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The 1984 Formula 1 World Championship closed in Portugal with three clamorous statistical tacts:Niki Lauda had won his third title after retiring in 1979 and staging a comeback in 1983.Two drivers In the same team, Lauda and Prost, had struggled for the title throughout the season and ended up at the last race in first and second places separated by half a point.McLaren^ had completely dominated the Championship, offering their drivers cars that were at least twice as superior to those of any of their competitors.In fact, the other cars were almost totally eclipsed and McLaren won twelve of the sixteen Grands Prix held, seven of them in a row. As a result it was not surprising that the opposition was virtually stunned into disbelief, and this led to the winter of 1984/85 into being the scene of frantic activity as they endeavoured to restore the status-quo. Frequently in the past, when a Formula 1 team has been a winner one year it hasn't been able to maintain that position come the following year; the other teams have had technological points of reference, have improved their own performances, and there have been changes to hitherto established principles. However, McLaren have based their superiority on the harmony of three elements that compose the basis of Formula 1: chassis, aerodynamics and the engine. It was not, as it often is in motor racing, just one of these three factors that determined the performances given by Lauda and Prost in 1984. Instead, it was all three! And so, just one winter was not enough for the other teams to catch up. Some of them, of course, came close, and there was certainly more of a fight taking place throughout the season. Indeed, at times, Prost had the sight of someone else's tail lights in front of him for a change, while Lauda had more than his fair share of problems. Nevertheless, 1985 basically turned out to be a continuation of the 1984Championship.The now-ruling 1.5-litre turbo-charged engines have not yet come to the end of their development life. There's still room for improvement bearing in mind sheer power, torque and reliability. Formula 1, itself, is still evolving, and the regulations do not try to open new paths to exasperated technological research. On the contrary, the rules try to technically limit a frightening development of power and performance. Nevertheless, where there are restrictions so there is a need for scientific research to find new ways of beating fellow competitors and this, in turn, calls for a major need of investment in the continual development of a racing car.I think that this is the main theme of the 1985 World Championship, where we find a McLaren driver World Champion again and which, in my mind, creates intense anticipation for next season.Formula 1 can be compared to a jet fighter: you have to knock down the enemy and be the best; the costs of projects and management are largely secondary. Here then you find that extensive research and financial risks are necessary to undertake new ways of planning. And almost always the winning product resulting from these studies are applied also to airlines; commercial, but tied to precise limits by its use. Today Formula 1 is going through a similar situation, and the production of standard vehicles benefit enormously by this development simply through new ideas that may be adopted having already been tried and tested under race conditions. This, in turn, has revitalised standard vehicles after years in which further progress had seemingly come to an end, in particular as regards electronics, aerodynamics and improved fuel consumption related to power and performance. Yes, a great deal of merit goes to Formula 1, both for the high technological investment