1985 South African Grand Prix
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 15 of 16 in the 1985 Formula One season | |||
 |
|||
| Date | 19 October 1985 | ||
| Location |
Kyalami Gauteng, South Africa |
||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 4.104 km (2.55 mi) | ||
| Distance | 75 laps, 308.8 km (191.248 mi) | ||
| Weather | Dry | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Williams-Honda | ||
| Time | 1:02.366 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 Keke Rosberg
|
Williams-Honda | |
| Time | 1:08.149 on lap 74 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Williams-Honda | ||
| Second | Williams-Honda | ||
| Third | McLaren-TAG | ||
The 1985 South African Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 19 October 1985 at the Kyalami Circuit in South Africa. It was the fifteenth and penultimate round of the 1985 FIA Formula One World Championship.
The race was marked with some teams boycotting the event due to apartheid -- the segregation of blacks and whites -- and was the last South African Formula One race until apartheid ended in 1992. The race was won by Nigel Mansell in a Williams, who also took pole position.
The event was boycotted by several Formula One teams, namely Ligier and Renault due to mounting international pressures against tolerating the country's system of apartheid. French teams Ligier and Renault's boycotts were in lockstep with the French government's boycott and sanctioning of South Africa, apparently doing so under pressure. Most of the Formula One drivers, including Alain Prost, Niki Lauda and Nigel Mansell were personally very much against racing in South Africa, but the drivers held the mentality that because they were contracted to drive at every Grand Prix, they would race at Kyalami.
Some governments tried to force their drivers from entering the race. Brazil's sanctions on South Africa nearly prevented Nelson Piquet or Ayrton Senna from racing.
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