A lesson from the Professor
Admiration in Patrick Tambay’s eyes (picture above), for Alain Prost, on the podium of the 1983 British Grand Prix; Piquet (second) looks on.
The 1983 British Grand Prix was held at Silverstone on 16 July 1983. The front row of the grid was filled by the Ferraris of René Arnoux and Patrick Tambay; Arnoux, with an incredible lap, over 0.6 seconds ahead! Alain Prost was third in his Renault, with Elio de Angelis in the Lotus alongside him on the second row. Title contender, Nelson Piquet was sixth in his Brabham-BMW.
At the start of the race, Tambay passed Arnoux to take the lead, while de Angelis quickly retired with a turbo failure. Prost, always a threat in any race, no matter from which position he started, passed Arnoux on lap 14 followed by Piquet five laps later. Then on lap 20, “The Professor” passed Tambay for the lead and was never caught. At the chequered flag, Prost was 19 seconds ahead of Piquet with Tambay, Mansell, Arnoux and Lauda completing the top 6.
The win, Prost’s third of the season, enabled him to extend his lead in the Drivers’ Championship to six points over Piquet. Renault moved into the outright lead of the Constructors’ Championship, three points ahead of Ferrari.