The 1983 San Marino Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Imola on 1 May 1983. It was the fourth race of the 1983 Formula One World Championship.
Patrick Tambay took a popular victory in his Ferrari in front of a delighted Tifosi. Driving the #27 car, Tambay dedicated his win to the man he had replaced in the Ferrari team, the late Gilles Villeneuve. It was almost a perfect weekend for the Maranello-based team with René Arnoux qualifying on pole and finishing third. Renault's Alain Prost finished in second place, passing Arnoux with three laps left after the #28 Ferrari spun at the Acque Minerali chicane.
Brabham driver Riccardo Patrese had taken the lead from Tambay with six laps remaining, but only held the lead for half a lap before crashing at Acque Minerali. He later described the accident as "purely my mistake". Showing their love for Ferrari more than for an Italian driver in a non-Italian car, the Tifosi cheered as Patrese handed the lead back to Frenchman Tambay in his Ferrari to take his second and last F1 victory.
This would be the last time that Ferrari founder Enzo Ferrari saw his Formula One team score a victory in person. 85 years old at the time of the 1983 San Marino Grand Prix, Enzo never attended races outside Italy anymore, and Ferrari would not win again on Italian soil again until the month after Enzo died in August 1988. Ferrari would not win at Imola again until Michael Schumacher in 1999. This was the most recent event where all three drivers on the podium were of the same nationality, until the 2026 Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, 43 years later.
Classification
Qualifying Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap 1 28 René Arnoux Ferrari1:33.4191:31.238 — 2 5 Nelson Piquet Brabham-BMW1:33.5421:31.964 +0.726 3 27 Patrick Tambay Ferrari1:34.2211:31.967 +0.729 4 15 Alain Prost Renault1:33.6531:32.138 +0.900 5 6 Riccardo Patrese Brabham-BMW1:36.2431:32.969 +1.731 6 16 Eddie Cheever Renault1:33.888 1:33.450 +2.212 7 9 Manfred Winkelhock ATS-BMW1:35.0101:33.470 +2.232 8 22 Andrea de Cesaris Alfa Romeo1:34.3451:33.528 +2.290 9 11 Elio de Angelis Lotus-Renault1:35.0911:34.332 +3.094 10 23 Mauro Baldi Alfa Romeo1:35.0001:36.620 +3.762 11 1 Keke Rosberg Williams-Ford1:36.1451:35.086 +3.848 12 29 Marc Surer Arrows-Ford1:35.7231:35.411 +4.173 13 3 Michele Alboreto Tyrrell-Ford1:35.9881:35.525 +4.287 14 35 Derek Warwick Toleman-Hart1:35.676 1:36.881 +4.438 15 12 Nigel Mansell Lotus-Ford1:36.3911:35.703 +4.465 16 2 Jacques Laffite Williams-Ford1:36.6301:35.707 +4.469 17 36 Bruno Giacomelli Toleman-Hart1:35.969 no time +4.731 18 8 Niki Lauda McLaren-Ford1:38.0891:36.099 +4.861 19 25 Jean-Pierre Jarier Ligier-Ford1:37.5441:36.116 +4.878 20 30 Chico Serra Arrows-Ford1:37.3371:36.258 +5.020 21 33 Roberto Guerrero Theodore-Ford1:36.7921:36.324 +5.086 22 4 Danny Sullivan Tyrrell-Ford1:37.3201:36.359 +5.121 23 34 Johnny Cecotto Theodore-Ford1:37.5541:36.638 +5.400 24 7 John Watson McLaren-Ford1:37.8471:36.652 +5.414 25 26 Raul Boesel Ligier-Ford1:39.4351:37.332 +6.094 26 31 Corrado Fabi Osella-Ford1:37.9521:37.711 +6.473 27 17 Eliseo Salazar RAM-Ford1:38.6911:38.091 +6.853 28 32 Piercarlo Ghinzani Osella-Alfa Romeo1:39.2481:38.873 +7.635Source:
Race Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 27 Patrick Tambay Ferrari 60 1:37:52.460 3 9 2 15 Alain Prost Renault 60 + 48.781 4 6 3 28 René Arnoux Ferrari 59 + 1 Lap 1 4 4 1 Keke Rosberg Williams-Ford 59 + 1 Lap 11 3 5 7 John Watson McLaren-Ford 59 + 1 Lap 24 2 6 29 Marc Surer Arrows-Ford 59 + 1 Lap 12 1 7 2 Jacques Laffite Williams-Ford 59 + 1 Lap 16 8 30 Chico Serra Arrows-Ford 58 + 2 Laps 20 9 26 Raul Boesel Ligier-Ford 58 + 2 Laps 25 10 23 Mauro Baldi Alfa Romeo 57 Engine 10 11 9 Manfred Winkelhock ATS-BMW 57 + 3 Laps 7 12 12 Nigel Mansell Lotus-Ford 56 Spun Off 15 6 Riccardo Patrese Brabham-BMW 54 Spun Off 5 22 Andrea de Cesaris Alfa Romeo 45 Ignition 8 11 Elio de Angelis Lotus-Renault 43 Handling 9 5 Nelson Piquet Brabham-BMW 41 Engine 2 25 Jean-Pierre Jarier Ligier-Ford 39 Radiator 19 4 Danny Sullivan Tyrrell-Ford 37 Collision 22 35 Derek Warwick Toleman-Hart 27 Spun Off 14 31 Corrado Fabi Osella-Ford 20 Spun Off 26 36 Bruno Giacomelli Toleman-Hart 20 Suspension 17 8 Niki Lauda McLaren-Ford 11 Spun Off 18 34 Johnny Cecotto Theodore-Ford 11 Spun Off 23 3 Michele Alboreto Tyrrell-Ford 10 Collision 13 33 Roberto Guerrero Theodore-Ford 3 Spun Off 21 16 Eddie Cheever Renault 1 Turbo 6 17 Eliseo Salazar RAM-Ford 32 Piercarlo Ghinzani Osella-Alfa Romeo Source:
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Alain Prost 15 2 Nelson Piquet 15 3 Patrick Tambay 14 4 John Watson 11 5 Niki Lauda 10Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Ferrari 22 2 McLaren-Ford 21 3 Renault 19 4 Brabham-BMW 15 5 Williams-Ford 12Source:
References