1985 Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix

The 1985 Formula One Monaco Grand Prix held at Monaco on May 19, 1985.

The Toleman team return after missing the first 3 races of the season due to a contract problem over tyres! Senna’s on pole with Mansell in 2nd on the grid.

You’ll notice that the chicance after the tunnel is very different to what it is today featuring just a “kink” to slow the cars down, but judging by the speed of them it didn’t have much effect!

Some great racing to look out for; Elio de Angelis overtaking Eddie Cheever’s Alfa Romeo at Virage Antony Noghes (not somewhere you usually get overtaken!), Boutsen, de Cesaris and Warwick battling for position while Lauda catches them, and Piquet coming together with Patrese on the main straight before they both go off at St. Devote.

Senna has a blown turbo while leading and later on Alboreto drives round the outside of Prost going into St. Devote to retake the lead.

At the end look out for Murray Walker interviewing Johnathon Palmer (Zakspeed) and a fresh faced Martin Brundle (Tyrell).

Full Grand Prix results are available on Wikipedia. Race video is 39 minutes.

1985 Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix

The 1985 Formula One Italian Grand Prix held at Monza on September 8, 1985.

The previous week had seen the tragic and untimely death of Stefan Bellof at Spa in a 1000km sportscar race and there is a brief tribute at the start from Ken Tyrell who was running Stefan this year.

It’s interesting to see the cars sliding around so much during the first couple of laps, particularly through “curva grande” and the “lesmos” and notice how the circuit has changed during the last 20 years. I’d completely forgotten the first chicane was a left/right and the “lesmos” look great with the turbo cars going through.

Listen out for Mansell’s very sick Williams Honda early on and notice Stefan Johansson thumbing a lift back to the pits with Elio de Angelis just after the finish. Alan Jones also makes a brief appearance in the Beatrice Lola Hart after been tempted out of retirement.

The full video is 27 minutes with commentary from Murray Walker and James Hunt.

For full race stats visit Wikipedia or Forix.