The Brabham BT52 was a Formula One

Formula One

Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...

 car designed for the Brabham team by longtime Brabham designer Gordon Murray

Gordon Murray

Prof. Gordon Murray , is a renowned designer of Formula One race cars and the McLaren F1 road car.-Early life:...

 for the 1983 F1 season. The car ran on Michelin

Michelin

Michelin is a tyre manufacturer based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne région of France. It is one of the two largest tyre manufacturers in the world along with Bridgestone. In addition to the Michelin brand, it also owns the BFGoodrich, Kleber, Riken, Kormoran and Uniroyal tyre brands...

 tyres. Its drivers were World Champion Nelson Piquet

Nelson Piquet

Nelson Piquet Souto Maior , known as Nelson Piquet, is a Brazilian former racing driver. He was Formula One world champion in , and . He is one of eight drivers to win three or more world championships, the others being Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna , Alain Prost , Juan...

 and Riccardo Patrese

Riccardo Patrese

Riccardo Gabriele Patrese is an Italian former racing driver, who raced in Formula One from to .He became the first Formula One driver to achieve 200 Grand Prix starts when he appeared at the 1990 British Grand Prix, and the first to achieve 250 starts at the 1993 German Grand Prix...

.

After the ground effect

Ground effect in cars

Ground effect is term applied to a series of aerodynamic effects used in car design, which has been exploited to create downforce, particularly in racing cars. This has been the successor to the earlier dominant aerodynamic theory of streamlining...

 cars were banned at the end of the previous season, the FIA mandated that all F1 cars be designed with flat undersides for safety reasons. The previously crucial sidepods were now generating lift rather than suction and so the BT52 had short, angular sidepods to keep lift at a minimum. The car featured a distinctive dart-shaped profile and oversized rear wing in an effort to claw back as much downforce as possible. The monocoque was built from aluminium and carbon fibre composite to keep weight as low as possible. The car was powered by the massively powerful BMW M12/13 turbocharged engine which in 1983 produced about 850 bhp in qualifying trim, detuned to around 600 bhp for the races proper. The 1983 season saw refuelling stops reintroduced into F1 after successful experiments in 1982. The BT52's fuel system was designed with this in mind, and had a small fuel tank positioned high up behind the driver.

The car was easy to drive and Piquet used it to good effect that season. Fighting with Alain Prost

Alain Prost

Alain Marie Pascal Prost, OBE, Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur is a French racing driver. A four-time Formula One Drivers' Champion, Prost has won more titles than any driver except for Juan Manuel Fangio , and Michael Schumacher . From 1987 until 2001 Prost held the record for most Grand Prix...

 in the Renault

Renault F1

Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking...

 and René Arnoux

René Arnoux

René Alexandre Arnoux is a retired French racing driver who is a veteran of 12 Formula One seasons...

 of Ferrari

Scuderia Ferrari

Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....

, it seemed he would lose out on the title after a run of mid season bad luck. But after Germany company Wintershall

Wintershall

Wintershall AG is the largest crude oil and natural gas producer in Germany. The company is based in Kassel, Germany. Wintershall is a wholly owned subsidiary of BASF, based in Ludwigshafen. The name Wintershall is derived from the surname of the enterprise co-founder Carl Julius Winter and the...

 developed a special batch of fuel and further development to the car was done, he became the first driver to win the world championship with a turbo engine after winning three races and scoring consistently. Brabham finished third in the constructors' championship.

The BT52 was updated after the Canadian Grand Prix

1983 Canadian Grand Prix

The 1983 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on June 12, 1983.- Classification :-Standings after the race:Drivers' Championship standingsConstructors' Championship standings...

 to the BT52B and proceeded to win three of the remaining seven races of the season. The car was replaced for the 1984 Formula One season

1984 Formula One season

The 1984 Formula One season was the 35th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1984 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1984 Fomula One World Championship for Manufacturers which were contested concurrently over a sixteen race series which commenced on March 25,...

 by the Brabham BT53

Brabham BT53

The Brabham BT53 was a Formula One car designed by Gordon Murray for the Brabham team for the 1984 Formula One season and was a development of the BT52 which had carried the teams lead driver Nelson Piquet to the championship...

.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Pts	WCC
	Brabham		BMW M12/13 S4 Straight-4 The inline-four engine or straight-four engine is an internal combustion engine with all four cylinders mounted in a straight line, or plane along the crankcase. The single bank of cylinders may be oriented in either a vertical or an inclined plane with all the pistons driving a common crankshaft....  tc Turbocharger A turbocharger, or turbo , from the Greek "τύρβη" is a centrifugal compressor powered by a turbine that is driven by an engine's exhaust gases. Its benefit lies with the compressor increasing the mass of air entering the engine , thereby resulting in greater performance...		BRA 1983 Brazilian Grand Prix The 1983 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Jacarepaguá on March 13, 1983. It was the first round of the 1983 Formula One season.- Classification :- Notes :*Rosberg was disqualified for a push start in the pits...	USW 1983 United States Grand Prix West The 1983 United States Grand Prix West was a Formula One race held on March 27, 1983 at Long Beach, California.__FORCETOC__-Summary:After struggling greatly in qualifying, the McLaren team found their way on race day, as John Watson and Niki Lauda climbed from positions 22 and 23 on the grid to...	FRA 1983 French Grand Prix The 1983 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Paul Ricard on April 17, 1983. French driver Alain Prost won the race for the Renault team, and this was the French marque's 3rd French Grand Prix win in a row and the 4th in 5 seasons....	SMR 1983 San Marino Grand Prix The 1983 San Marino Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Imola on May 1, 1983.- Classification :-Standings after the race:Drivers' Championship standingsConstructors' Championship standings...	MON 1983 Monaco Grand Prix The 1983 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monaco on May 15, 1983.- Classification :- Notes :*Pole position: Alain Prost - 1:24.840*Fastest lap: Nelson Piquet - 1:27.283 on lap 69*Neither of the McLaren cars qualified...	BEL 1983 Belgian Grand Prix The 1983 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Spa-Francorchamps on May 22, 1983. After 13 years, the F1 circus returned to Spa after the track had been shortened...	DET	CAN 1983 Canadian Grand Prix The 1983 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on June 12, 1983.- Classification :-Standings after the race:Drivers' Championship standingsConstructors' Championship standings...	GBR 1983 British Grand Prix The 1983 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Silverstone on 16 July 1983. This was the last British Grand Prix event where the race took place on a Saturday rather than the usual Sunday.- Classification :-Standings after the race:...	GER 1983 German Grand Prix The 1983 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Hockenheimring on August 7, 1983.- Classification :-Standings after the race:Drivers' Championship standingsConstructors' Championship standings...	AUT 1983 Austrian Grand Prix The 1983 Austrian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Österreichring on August 14, 1983.- Classification :-Standings after the race:Drivers' Championship standingsConstructors' Championship standings...	NED 1983 Dutch Grand Prix The 1983 Dutch Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Circuit Zandvoort on August 28, 1983.- Classification :-Standings after the race:Drivers' Championship standingsConstructors' Championship standings...	ITA 1983 Italian Grand Prix The 1983 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monza on 11 September 1983.- Classification :- Notes :*This was the first time a Cosworth powered car failed to finish in the points since the 1967 French Grand Prix....	EUR 1983 European Grand Prix The 1983 European Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Brands Hatch on September 25, 1983. This race saw Bruno Giacomelli score his final championship point, and was the first race for qualified doctor and current circuit owner Jonathan Palmer...	RSA 1983 South African Grand Prix The 1983 South African Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami on October 15, 1983. It was the final race of the 1983 Formula One season....	72	3rd
		BT52		Nelson Piquet Nelson Piquet Nelson Piquet Souto Maior , known as Nelson Piquet, is a Brazilian former racing driver. He was Formula One world champion in , and . He is one of eight drivers to win three or more world championships, the others being Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna , Alain Prost , Juan...	1	Ret	2	Ret	2	4	4	Ret
		BT52B											2	13	3	Ret	1	1	3
		BT52		Riccardo Patrese Riccardo Patrese Riccardo Gabriele Patrese is an Italian former racing driver, who raced in Formula One from to .He became the first Formula One driver to achieve 200 Grand Prix starts when he appeared at the 1990 British Grand Prix, and the first to achieve 250 starts at the 1993 German Grand Prix...	Ret	10	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret
		BT52B											Ret	3	Ret	9	Ret	7	1