1986 Formula One World Championship

Drivers and constructors

Team changes

• Two factory-backed constructors left Formula One after the season: Renault and Alfa Romeo. Two other teams had already folded during the season: RAM and Spirit.
• The Toleman team was bought by the Benetton Group and renamed Benetton Formula.
• Shortly before the season began, Frank Williams was involved in a road accident in France that left him in a wheelchair. Technical director and part-owner Patrick Head would be forced to run the team in all departments, in addition to his design and engineering work.

  Mid-season changes

• When entering the sport in 1985, Haas Lola encountered delays in the development of their first car, and the specially developed Ford-Cosworth V6 turbo was not ready either. So their first chassis was adjusted to be powered by a four-cylinder Hart turbo engine and could only make its debut in September. It was not until the third race of 1986 that the team could get delivery of the Cosworth engine and switch to their second car, specifically designed around it.
• The small French constructor AGS made their debut in the Italian Grand Prix. Their track record from F2 and F3000 was not particularly promising and the team had no more than seven employees. Their first F1 car existed of as many Renault parts as was legal, bolted onto an F3000 chassis. It was powered by a well-used Motori Moderni engine and driven by Ivan Capelli, while he was still on his way to become International F3000 champion.

  Driver changes

• After triple world champion Niki Lauda retired, champion Keke Rosberg took his place at McLaren. Nelson Piquet, two world championships under his belt, took the opportunity to leave Brabham after seven seasons, and move to Williams.
• Elio de Angelis had chosen to leave Lotus, frustrated that the team's efforts were being focused mostly on Ayrton Senna. He was granted Piquet's seat at Brabham. Derek Warwick was originally signed to replace the Italian, but Senna gave his preference to Johnny Dumfries, British F3 champion and European F3 runner-up in 1984.
• A lot of other driver changes happened in the lower-ranking teams.

  Mid-season changes

• Derek Warwick was left without a drive after the deal with Lotus fell through. He ended up at Brabham in May 1986, after De Angelis died following a fiery crash during private testing at Circuit Paul Ricard.
• In warm-up to the Canadian Grand Prix, Patrick Tambay, driving for Haas Lola, suffered suspension failure and a huge accident injured both his feet. Team owner Carl Haas tried to get world champion Mario Andretti as a replacement, but he declined and recommended his son Michael. When Michael was unable to obtain a FIA Superlicence, however, Haas turned to the experienced Eddie Cheever. Tambay returned for French Grand Prix.
• After fives races of the F1 season, Marc Surer suffered a serious accident when competing in the 1986 ADAC Hessen-Rallye. Christian Danner moved to Arrows to replace him. Danner's seat at Osella was filled by Allen Berg. It was the Canadian's debut, after talks with Arrows, Tyrrell, RAM and Spirit had not come to fruition. When his sponsorship money ran out, he was replaced at the Italian Grand Prix by Alex Caffi, granting him a debut at his home race, but further sponsorship did mean that Berg was able to see out the season.
• At the start of the British Grand Prix, Jacques Laffite was involved in a multi-car pile-up. He broke both legs and it ended his F1 career. Philippe Alliot returned to take his seat at Ligier, after driving two seasons for RAM.

  Calendar

Calendar changes

• The Spanish Grand Prix returned to the calendar for the first time in five years and was held at the newly built Circuito de Jerez. The owners of the Jarama circuit tried to get the slot of the European Grand Prix, but were unsuccessful.
• The Belgian Grand Prix was moved up to May to avoid the chance of hot and dry weather, after the asphalt broke up in practice for the 1985 edition under the immense power of the cars.
• The British Grand Prix was moved from Silverstone to Brands Hatch, in keeping with the event-sharing arrangement between the two circuits. The 1986 British Grand Prix would be the last at Brands Hatch, as from, it would be permanently held at Silverstone.
• The German Grand Prix returned to the Hockenheimring after using the Nürburgring for 1985, and would be permanently held at Hockenheim.
• The Hungarian Grand Prix was organised for the first time. It was the first F1 race to take place behind the Iron Curtain.
• The Portuguese Grand Prix was moved back to September.
• The Mexican Grand Prix returned for the first time since. The Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City was upgraded to a new layout to improve safety.

  Provisional calendar

Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
Argentine Grand Prix	Regulation changes Background Back in, Renault proved that turbocharged engines were the way to success and by the half-way point in the season, all teams had followed their example. The FIA saw that the power output from turbo engines had doubled in the past six years. The 1986 F1 cars in qualifying trim proved to be the most powerful Grand Prix cars in history. Manufacturers mentioned numbers above, powering cars that weighed just giving a staggering power-to-weight ratio of 2,500 hp/ton. This power output was only seen in qualifying trim, since the specially prepared engines, tyres and gearboxes could only hold on for two to four laps under this immense force before destroying themselves, and in race trim, with the engines limited in power to conserve them to run a 190-mile race distance, the cars were not much slower. So after mandating turbocharged engines for 1986, the governing body decided to re-allow naturally aspirated engines for, and at the same time started reining in the power of turbo engines, before banning them altogether for the season. Technical regulations 1.5 litre turbocharged engines compulsory. Fuel use during the race was limited from to. This led to fuel saving playing a major role in team strategy during the season. Event regulations Catch-fencing was banned. After the accident and death of Elio de Angelis in testing, a permanent team of professional firefighters, FIA medical service inspector and medevac helicopter were made mandatory at all testing and race events. Season report Race 1: Brazil The first race of the season was in Brazil at the rough and abrasive Jacarepagua Riocentro Autodrome in the tropical heat of Rio de Janeiro. Lengthy test sessions there before the race weekend was often the case for the teams. Qualifying resulted in pole position for Senna, followed by the two Williams-Hondas of Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell, and by Rene Arnoux and Jacques Laffite in the two Ligier-Renaults. Sixth on the grid went to Michele Alboreto ahead of Rosberg, Stefan Johansson and Prost, with Riccardo Patrese completing the top 10 for Brabham. The race day was very hot and humid. At the start Mansell tried to get ahead of Senna. The Brazilian refused to give way and Mansell went off into the barriers. Piquet then went past Senna on Lap 3 and took the lead, beginning to pull away at a second a lap; Senna remained ahead of Arnoux, although the Frenchman was soon overtaken by Alboreto. Rosberg was fifth but his engine would soon fail, leaving Johansson to take over. Prost made rapid progress and by lap 16 he had worked his way ahead of Johansson, Arnoux and Alboreto and was running third. On lap 19 Piquet pitted for new tyres and on the following lap Prost overtook Senna to go into the lead. Senna pitted, and dropped down the order. Piquet now charged back and retook the lead just before Prost stopped for tires and so the order settled again with Piquet leading Senna and Prost, although the McLaren driver soon went out with an engine failure. This put Arnoux third but he was a long way back and had Laffite on his tail while Dumfries was fifth. The Scotsman then ran into trouble with an electrical problem and pitted. Senna's tires were put on his car and then taken off again and he was sent on his way, with the electrical problem not having been fixed. Berger thus moved into fifth place. Both leaders pitted again but the order remained unchanged and Rio native Piquet duly won the race with São Paulo native Senna second, completing a Brazilian 1–2 at the Brazilian Grand Prix. Laffite got the better of Arnoux for third place, while fifth place went to Brundle, who had overtaken a troubled Berger in the closing laps.