1983 Formula One World Championship
Renault driver Alain Prost led the championship from the Belgian Grand Prix in May until the final race in South Africa, where he retired and enabled the Brazilian to snatch the title.
Ferrari won the Constructors' Championship,[2] despite its better driver, René Arnoux, finishing only third overall – a unique feat in Formula One history.
At the Jacarepagua Riocentro Autodrome in Rio de Janeiro, defending champion Keke Rosberg took pole position, but lost the lead early on to Nelson Piquet and then caught fire during his pitstop.
With the fire extinguished, he fought back from ninth to finish second behind Piquet, but was subsequently disqualified for receiving a push start in the pits.
This left an unprecedented situation, as the organisers decided not to award second to Niki Lauda, who finished third, but to leave the position vacant.
As such, only five drivers scored points, and other than Piquet and Lauda, these were Rosberg's teammate Jacques Laffite, whose presence in fourth was a surprise given his 18th place grid slot.
This was the last United States Grand Prix West, as race organiser Chris Pook had decided that Formula One was too expensive.
For the French Grand Prix at the Circuit Paul Ricard near Marseille, the RAM team entered a second car for local driver Jean-Louis Schlesser, who failed to qualify.
This race was being held in mid-April instead of its usual late June/early July date, in order to avoid the southern French summer heat.
McLaren's lead in the Constructors' Championship had been severely narrowed by their failure to score, and Brabham were now just four points behind, with Renault also in close attendance.
Arnoux on Ferrari took the pole position, while his teammate Tambay surged up from the second row to join him at the head of the pack in the opening laps.
This allowed Tambay to retake the lead and take the chequered flag, giving Ferrari a win on home ground.
Despite the rain, and multiple collisions further down the field, including Arnoux, Rosberg led every lap to record his first victory of the year.
Andrea de Cesaris leapt into the lead from the second row of the grid, and spent the first twenty laps pulling away from Prost.
Tambay was second with Cheever third, making it two Renaults on the podium again, while Rosberg and Laffite rounded out the points, their Cosworth powered cars proving no match for the turbo's on the fast Spa layout.
Renault also assumed the lead in the Constructors' Championship by five points from Ferrari, with Brabham, Williams and McLaren slipping farther behind.
Michele Alboreto's Tyrrell inherited Piquet's lead when the Brazilian developed a slow rear puncture, dropping him to fourth.
This left Cheever free to come home second, his best result of the year, with Tambay putting the second Ferrari on the podium in third place.
Renault and Ferrari now held a joint lead in the Constructors' Championship, with Williams, Brabham and McLaren all slipping off the pace.
Although Salazar had been expected to return to the RAM in place of Villeneuve, British driver Kenny Acheson was hired instead.
Mansell, with Renault turbo power for the first time in his Lotus, took his best result of the year to be the highest home driver in fourth ahead of Arnoux and Lauda.
Rosberg was now more than a victory behind and it was clear that teams without turbo power such as Williams, McLaren, Tyrrell and Ligier were at a significant disadvantage.
The next race was the German Grand Prix at the very fast Hockenheim circuit near Stuttgart, and Tambay secured Ferrari's fourth consecutive pole position.
A fire three laps from home prevented Piquet from picking up second, which instead went to Andrea de Cesaris, collecting some points for Alfa Romeo.
Piquet took his first pole of the season at the Dutch Grand Prix at the Zandvoort circuit near Amsterdam, and led until lap 41, when Prost attempted to pass him.
This left Arnoux to take victory for Ferrari, which turned into a 1–2 when Patrese suffered a problem near the end which dropped him to an eventual 9th.
A race of high attrition allowed for an unusual top six, with Derek Warwick, Mauro Baldi and Michele Alboreto rounding out the points.
This race saw McLaren join the turbo ranks when Lauda debuted the new TAG V6 engine, though Watson still drove the Cosworth-powered car.
A third Grand Prix in the United States was supposed to be held at the Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in the New York City borough of Queens, but was canceled at short notice due to local protests.
The season finale was the South African Grand Prix at the fast, high-altitude Kyalami circuit between Johannesburg and Pretoria.
