1984 Monaco Grand Prix

The 1984 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monaco on June 3, 1984. It was the sixth round of the 1984 Formula One season.

During practice, Martin Brundle had a huge crash at the Tabac corner, he landed upside down and was slightly injured.

The race, held amidst heavy rain, was one of the most contentious in Formula One history, and announced the emergence of at least two new stars. Alain Prost took the first of his four victories at the circuit.

The race start was delayed by 45 minutes due to the heavy rain. With the rain soaking the track, Niki Lauda sought out Bernie Ecclestone on the grid in a bid to have the Tunnel flooded as well (the Tunnel was dry but coated with oil from the previous days use which Lauda explained had turned it into a 5th gear skid pad when the cars came racing in carrying the spry from their tyres). Ecclestone used his power as the head of FOCA to do exactly that, with a local fire truck called in to water down the only dry road on the track.

Pole-sitter Prost led the race from the start, while first corner contact between Ferrari's René Arnoux and the Renault of Derek Warwick pitched the Englishman's car into the fence on the outside of St. Devote and into the path of his team-mate Patrick Tambay. Both drivers suffered leg injuries, Warwick bruised his left leg while Tambay broke his leg after his car's suspension punched through the carbon fibre monocoque, causing him to miss the next round in Canada.

Prost was passed on lap nine by Nigel Mansell, leading a Grand Prix for the first time, when Prost's TAG engine was misfiring and he was delayed by both Corrado Fabi's stalled Brabham and Michele Alboreto's about to be lapped Ferrari just before the tunnel (Prost actually hit a marshal who was pushing Fabi's car away but thankfully with no serious injury). Mansell pulled away from Prost at around two seconds per lap, before going off six laps later on the run up to Casino Square after hitting a painted white line, damaging his car and retiring from the race.

Prost assumed the lead again, now from team mate Lauda who disposed of Arnoux, but had Ayrton Senna, who had also passed the Ferrari, quickly closing in. Senna, who was in his first Formula One street race in his rookie season in the generally uncompetitive Toleman, was showing the wet weather skills that would become legendary, had started the race thirteenth. On lap 29, Prost waved to the stewards of the race to indicate that he felt the race should be stopped (he was also suffering from a major brake imbalance as his McLaren's carbon brakes were locking due to not generating enough heat in the conditions). He waved again on lap 31 as he passed the start/finish line. The red flag to stop the race was shown at the end of the 32nd lap after clerk of the course Jacky Ickx decided that conditions were too poor for the race to continue. Senna passed Prost's slowing McLaren before the finish line, but according to the rules, the positions counted are those from the last lap completed by every driver – lap 31, at which point Prost was still leading. The stoppage was controversial, as it benefitted Prost with a Porsche-designed engine, and was made by Ickx, a Porsche employee in sports car racing. Ickx was suspended from his race control duties for not consulting with the stewards over his decision before making it. The rain was not falling as hard at this stage as it had previously been.

Had the race been allowed to continue until 75% of the laps, full points would have been awarded and Prost could have had 6 points from a 2nd place (or 9 for a win) instead of 4.5 points from the half-race win. Prost would eventually go on to lose the championship to Niki Lauda by only half a point. Speculation that Senna would have won his first race was proved wrong when his team later revealed that his TG184 had suffered suspension damage which would have forced him to retire within one or two laps of when the red flag was shown.

Senna and Mansell were not the only new drivers to run near the front – Stefan Bellof, running in the only naturally aspirated car in the race, finished third and had been closing on both Senna and Prost. The Tyrrell team's results were erased later in the season due to weight infringements, meaning that Bellof was stripped of his podium finish, with his place being taken by René Arnoux.

This was the first time that Ayrton Senna had set a Formula One fastest lap.