History of Formula One - The Rise of The Turbo

The Rise of The Turbo

See 1982 season and 1983 season.

The 1983 title, won by Piquet for the Brabham team of Bernie Ecclestone, champion of the non-manufacturer teams' rights, was the first-ever won by a turbocharged engine. By 1983, the dispute between FISA and FOCA had been resolved and although FOCA emerged with the stronger hand, the teams had seen the writing on the wall. By 1984, only Tyrrell still struggled on with the old DFV engines. 1983 also saw the last non-championship Formula One race: The 1983 Race of Champions at Brands Hatch, won by reigning World Champion Keke Rosberg in a Williams Cosworth in a close fight with American Danny Sullivan.

Safety issues finally helped resolve the dispute; after nearly 50 years, the power achieved by the turbocharged cars could finally match the 640 hp (477 kW) produced by the supercharged 1937 Mercedes-Benz W125, without a huge consumption of special fuel. By 1986, some engines were producing over 1000 bhp (750 kW) in short bursts in qualifying. BMW's 1,000 bhp (750 kW) dynamometer was incapable of measuring the output of their qualifying engines - Paul Rosche estimated that it might be as much as 1,300 bhp (970 kW).

First fuel consumption and then turbocharger boost were restricted - to 4-bar in 1987 and 1.5-bar in 1988; by 1988 the turbos were only slightly more powerful than the lighter 3.5-litre atmospheric cars that had been introduced the previous year.

The thirsty turbo engines briefly saw refuelling introduced into the sport, but this was banned for 1984.