The 1983 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Jacarepaguá on 13 March 1983. It was the first race of the 1983 Formula One World Championship.
Qualifying
Andrea de Cesaris in the first race for the new Alfa Romeo 890T V8 turbo engine, was excluded after failing to stop for a weight check during Saturday qualifying.
Keke Rosberg's pole position was the last for the Cosworth DFV engine, and the last for a car with a naturally aspirated engine until turbos were banned in . It was also the last pole position for Cosworth until .
Race
The race marked the debut in the Formula One World Championship debut for American driver and future Indianapolis 500 winner Danny Sullivan, Italian driver Corrado Fabi, motorcycle road racing World Champion Johnny Cecotto, British constructor RAM.
Elio de Angelis qualified for the race in his Renault turbo-powered Lotus 93T, but switched to the team's spare car, a Cosworth DFV-powered Lotus 92, when the Renault unit failed on the warm-up lap. This was deemed illegal and so he was disqualified.
At the conclusion of the opening lap, Rosberg led by 2.5 seconds over Prost. The Brabham BT52 entries of Nelson Piquet and Riccardo Patrese occupied third and fourth respectively, followed by the Ferraris of Patrick Tambay and René Arnoux. Further back were Eddie Cheever (Renault), Derek Warwick (Toleman), Baldi, Niki Lauda, John Watson, Jean-Pierre Jarier and Roberto Guerrero. By lap two, Piquet had overtaken Prost for second, and within a further lap he reduced Rosberg's advantage significantly. On lap seven, Piquet passed Rosberg under braking to take the lead. Patrese moved up to challenge for second, while Prost began to lose ground in fourth.
Attention then shifted to the battle for the minor positions. Watson made rapid progress in his McLaren, overtaking Lauda and subsequently passing Baldi, Warwick and Cheever by lap seven. By lap 11 he had also passed both Ferraris and soon overtook Prost to claim third place by lap 17. Patrese, meanwhile, closed on Rosberg but experienced engine difficulties; by lap 18 he had dropped to ninth and soon retired with a broken exhaust that had reduced turbocharger pressure.
Piquet made his own stop on lap 40. Despite the absence of an onboard air-jacking system on the BT52, the refuelling and tyre change were completed in just over 16 seconds, and he rejoined with a substantial lead. Rosberg, benefiting from fresh tyres, advanced steadily: he reached seventh by lap 34, fifth by lap 36 and fourth by lap 44. Prost retired on lap 46, and Rosberg overtook Lauda ten laps from the finish to secure second place on the road.
|}
- † — time disallowed, driver excluded.
Race
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"
|-
! Pos !! No !! Driver !! Constructor !! Tyre !! Laps !! Time/Retired !! Grid !! Points
|-
! 1
| 5
| Nelson Piquet
| Brabham-BMW
|
| 63
| 1:48:27.731
| 4
| 9
|-
!align=center| 2
|colspan=7| Not awarded (see above)
|
|-
! 3
| 8
| Niki Lauda
| McLaren-Ford
|
| 63
| + 51.883
| 9
| 4
|-
! 4
| 2
| Jacques Laffite
| Williams-Ford
|
| 63
| + 1:13.951
| 18
| 3
|-
! 5
| 27
| Patrick Tambay
| Ferrari
|
| 63
| + 1:18.117
| 3
| 2
|-
! 6
| 29
| Marc Surer
| Arrows-Ford
|
| 63
| + 1:18.207
| 20
| 1
|-
! 7
| 15
| Alain Prost
| Renault
|
| 62
| + 1 Lap
| 2
|
|-
! 8
| 35
| Derek Warwick
| Toleman-Hart
|
| 62
| + 1 Lap
| 5
|
|-
! 9
| 30
| Chico Serra
| Arrows-Ford
|
| 62
| + 1 Lap
| 23
|
|-
! 10
| 28
| René Arnoux
| Ferrari
|
| 62
| + 1 Lap
| 6
|
|-
! 11
| 4
| Danny Sullivan
| Tyrrell-Ford
|
| 62
| + 1 Lap
| 21
|
|-
! 12
| 12
| Nigel Mansell
| Lotus-Ford
|
| 61
| + 2 Laps
| 22
|
|-
! 13
| 34
| Johnny Cecotto
| Theodore-Ford
|
| 60
| + 3 Laps
| 19
|
|-
! 14
| 17
| Eliseo Salazar
| RAM-Ford
|
| 59
| + 4 Laps
| 26
|
|-
! 15
| 9
| Manfred Winkelhock
| ATS-BMW
|
| 59
| + 4 Laps
| 25
|
|-
!
| 1
| Keke Rosberg
| Williams-Ford
|
| 63
| Push Start in Pits
| 1
|
|-
!
| 11
| Elio de Angelis
| Lotus-Ford
|
| 60
| Illegal Car Change
| 13
|
|-
!
| 33
| Roberto Guerrero
| Theodore-Ford
|
| 53
| + 10 Laps
| 14
|
|-
!
| 16
| Eddie Cheever
| Renault
|
| 41
| Brakes
| 8
|
|-
!
| 7
| John Watson
| McLaren-Ford
|
| 34
| Engine
| 16
|
|-
!
| 26
| Raul Boesel
| Ligier-Ford
|
| 25
| Engine
| 17
|
|-
!
| 23
| Mauro Baldi
| Alfa Romeo
|
| 23
| Collision
| 10
|
|-
!
| 25
| Jean-Pierre Jarier
| Ligier-Ford
|
| 22
| Suspension
| 12
|
|-
!
| 6
| Riccardo Patrese
| Brabham-BMW
|
| 19
| Exhaust
| 7
|
|-
!
| 31
| Corrado Fabi
| Osella-Ford
|
| 17
| Engine
| 24
|
|-
!
| 36
| Bruno Giacomelli
| Toleman-Hart
|
| 16
| Spun Off
| 15
|
|-
!
| 3
| Michele Alboreto
| Tyrrell-Ford
|
| 7
| Engine
| 11
|
|-
!
| 32
| Piercarlo Ghinzani
| Osella-Ford
|
|
|
|
|
|-
!
| 22
| Andrea de Cesaris
| Alfa Romeo
|
|
| Missed Weight Check
|
|
|-
!colspan="9" style="text-align: center"|Source:
|}
Championship standings after the race
;Drivers' Championship standings
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
|-
! Pos
! Driver
! Points
|-
| 1
| Nelson Piquet
| style="text-align: right" | 9
|-
| 2
| Niki Lauda
| style="text-align: right" | 4
|-
| 3
| Jacques Laffite
| style="text-align: right" | 3
|-
| 4
| Patrick Tambay
| style="text-align: right" | 2
|-
| 5
| Marc Surer
| style="text-align: right" | 1
|-
!colspan=4|Source:
|}
;Constructors' Championship standings
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
|-
! Pos
! Constructor
! Points
|-
| 1
| Brabham-BMW
| style="text-align: right" | 9
|-
| 2
| McLaren-Ford
| style="text-align: right" | 4
|-
| 3
| Williams-Ford
| style="text-align: right" | 3
|-
| 4
| Ferrari
| style="text-align: right" | 2
|-
| 5
| Arrows-Ford
| style="text-align: right" | 1
|-
!colspan=4|Source: