1983 United States Grand Prix West
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 2 of 15 in the 1983 Formula One season | |||
 |
|||
| Date | March 27, 1983 | ||
| Official name | 8th United States Grand Prix West | ||
| Location | Long Beach, California | ||
| Course | Temporary street course | ||
| Course length | 3.275 km (2.034 mi) | ||
| Distance | 75 laps, 245.505 km (152.55 mi) | ||
| Weather | Sunny and warm with temperatures reaching up to 65.8 °F (18.8 °C); wind speeds approaching speeds up to 9.9 miles per hour (15.9 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Ferrari | ||
| Time | 1:26.117 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 Niki Lauda
|
McLaren-Ford | |
| Time | 1:28.330 on lap 42 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | McLaren-Ford | ||
| Second | McLaren-Ford | ||
| Third | Ferrari | ||
The 1983 United States Grand Prix West was a Formula One motor race held on March 27, 1983 at Long Beach, California.
After struggling greatly in qualifying, the McLaren team, as they had done on occasions in 1982, found their way on race day, as John Watson and Niki Lauda climbed from positions 22 and 23 on the grid to finish first and second in the final United States Grand Prix West at Long Beach.
Once again, the circuit had been slightly modified, primarily to free up Ocean Boulevard, one of the city's main thoroughfares. Since the alternate route on Seaside Way included a tunnel under the Long Beach convention center, the pits were moved to the long, curving Shoreline Drive section, where the Start and Finish lines were reunited for the first time since 1977.
As practice began on Friday, two bumps where the circuit rejoined the old layout at the end of the Seaside Way straight were causing problems. Some teams were concerned that the suspension on their cars would not last more than a few laps under race conditions. René Arnoux (Ferrari) was the first to go over the bumps flat out and his 1:26.935 led Alain Prost (Renault), Patrick Tambay (Ferrari) and Riccardo Patrese (Brabham) on the day's timing chart, while Nelson Piquet (Brabham), Lauda and Watson found their Michelin qualifying tires virtually useless and set poor times.
Overnight repair work smoothed the problematic bumps. Tambay grabbed his first pole with a lap of 1:26.117, the only lap to beat teammate Arnoux's Friday time; Keke Rosberg (Williams) took third with 1:27.145, ahead of teammate Jacques Laffite. American Danny Sullivan Tyrrell), in his only season of Formula One, managed ninth, while the other American in F1, Eddie Cheever (driving the older model Renault RE30C) was 15th, 7 places behind team mate Prost in the newer RE40 model. The McLarens of Watson and Lauda were never able to arrive at a balanced setup, and they would start in 22nd and 23rd position.
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