1985 Formula One World Championship

Drivers and constructors

Team changes

• ATS had folded after the season.
• Minardi entered the sport as a constructor after four years of experience in Formula Two. They collaborated with ex-Alfa Romeo engineer Carlo Chiti to run Motori Moderni V6 turbo engines. When met with delays, Minardi had to convert their M185 chassis to accept off-the-rack Cosworth V8's.
• Zakspeed signed in as a constructor with their own engine - the 1500/4. They were only the fourth team on the grid to do so. They only entered the ten European and British rounds of the sixteen races on the calendar.

  Mid-season changes

• After two races, Minardi could take delivery of the promised Motori Moderni engines and could revert their chassis back to the original design.
• Spirit folded after three races.
• Toleman could not get a supply of tyres after aggravating both Pirelli and Goodyear. 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

• 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

• 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

Calendar changes

• The Dallas Grand Prix was cancelled and did not return. This meant that, for the first time since, there was just one race in the United States.
• From this year on, Spa-Francorchamps would be the permanent home of the Belgian Grand Prix and Circuit Zolder would be cut out For the same reason, the French Grand Prix would be permanently held at Paul Ricard Circuit and Dijon-Prenois was dropped.
• The British Grand Prix was moved to Silverstone from Brands Hatch, in keeping with the event-sharing arrangement between the two circuits. Likewise, the German Grand Prix returned to the Nürburgring for the first time since, and replacing the Hockenheimring. By FISA orders these agreements were suspended and, from on, Silverstone and Hockenheim would become the permanent hosts of the British and German Grands Prix. The Nürburgring would return in 1995, as European Grand Prix.
• The South African Grand Prix was moved back from April to October. Likewise, the French Grand Prix was move back from May to July. The Portuguese Grand Prix was brought up from being the final round of the 1984 championship to be the second race in 1985.
• The Australian Grand Prix was added to the calendar for the first time, immediately getting the honor of closing the season.

  Mid-season changes

• The Belgian Grand Prix was originally scheduled on 2 June, but during Friday practice, the asphalt broke up and overnight repairs were necessary. Half an hour into Saturday practice, all running was ceased and the race was canceled. The Grand Prix was postponed until 15 September and the track was thoroughly repaired in the meantime.

  Provisional calendar

• The Brazilian Grand Prix was due to take place on 10 March, with the Dallas Grand Prix as the second round on 24 March. However, the Texas race was cancelled because of financial problems, safety and organisational concerns.
• The Japanese Grand Prix was due to return after eight years and was scheduled for 7 April. However, it was cancelled as the rebuilding of parts of the Suzuka Circuit was delayed. It would last another two years for the race to be held at Suzuka.
• A final attempt to put on a Grand Prix in New York City was scheduled for 22 September, but the race was cancelled for the third year in a row.
• Then, the Hungarian Grand Prix at the Népliget Park Circuit appeared on a provisional calendar to be held on 22 September, but was cancelled, as plans for a race in the park were difficult to achieve and the decision was made to build a new circuit: the Hungaroring in Mogyoród outside the city of Budapest would have its first race in 1986.
• The European Grand Prix was going to be held in the Esposizione Universale Roma district in Rome on 13 October, but it was moved to Brands Hatch and held one week earlier.
• The Spanish Grand Prix at a new circuit in Fuengirola appeared on a provisional calendar and was cancelled for the second year in a row, this time due to organisational problems. In the end a decision was made to build a new circuit in Jerez where the race would be held from 1986.
• The Mexican Grand Prix, originally to be held on 17 November as the final round was cancelled after the 1985 Mexico City earthquake destroyed much of the Mexican capital.

  Regulation changes

Technical regulations

Sporting regulations