Formula 1

About the season

In November, FISA permanently outlawed ground-effect aerodynamics: from 1983 a flat floor became mandatory, after the previous year's tragedies showed how dangerous a single damaged skirt or the smallest airflow disturbance could be at those speeds. Nelson Piquet's Brabham-BMW delivered the first World Championship ever won with a turbocharged engine, while Renault, the very team that had pioneered turbo power in F1, ended the year empty-handed. Alain Prost led for much of the year and won four races, only to lose the title to a late Brabham charge; Renault then blamed him for the defeat and sacked its own lead driver just days after the season finale. The fallout between Prost and Renault turned so bitter that the Frenchman had to move house to Switzerland after disgruntled Renault employees broke into his home and burned one of his cars. Nelson Piquet won the 1983 Drivers' Championship with 59 points (Brabham), 2 points ahead of the runner-up. Ferrari won the Constructors' Championship with 89 points, 10 points ahead of the runner-up. Across 15 completed races this season, there were 203 retirements. 8 different drivers won a race this season. Alain Prost took the most race wins, 4 in total. Piquet won the season-opening race, the Brazilian Grand Prix. The season's biggest upset win came from Watson at the United States Grand Prix West, starting from grid position 22. Watson made the biggest gain of the season at the United States Grand Prix West, from grid position 22 to finishing 1 (up 21 places). The San Marino Grand Prix saw the most retirements of the season, with 16 drivers failing to finish. The most dominant win of the season came at the German Grand Prix, with a margin of 70.7 seconds. The closest finish of the season came at the European Grand Prix, with a gap of just 6.571 seconds. Patrese won the South African Grand Prix, the final race of the season.