The 1986 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 40th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1986 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1986 Formula One World Championship for Manufacturers, both of which commenced on 23 March and ended on 26 October after sixteen races. The Drivers' Championship was won by Alain Prost,1986 Formula One World Championship for Drivers (points table), 1987 FIA Yearbook, Red section, page 86 Prost was the first driver to win back-to-back Drivers' Championships since Jack Brabham in 1959 and 1960. Together with Prost, Nigel Mansell, Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna dominated throughout the season and formed what was dubbed as the "Gang of Four". The 1986 season also marked the final Formula One season of 1982 Drivers' Champion Keke Rosberg who retired from the sport at the end of season following a difficult season with McLaren.
After 1986, Renault left the sport as an engine supplier due to company restructuring, only to return in . The Constructors' Championship was won by Williams-Honda. Honda became the first Japanese engine supplier to win a Constructors' Championship.1986 Formula One World Championship for Manufacturers (points table), 1987 FIA Yearbook, Red section, page 87
Drivers and constructors The following competitors contested the 1986 Formula One World Championship. Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine Tyres No Driver Rounds Marlboro McLaren TAG Turbo McLaren-TAG MP4/2C TAG-Porsche TTE PO1 1.5 V6 t 1 Alain Prost All 2 Keke Rosberg All Data General Team Tyrrell Tyrrell-Renault 014015 Renault EF4B 1.5 V6 t 3 Martin Brundle All 4 Philippe Streiff All Canon Williams Honda Team Williams-Honda FW11 Honda RA166E 1.5 V6 t 5 Nigel Mansell All 6 Nelson Piquet All Olivetti Brabham Brabham-BMW BT54BT55 BMW M12/13/1 1.5 L4 t 7 Riccardo Patrese All 8 Elio de Angelis 1–4 Derek Warwick 6–16 John Player Special Team Lotus Lotus-Renault 98T Renault EF15B 1.5 V6 t 11 Johnny Dumfries All 12 Ayrton Senna All West Zakspeed Racing Zakspeed 861 Zakspeed 1500/4 1.5 L4 t 14 Jonathan Palmer All 29 Huub Rothengatter 3–16 Team Haas (USA) Ltd. Lola-Hart THL1 Hart 415T 1.5 L4 t 15 Alan Jones 1–2 16 Patrick Tambay 1–3 Lola-Ford THL2 Ford-TEC 1.5 V6 t 15 Alan Jones 3–16 16 Patrick Tambay 4–6, 8–16 Eddie Cheever 7 Barclay Arrows BMW Arrows-BMW A8A9 BMW M12/13 1.5 L4 t 17 Marc Surer 1–5 Christian Danner 7–16 18 Thierry Boutsen All Benetton BMW Team Benetton-BMW B186 BMW M12/13 1.5 L4 t 19 Teo Fabi All 20 Gerhard Berger All Osella Squadra Corse Osella-Alfa Romeo FA1GFA1FFA1H Alfa Romeo 890T 1.5 V8 t 21 Piercarlo Ghinzani All 22 Christian Danner 1–6 Allen Berg 7–12, 14–16 Alex Caffi 13 Minardi Team Minardi-Motori Moderni M185BM186 Motori Moderni Tipo 615–90 1.5 V6 t 23 Andrea de Cesaris All 24 Alessandro Nannini All Équipe Ligier Ligier-Renault JS27 Renault EF4B 1.5 V6 tRenault EF15B 1.5 V6 t 25 René Arnoux All 26 Jacques Laffite 1–9 Philippe Alliot 10–16 Ferrari Ferrari F1/86 Ferrari Tipo 032 1.5 V6 t 27 Michele Alboreto All 28 Stefan Johansson All Jolly Club SpA AGS-Motori Moderni JH21C Motori Moderni Tipo 615–90 1.5 V6 t 31 Ivan Capelli 13–14Sources:
Team changes
Two factory-backed constructors left Formula One after the season: Renault (only staying one more year as an engine supplier) 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 Round Grand Prix Circuit Date 1 Brazilian Grand Prix Autódromo de Jacarepaguá, Rio de Janeiro 23 March 2 Spanish Grand Prix Circuito de Jerez, Jerez de la Frontera 13 April 3 San Marino Grand Prix Autodromo Dino Ferrari, Imola 27 April 4 Monaco Grand Prix Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo 11 May 5 Belgian Grand Prix Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot 25 May 6 Canadian Grand Prix Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montréal 15 June 7 Detroit Grand Prix Detroit Street Circuit, Downtown Detroit, Michigan 22 June 8 French Grand Prix Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet 6 July 9 British Grand Prix Brands Hatch, West Kingsdown 13 July 10 German Grand Prix Hockenheimring, Hockenheim 27 July 11 Hungarian Grand Prix Hungaroring, Mogyoród 10 August 12 Austrian Grand Prix Österreichring, Spielberg 17 August 13 Italian Grand Prix Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza 7 September 14 Portuguese Grand Prix Autódromo do Estoril, Estoril 21 September 15 Mexican Grand Prix Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City 12 October 16 Australian Grand Prix Adelaide Street Circuit, Adelaide 26 October
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. (In and , Formula One had tried to stage the race in Fuengirola.) 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 (under FISA's "one country, one circuit" rule). The German Grand Prix returned to the Hockenheimring after using the Nürburgring for 1985, and would be permanently held at Hockenheim (again, "one country, one circuit"). 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. (The race was originally supposed to return in 1985 but was cancelled due to the 1985 Mexico City earthquake.)
Provisional calendar An early version of the calendar showed 20 races. These rounds were eventually removed:
Grand Prix Circuit Date Argentine Grand Prix Autódromo de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires 9 March Japanese Grand Prix Suzuka International Racing Course, Suzuka City 6 April Dutch Grand Prix Circuit Park Zandvoort, Zandvoort 31 August South African Grand Prix Kyalami Circuit, Midrand 26 October
An attempt was made to revive the Argentine Grand Prix at the Autódromo de Buenos Aires to be held on 9 March as Round 1. This was unsuccessful due to lack of sponsorship and no Argentinian driver competing in the championship.David Hayhoe, Formula 1: The Knowledge – 2nd Edition, 2021, page 36. The Japanese Grand Prix, originally scheduled for 6 April, was cancelled as rebuilding parts of the Suzuka International Racing Course were too time-consuming. The race would only return the following year in a completely renovated Suzuka. Detroit was originally due to be replaced by the return of the US Grand Prix in name to be held at Road America in Elkhart Lake Wisconsin but terms could not be agreed which meant that the race returned to Detroit. The Dutch Grand Prix, originally scheduled for 31 August, was dropped after the owners, CENAV (), went out of business. It was replaced by the Hungarian Grand Prix. The South African Grand Prix, originally scheduled for 26 October, was dropped because of apartheid. FISA banned all events in South Africa until . In the provisional calendar, the Swedish Grand Prix was earmarked to return for the first time since 1978 and was scheduled for 14 September (later than the original June slot it had between 1973 and 1978), the Italian Grand Prix was to take place on 28 September, Portuguese Grand Prix was to take place on 12 October, Mexican Grand Prix on 9 November and Australian Grand Prix on 23 November as the final round. All 4 were moved ahead when the Dutch, Swedish and South African rounds fell through.
Regulation changes
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