The 1985 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 39th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1985 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1985 Formula One World Championship for Manufacturers, both of which commenced on 7 April and ended on 3 November after sixteen races.

The Drivers' Championship was won by Alain Prost. After finishing two years as runner-up, both times winning more races than the champion, he was able to clinch the title this year sealing his success at the European Grand Prix. It would be first of four championships for "the Professor". Michele Alboreto was his main challenger, but he failed to score points in all of the last five races of the season.

The Constructors' Championship was won by McLaren for the second consecutive year. It was only after the Spirit team folded that Toleman, with money from their sponsor Benetton, were able to purchase Pirelli tyres and start racing.

  • Tyrrell switched from Ford-Cosworth V8's to Renault V6 turbo's after the Detroit Grand Prix, the last team on the grid to make the change.
  • Haas Lola signed in for the 1985 season as the third new constructor of the year, but encountered delays in the development of their first car, and the specially designed Ford-Cosworth V6 turbo was not ready either. So their first chassis had to be thoroughly adjusted to be powered by a four-cylinder Hart turbo engine and could only make its debut in the Italian Grand Prix. It would not be until the third race of that the team could get delivery of the Cosworth engine and switch to their second car, specifically designed around it.
  • RAM folded with two races left in the season.

Driver changes

thumb|200px|[[Ayrton Senna was signed by Lotus.]]

thumb|200px|[[Gerhard Berger made his full-season debut with Arrows.]]

thumb|200px|Veteran [[Alan Jones (racing driver)|Alan Jones returned with newcomers Haas Lola.]]

  • In an off-season with relatively little driver switches, biggest news was Ayrton Senna's promotion to Lotus. He would replace Nigel Mansell who was signed by Williams.
  • Brabham hired François Hesnault from Equipe Ligier, where ex-Williams driver Jacques Laffite took his seat.
  • Teo Fabi had driven 12 races for Brabham in , but was dropped for 1985. He found a new home with Toleman.
  • Gerhard Berger had made his debut in 1984 with ATS. After they folded, he was signed by Arrows for his first full season. Berger's ATS teammate Manfred Winkelhock moved to RAM. Ex-RAM driver Jonathan Palmer was signed by Zakspeed.
  • After one weekend in 1984, when he filled in for Senna at Toleman, Pierluigi Martini made his full-season debut at Minardi. He would eventually spend eight out of his nine years in F1 with the Italian team.

Mid-season changes

thumb|150px|Three-time World Champion [[Niki Lauda (pictured in 1984) retired at the end of the season after a 13-year career.]]

  • Stefan Johansson had signed with Toleman but pulled out of his contract amid the team's tyre woes. He substituted for Stefan Bellof at Tyrrell at the first race of the season and then moved to Ferrari when René Arnoux suddenly left. He ended staying with the Italian team until the end of .
  • After four disappointing results, François Hesnault was sacked from Brabham and replaced by Marc Surer. The Frenchman made one further appearance with Renault. As of 2024, this appearance for Renault in the German Grand Prix is the last time a Formula 1 team started three cars in a Grand Prix race.
  • When Haas Lola made their long-awaited debut in the Italian Grand Prix, it was veteran driver Alan Jones behind the wheel. He would also drive for them during the whole season before retiring from the sport.
  • RAM driver Manfred Winkelhock suffered a fatal accident during the Budweiser 1000 km World Sportscar Championship event. Ex-RAM driver Kenny Acheson took over the drive for three races before the team folded.
  • Stefan Bellof was also racing in the World Sportscar Championship until he came together with Jacky Ickx in the 1000 km of Spa. Both drivers crashed and Bellof lost his life. At Tyrrell, Ivan Capelli and Philippe Streiff alternated as replacement drivers for the final three races of the season.
  • Huub Rothengatter replaced Piercarlo Ghinzani at Osella midway through the season, when the Italian moved to Toleman.
  • After Andrea de Cesaris crashed in the Austrian Grand Prix and rolled his car four times, team boss Guy Ligier's patience with the accident-prone Italian had run out and he replaced him with Philippe Streiff.
  • Inaugural F3000 champion Christian Danner raced two weekends for Zakspeed instead of Jonathan Palmer. Palmer had been injured after a practice crash in the 1000 km of Spa, just a few days prior to Bellof's fatal accident.
  • John Watson substituted for Niki Lauda at the European Grand Prix, after the Austrian had injured his wrist in qualifying for the previous race in Spa.

Calendar

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 85%;"

! Round

! Grand Prix

! Circuit

! Date

|-

! 1

| Brazilian Grand Prix

| Autodromo Jacarepaguá, Rio de Janeiro

| 7 April

|-

! 2

| Portuguese Grand Prix

| Autódromo do Estoril, Cascais

| 21 April

|-

! 3

| San Marino Grand Prix

| Autodromo Dino Ferrari, Imola

| 5 May

|-

! 4

| Monaco Grand Prix

| Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo

| 19 May

|-

! 5

| Canadian Grand Prix

| Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montréal

| 16 June

|-

! 6

| Detroit Grand Prix

| Detroit Street Circuit, Downtown Detroit, Michigan

| 23 June

|-

! 7

| French Grand Prix

| Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet

| 7 July

|-

! 8

| British Grand Prix

| Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone

| 21 July

|-

! 9

| German Grand Prix

| Nürburgring, Nürburg

| 4 August

|-

! 10

| Austrian Grand Prix

| Österreichring, Spielberg

| 18 August

|-

! 11

| Dutch Grand Prix

| Circuit Park Zandvoort, Zandvoort

| 25 August

|-

! 12

| Italian Grand Prix

| Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza

| 8 September

|-

! 13

| Belgian Grand Prix

| Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot

| 15 September

|-

! 14

| European Grand Prix

| Brands Hatch, Kent

| 6 October