A look back at Austria: 1984

The Austrian Grand Prix has a history dating back to 1964, and in that time it has seen a variety of different winners - but only one local driver has ever taken victory on home soil there. Today we look back at the 1984 race, won by eventual champion and Austrian hero Niki Lauda.

1984 Austrian Grand Prix

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Lauda arrived in his homeland looking to take the lead in the Drivers' Championship from his McLaren team-mate Alain Prost; he trailed the Frenchman by four and a half points going into the twelfth of sixteen races that season. Prost had the upper hand after qualifying, placing his car on the front row in second with Lauda back in fourth, but both McLarens found themselves beaten to pole by Nelson Piquet's Brabham-BMW. They were split by Elio de Angelis' Lotus, whilst the Renaults of Patrick Tambay and Derek Warwick would start on row three, rounding out the top six.

The entire grid would face a difficult start to the race on Sunday, as proceedings were initially stopped at the first start due to a malfunctioning light system that confused the drivers. The event caused de Angelis to make a very hesitant getaway at the second attempt, and as several cars were forced to swerve around the Lotus, Ayrton Senna's Toleman took advantage of the chaos to slot into fourth. Piquet had kept his lead off the line, followed by Prost - Tambay and Warwick were also close behind, along with Senna. Lauda had also had difficulties in launching his car off the grid, but recovered to fourth soon enough. He would make up another place to be third by lap 9.

Warwick's lap 18 engine failure marked the only change in the order during the early stages, but it was altered significantly ten laps later when de Angelis' own Renault engine expired, and Prost - who had been gaining on leader Piquet - was unable to avoid the oil deposited on the tarmac. The McLaren spun off, with its driver forced to join de Angelis on the sidelines. Lauda inherited second after this, and was making the most of it as he caught Piquet, who was dealing with tyre woes.

He made his move on the Brazilian on lap 40, but was subsequently forced to battle his own issue as his car slowed due to a gear selection problem. The home hero appeared to be out, but Lauda was back in the race shortly afterwards when he found a gear, maintaining his lead over Piquet. The two drivers were on their own, as third-placed Michele Alboreto was a lap down in his Ferrari following Senna and Tambay's exits, but Piquet could not challenge for the win and Lauda was free to build a 23-second lead.

The McLaren and the Brabham held their positions to the flag, and Lauda duly took the lead in the title race following Prost's failure to score. Alboreto kept his own distant third to the end, and was followed home by the second Brabham of Teo Fabi in fourth, with Arrows team-mates Thierry Boutsen and Marc Surer claiming the last two points positions. At the bottom of the order, the final classified runner was one Gerhard Berger, another Austrian who made his debut at the race for the lowly ATS team. He would go on to win 10 races over the next thirteen years, but was only twelfth here - despite retiring four laps shy of the finish with gearbox gremlins.

Mason Hawker