Brabham BT52

The Brabham BT52 was a Formula 1 car designed for the Brabham team by South African Gordon Murray for the 1983 F1 season.

After the ground effect 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 turbocharged engine which produced about Auto bhp|1300|-1 in qualifying trim, detuned to around Auto bhp|700|-1 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 Nelson Piquet used it to good effect that season. Fighting with Alain Prost in the Renault and Rene Arnoux of Ferrari, it seemed he would lose out on the title after a run of mid season bad luck. But after fuel supplier Castrol 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.

BT53

The BT52 was developed to BT53 spec for the 1984 season. The car was almost identical but featured larger sidepods for improved cooling, and the turbochargers and intercoolers were repositioned for better fuel efficiency as refuelling stops were now banned. Although Piquet won twice and scored several podium places, the BMW engine was now unreliable and the McLaren MP4/2 was dominant and he could not retain his championship. The saddest aspect was that the BT52/3 was faster than the MP4/2 and more reliability might have given Piquet a realistic chance of retaining his championship.

The BT52/3 was replaced by the BT54 for 1985.