:59Tambay is fifth.
00:27:00Senna is in sixth place,
00:27:02elbowing out Michele Alboreto's Ferrari,
00:27:04which is pushed down to seventh.
00:27:06The rest of the field storming through,
00:27:08and already I got a glimpse there of Keke Rosberg,
00:27:11who is moving up fast after having to start so far back
00:27:15in the Williams Honda No. 6.
00:27:17All the field cuddling now through the second chicane,
00:27:20which leads onto the Ostkurve,
00:27:22which is a long right-hand curve at the very top of the circuit.
00:27:26Before that chicane was introduced,
00:27:28it was wickedly fast.
00:27:29They still take it at about 135 miles an hour exit speed.
00:27:33It takes them down to this third chicane.
00:27:3690 miles an hour through there,
00:27:37and still the order is the same.
00:27:39A good puff of smoke there
00:27:40as somebody got a wheel on the dirt,
00:27:42but still it's Lotus leading from McLaren.
00:27:45It's Emilio de Angelis leading from Alain Prost.
00:27:47Nelson Piquet is up there in third place.
00:27:49Derek Warwick hanging back a little bit in fourth place.
00:27:53The field burst into the stadium section,
00:27:55a roar from the crowd,
00:27:56and it's de Angelis who leads
00:27:58on the first of 44 laps around the tight Sachskurve,
00:28:01the tightest corner on the circuit,
00:28:03which leads into the repeated corners
00:28:06around the stadium section.
00:28:08After that left-hander,
00:28:09there are three right-handers
00:28:11who take it onto the start-finish straight.
00:28:13Here they are on the start-finish straight,
00:28:15and still de Angelis leads,
00:28:17weaving to try and shake off the attentions
00:28:20of second man Alain Prost.
00:28:21It's Brabham, Renault, Renault.
00:28:23Ayrton Senna is well up.
00:28:24Then the Ferrari of Alboreto,
00:28:27just ahead of Niki Lauda,
00:28:29who's made a slightly slower start
00:28:31in McLaren number eight,
00:28:33but is now trying to move up.
00:28:35And already we've got a casualty.
00:28:37Marc Surer, the Swiss driver,
00:28:38and the BMW-powered Arrows
00:28:40coming slowly in at the back of the field,
00:28:43as already the leaders are up
00:28:45in the first chicane for the second time.
00:28:48And the first trio seem to be taking
00:28:50a little bit of a break,
00:28:52with de Angelis still ahead of Prost and Piquet.
00:28:56Fourth is the first of the two Renaults.
00:28:59That's Derek Warwick.
00:29:01And, ooh, a shower of sparks there.
00:29:04That was the Brabham of Piquet,
00:29:07bottoming on one of the bumps under braking
00:29:09as they come into the second chicane.
00:29:10And Ayrton Senna is now harrying Patrick Tambay
00:29:13in the second Renault.
00:29:15So Senna trying to move up.
00:29:17There is Keke Rosberg in number six,
00:29:19and he's made up a whole lot more places.
00:29:21This is lap two,
00:29:22and Keke Rosberg overtaking people left and right,
00:29:25storming up through the field in the Williams Honda.
00:29:28Here are the leaders in the third chicane.
00:29:30That's Warwick in fourth place.
00:29:32And Ayrton Senna has gone past Patrick Tambay
00:29:35into fifth place.
00:29:36Tambay is sixth,
00:29:37Niki Lauda is seventh.
00:29:38And the leaders moving across to the left of the road
00:29:41to take up their line into the Agip Curva,
00:29:44which is the start of the stadium section.
00:29:47And this Lotus still leads.
00:29:49Still Elio de Angelis in front.
00:29:51Keke Rosberg has already passed his own teammate
00:29:54as well as several other cars,
00:29:55but here is the leading trio in the stadium.
00:29:58There's Warwick in fourth place.
00:29:59Senna, fifth.
00:30:00Tambay, sixth.
00:30:01Niki Lauda, seventh.
00:30:05The right-hand Opel Curva
00:30:07onto the start-finish straight,
00:30:09a short straight.
00:30:10They only get into fourth gear briefly here
00:30:12before they come down to third
00:30:14for this right-hand corner,
00:30:15which takes them away from the stadium,
00:30:17up into the forests.
00:30:19Alboreto leading Theo Fabi there
00:30:21in Brabham number two.
00:30:23And here is the leader.
00:30:25Here is Prost in second place.
00:30:27Brabham number one in third place.
00:30:29That's Nelson Piquet, of course.
00:30:32Derek Warwick still there in fourth place.
00:30:35Ayrton Senna, fifth,
00:30:36but not apparently catching Warwick at this stage.
00:30:38Tambay, sixth.
00:30:39Lauda, seventh.
00:30:41Still this great battle at the front
00:30:43between Lotus, McLaren and Brabham.
00:30:45The race well and truly on,
00:30:47and we'll be back with more race action
00:30:49after the short break.
00:30:55Lap three of the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim
00:30:58and still the Italian Elio de Angelis
00:31:00in the British Lotus with the French Renault engine
00:31:03leads.
00:31:04At his heels,
00:31:05the red and white McLaren,
00:31:07the tag-turbo-powered car
00:31:09of the Frenchman Alain Prost.
00:31:11Battles all the way down the field.
00:31:14That's Tao Fabi's Brabham number two.
00:31:16But at the front,
00:31:17it's the leading trio,
00:31:18Lotus, McLaren and Brabham
00:31:20with Derek Warwick in fourth place in the Renault,
00:31:23but slightly losing touch
00:31:25as the leaders go away for the fourth time
00:31:28up into the forests.
00:31:30And behind them,
00:31:32Patrick Tambay has lost another place
00:31:34because the second McLaren of Niki Lauda
00:31:37is moving up all the time
00:31:39after a comparatively gentle start
00:31:41and looks a man to watch.
00:31:43Here's Elio de Angelis in the first chicane.
00:31:46Prost follows him through.
00:31:47Piquet follows him through.
00:31:49The big blocks are made of polystyrene.
00:31:51Big blocks on the right-hand side of the picture
00:31:53so that if anybody misses their brakes and hits them,
00:31:56they're nothing like as solid as they look.
00:31:58There goes Lauda, Tambay and Tao Fabi
00:32:03with their own little trio battling.
00:32:05And this is the second chicane
00:32:07that leads up to the long right-hander,
00:32:10the Ostkurver at the top of the circuit.
00:32:12Hockenheim, a very, very fast circuit indeed,
00:32:15but not as fast as it used to be
00:32:17because when the speeds became truly horrendous,
00:32:21three chicanes were introduced into the circuit.
00:32:23This is the third one that's on the back straight
00:32:26that leads back to the stadium section.
00:32:28The blue flag in the background
00:32:30being given to tell Derek Warwick
00:32:32that Ayrton Senna is behind him in fifth place.
00:32:35Senna started in ninth position on the grid,
00:32:38so the Toleman driver's already moving up very fast indeed.
00:32:41There is Warwick with Senna in his mirrors,
00:32:43and that looks like a battle
00:32:45that's just about to start to develop.
00:32:48Hockenheim, as it so often does,
00:32:50producing splendid battles
00:32:52with the field dividing up into these little groups.
00:32:54The leading trio, the two-car battle for fourth,
00:32:58that trio there led by Niki Lauda,
00:33:00which is the battle for sixth place.
00:33:02And remember, you get championship points
00:33:04for finishing in the first six.
00:33:06You get nine points for a win, six points for second,
00:33:09and then it goes 4-3-2-1,
00:33:11and any championship point is precious
00:33:14at this stage of the season
00:33:16because we're now well into the second half.
00:33:18Away, up on the long straight,
00:33:21the long straight that isn't a straight at all
00:33:23because it has that right-hand curve in the middle of it,
00:33:26and it has this chicane in the middle of it,
00:33:28and De Angelis still the leader.
00:33:30There you see the gap, eight,
00:33:32I should say 0.8 of a second,
00:33:34between De Angelis and Prost.
00:33:36Piquet has dropped back a bit.
00:33:38He is now 1.4 seconds behind Prost,
00:33:41but he's still there to await developments
00:33:43if anything should happen.
00:33:45That's the first chicane.
00:33:46On towards the second chicane,
00:33:47Theo Fabi following Niki Lauda there
00:33:51as Alain Prost and Nelson Piquet
00:33:54follow the leader, Elio De Angelis.
00:33:56There's Warrick. Oh, and there's Senna!
00:33:57Senna off!
00:33:59Senna crashes into the Armco barrier
00:34:01at tremendous speed backwards.
00:34:03His right-hand rear wheel has disappeared completely.
00:34:07Off comes the steering wheel
00:34:08to allow Ayrton Senna to get out,
00:34:10and clearly he is unhurt.
00:34:13Oh, but he's clearly very angry and very disappointed.
00:34:16He flings the steering wheel down into the cockpit,
00:34:18and we're going to see it again.
00:34:19The car spinning sideways, forwards and backwards
00:34:23over the grass.
00:34:25That's going into the Ostkurve chicane,
00:34:27which they enter at about 170 miles an hour,
00:34:30and you see there's no rear aerofoil on that car.
00:34:33The rear wing has departed completely,
00:34:36and I would guess it must have simply come adrift,
00:34:38and if your rear aerofoil comes adrift,
00:34:40you lose all the downforce on the back tyres.
00:34:43There was obviously nothing that Ayrton Senna
00:34:45could do about that,
00:34:46and he's jolly lucky to get out completely unhurt,
00:34:49but obviously very annoyed that this Grand Prix
00:34:53that was already going extremely well for him is over.
00:34:56Ayrton Senna then out of the race,
00:34:58which means that that's going to promote
00:35:00Lauda and Tambay,
00:35:01but here's the leading battle again,
00:35:03and this time Alain Prost is close.
00:35:05There's Piquet in third place.
00:35:07Derek Warwick is still fourth.
00:35:09Niki Lauda now fifth.
00:35:10There he is, number eight, with Fabi sixth.
00:35:13And the amazing Keke Rosberg
00:35:15has come up into seventh place,
00:35:17so he is now ahead of Patrick Tambay.
00:35:21He's already seventh,
00:35:22and remember he started 19th on the grid.
00:35:25So it's a long race.
00:35:26Keke Rosberg storming up through the field
00:35:29in the Honda-powered Williams,
00:35:31the British car with the Japanese engine,
00:35:33and I think he's going to be a man to watch
00:35:35as this race develops.
00:35:36There's Derek Warwick in a slightly lonely fourth place
00:35:39because he can't stay on terms with this leading trio.
00:35:45Elio de Angelis,
00:35:47Alain Prost,
00:35:50and Nelson Piquet.
00:35:51Prost and Piquet, two of the fastest men
00:35:53in Grand Prix racing today.
00:35:54Elio de Angelis, who hasn't been leading Grand Prixs,
00:35:58in fact he's only got one Grand Prix win to his name,
00:36:01which was in Austria almost exactly two years ago,
00:36:04but he's clearly driving extremely well today.
00:36:07He's clearly got a lot of power
00:36:09from the Renault-powered Lotus,
00:36:11and he's doing everything that he can
00:36:13to take best advantage of it.
00:36:14Look at him weaving from side to side on the straight
00:36:17to try to throw the pursuing McLaren of Alain Prost
00:36:20out of his slipstream.
00:36:22Prost donks his wheel tracks every inch of the way,
00:36:25and Prost is sitting there,
00:36:27I would think, very, very threatening indeed.
00:36:29Prost is going to choose his moment to make an attack,
00:36:32and in just the same way,
00:36:34Nelson Piquet, sitting in third place,
00:36:37watching it all.
00:36:38I think Piquet must be saying to himself,
00:36:40I'll wait and see what Prost does about de Angelis
00:36:42before I make my charge.
00:36:44But Nelson Piquet in third place,
00:36:46very, very well placed in this race.
00:36:48A long way to go,
00:36:50and Piquet is just sitting cannily back,
00:36:53trying to decide where he can choose his moment.
00:37:00And still, this wonderful three-car battle
00:37:03at the front of the German Grand Prix,
00:37:05de Angelis and the Lotus from Prost in the McLaren.
00:37:08But de Angelis slows,
00:37:10de Angelis has lost the lead,
00:37:11de Angelis has lost his engine.
00:37:13A huge plume of smoke from the back of the Lotus,
00:37:16and indeed flames, fire.
00:37:19So, de Angelis has shot his bolt,
00:37:21the engine in the Lotus has blown,
00:37:23we've now got Alain Prost going straight into the lead,
00:37:26but Nelson Piquet is there with him,
00:37:28it's Prost from Piquet,
00:37:29we've now got the old world champion
00:37:31and the current championship leader battling
00:37:33as poor de Angelis with now quite a fire
00:37:36from the left-hand bank of the engine.
00:37:38That looks like a blown turbo,
00:37:39and that looks like a new leader!
00:37:41That is the Brabham in front of the McLaren,
00:37:44just one chicane later.
00:37:46So, Alain Prost has held the lead
00:37:48just for the shortest possible time,
00:37:50because Azealio de Angelis nurses
00:37:53his Lotus back to the start line.
00:37:56We have a new leader in Nelson Piquet.
00:37:59No sooner had Prost taken the lead
00:38:01than Piquet found a way of worming past,
00:38:04he made his attempt.
00:38:06We'd known that he was sitting there,
00:38:08biding his time in third place.
00:38:10A roar from the German crowd
00:38:12as he comes into the stadium section in the lead,
00:38:15because of course, the BMW engine in the Brabham
00:38:19The BMW engine in the Brabham is a German product.
00:38:23Piquet, a very popular man in Germany,
00:38:25but it's a German-designed engine anyway.
00:38:27The tag turbo, originally designed and built by Porsche,
00:38:30in the back of the McLaren.
00:38:32And, as I say, a superb prospect here,
00:38:35the reigning world champion
00:38:37and the current championship leader,
00:38:39two of the fastest men
00:38:41in two of the fastest cars in Grand Prix racing.
00:38:44And we've now got a battle of the two top men.
00:38:48Coming up now to the first chicane.
00:38:50And Piquet pulls out a couple of lengths,
00:38:52then on the brakes, into the chicane,
00:38:55down to about 90 miles an hour in third gear.
00:38:57Prost closes up, under acceleration,
00:39:00out from the chicane.
00:39:02Piquet pulls away just a little bit,
00:39:04and a long gap as we wait for the new third-place man.
00:39:07And the new third-place man is Niki Lauda.
00:39:10Niki Lauda, too, has moved up.
00:39:12Lauda is now third.
00:39:13Derek Warwick is demoted down to fourth.
00:39:15So Lauda, after that comparatively gentle start
00:39:18in the McLaren, has moved to third.
00:39:20We've got Brabham first, McLaren second,
00:39:23McLaren third, and Renault fourth.
00:39:26And Prost making a challenge there,
00:39:28but this is Lauda ahead of Warwick.
00:39:31And Warwick, having been passed by Niki Lauda,
00:39:35has another problem,
00:39:36because his mirrors are now full
00:39:38of the ever-charging Keke Rosberg.
00:39:41This is Michele Alboreto in the pits.
00:39:43We heard his Ferrari misfiring earlier.
00:39:45So Michele Alboreto in the pits with the Ferrari.
00:39:49Here's Lauda third, Warwick fourth,
00:39:51charging Rosberg fifth,
00:39:53and here is poor Elio de Angelis,
00:39:55nursing the Lotus into the pits,
00:39:57and his race is run.
00:39:58That's his first retirement this year.
00:40:01And look at this battle for the lead,
00:40:03almost nose-to-tail in the Sachs curve,
00:40:05as Nelson Piquet leads Alain Prost.
00:40:08They're coming up to lap one of the back markers.
00:40:10I think it's Philippe Alliot in the green and white Ram,
00:40:14and of course, although he keeps well out of the way,
00:40:17because he's actually going into the pit lane,
00:40:19following Elio de Angelis in,
00:40:21lapping back markers could well start to become a problem
00:40:24for this flying pair at the front.
00:40:28Prost following Piquet,
00:40:31just as he's had to follow de Angelis
00:40:33for so much of this race,
00:40:34but Prost always patient.
00:40:36And Keke Rosberg has passed Derek Warwick.
00:40:39There's Warwick following Rosberg round,
00:40:42with Tao Fabi behind them.
00:40:44So now it's Lauda third.
00:40:46It's Rosberg, an incredible fourth,
00:40:49all the way up from 19th place on the grid,
00:40:51just a few laps ago when the race started.
00:40:53Warwick is demoted to fifth,
00:40:55Tao Fabi is sixth.
00:40:56There you see the gaps, 0.4 of a second,
00:40:59between Piquet and Prost.
00:41:01Niki Lauda not far behind.
00:41:03In fact, less than 11 seconds behind the leader,
00:41:06so Lauda could well come into the picture.
00:41:09Remember, Niki Lauda regards himself
00:41:11very much as joint number one with Alain Prost,
00:41:14and although Prost is ahead of him in the championship,
00:41:17there's only one and a half points between them.
00:41:19So, who knows?
00:41:20We could have a McLaren versus McLaren battle at the front
00:41:23if Lauda can close on this leading pair.
00:41:26Piquet, who has to drive defensively now,
00:41:29he wants to keep the door shut,
00:41:30he doesn't want to leave any gaps for Prost to go through,
00:41:34but as well as driving defensively,
00:41:36he wants to build up a lead,
00:41:37and it looks as though he's doing that
00:41:39as they come down the long straight
00:41:41that leads back into the Agit Curva
00:41:43and the stadium section.
00:41:45Piquet doesn't have to weave to throw off Prost
00:41:48because Prost isn't close enough at that point
00:41:52to get into the slipstream underneath the Brabham's rear wing,
00:41:56which will help to suck him along
00:41:58and give him an extra five miles an hour of top speed.
00:42:01Piquet, using every inch of the road,
00:42:03running a little bit wide as he comes out of the corners,
00:42:06using everything that's there,
00:42:08Alain Prost following him,
00:42:09perhaps a little bit neater and tidier,
00:42:11perhaps preserving his tyres more.
00:42:13And that's Jacques Lafitte!
00:42:14Jacques Lafitte, Keki Rosberg's team-mate with the Williams Honda,
00:42:18a plume of smoke,
00:42:19so his engine appears to have gone.
00:42:21De Angelis out.
00:42:23Lafitte out.
00:42:24A glimpse there of a red car coming out of the pits,
00:42:27that will have been Alboreto's Ferrari.
00:42:29There he is, coming out of the pits
00:42:31and following the leaders up the long straight,
00:42:33so Alboreto already at least a lap down
00:42:36after two pit stops with his misfiring Ferrari.
00:42:40There's the three-car battle for third place,
00:42:43with Lauda in the red McLaren at the head of that little queue,
00:42:46Keki Rosberg follows,
00:42:47then it's Derek Warwick,
00:42:49and Tao Fahmy is not behind in the Brabham that is sixth.
00:42:53Meanwhile, Nelson Piquet bouncing across the kerbs at the chicane
00:42:58with the Brabham leading,
00:43:00so once again, Piquet a little bit wild.
00:43:02Here is Jacques Lafitte, still trailing all that smoke,
00:43:05bringing the Williams Honda into the pits,
00:43:08but his team-mate, Keki Rosberg,
00:43:11still going very well in fourth place,
00:43:13providing a challenge for McLaren number eight,
00:43:15that's Lauda,
00:43:16but here is McLaren number seven, Prost,
00:43:19providing a challenge for the leader.
00:43:21Nelson Piquet can't relax,
00:43:23and as you see him glance in his mirrors there,
00:43:27saying now, where is Prost?
00:43:29Was it close enough for me to want to keep the door shut,
00:43:31to keep a tight line coming into the Agip Curva?
00:43:34Well, he wasn't,
00:43:35so Piquet was able to take a wide line into the stadium,
00:43:39which is a little bit quicker,
00:43:40but you don't want to do that when you've got somebody right behind,
00:43:43because they can get up alongside,
00:43:45force you off line,
00:43:46and allow you to lose the lead,
00:43:48but Prost isn't quite close enough at this stage
00:43:51to try antics of that sort.
00:43:53Piquet has two, three, sometimes four lengths on Prost,
00:43:58and that is just enough to allow him
00:44:01to set about driving a clean, tidy lap,
00:44:04and not to have to keep the road blocked
00:44:06because of the challenge behind him.
00:44:14Nelson Piquet of Brazil,
00:44:16still leading the German Grand Prix here at Hockenheim
00:44:19in his BMW-powered Brabham,
00:44:21Alain Prost of France in his tag-turbo-powered McLaren,
00:44:25still in second place,
00:44:27a tremendous battle at the front of this race
00:44:29between the reigning world champion
00:44:31and the current championship leader.
00:44:33Keke Rosberg in the yellow driving suit,
00:44:36out of the race,
00:44:37his Williams Honda having blown its engine,
00:44:40there's Joe Gartner, the Austrian,
00:44:42who's running well down the field,
00:44:43he's got a smoking engine as well,
00:44:45and as Alain Prost continues to pursue Nelson Piquet,
00:44:49the race is being run at such a pace
00:44:52that as often happens here at Hockenheim,
00:44:55these long straights,
00:44:56long periods of high revs for the engine,
00:44:59a very hot, humid day,
00:45:01several cars are finding the toll too much
00:45:05for their mechanicals.
00:45:06That's Joe Gartner with fire extinguishers
00:45:09being sprayed on the back of the car,
00:45:11so obviously his engine failure
00:45:12has actually resulted in a fire,
00:45:15and the leaders have now lapped
00:45:17the only non-turbocharged car in the race,
00:45:19that's the third car of the trio in the picture,
00:45:22Stefania Hansson, the Swede, with the Tyrrell,
00:45:24Niki Lauda there in third place,
00:45:26so you've got a glimpse of the gap
00:45:28between second man Alain Prost,
00:45:31number seven McLaren,
00:45:32and third man Niki Lauda in number eight McLaren,
00:45:36and Lauda does all the time seem to be closing the gap,
00:45:40but Kelly Alboreto back in the pits,
00:45:42obviously the work they did on the Ferrari
00:45:45wasn't enough to cure the misfire,
00:45:47so it looks as though Alboreto's race is run,
00:45:50he's certainly lost a lot of time,
00:45:52although he is still in the car,
00:45:54perhaps they can get him back in the race,
00:45:57and Piquet seems to have made up some ground on Alain Prost,
00:46:01as the Brabham comes out of the third chicane,
00:46:04Prost is barely going into it with the McLaren,
00:46:07and if you look through the heat haze
00:46:09shimmering up behind the Brabham's rear wing,
00:46:12you can see that the gap from Piquet to Prost
00:46:14is very much greater,
00:46:16there is Niki Lauda in third place,
00:46:18very much closer to his teammate,
00:46:21so whatever happened there, perhaps Prost missed a gear,
00:46:24perhaps he got a bit sideways on one of the chicanes,
00:46:27somewhere he seems to have lost a bit of ground,
00:46:29here is Derek Warwick, who's still in fourth place,
00:46:32Tao Farby behind him is still fifth,
00:46:34with Brabham number two,
00:46:36so Brabham's are first and fifth,
00:46:38Warwick, without the pressure from behind
00:46:43that he had to cope with first from Ayrton Senna,
00:46:46then from Niki Lauda,
00:46:48seems to be able to cope with Tao Farby,
00:46:51the number two Brabham driver,
00:46:52because Farby not getting close enough to Warwick
00:46:54to make any impression.
00:46:56Farby, incidentally, who was trying to do
00:46:58North American kart racing and Formula One this year,
00:47:02was spending most of his life commuting
00:47:04between Europe and America on consecutive weekends,
00:47:08he's now finally decided that that's too much,
00:47:10and he's in Formula One for good,
00:47:12and that is Nigel Mansell going all the way round
00:47:14the outside of the Sachs curver,
00:47:17a very close manoeuvre indeed there.
00:47:20The man in the red Ferrari, René Arnoux,
00:47:22I think was quite taken by surprise,
00:47:24Arnoux who was seventh,
00:47:26suddenly got that challenge from Nigel Mansell,
00:47:28Mansell is now seventh in the Lotus,
00:47:30Arnoux demoted to eighth,
00:47:32and we're back now with Derek Warwick,
00:47:34and once again Warwick pulling out
00:47:37just perhaps a little tiny bit
00:47:39from the pursuing Brabham of Tao Farby.
00:47:48Still Nelson Piquet out in front,
00:47:56and Piquet perhaps able to relax a little bit
00:47:59at the front of the field,
00:48:00because Prost suddenly doesn't look able to challenge him.
00:48:04That's Thierry Boutzen's arrows,
00:48:05parked by the side of the road,
00:48:07who's already retired,
00:48:08and there you see the gap,
00:48:09three seconds Piquet to Prost,
00:48:115.7 seconds Prost to Lauda,
00:48:14Lauda in the third chicane,
00:48:16so neat, so tidy,
00:48:18there's Piquet,
00:48:19there is Prost,
00:48:21there is Niki Lauda,
00:48:24that's the first three,
00:48:26the yellow car behind,
00:48:27Winkelhock's ATS which has been lapped,
00:48:29and it's still Derek Warwick in the Renault in fourth place,
00:48:33still Tao Farby in fifth place,
00:48:35Patrick Tambay's Renault sixth,
00:48:38Nigel Mansell charging up in seventh place,
00:48:41in the Sachs Curve once again,
00:48:42and out of it for Niki Lauda,
00:48:45that downhill bumpy apex of the Opel Curve,
00:48:51out of that Opel Curve,
00:48:53and as Piquet, the leader,
00:48:55goes through the right-hander that leads out of the stadium,
00:48:58Prost follows him,
00:49:00and there now is Lauda.
00:49:06And I think Prost has closed that gap once again on Piquet,
00:49:10of course the full shortening of the telephoto lens is a bit confusing,
00:49:14but I believe, in fact, as they come up into the chicane,
00:49:17Prost is suddenly very, very close.
00:49:19Can Piquet be in trouble?
00:49:21That little lead that Nelson Piquet had built up,
00:49:24has suddenly been eaten up by Prost,
00:49:26Lauda's done another quick lap,
00:49:271.53.9, just a fraction quicker than his earlier fastest lap,
00:49:32but I think Piquet is losing ground,
00:49:35and in fact he's lost the lead,
00:49:37Alain Prost has gone through.
00:49:40Nelson Piquet is reduced to second place,
00:49:43it's McLaren first,
00:49:45Piquet is now second,
00:49:46it's McLaren third,
00:49:47Alain Prost leads the race,
00:49:49what is the trouble with Nelson Piquet?
00:49:52There goes Lauda,
00:49:53ahead of Lauda,
00:49:54the car with Parmalat on its wing is the former leader,
00:49:57Nelson Piquet,
00:49:58don't worry about the caption,
00:49:59that was at the end of this previous lap,
00:50:02but I think Nelson Piquet is in bad trouble.
00:50:06Mickey Lauda following through,
00:50:08charging up,
00:50:09there's the new leader,
00:50:10number seven Alain Prost,
00:50:12and here comes Mickey Lauda going ahead of Nelson Piquet,
00:50:16McLaren passes Brabham,
00:50:18it's McLaren first and second,
00:50:20Mickey Lauda the new second man,
00:50:22and Nelson Piquet simply had to move across and let him by,
00:50:25whatever the trouble is with Nelson Piquet,
00:50:27he is demoted to third place.
00:50:30More news of the German Grand Prix,
00:50:32after this short message.
00:50:35Drama here at the German Grand Prix,
00:50:38because the leader, Nelson Piquet,
00:50:40has lost his lead,
00:50:41he's lost second place,
00:50:42he's now coasting slowly into the pits,
00:50:45we don't know what the problem is,
00:50:46oh, but he's moving his finger round in a circle,
00:50:49that means to the mechanics,
00:50:50change the tyres,
00:50:51now he's coming with a dead engine,
00:50:53but the mechanics have obeyed his signal,
00:50:56they've gone into action,
00:50:57they've moved the tyres,
00:50:58they've moved the tyres,
00:50:59they've moved the tyres,
00:51:00they've moved the tyres,
00:51:01they've moved the tyres,
00:51:02they've obeyed his signal,
00:51:03they've gone into action,
00:51:04a high speed tyre change,
00:51:06it's taken nine and a half seconds to change the tyres,
00:51:09and Piquet is getting out.
00:51:11I think that was Piquet playing a joke on his mechanics,
00:51:17because clearly his race was run,
00:51:20he came in with a dead engine,
00:51:22giving every impression of a man
00:51:24who had already decided to retire from the race,
00:51:27but then he gave that little signal,
00:51:28and the mechanics had to rush into action
00:51:30to change the tyres,
00:51:32and there's a grin on Piquet's face,
00:51:34I think he's already resigned himself to the retirement,
00:51:37and he just decided to give the mechanics
00:51:39a little bit of work to do.
00:51:41That's typical of the sort of practical joke
00:51:43that the Brazilian likes to play from time to time,
00:51:46he is now telling the mechanics what's gone wrong,
00:51:48we're guessing up here it was Gearbox,
00:51:50because as he went past us,
00:51:52just having lost the lead,
00:51:54his engine was still strong,
00:51:56but we think that as he lost speed on the long straight,
00:52:00it could well be that he was unable
00:52:02to get the car into top gear,
00:52:04and of course here at Hockenheim,
00:52:05that's a very serious problem,
00:52:07because so much of the running is in top gear,
00:52:09and he is out of the race,
00:52:12we've got McLaren first, McLaren second,
00:52:14here is the new leader, number seven,
00:52:17the current championship leader,
00:52:18after more points today,
00:52:20it's Alain Prost of France,
00:52:22with Niki Lauda of Austria,
00:52:24his team mate in the McLaren team,
00:52:26in second place.
00:52:27They've got a Ligier ahead of them,
00:52:29that is de Cesaris,
00:52:31with the Renault-powered Ligier,
00:52:33his own team mate, de Cesaris' own team mate,
00:52:36the Frenchman Francois Hainault,
00:52:38is not far behind,
00:52:39so as Prost laps de Cesaris,
00:52:42Lauda laps Francois Hainault,
00:52:44and Prost threw the Opel Curver over the Bra,
00:52:49just as his team mate Lauda comes out of the Sachs curve.
00:52:53Now, are we going to see,
00:52:55there's Lauda a glimpse of him behind,
00:52:57so you get an idea of the gap between the leader,
00:52:59the two red and white cars,
00:53:01Lauda in the picture now, in second place.
00:53:04This could well be interesting,
00:53:06are we going to see Lauda pursuing Prost,
00:53:11and trying to wrest the lead from him?
00:53:13They are both team mates,
00:53:14but they are one and a half points apart
00:53:17in the World Championship,
00:53:18and Niki Lauda, a very determined man,
00:53:21the oldest and wiliest of Grand Prix campaigners.
00:53:25Well, that's not quite true,
00:53:26because Jacques Lafitte's the oldest,
00:53:28but more experienced, perhaps,
00:53:30than almost any other driver.
00:53:31For Niki Lauda, the man who won the World Championship
00:53:34in 1975 and 1977,
00:53:37had that horrendous accident at the Nürburgring,
00:53:41which burned him badly in 1976.
00:53:45There is Lauda now lapping de Cesaris.
00:53:49Lauda came back after that accident,
00:53:52won another World Championship title,
00:53:54that was 1977.
00:53:56He then suddenly announced that he decided
00:53:59there were more things in life to driving around in circles,
00:54:02and he was going to give up Grand Prix racing altogether
00:54:04and go and run an airline in his native Austria.
00:54:07He did exactly that.
00:54:09Here he is in number eight, through the third chicane.
00:54:12He went to run his airline in Austria,
00:54:14and then decided that the lure of motor racing was too much,
00:54:17came back into Grand Prix racing in 1983,
00:54:21joined the Ron Dennis-run McLaren team,
00:54:24a great scoop for Ron Dennis to get Niki Lauda into the team.
00:54:28That was partnering John Watson.
00:54:30This year he's partnering Alain Prost,
00:54:32and McLaren have had a tremendously successful season this year.
00:54:37They're currently leading the Constructors' Championship
00:54:40by a very wide margin,
00:54:42and they're currently first and second in the German Grand Prix.
00:54:46So, will Prost simply be able to relax with his own teammate behind?
00:54:51Will the team orders hang out on the pit signals
00:54:54as they pass that pit lane there?
00:54:57Will the pit signals say,
00:54:59hold your position,
00:55:00Derek Warwick in third place is a long way back,
00:55:04or will they have a true battle between the two of them
00:55:09for the maximum championship points?
00:55:11There you see the gap back to Warwick,
00:55:13and it's 23 points from Niki Lauda,
00:55:16I'm sorry, 23 seconds from Niki Lauda back to Derek Warwick,
00:55:21and four seconds at this point between Prost and Lauda.
00:55:25Remember, Lauda was some 11 seconds behind Prost earlier on,
00:55:30so Lauda with a couple of fastest laps under his belt so far.
00:55:34That's Tao Fabi, that's the other Brabham,
00:55:37and once again the Brabham mechanics go into action
00:55:41to give him a fresh set of tyres in case that's the problem,
00:55:44but it's not the problem.
00:55:45Tao Fabi undoes his seatbelts, levers himself out of the cockpit,
00:55:50both Brabhams out,
00:55:51and here are both McLarens at the front of the race.
00:55:54Number seven, Alain Prost.
00:55:56Number eight, Niki Lauda.
00:55:59Derek Warwick still in third place.
00:56:02And with the retirement of Tao Fabi, who was fourth,
00:56:05it's now Warwick's own teammate, Patrick Tambay,
00:56:08who moves back into fourth place.
00:56:10So it's McLaren 1 and 2, it's Renault 3 and 4,
00:56:14and the man that we had to watch out for,
00:56:17Nigel Mansell, has continued his march up the field
00:56:20because Nigel Mansell, in Lotus number 12,
00:56:23is now in fifth place,
00:56:25ahead of René Arnoux in the sole surviving Ferrari.
00:56:29Alboreto in the other Ferrari,
00:56:31after all those pitstops to try to cure his misfiring,
00:56:34has now finally called it a day.
00:56:36And a lap down on the leaders in seventh and eighth places
00:56:40are the two Ligier-Renaults,
00:56:42driven by Andrea de Cesaris and Francois Hainault,
00:56:45and that's Eddie Cheever,
00:56:46the American Eddie Cheever now out of the race.
00:56:49A quick look at the back of the car,
00:56:52and Cheever walks away.
00:56:55Yet again, the Alfa Romeo has let him down.
00:57:00Cheever, a quick man, but so often out of luck mechanically.
00:57:05And still these two McLarens, much longer,
00:57:08and I think Niki Lauda has clearly decided
00:57:11that the sensible thing for him to do
00:57:13is to settle for a strong second place.
00:57:15He's not going to do the ungentlemanly thing
00:57:17and fight with his own teammate for the lead.
00:57:19That's Manfred Winkelhock, the German,
00:57:21the BMW-powered ATS.
00:57:23Winkelhock, having made a pitstop,
00:57:25he's got some fresh tyres back into the race,
00:57:28but he's well down.
00:57:29Winkelhock now running in 11th place
00:57:32near the tail of the field,
00:57:34and there is Prost at the front of the field.
00:57:38And we've got another corner at the pits.
00:57:40It's the Swede Stefan Johansson with the Tyrrell,
00:57:43so the action's still continuing.
00:57:45Join us after this short break
00:57:47for the conclusion of the German Grand Prix.
00:57:56The German Grand Prix enters its final laps
00:57:59and still out in front,
00:58:01driving a superbly clean and tidy race
00:58:04following the retirement of his closest challenger,
00:58:07Nelson Piquet,
00:58:08is the current world championship leader,
00:58:10Alain Prost of France,
00:58:12with the red and white McLaren with the tag turbo engine.
00:58:16And to make McLaren team boss Ron Dennis doubly happy,
00:58:20in second place, it's Prost's teammate,
00:58:23Niki Lauda, in McLaren number 8.
00:58:27Lauda did get to within four seconds
00:58:30of Alain Prost at one stage,
00:58:32but he's now dropped back to a comfortable 11-second cushion,
00:58:36and so Prost knows that all he's got to do
00:58:39is to reel off the laps
00:58:41and nine lovely championship points will be his.
00:58:45In third place, it's Derek Warwick with the Renault,
00:58:48but it's no longer Renault's third and fourth
00:58:51because the hard-charging Nigel Mansell,
00:58:54who's been carving steadily away at every car in front of him,
00:58:58has now passed Patrick Tambay
00:59:00and put the Lotus number 12 in fourth place.
00:59:03So British drivers Warwick and Mansell
00:59:05in third and fourth places,
00:59:07Patrick Tambay is fifth,
00:59:09and in sixth place, now a lap behind on the leader,
00:59:12it's the Ferrari of René Arnoux.
00:59:15A splendid battle going on for seventh and eighth places
00:59:19between those two Ligiers,
00:59:21and while the McLarens at the front
00:59:23aren't battling between each other,
00:59:25the Ligiers of de Cesaris and Francois Hainault
00:59:28are indeed battling.
00:59:30And although the rain,
00:59:32which threatened at the start of this race,
00:59:34has held off,
00:59:35Hockenheim has lived up to its reputation
00:59:38of being a car breaker.
00:59:40These long straights,
00:59:42with long periods of peak revs for the engines,
00:59:45have given us several engine blow-ups,
00:59:47notably Leo de Angelis, the early leader.
00:59:50And we've had confirmation from the pits
00:59:53that the trouble with Nelson Piquet's car,
00:59:56the man who took over the lead
00:59:58just after Elio de Angelis' engine had blown,
01:00:01the trouble was indeed, as we had guessed, gearbox.
01:00:04So, Piquet out with a failed gearbox,
01:00:07de Angelis out with a blown engine,
01:00:09Teo Fabi in the other Brabham is also out
01:00:12with turbocharger failure,
01:00:14Michele Alborete's Ferrari out with misfiring,
01:00:17Ayrton Senna,
01:00:19the Brazilian had that dramatic accident with the Toleman
01:00:22when his rear wing came adrift at a very awkward moment,
01:00:26like when he was just hitting the brakes
01:00:28at 170 miles an hour to turn into one of the chicanes,
01:00:31Senna completely unhurt,
01:00:33although the back end of the Toleman was badly damaged.
01:00:37Both the Williams Hondas out with engine failure,
01:00:40bad luck indeed for Keke Rosberg,
01:00:42who was charging up through the field so well,
01:00:44and his teammate Jacques Lafitte
01:00:46also suffered the same fate.
01:00:48Both the Arrows are out,
01:00:50of Marc Surer and Thierry Boets and the Belgian.
01:00:55And, as you just saw,
01:00:57Edic still running is the Dutchman,
01:01:00Huub Rottengatter in the spirit,
01:01:02because the leader, Alain Prost,
01:01:05has just lapped him once again,
01:01:08and both the McLarens looking very, very clean
01:01:11and very smooth indeed.
01:01:14There is the second one,
01:01:15so you see the length of the lead
01:01:19that Alain Prost has over Niki Lauda,
01:01:22two laps now to go,
01:01:24as Prost comes into the first of the three chicanes,
01:01:31and, as before, Prost looking so neat, so tidy,
01:01:35and he's under no pressure at all now, of course.
01:01:38His own teammate in second place,
01:01:40Derek Warwick in a distant third place,
01:01:42and as Prost comes into the second chicane
01:01:44that leads onto the Ostkurve,
01:01:46just a little clip of the apex there,
01:01:49round out of the Ostkurve,
01:01:53on now down the short straight
01:01:56where he'll get up to 190 miles an hour,
01:01:5910.2 seconds the official gap
01:02:01at the end of the previous lap
01:02:03between Prost and Lauda,
01:02:05past the braking marker boards,
01:02:08into the third chicane,
01:02:10out of the third chicane comes Alain Prost,
01:02:13down the final little straight,
01:02:15which will lead him in fifth gear
01:02:17up to 185 miles an hour
01:02:19before he hits the brakes,
01:02:21down to fourth, down to third,
01:02:23across to the left of the road
01:02:25before turning right into the Aginkurve,
01:02:27which leads him into the sight
01:02:29of these huge packed grandstands,
01:02:32and then the Sachskurve,
01:02:34the tight left-hander,
01:02:36which is the sharpest corner on the circuit,
01:02:39taken in second gear at 55 miles an hour,
01:02:42up to about 90 miles an hour here in third gear
01:02:45on that downhill, uphill,
01:02:48bumpy apexed corner of the Opelkurve,
01:02:50over a short straight,
01:02:52he'll glance across at the McLaren pit
01:02:54to read his pit signals,
01:02:55which will tell him there is one lap now to go
01:02:58into the right-hander in fourth gear now
01:03:01that leads Alain Prost
01:03:04onto the final lap of the German Grand Prix
01:03:07and he'll be just round that curve
01:03:10at the top of the picture
01:03:12touching 190 miles an hour in top gear
01:03:15before he dabs the brakes down to fourth,
01:03:17harder onto the brakes into third,
01:03:20points at the big polystyrene block
01:03:23before he turns the car sharply across
01:03:25into the chicane
01:03:27and he is definitely taking it gently.
01:03:30You could see as he came through that chicane there
01:03:33he has eased right off,
01:03:35so while the gap was 10 seconds,
01:03:37all he wants to do is to make sure
01:03:39that the race is his.
01:03:41He's now in the Ostkurve chicane,
01:03:4370 miles an hour through here,
01:03:45once again a very cautious line
01:03:48and he is just stroking home.
01:03:50Round the Ostkurve, fourth gear,
01:03:52about 140 miles an hour
01:03:54before he takes fifth gear.
01:03:56Now up to 190, 195 miles an hour perhaps,
01:04:00but I don't think he's going quite that quickly
01:04:02on this final lap.
01:04:03And look how close Niki Lauda's got to him
01:04:05into the third and final chicane
01:04:08and there is Prost,
01:04:09and Niki Lauda is in sight behind.
01:04:11Niki Lauda has closed to a gap,
01:04:13I would guess, of about four seconds now.
01:04:16I don't think Alain Prost's in trouble,
01:04:18I think he just wants to make absolutely sure
01:04:20that victory in the 1984 German Grand Prix
01:04:24is his.
01:04:25Already 12 wins under his belt for Alain Prost.
01:04:28This is going to be his 13th victory
01:04:30and incidentally it's going to be
01:04:32his fourth victory this year
01:04:34because he won two early Grand Prixs this season.
01:04:37He won the race-shortened Monaco Grand Prix,
01:04:40he's going to win now the German Grand Prix
01:04:42at Hockenheim.
01:04:43Out of the Opel Curva,
01:04:45the chequered flag waits for him
01:04:47as he comes down the start finish straight
01:04:50for the last time.
01:04:51Niki Lauda, his teammate, is behind
01:04:52and Alain Prost of France
01:04:54consolidates his world championship lead
01:04:57with a superb win here in the German Grand Prix.
01:05:00Niki Lauda finishes second,
01:05:02Derek Warwick will be third in the Renault.
01:05:06There is Warwick taking the finishing flag now.
01:05:09In fourth place it's going to be Nigel Mansell,
01:05:12Patrick Tambay is fifth,
01:05:14René Arnoux, a lap behind,
01:05:16is sixth in the Ferrari,
01:05:18but McLaren's are first and second
01:05:20for the second time this season
01:05:22and the winner is Alain Prost of France.
01:05:26Well that will make McLaren
01:05:28almost completely unbeatable
01:05:30in the Constructors' Championship,
01:05:31but in the World Championship,
01:05:33Alain Prost only four and a half points
01:05:35ahead of his own teammate Niki Lauda,
01:05:37Elio De Angelis is still third,
01:05:39Derek Warwick now fifth behind René Arnoux.
01:05:43We'll be back with a word from the race winner
01:05:46after this short message.
01:05:52Alain Prost in his fourth win here at Hockenheimring.
01:05:55Alain, were you concerned by any other drivers,
01:05:57Nelson Piquet or Elio De Angelis?
01:06:00Yes, because they were in front of me,
01:06:02but I did a choice of tyres that I couldn't do
01:06:07at the beginning of the race very quickly,
01:06:09like Niki, and we chose these tyres
01:06:12and we said before the race,
01:06:13OK, we do the race like that,
01:06:15but the first 20 laps,
01:06:16we are very gentle with the tyres,
01:06:19so I did not want to push very hard,
01:06:21I did not want to try to catch Nelson and De Angelis,
01:06:24but they had some problems after that,
01:06:26so I had no problem.
01:06:28So you were just saving your car,
01:06:29waiting to see what happened to them?
01:06:31Saving the tyres, especially the tyres.
01:06:33Now, Niki started to catch you in one point,
01:06:36you broke the lap record,
01:06:37he broke the lap record,
01:06:38and then you broke the lap record.
01:06:40Were you able to pull that much out of your car and tyres
01:06:43that late in the race?
01:06:44I mean, it was only 15 laps to go
01:06:46and there you are breaking the lap record.
01:06:48I mean, I was four or five seconds ahead of Niki
01:06:52and I tried to push very hard
01:06:54and I had to push at the same time
01:06:56because I wanted to win absolutely this race,
01:06:58and I tried to push very hard for four or five laps
01:07:01and I went from five to ten seconds
01:07:03and after that I think Niki didn't try to push
01:07:06and I think it was a safe decision for him
01:07:08and for me and for all the team
01:07:10because like that we had no problems about the fuel consumption
01:07:13and I think it was a safe decision,
01:07:15it was a very good decision,
01:07:17a professional decision for himself.
01:07:19So you could drive as hard as you wanted towards the end
01:07:21with the fuel, no problem?
01:07:23Yeah, we can drive as hard as we want
01:07:25but maybe not until the end
01:07:27so we have to be careful the last ten laps
01:07:29and that's why Niki didn't try to push me hard
01:07:33for the last ten laps.
01:07:34And a great competition within the team,
01:07:36between the two of you.
01:07:37It's a great competition but it's a very nice competition.
01:07:39I like to fight with Niki because he's very honest.
01:07:42We try to do the same choice of tyres
01:07:44to be the same as being in the race.
01:07:47The only problem today for me was
01:07:49I had to start with the T-car
01:07:51because my race car, the problem was the fuel pump.
01:07:53Otherwise it's a nice competition with Niki
01:07:56and we get the same car
01:07:58and we are in the best team at the moment.
01:08:02Well, there again, to start a race with a T-car,
01:08:05I mean that's the training car,
01:08:07it's not your normal car.
01:08:08Yesterday you told us about the confidence in the team.
01:08:11This must again prove to you
01:08:13that McLaren is right on top of everything.
01:08:15Yes, exactly.
01:08:16That proves that it's not exactly a T-car,
01:08:18it's a third car.
01:08:19And we can take this car and we have no problem with it.
01:08:22It's always difficult for me
01:08:24because I had very bad luck two weeks ago in Brands H.
01:08:28So starting with the T-car was a big deception for me
01:08:31because my race car was perfect.
01:08:33But I must say that this car was able to win the race anyway.
01:08:36That's good.
01:08:37That proves that McLaren can build three very good cars.
01:08:41Congratulations.
01:08:42Thank you very much.
01:08:43This has been John Bisignano and Simon Taylor.
01:08:46We've enjoyed bringing you this ESPN coverage
01:08:49of the German Grand Prix.
01:08:50Thank you for watching us.
01:08:52Please watch your local listings for more ESPN Autoracing 84
01:08:56as we move from the center of Germany
01:08:58to the midlands of Austria and the Austrian Grand Prix,
01:09:02about 600 miles southeast of here.
01:09:04Be with us.
01:09:05Auf Wiedersehen from Hockenheimring.