De Angelis held off Finland's Keke Rosberg in the Williams-Ford to win by just 0.05 seconds, or less than half a car length, claiming the first victory for Lotus since the 1978 Dutch Grand Prix and the last in the lifetime of team founder Colin Chapman, who died at the end of 1982.

On lap 2, Patrick Tambay punctured the right rear tyre on his Ferrari, Michele Alboreto crashed his Tyrrell at the Bosch Kurve, Patrese took the lead from Piquet and the two Brabhams immediately began to pull away on their half-full tanks.

Shortly before half distance, Piquet made the first planned mid-race fuel and tyre pit stop in modern F1 history.

De Angelis joyfully celebrated his maiden win, while Rosberg had nonetheless boosted his Driver's Championship chances, moving into second place ahead of John Watson, who had suffered an engine failure.

Ligier's Jacques Laffite completed the podium, coming home a lap down, while Patrick Tambay was fourth in the sole Ferrari, having recovered from a puncture early in the race.