By Paul Bijindorp
                                    1986 was a memorable year. The last three GP's of 1985 were dominated by
Williams-Honda FW 11. They were the favorites with #6 Nelson Piquet and #5 Nigel
Mansel at the wheel. Lotus-Renault 98T ( the all times best looking car's ) with #12
Ayrton Senna, second driver #11Johnny Dumfries was not of his caliber, and
McLaren-TAG MP4/2 C ( Porsche ) with #1 Alain Prost and 1982 WC #2 Keke
Rosberg were strong bets. 
Ferrari F1/86( #27 Michele Alboreto and #28Stefan Johansson ), Ligier-Renault JS
27( #25 Rene Arnoux and #26 Jacques Laffite, later replaced by Philippe Alliot ) and
Benetton-BMW B186 ( #19 Teo Fabi and #20 Gerhard Berger ) all had possibillities to
score points on a regular basis, in Holland we call those contenders "Sub-top".
Arrows-BMW A 8 ( #17 Marc Surer replaced by Christian Danner from Detroit on.
Surer had a serious crash when Rallying and #18 Thierry Boutsen ), Brabham-BMW
BT55, the flattest car ever cause designer Gordon Murray tilted the engine a couple of
degrees. With this he was able to guide as much air as possible to the rear wing ( #7
Riccardo Patrese and #8 Elio de Angelis ( + ), replaced by Derek Warwick).
Tyrrell-Renault 015 ( #3 Martin Brundle and #4 Philippe Streiff ) and Lola-Ford THL2 (
#15 Alan Jones and #16 Patrick Tambay ) incidently scored points. The grid-fillers,
also-rans, or whatever, that year were Minardi-Motori Moderni 185 ( #23 Andrea de
Cesaris and #24 Alessandro Nannini ). Osella-Alfa Romeo Fa 1G ( #21 Piercarlo
Ghinzani and #22 Allen Berg, in Italy replaced by Alex Caffi ) and
Zakspeed 861 ( #14 Jonathan Palmer and #29 ( dutchman ) Huub Rothengatter, who
is Jos Verstappen's manager at this time ) Italy saw the debut of AGS-Motori Moderni
JH21C (#31 Ivan Capelli ).
 
The races:
 
1. Brazil, Jacarepagua, march 23rd, 61 laps.
Grid: #12, 6, 5, 25, 26, 27, 2, 28, 1, 7, 11, 19, 16, 8, 18, 20, 3, 4, 15, 22, 14, 23, 21, 17,
24.
Result: 1.Nelson Piquet 2. Ayrton Senna, 3. Jacques Laffite, 4. Rene Arnoux, 5. Martin
Brundle, 6. Gerhard Berger.
 
2. Spain, Jerez, april 13, 72 laps.
Grid: #12, 6, 5, 1, 2, 25, 20, 26, 19, 11, 28, 3, 27, 7, 8, 14, 15, 16, 18, 4, 21, 17, 22, 23,
24.
Result: 1. Ayrton Senna, 2. Nigel Mansell (at just 0,018) , 3. Alain Prost, 4. Keke
Rosberg, 5. Teo Fabi ,6. Gerhard Berger.
 
3. San Marino, Imola, april 27, 60 laps.
Grid: #12, 6, 5, 1, 27, 2, 28, 25, 20, 19, 16, 18, 3, 26, 17, 7, 11, 24, 8, 14, 15, 4, 23, 29,
22, 21.
Result: 1. Alain Prost, 2. Nelson Piquet, 3. Gerhard Berger, 4. Stefan Johansson, 5.
Keke Rosberg, 6. Riccardo Patrese.
 
4. Monaco, Monte Carlo, may 11, 78 laps.
Grid: #1, 5, 12, 27, 20, 7, 26, 16, 2, 3, 6, 25, 4, 18, 28, 19, 17, 15, 14, 8. NQ: 21, 11, 29,
22, 23, 24.
Result: 1. Alain Prost, 2. Keke Rosberg, 3. Ayrton Senna, 4. Nigel Mansell, 5. Rene
Arnoux, 6. Jacques Laffite.
 
When testing on Paul Ricard in the south of France, the rear wing of Elio de Angelis'
Brabham suddenly broke from his car. He didn't survive the crash that followed.
Brabham entered only one car in Belgium. In Canada, Warwick was his replacement.
 
5. Belgium, Spa-Francorchamps, may 25, 43 laps.
Grid: #6, 20, 1, 12, 5, 19, 25, 2, 27, 16, 28, 3, 11, 18, 7, 15, 26, 4, 23, 14, 17, 24, 29, 21,
22.
Result: 1. Nigel Mansell, 2. Ayrton Senna, 3. Stefan Johansson, 4. Michele Alboreto, 5.
Jacques Laffite, 6. Alain Prost.
 
6. Canada, Montreal, june 15, 69 laps.
Grid: #5, 12, 6, 1, 25, 2, 20, 26, 7, 8, 27, 18, 15, 16, 19, 11, 4, 28, 3, 24, 23, 14, 21, 19,
22.
Result: 1. Nigel Mansell, 2. Alain Prost, 3. Nelson Piquet, 4. Keke Rosberg, 5. Ayrton
Senna, 6. Rene Arnoux.
Tambay crashed during Warm-up. He didn't start in Canada. In USA Eddie Cheever
took his place.
 
7. USA, Detroit, june 22, 63 laps.
Grid: #12, 5, 6, 25, 28, 26, 1, 7, 2, 16, 27, 20, 18, 11, 8, 3, 19, 4, 17, 14, 15, 21, 23, 24,
22, 29.
Result: 1. Ayrton Senna, 2. Jacques Laffite, 3. Alain Prost, 4. Michele Alboreto, 5. Nigel
Mansell, 6. Riccardo Patrese.
 
8. France, Paul Ricard, july 7, 80 laps.
Grid: #12, 5, 6, 26, 1, 27, 2, 20, 19, 28, 26, 11, 16, 8, 3, 7, 4, 17, 24, 15, 18, 14, 23, 29,
21, 22.
Result: 1.Nigel Mansell, 2. Alain Prost, 3. Nelson Piquet, 4. Keke Rosberg, 5. Rene
Arnoux, 6. Jacques Laffite.
 
Standings halfway 1986: 1. Prost 39, 2. Mansell 38,3.Ayrton Senna 36,4. Nelson
Piquet 23 points.
 
9. Great Britain, Brands Hatch, july 13, 75 laps.
Grid: #6, 5, 12, 20, 2, 1, 19, 25, 8, 11, 3, 27, 18, 15, 7, 4, 16, 28, 26, 24, 23, 14, 17, 21,
29, 22.
Result: 1. Nigel Mansell, 2. Nelson Piquet, Alain Prost, 4. Rene Arnoux, 5. Martin
Brundle, 6. Philippe Streiff.
At startcrash Laffite broke his legs. He didn't compete again.
 
10. Germay, Hockenheim, july 27, 44 laps. ( on my birthday )
Grid: #2, 1, 12, 20, 6, 5, 7, 25, 19, 27, 28, 11, 16, 26, 3, 14, 17, 4, 15, 8, 18, 24, 23, 29,
21, 22.
Result: 1. Nelson Piquet, 2. Ayrton Senna, 3. Nigel Mansell, 4. Rene Arnoux, 5. Keke
Rosberg, 6. Alain Prost.
 
11. Hungary, Budapest, august 10, 76 laps.
Grid: #12, 6, 1, 5, 2, 16, 28, 11, 25, 15, 20, 26, 19, 7, 27, 3, 24, 4, 8, 23, 17, 18, 21, 14,
29, 22.
Result: 1. Nelson Piquet, 2. Ayrton Senna, 3. Nigel Mansell, Stefan Johansson,
Johnny Dumfries, 6. Martin Brundle.
 
12. Austria, Zeltweg, august 17, 52 laps.
Grid: #19, 20, 2, 7, 1, 5, 6, 12, 27, 8, 26, 25, 16, 28, 11, 15, 3, 18, 24, 4, 14, 17, 23, 29,
21, 22.
Result: 1. Alain Prost, 2. Michele Alboreto, 3. Stefan Johansson, 4. Alan Jones, 5.
Patrick Tambay, 6. Christian Danner.
 
13. Italy, Monza, september 7, 51 laps.
Grid: #19, 1, 5, 20, 12, 6, 8, 2, 27, 7, 25, 28, 18, 26, 16, 17, 11, 15, 24, 3, 23, 14, 4, 29,
31, 21, 22. 
Result: 1. Nelson Piquet, 2. Nigel Mansell, 3. Stefan Johansson, 4. Keke Rosberg, 5.
Gerhard Berger, 6. Alan Jones.
 
14. Portugal, Estoril, september 21, 70 laps.
Grid: #12, 5, 1, 20, 19, 6, 2, 28, 7, 25, 26, 8, 27, 16, 11, 23, 15, 24, 3, 14, 18, 17, 4, 21,
31, 29, 22.
Result: 1. Nigel Mansell, 2. Alain Prost, 3. Nelson Piquet, 4. Ayrton Senna, 5. Michele
Alboreto, 6. Stefan Johansson.
Ayrton Senna was no longer a candidate for the world title.
 
15. Mexico, Mexico City, october 12, 68 laps.
Grid: #12, 6, 5, 20, 7, 1, 8, 16, 19, 26, 2, 27, 25, 28, 15, 3, 11, 14, 4, 17, 18, 23, 29, 24,
21, 22. 
Result: 1. Gerhard Berger, Alain Prost, 3. Ayrton Senna, 4. Nelson Piquet, 5. Nigel
Mansell, 6. Philippe Alliot. 
 
16. Australia, Adelaide, october 26, 82 laps. 
Grid: #5, 6, 12, 1, 25, 20, 2, 26, 27, 4, 23, 28, 19, 11, 15, 3, 16, 24, 7, 8, 14, 18, 29, 17,
21, 22. 
So it all came down to the last race: Australia, Adelaide. It was a three-horse race
between the Williams' drivers and Alain Prost. Mansell had 70points, Piquet and
Prost both 63. Mansell took the pole, 3 tenths faster than Piquet with Prost in 4th
place.
Senna took the lead from 3rd place but was overtaken by Piquet on the first lap.
Rosberg was 3rd followed by Mansell, Arnoux and Prost. Senna hed an engine
blow-up. Piquet attacked Rosberg who had stolen the lead from him. The brazilian
spinned off. Prost and Mansell took advantage of this. Rosberg leading Prost and
Mansell. Piquet was not too far behind. Prost took an early pitstop to refresh his tyres.
During the 63rd lap Rosberg had a flat tyre and had to stop. Now Piquet was in the
lead, Mansell second, Prost 3rd. Prost took 2nd from Mansell. On lap 64 Mansell had
a blown tyre on the Brabham straight at 300 km/h! His chances were gone. Williams,
as a precaution, called Piquet in for a pitstop. Prost was now in the lead with only 18
laps to go. He held on to it and finished 4 seconds before Piquet and became the
new World Champion. This was one of the most thrilling races ever seen.
Result: 1. Alain Prost, 2. Nelson Piquet, 3. Stefan Johansson, 4. Martin Brundle, 5.
Philippe Streiff, 6. Johnny Dumfries.
 
Final standings:
Prost 71, Mansell 70, Piquet 69, Senna 55, Johansson 23, Rosberg 22, Berger, 17,
Laffite, Arnoux and Alboreto 14, Brundle 8, Jones 4, Dumfries and Streiff 3, Fabi,
Patrese and Tambay 2, Danner and Alliot 1 point. 
 
Williams 141, McLaren 96, Lotus 58, Ferrari 37, Ligier 29, Benetton 19, Tyrrell 11,
Lola 6, Brabham 2 and Arrows 1 point.