1984 French Grand Prix
# 1984 French Grand Prix

The 1984 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Dijon-Prenois near Dijon, France on 20 May 1984. It was race 5 of 16 in the 1984 FIA Formula One World Championship.

This was the final Formula One race to be held at the 3.801 km (2.362 mi) Dijon-Prenois circuit, as it was deemed too short by governing body FISA. Fittingly in France, Frenchman Patrick Tambay, in the all-French team (French car, French engine, French tyres and French fuel) scored the Equipe Renault team's last pole position until their return to the sport in 2002.

Double World Champion Niki Lauda won the race in his McLaren-TAG, his first win in France since 1975. Tambay finished second in his Renault RE50, with the Lotus-Renault of Nigel Mansell third. Lauda's team-mate and World Championship leader, Alain Prost, could only manage seventh after he was forced to pit to change a loose wheel.

Andrea de Cesaris failed to qualify his Ligier, but nonetheless started the race and finished tenth. De Cesaris' Friday qualifying time was disallowed when his car's onboard fire extinguisher was found to be empty, before rain in the Saturday session prevented him from setting a time fast enough to make the grid. Ligier took the bizarre step of withdrawing their second car, driven by François Hesnault (who had qualified 14th), in order to allow de Cesaris to start 26th and last.

## Classification

### Qualifying

| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Q1 | Q2 | Gap |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 15 | Patrick Tambay | Renault | 1:02.200 | 1:24.855 | — |
| 2 | 11 | Elio de Angelis | Lotus-Renault | 1:02.336 | 1:20.859 | +0.136 |
| 3 | 1 | Nelson Piquet | Brabham-BMW | 1:02.806 | 1:30.893 | +0.606 |
| 4 | 6 | Keke Rosberg | Williams-Honda | 1:02.908 | 1:30.872 | +0.708 |
| 5 | 7 | Alain Prost | McLaren-TAG | 1:02.982 | 1:25.397 | +0.782 |
| 6 | 12 | Nigel Mansell | Lotus-Renault | 1:03.200 | 1:20.061 | +1.000 |
| 7 | 16 | Derek Warwick | Renault | 1:03.540 | 1:23.363 | +1.340 |
| 8 | 14 | Manfred Winkelhock | ATS-BMW | 1:03.865 | 1:28.393 | +1.665 |
| 9 | 8 | Niki Lauda | McLaren-TAG | 1:04.419 | 1:25.567 | +2.219 |
| 10 | 27 | Michele Alboreto | Ferrari | 1:04.459 | 1:22.749 | +2.259 |
| 11 | 28 | René Arnoux | Ferrari | 1:04.917 | 1:22.707 | +2.517 |
| 12 | 5 | Jacques Laffite | Williams-Honda | 1:05.410 | 1:27.917 | +3.210 |
| 13 | 19 | Ayrton Senna | Toleman-Hart | 1:05.744 | 1:28.225 | +3.544 |
| 14 | 18 | Thierry Boutsen | Arrows-BMW | 1:05.972 | 1:25.252 | +3.772 |
| 15 | 22 | Riccardo Patrese | Alfa Romeo | 1:06.172 | 1:28.124 | +3.972 |
| 16 | 23 | Eddie Cheever | Alfa Romeo | 1:06.281 | 1:23.770 | +4.081 |
| 17 | 2 | Teo Fabi | Brabham-BMW | 1:06.370 | no time | +4.170 |
| 18 | 20 | Johnny Cecotto | Toleman-Hart | 1:08.109 | 1:31.359 | +5.989 |
| 19 | 17 | Marc Surer | Arrows-Ford | 1:08.457 | 1:26.943 | +6.257 |
| 20 | 4 | Stefan Bellof | Tyrrell-Ford | 1:08.608 | 1:29.539 | +6.408 |
| 21 | 10 | Jonathan Palmer | RAM-Hart | 1:09.047 | no time | +6.847 |
| 22 | 9 | Philippe Alliot | RAM-Hart | 1:09.447 | no time | +7.247 |
| 23 | 3 | Martin Brundle | Tyrrell-Ford | 1:09.554 | 1:28.555 | +7.354 |
| 24 | 21 | Mauro Baldi | Spirit-Hart | 1:09.629 | 1:31.021 | +7.429 |
| 25 | 24 | Piercarlo Ghinzani | Osella-Alfa Romeo | 1:11.625 | 1:32.541 | +10.431 |
| 26 | 26 | Andrea de Cesaris | Ligier-Renault | no time | 1:22.388 | +20.188 |
| — | 25 | François Hesnault* | Ligier-Renault | 1:05.850 | 1:22.272 | — |

* François Hesnault qualified 14th with a time of 1:05.850 in the first qualifying session. However, Ligier withdrew his entry in order for their #1 driver Andrea de Cesaris to start, after the Italian's Friday time was disallowed due to an empty on-board fire extinguisher in his JS23 and he could not post a quick time in the wet final session.

### Race

| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 8 | Niki Lauda | McLaren-TAG | 79 | 1:31:11.951 | 9 | 9 |
| 2 | 15 | Patrick Tambay | Renault | 79 | + 7.154 | 1 | 6 |
| 3 | 12 | Nigel Mansell | Lotus-Renault | 79 | + 23.969 | 6 | 4 |
| 4 | 28 | René Arnoux | Ferrari | 79 | + 43.706 | 11 | 3 |
| 5 | 11 | Elio de Angelis | Lotus-Renault | 79 | + 1:06.125 | 2 | 2 |
| 6 | 6 | Keke Rosberg | Williams-Honda | 78 | + 1 Lap | 4 | 1 |
| 7 | 7 | Alain Prost | McLaren-TAG | 78 | + 1 Lap | 5 | |
| 8 | 5 | Jacques Laffite | Williams-Honda | 78 | + 1 Lap | 12 | |
| 9 | 2 | Teo Fabi | Brabham-BMW | 78 | + 1 Lap | 17 | |
| 10 | 26 | Andrea de Cesaris | Ligier-Renault | 77 | + 2 Laps | 26 | |
| 11 | 18 | Thierry Boutsen | Arrows-BMW | 77 | + 2 Laps | 14 | |
| 12 | 24 | Piercarlo Ghinzani | Osella-Alfa Romeo | 74 | + 5 Laps | 25 | |
| 13 | 10 | Jonathan Palmer | RAM-Hart | 72 | + 7 Laps | 21 | |
| DSQ | 3 | Martin Brundle | Tyrrell-Ford | 76 | Disqualified | 23 | |
| Ret | 21 | Mauro Baldi | Spirit-Hart | 61 | Engine | 24 | |
| Ret | 16 | Derek Warwick | Renault | 53 | Accident | 7 | |
| Ret | 17 | Marc Surer | Arrows-Ford | 51 | Accident | 19 | |
| Ret | 23 | Eddie Cheever | Alfa Romeo | 51 | Engine | 16 | |
| Ret | 19 | Ayrton Senna | Toleman-Hart | 35 | Turbo | 13 | |
| Ret | 27 | Michele Alboreto | Ferrari | 33 | Engine | 10 | |
| Ret | 20 | Johnny Cecotto | Toleman-Hart | 22 | Turbo | 18 | |
| Ret | 22 | Riccardo Patrese | Alfa Romeo | 15 | Engine | 15 | |
| Ret | 1 | Nelson Piquet | Brabham-BMW | 11 | Turbo | 3 | |
| DSQ | 4 | Stefan Bellof | Tyrrell-Ford | 11 | Disqualified | 20 | |
| Ret | 14 | Manfred Winkelhock | ATS-BMW | 5 | Clutch | 8 | |
| Ret | 9 | Philippe Alliot | RAM-Hart | 4 | Electrical | 22 | |
| Source: ||||||||

## Championship standings after the race

| Pos | Driver | Points |
| - | - | - |
| 1 | Alain Prost | 24 |
| 2 | Niki Lauda | 18 |
| 3 | Derek Warwick | 13 |
| 4 | René Arnoux | 13 |
| 5 | Elio de Angelis | 12 |
| Source: |||
| Pos | Constructor | Points |
| 1 | McLaren-TAG | 42 |
| 2 | Ferrari | 22 |
| 3 | Renault | 20 |
| 4 | Lotus-Renault | 16 |
| 5 | Williams-Honda | 10 |
| Source: |||

* Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Points accurate at final declaration of results. Tyrrell and its drivers were subsequently disqualified and their points reallocated.
