The 1985 Italian Grand Prix was a

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

motor race Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

held at

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...

on 8 September 1985. It was the twelfth round of the 1985 FIA Formula One World Championship. It was the 55th Italian Grand Prix and the 50th to be held at Monza. The race was held over 51 laps of the 5.8-kilometre circuit for a total race distance of 295.8 kilometres. The race was won by Frenchman

Alain Prost Alain Marie Pascal Prost (; born 24 February 1955) is a French retired racing driver and Formula One team owner. A four-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, from 1987 until 2001 he held the record for most Grand Prix victories until Mich ...

driving a

McLaren MP4/2 The McLaren MP4/2 was a Formula One car produced by McLaren for the 1984 season. An iteration of it, the MP4/2B, was used in the 1985 season, and a slightly updated version, the MP4/2C, raced in the 1986 season for McLaren. It was closely base ...

B. It was Prost's fifth and final victory of the 1985 season as he powered towards the first of his four Formula One world championships. Prost won by almost 52 seconds over the Brazilian duo

Nelson Piquet Nelson Piquet Souto Maior (, born 17 August 1952) is a Brazilian retired racing driver and businessman. Since his retirement, Piquet, a three-time World Champion, has been ranked among the greatest Formula One (F1) drivers in various motorspo ...

(

Brabham BT54 The Brabham BT54 was a Formula One racing car designed by Gordon Murray for the Brabham team for the Formula One season. The car was powered by the BMW M12 4cyl turbo engine (generally agreed to be the most powerful engine in Formula One at th ...

) and

Ayrton Senna Ayrton Senna da Silva (; 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver who won the Formula One List of Formula One World Drivers' Champions, World Drivers' Championship in , , and . Senna is one of three Formula One drivers fro ...

(

Lotus 97T The Lotus 97T was a Formula One racing car designed by Gérard Ducarouge and built by Team Lotus for use in the 1985 Formula One World Championship. A development of the previous year's 95T, the car was powered by the turbocharged 1.5-litre Re ...

). It was the debut race for the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

owned

Haas Lola Team Haas (USA) Ltd., sometimes called Beatrice Haas after its major sponsor, was an American Formula One team founded by Carl Haas in 1984 after an agreement with Beatrice Foods, a US consumer products conglomerate, which competed in the World ...

team with their new car, the

Lola THL1 The Lola THL1 was a Formula One racing car designed by Neil Oatley for Team Haas (USA) Ltd. during four of the last five races of the 1985 Formula One season. The car used the , turbocharged Hart 415T Straight 4 engine. The Haas Lola team onl ...

running the Hart 415T turbocharged engine, driven by

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

's World Champion Alan Jones. Jones, who had retired following the season, was making a full-time return to Formula One after two races, the US Grand Prix West, and the non championship

Race of Champions The Race of Champions (ROC) is an international motorsport event held at the end/start of each year, featuring some of the world's best racing and rally drivers. It is the only competition in the world where stars from Formula One, World Rall ...

with Arrows in early . Missing from the grid was popular

West German West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

driver

Stefan Bellof Stefan Bellof (20 November 1957 – 1 September 1985) was a German racing driver. Bellof was the winner of the Drivers' Championship in the 1984 FIA World Endurance Championship, driving for the factory Rothmans Porsche team. His lap record ...

who was killed a week earlier in a

World Sportscar Championship The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992. The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance, and road racing events in Europe and No ...

race Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to: * Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species * Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...

at the Spa Circuit in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. With his funeral set for the day after the Italian Grand Prix the Tyrrell team only ran the one car for

Martin Brundle Martin John Brundle (born 1 June 1959) is a British former racing driver, best known as a Formula One driver and as a commentator for ITV Sport from 1997 to 2008, the BBC from 2009 to 2011, and Sky Sports since 2012. Brundle contested the 19 ...

feeling it would be disrespectful to Bellof to bring a driver in to replace him for the race. Members of the Tyrrell team, including team boss

Ken Tyrrell Robert Kenneth Tyrrell (3 May 1924 – 25 August 2001) was a British Formula Two racing driver and the founder of the Tyrrell Formula One constructor.Setright, L. J. K. "Tyrrell: A Shrewd Talent-spotter", in Northey, Tom, ed. ''World of Automo ...

, attended Bellof's funeral the next day. Senna's pole position is often cited as one of his greatest moments.

Classification

Qualifying

Pole position went to Ayrton Senna; his 5th pole of the year. His average speed was 152.487 mph (245.405 km/h).

Race

Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings ;Constructors' Championship standings *Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

External links

Grand Prix Archives Video
{{F1GP 80-89

Italian Grand Prix The Italian Grand Prix ( it, Gran Premio d'Italia) is the fifth oldest national Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix (after the French Grand Prix, the United States Grand Prix, the Spanish Grand Prix and the Russian Grand Prix), having been he ...

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

Italian Grand Prix