1984 European Grand Prix

Lore & Background

The 67-lap race was won by Frenchman Alain Prost, driving a McLaren-TAG. Italian Michele Alboreto finished second in a Ferrari, with Brazilian Nelson Piquet third in a Brabham-BMW, having started from pole position. Prost's Austrian teammate Niki Lauda finished fourth. With the reallocation of the disqualified Tyrrell team's points two days after the race and Prost thus gaining an extra point, Lauda's lead in the Drivers' Championship was reduced to 3.5 points with one race remaining.

Reader's Guide

The race was the first Formula One race to be held at the Nürburgring since 1976, and the first to be run on the new 4.54 km GP-Strecke circuit. During the race morning warm-up session, Alain Prost spun his McLaren-TAG and hit a course car parked at the side of the circuit. Prior to the Grand Prix, young Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna had won a special Race of Champions event where all the competitors were driving the Mercedes-Benz 190E's. When the Grand Prix itself started, Senna triggered a first corner accident which took out the cars of Keke Rosberg, Marc Surer, Gerhard Berger, and Piercarlo Ghinzani. After qualifying second on the grid, Alain Prost won the race from the Ferrari of Michele Alboreto and the Brabham-BMW of Nelson Piquet, with both the Ferrari and Brabham running out of fuel as they crossed the finish line. Niki Lauda started 15th and finished 4th.

Did You Know?

• The reallocation of Tyrrell's points gave Prost one extra point, not two.
• Niki Lauda gave the new GP-Strecke the thumbs up as a very safe Grand Prix circuit.