Elio de Angelis claimed the first pole position of the season in his Lotus-Renault from the Ferrari of Michele Alboreto in his first race for the Prancing Horse.

McLaren covered their cars in tin foil while others such as Lotus and Renault attempted to freeze their fuel in order to actually fit more in.

The Renault team also had a sophisticated (for 1984) electronic fuel monitoring system which they hoped would give them an advantage over their rivals.

Lauda was leading by some 40 seconds on lap 34 when the wires to his McLaren's battery came loose causing electrical failure, while after almost stalling his Brabham-BMW at the start, Piquet finished an unhappy race on lap 32 when the BMW engine failed coming onto the pit straight.

He regained the lead for good following Warwick's retirement and ran out the winner by 40 seconds from the Williams-Honda of Keke Rosberg and the Lotus of de Angelis.