The 1984 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 38th season of Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1984 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1984 Formula One World Championship for Manufacturers, both of which commenced on 25 March and ended on 21 October after sixteen races.
In the Drivers' Championship, McLaren teammates Alain Prost and Niki Lauda enjoyed a season-long duel. Prost won seven races to equal Jim Clark's record from , over Lauda's five, but the Austrian eventually prevailed by half a point – the smallest margin in Formula One history. It was Lauda's third title, but his first since , breaking the record of six years between World Championship victories set by Jack Brabham in .1984 Formula 1 World Championship for Drivers / 1984 Formula 1 World Championship for Manufacturers, FIA '85 yearbook of automobile sport, red section, pages 84–85 Reigning champion Nelson Piquet finished fifth in the championship. The season also saw the debut of eventual three-time World Champion Ayrton Senna.
Brabham, Renault and Ferrari were the expected frontrunners, but it was McLaren who clinched the Constructors' Championship with a then-record margin. The combination of their talented drivers, the aerodynamics of the John Barnard-designed MP4/2 and the experience of engine supplier Porsche with fuel economy made them almost unbeatable, winning twelve of the sixteen Grands Prix. It was their first title since .
, this is the last championship for an Austrian Formula One driver. It is also the last time that the Drivers' Champion did not score a pole position during the season. Only Denny Hulme managed this earlier in . This is also the last Formula One season to feature 3 tyre suppliers. This season would also mark Michelin's last involvement in the sport until they returned once more in 2001.
Drivers and constructors Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine Tyres No Driver Rounds MRD International Brabham-BMW BT53 BMW M12/13 1.5 L4t 1 Nelson Piquet All 2 Teo Fabi 1–5, 8, 10–15 Corrado Fabi 6–7, 9 Manfred Winkelhock 16 Tyrrell Racing Organisation Tyrrell-Ford 012 Ford-Cosworth DFY 3.0 V8 3 Martin Brundle 1–9 Stefan Johansson 10–134 Stefan Bellof 1–10, 12–13 Mike Thackwell 11 Williams Grand Prix Engineering Williams-Honda FW09FW09B Honda RA163E 1.5 V6tHonda RA164E 1.5 V6t 5 Jacques Laffite All 6 Keke Rosberg All Marlboro McLaren TAG Turbo McLaren-TAG MP4/2 TAG-Porsche TTE PO1 1.5 V6t 7 Alain Prost All 8 Niki Lauda All Skoal Bandit Formula 1 Team RAM-Hart 0102 Hart 415T 1.5 L4t 9 Philippe Alliot All 10 Jonathan Palmer 1–6, 8–16 Mike Thackwell 7 John Player Special Team Lotus Lotus-Renault 95T Renault EF4B 1.5 V6t 11 Elio de Angelis All 12 Nigel Mansell All Team ATS ATS-BMW D7 BMW M12/13 1.5 L4t 14 Manfred Winkelhock 1–14 Gerhard Berger 16 31 12, 14–15 Équipe Renault Elf Renault Elf RE50 Renault EF4B 1.5 V6t 15 Patrick Tambay All 16 Derek Warwick All 33 Philippe Streiff 16 Barclay Nordica Arrows Arrows-Ford A6 Ford-Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 17 Marc Surer 1–3, 5, 7–8 18 Thierry Boutsen 1–2, 4 Arrows-BMW A7 BMW M12/13 1.5 L4t 17 Marc Surer 4, 6, 9–16 18 Thierry Boutsen 3, 5–16 Toleman Group Motorsport Toleman-Hart TG183BTG184 Hart 415T 1.5 L4t 19 Ayrton Senna 1–13, 15–16 Stefan Johansson 14 20 Johnny Cecotto 1–10 Pierluigi Martini 14 Stefan Johansson 15–16 Spirit Racing Spirit-Hart 101 Hart 415T 1.5 L4t 21 Mauro Baldi 1–6, 15–16 Huub Rothengatter 7, 9–14 Spirit-Ford 101C Ford-Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 8 Benetton Team Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 184T Alfa Romeo 890T 1.5 V8t 22 Riccardo Patrese All 23 Eddie Cheever All Kelémata Osella Osella-Alfa Romeo FA1F Alfa Romeo 890T 1.5 V8t 24 Piercarlo Ghinzani All 30 Jo Gartner 10–16 FA1E Alfa Romeo 1260 3.0 V12 4 Ligier Loto Ligier-Renault JS23JS23B Renault EF4 1.5 V6t 25 François Hesnault All 26 Andrea de Cesaris All Ferrari Ferrari 126C4 Ferrari 031 1.5 V6t 27 Michele Alboreto All 28 René Arnoux All
Team changes At the end of the season, Theodore Racing had left Formula 1. No new manufacturers entered the grid for 1984.
Mid-season changes There was a clear trend of manufacturers switching from naturally aspirated engines to turbocharged engines, attracted by their power output: After a handful of races, Arrows was able to upgrade from their A6 chassis with Ford-Cosworth DFV V8 to the A7 with a BMW turbo engine. Osella switched their focus from the old Alfa Romeo V12 to Alfa's newer turbocharged 890T V8. Spirit Racing ran one car with a Hart turbo engine, while keeping the other powered by a Cosworth V8.
The teams were careful in their approach, running the old and new cars simultaneously, before finally stepping over to turbo.
Driver changes
Ferrari dropped Patrick Tambay in favour of Michele Alboreto, the first Italian driver signed by Enzo Ferrari since Ludovico Scarfiotti in . Tambay moved to Renault, with former Toleman driver Derek Warwick as his new team mate. Warwick had taken the seat of Alain Prost after he was fired and moved to McLaren. The other ex-Renault driver, Eddie Cheever, moved to Alfa Romeo; Riccardo Patrese also moved to the team from Brabham. Teo Fabi, with backing from Italian dairy company Parmalat, was promoted to be the new team mate of reigning World Drivers' Champion Nelson Piquet. Ayrton Senna, the 1983 British F3 champion and a future F1 champion, made his debut with the Toleman team. Senna's F3 rival Martin Brundle made his debut with Tyrrell. Another seven driver changes happened during the off-season in the lower-ranking teams.
Mid-season changes
During three weekends when Teo Fabi's commitments to American CART racing took precedence (he was fulfilling a 2 year contract with CART team Forsythe Racing signed in 1983), his younger brother Corrado fell in for him at Brabham. Manfred Winkelhock did this for the last race of the season, after he quit the ATS team. Dutch driver Huub Rothengatter made his debut with Spirit, driving eight races in the middle of the season, before handing the keys back to the team's first driver Mauro Baldi. For Rothengatter's home Grand Prix at Zandvoort, the Spirit 101-Hart was painted in Dutch racing orange. Mike Thackwell was on his way to clinching the 1984 European Formula Two Championship in dominant fashion and he got the attraction of several F1 teams. He entered a race with RAM and later one with Tyrrell. He also tested with Williams, but could not get a full-time seat. Tyrrell driver Martin Brundle crashed during practice for the Dallas Grand Prix and broke both ankles and feet. He was replaced for the next Grand Prix in Britain by Stefan Johansson. When it was announced two days after the Dutch Grand Prix that Ayrton Senna had signed a deal with Lotus for , the Toleman team suspended him for not informing them first. Stefan Johansson took his place for the Italian Grand Prix. While qualifying for the British Grand Prix, Toleman driver Johnny Cecotto crashed heavily, breaking both of his legs which ended his F1 driving career. Debutant Pierluigi Martini, and later Stefan Johansson after his points scoring effort in Italy while replacing Ayrton Senna, took over the second car. Osella entered a second car for half of the races. Formula Two driver Jo Gartner was behind the wheel. ATS took German Formula 3 driver Gerhard Berger for 4 of the last 5 rounds of the Championship, using him for both Austria and Italy when Manfred Winkelhock was unable to start the car, and the last two races in Europe and Portugal as their sole driver after Winkelhock had left the team. Philippe Streiff made his debut at the last race of the season, driving a third Renault car with the number 33.
Calendar Round Grand Prix Circuit Date 1 Brazilian Grand Prix Autodromo Jacarepaguá, Rio de Janeiro 25 March 2 South African Grand Prix Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit, Midrand 7 April 3 Belgian Grand Prix Circuit Zolder, Heusden-Zolder 29 April 4 San Marino Grand Prix Autodromo Dino Ferrari, Imola 6 May 5 French Grand Prix Dijon-Prenois, Dijon 20 May 6 Monaco Grand Prix Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo 3 June 7 Canadian Grand Prix Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal 17 June 8 Detroit Grand Prix Detroit Street Circuit, Michigan 24 June 9 Dallas Grand Prix Fair Park Street Circuit, Dallas 8 July 10 British Grand Prix Brands Hatch, West Kingsdown 22 July 11 German Grand Prix Hockenheimring, Hockenheim 5 August 12 Austrian Grand Prix Österreichring, Spielberg 19 August 13 Dutch Grand Prix Circuit Park Zandvoort, Zandvoort 26 August 14 Italian Grand Prix Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza 9 September 15 European Grand Prix Nürburgring, Nürburg 7 October 16 Portuguese Grand Prix Autodromo do Estoril, Estoril 21 October
Calendar changes
The race in Long Beach was replaced by the Dallas Grand Prix. It was the third in a series of "overseas" events, after the Canadian Grand Prix and the Detroit Grand Prix, but this put the F1 cars in the peak of the Texas summer heat. It would be the only F1 Dallas Grand Prix to be held. The South African Grand Prix was now the second race of the year instead of the season finale. That honor was given to the Portuguese Grand Prix at Estoril. The Grand Prix returned to the calendar for the first time since . The Belgian Grand Prix was held at Circuit Zolder instead of Spa-Francorchamps, as part of an agreement to alternate between the venues, and moved up the schedule one month. In similar fashion, this year's British Grand Prix was held at Brands Hatch instead of Silverstone and the German Grand Prix was held at the Hockenheimring instead of the Nürburgring. The French and San Marino Grand Prix switched places, with the race at Imola now going first.
Provisional calendar On the provisional calendar, the Spanish Grand Prix was scheduled to return after a three-year absence. It was to be contested on a new street circuit in Fuengirola, but the plan did not come to fruition.David Hayhoe, Formula 1: The Knowledge – 2nd Edition, 2021, page 35-36. Formula 1 tried to organise the New York City Grand Prix, but did not manage to do so for the second year in a row. The first Hungarian Grand Prix was scheduled for 7 October at the Népliget Park Circuit, but this was cancelled as plans for a race failed to materialise. The race was replaced by the European Grand Prix at the Nürburgring.
Regulation changes
The FISA introduced fuel economy rules aimed at reducing speeds: Turbocharged cars would be limited to of fuel per race. This was mandated merely by setting the maximum volume of the fuel tank to 220 litre and demanding it to be in the centre of the car, between driver and engine. This meant teams were still free to experiment, for example with freezing the fuel inside the tank to increase its density. Refuelling was banned.
A superlicence was now required for all F1 drivers.
Concrete walls could replace guardrails.
Season report Round 1: Brazil Most of the Formula One seasons in the 1980s started at the sweltering tropical heat and humidity of the Jacarepagua Riocentro Autodrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A 10-day test followed by the Grand Prix often was the case. In addition to a frantic start, drivers had to deal with people running across the track with the cars bearing down on those people; Briton Derek Warwick in the French factory Renault led until an incident with Niki Lauda led to suspension failure; Frenchman Alain Prost won his first Grand Prix with McLaren at the flat and rough but fast Rio circuit. This was also Ayrton Senna's first Formula One race, he was driving for the Toleman team. Senna would prove to be the first retirement of the season when the turbo on his 4 cyl Hart engine failed on lap 8.
Round 2: South Africa