Throwback: Piquet and Patrese's dramatic exit from the 1985 Monaco GP

Published May. 19, 2016 3:31 p.m. ET

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Beginning Lap 17 of the Monaco Grand Prix on May 19, 1985, Nelson Piquet attempted a pass on Riccardo Patrese heading into Ste Devote.

The two cars made contact and sent the Alfa Romeo of Patrese into a series of spins while Piquet’s suspension failed and his Brabham kicked up a bunch of sparks. Patrese then bounced off the wall and back into Piquet, sending them both spinning into the runoff area.

While both drivers were able to climb out of their cars OK, the incident had left gearbox oil from Patrese’s car all over the track, causing Niki Lauda to run off and stall, and then race leader Michele Alboreto (who narrates the above video) to run wide.

Subsequently, Alboreto in his Ferrari lost the lead to McLaren’s Alain Prost, but soon regained it, only to then pick up a puncture after running over debris from the same incident later on.

Alboreto was forced to settle for a second-place finish, but went on to win the next race in Canada, giving him the points lead.

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