For a closer look at the cars and drivers from this "golden era," you can view archived footage on the F1 Official YouTube channel or check the Motorsport Database for the 1983 Season .
, driving for the charismatic Bernie Ecclestone’s Brabham team, had a very different season. The BMW engine was incredibly powerful but wildly unreliable. Piquet would often either win by a mile or retire in a cloud of smoke. It was a season of high peaks and deep valleys for the Brazilian. 1983 formula one season
The 1983 FIA Formula One World Championship was a pivotal season in motorsport history. It marked the definitive end of the normally aspirated "cosworth DFV" era and the full arrival of turbocharged engines. The season is famously remembered for a tense, three-way title battle decided in the final race at Kyalami, South Africa. It also introduced revolutionary technical innovations, most notably electronic active suspension. For a closer look at the cars and
FISA (the governing body at the time) tried to level the playing field by mandating a minimum weight of 540kg for everyone and limiting turbo cars to 220 liters of fuel per race. This gave the lighter, simpler Cosworth cars a fighting chance, provided the turbos blew up or ran dry. Piquet would often either win by a mile
It was a year of "lasts" and "firsts." It was the last year to feature a non-turbocharged car winning the World Championship—a feat that has not been repeated since. It was the first year to feature a turbocharged car taking the crown. It was the year the Cosworth DFV engine, the heart of F1 for over a decade, finally lost its dominance to the hissing, ferocious power of the turbo era.
The championship fight boiled down to a duel between two heavyweights: in the Brabham-BMW and Alain Prost in the Ferrari.