1984 Formula One season

The 1984 Formula One season was the 35th FIA Formula One World Championship season. It commenced on March 25, 1984, and ended on October 21 after sixteen races.

During the season, the Tyrrell team had its results stripped after a technical infringement.

Season summary
The season had been expected to see a continuation of the Brabham-Renault-Ferrari battle, with supporting roles for McLaren, Williams and Lotus. McLaren however had stolen a march on its competitors thanks to its TAG turbo engine.

The FISA had introduced new fuel economy rules aimed at reducing speeds, providing 240 litres of fuel for the entire race. TAG commissioned German sports car manufacturer Porsche to design and build a turbo engine. Porsche had extensive experience with similar economy rules due to its participation in endurance racing and this translated in superior fuel economy.

Reigning world driver's champion Nelson Piquet and his Brabham-BMW were usually the fastest combination on track but appalling reliability meant he was never able to challenge consistently.

The season saw a titanic battle between both McLaren drivers Niki Lauda and Alain Prost. Prost had been sacked by Renault after failing to win the 1983 title. Fast and ambitious, the Frenchman quickly established his dominance over his teammate.

Austrian Niki Lauda had returned to F1 in 1982 and soon showed he had lost nothing of his earlier determination and guile. He regularly matched the pace of his 1982-1983 McLaren team mate John Watson, but Alain Prost was a different kettle of fish. Lauda quickly realized he could not beat his young team mate on speed. The wily Austrian therefore ignored qualifying and concentrated on his race strategies. By winning races when Prost ran into trouble and scoring relentlessly when Prost proved quicker, Lauda was just able to win the title. He was the only second driver after Denny Hulme in to have ever won the title without achieving a single pole position in the season.

Season review

 * 1) Half points awarded.  Race stopped due to dangerous conditions.

1984 Constructors Championship final standings
Constructors' points were awarded on a 9-6-4-3-2-1 basis to the first six finishers in each round.


 * On 18 July, Tyrrell was disqualified from all races so far that season, and banned from competing in remaining races, because the team had run illegal cars

1984 Drivers Championship final standings
Drivers' Championship points were awarded on a 9-6-4-3-2-1 basis to the first six finishers in each round.