Monaco, raceday Sunday. All the streets are wet from the rain during the night. During the warm-up laps for the F1 cars, it is dry. But after that session, slight rain again. Not enough for a true wet-race, but still enough for the teams to worry. Slick-tyres or rain-tyres ?
The game is on. The heavier Turbo cars ( more fuel on board) and the lack-time of the turbo-reaction on a wet twisty track makes them more dangerous than the lighter cars with atmospheric engines. Brabham team boss, Bernie Ecclestone and Ferrari team chief Marco Piccinini shout out loud to everybody: “Alle turbo cars should start on rain tyres.” Renault boss Jean Sage accepts it, but has doubts ( and regrets later!).
Frank Williams advises slick tyres for his pilot Keke Rosberg. Because he knows already that the first two laps will only show some gliding spectacles. Six other drivers followed Keke’s example. Team mate Jacques Lafitte, Arrow drivers Marc Surer and Chico Serra, the Lotus of Elio de Angelis, the Tyrrells of Michele Alboreto and Danny Sullivan.
At the start of the race, it is Rosberg who jumps to front from the fifth spot on the grid. He saw an opening. So it is the Renault of Alain Prost in the lead, in front of Rosberg, Cheever (Renault) and the Ferrari’s of Rene Arnoux and Patrick Tambay. Out are already Alboreto and Mansell. At the end of the first lap, in front of the pits, Rosberg gets past Prost. Just before the breaking point for St.Devote, he is totally in the lead. Also Lafitte, Surer and Warwick push through the field.
The track is gradually drying and Rosberg’s advantage is becoming obvious. His grip is phenomenal. He makes the turbo cars look ridiculous. Their wet tyres are so soft that they start do degenerate fast. The Turbo cars hold the rest of pack up and Keke Rosberg sees his advantage grow. Surer is stuck behind Tambay and starts to get irritated and even hit him.
It is Nelson Piquet with his Brabham BMW who dives into the pitlane as the first driver, followed by Arnoux and Patrese. One lap later, it is the turn of Prost, Cheever, De Cesaris and Tambay. All have already one minute gap to the lead. Arnoux on his slicks tries to get past Lafitte, but hits the rails and is out.
The top 3 from lap 10 onwards is Rosberg – Lafitte – Surer. Derek Warwick and the Toleman is closing fast behind Surer. They start a battle. But in lap 49, Warwick tries to get past, but touches the Arrow and pushes Surer (#29) and himself in the guard rails.
For the Williams team, there are scary moments coming. From lap 38, there are problems with the fuel admission for Rosberg. Four times per lap, the engine shows hesitations and there are some brake issues. And there is another problem. Keke has blisters on his hands, and he has to change gear every three seconds. The team decides to show the panel “HOLD” to Lafitte, hoping that would ease the tension for the leader.
But Lafitte ignores the sign ( or his English is bad?) and starts his charge. Despite the signs from the pit wall to slow down, Lafitte pushes on but his gearbox does not like it and he retires. This brings Piquet up to second and Prost third.
Almost all surviving cars will end in the points. Danny Sullivan ends on P5 with his Tyrrell 011 and Mauro Baldi P6 with the Alfa Romeo.
On the rostrum it is clear that Rosberg is in great pain. He has a diner that evening with Prince Rainier. His winning Williams FW 08C, he bought it later as a memory of the day he gambled and won.
Keke Rosberg (Williams) Patrick Tambay (Ferrari)
Rene Arnoux (Ferrari) Corrado Fabi (Osella)
Alain Prost (Renault)
Publication: 25/09/2025Back to overview
