1983 DUTCH GP

ZANDVOORT TOLEMAN TG183B STARTED 7th | RESULT 4th

Warwick’s early years in F1 were frustrating, due to uncompetitive and unreliable Toleman machinery. After 22 starts – not to mention 14 failures to qualify – he had yet to score a point. But the Rory Byrne-designed 1983 T183B was decent and Warwick finally got his breakthrough at Zandvoort, where he had taken his first F1 fastest lap the year before.

Thanks to a sensational start by Renault’s Eddie Cheever – he went from 11th to second! – Warwick dropped a place to eighth at the getaway. But the Toleman had genuine pace, and Warwick outbraked the Lotus of Elio de Angelis at Tarzan on lap three of 72. He rose to sixth when Andrea de Cesaris’s Alfa Romeo suffered engine failure three laps later.

Having survived an attack from Nigel Mansell, Warwick allowed a flying John Watson (Mclaren) past before making his pitstop. When Alain Prost inadvertently took out both himself and title rival Nelson Piquet on lap 42, Warwick moved into fifth. Then, in the closing stages, Riccardo Patrese’s Brabham lost boost and Warwick went by to finish fourth and score points at last.

“It was a great car – we had reliability and speed,” says Warwick, who went on to score in the final four races of 1983. “I was passing cars and not just picking up places when others dropped out. As the fuel came off it got better and better.

“The car responded to changes – unlike the 1981 and 1982 cars; you could put a JCB on the front and it wouldn’t make any difference! It was pretty disheartening, so when it came together it was a massive accomplishment for all the team.”