Ayrton Senna’s good result at the South African Grand Prix brought optimism for a positive weekend in Belgium. Three weeks after scoring his first point in Formula 1, the Brazilian wanted to repeat the feat and land his Toleman within the points-scoring zone once again.
However, the difficult Circuit Zolder did not favor his Toleman’s Hart engine, not to mention the car’s outdated model – the TG 183B – which was used in the previous year and would only be replaced in the fifth race of the 1984 season, the French GP.
The Zolder track had two very different stories.
In 1982, during the Belgian Grand Prix, Senna competed in a preliminary category called Formula Ford 2000, where he became the champion of that season with 21 wins out of 28 races.
During the same weekend, Canadian driver Gilles Villeneuve had a fatal accident with his Ferrari during the F1 qualifying session.
In 1983, the Spa-Francorchamps circuit replaced the Zolder track and has been the current host of the Formula 1 race in Belgium ever since. However, the Zolder circuit made a comeback in 1984, only to retire permanently from the Formula 1 calendar.
During the practice sessions, despite Ayrton and his team’s dedicated efforts to optimize the car’s aerodynamic setup and enhance its performance, the Brazilian driver found himself in a relatively unremarkable 19th position among the 26 cars on the starting grid. Interestingly, this marked his worst starting position in his career up until that point. However, the race would prove to be one of his finest performances considering the limitations of the car he was driving.
At the front row of the grid were Michele Alboreto and René Arnoux, who secured pole positions in their Ferraris. This marked the first pole position for the Italian driver. Keke Rosberg claimed the third spot with his Williams, while Derek Warwick secured the fourth position with his Renault. Elio de Angelis in the Lotus and the surprising ATS is driven by German driver Manfred Winkelhock completed the third row.
At the start, Alboreto kept the lead and Warwick took the chance to jump from fourth to second place, meaning Arnoux and Rosberg lost one position each. In the middle of the pack, Venezuelan Johnny Cecotto, Senna’s teammate at Toleman, had to retire on the second lap, after starting in 16th place. McLaren’s Alain Prost, who led the standings at the time, also retired. The Frenchman’s car even caught fire, but firemen worked fast and no one was hurt.
Nelson Piquet started in ninth place and managed to get into de points-scoring zone before the fifth lap was over. Right after that, he went after Elio de Angelis, in fifth, and climbed to third after overtaking Winkelhock and René Arnoux in the race’s first half.
Senna, on the other hand, had to go over the grass with his Toleman at the start of the race, after a driver was unable to move. Because of that, he had to settle with his original position for the first nine laps.
On lap 10th, Ayrton Senna made a remarkable move, overtaking Jacques Laffite and securing the 18th position. He further benefited from the retirements of Nigel Mansell (Lotus), Thierry Boutsen (Arrows), and Eddie Cheever (Alfa Romeo), allowing him to advance to 15th place.
Throughout the race, Senna faced two significant challenges with his car. Firstly, with a full tank, he had to be cautious with the throttle to prevent excessive tire wear. Secondly, when low on fuel, the heavy car tended to understeer, requiring him to maintain a steady pace.
After climbing to 13th place, Senna made his only pit stop to change his Pirelli tires. Capitalizing on the retirements of Andrea De Cesaris and Teo Fabi, he jumped to 11th at the start of the race’s second half.
With less than 20 laps remaining, Senna executed impressively overtakes, passing Marc Surer (Arrows) and later Martin Brundle (Tyrrell) who encountered issues exiting the pits. These maneuvers propelled Senna to the ninth position.
Senna’s next target was Patrick Tambay of Renault. Skillfully overtaking Tambay, Senna found himself just two positions away from repeating his sixth-place finish achieved at Kyalami.
On lap 66, Nelson Piquet retired from the race. Despite enduring engine troubles while running in fifth place, Senna persevered and crossed the finish line in seventh. However, Stefan Bellof, initially in the sixth position, was disqualified due to irregularities in his Tyrrell, promoting Senna to the sixth spot.
At the front of the pack, Michele Alboreto claimed his first victory of the season and his first with Ferrari, leading the race from start to finish. Derek Warwick of Britain secured second place, while René Arnoux of France completed the podium in third. Keke Rosberg from Finland finished fourth, and Elio de Angelis of Italy took the fifth position.
Despite facing various challenges, Ayrton Senna showcased his talent and determination, earning his second points-scoring finish in only his third Formula 1 race. At just 24 years of age, Senna was the youngest driver on the grid, displaying promise for the future.
The next Grand Prix would take place at Imola one week later, marking the fourth race of the season.
1º
M. Alboreto
2º
R. Arnoux
3º
K. Rosberg
4º
D. Warwick
5º
E. de Angelis
6º
M. Winkelhock
7º
R. Patrese
8º
A. Prost
9º
N. Piquet
10º
N. Mansell
11º
E. Cheever
12º
P. Tambay
13º
A. de Cesaris
14º
N. Lauda
15º
J. Laffite
16º
J. Cecotto
17º
T. Boutsen
18º
T. Fabi
19º
Ayrton Senna
20º
P. Ghinzani
21º
S. Bellof
22º
M. Brundle
23º
F. Hesnault
24º
M. Surer
25º
M. Baldi
26º
J. Palmer
70
Laps
26
Cars
15
Retirements
1’19″294
Fastest lap
1º
Sunny Weather
Podium
1º
M. Alboreto
2º
D. Warwick
3º
R. Arnoux
6º
final position
10º
position in championship following the race
19º
starting place
1
championship points accumulated
1’22”633
best lap
