From 22nd to 1st: Watson on his Long Beach F1 overtaking masterclass

The potential was obvious. Dennis and Barnard weren’t particularly convinced two weeks later after qualifying in Long Beach though, as an indignant Watson and Lauda lined up 22nd and 23rd.

“It was all doom and gloom on the faces of the team – always blame it on the drivers!”

The MP4/1C was really suffering round street circuit’s twists and turns, particularly over its concrete surface sections. Watson was confident he could get something out of the race though, having found an extra edge himself in the weeks preceding.

“At the end of ‘83, Ron, Niki and myself sat down. Ron said Niki’s physical trainer, a great man named Willi Dungl, would now be available to me and the team,” says Watson.

“As well as exercise, we would do physio work, monitor my blood sugar and dietary preparation.

“I became a disciple of all this stuff, because I found it interesting. Niki was a bit more sneaky: he still liked a cigarette, liked a double espresso, a whisky from time to time.”

Watson was then able to follow the fitness work to the letter after avoiding a near-disaster with the press.

“During the Brazil weekend, a number of the British Fleet Street media approached me and said, ‘John, we understand you’re going on this Marlboro South America promotional tour. We think this would make a great story: Britain’s leading F1 driver, going to Argentina six months after the secession of the Falklands War.’ I said ‘Ah, I hadn’t thought about that…’”

Watson went straight to the US instead, and it was just him and Dungl getting the body and mind in order in the run up to Long Beach.

“He got to know me way better than he would have done,” says Watson. “It was seminal for me, not just on the physical side, but also on the focus and self-belief: ‘You know what? You’re a ****ing good race driver’. It was confidence boosting.”

“Once I got ahead of Niki, then I was off and running. Ten laps later I put it up the inside of Laffite. He saw that was I coming and there’s no way he was gonna stop me. He moved slightly to the left, clearing the entry to the corner.

“From that point onwards, all I could do was lose the race.”

Amazingly Watson was now in the lead with the best part of half the race left – he moved into first on lap 45, having a lead of almost 28sec over Lauda when he took the chequered flag thirty laps later.

Further bolstering his speed was his preference for Michelin’s ‘05’ compound. On that day in Long Beach driver, car and tyre were an irresistible combination.

“When I got back to the paddock, the look on the faces of Ron Dennis, John Barnard, [Marlboro sponsorship guru] John Hogan and Paddy McNally – they all needed to go to the medical centre to be given treatment for shock because they couldn’t believe we’d finished one-two!” laughs Watson.

Other weren’t so surprised: “Willi Dungl looked at me after the race and said ‘John, I knew you were going to win today.’”

Out of contract at the end of the year, the Ulsterman would be moved aside for Alain Prost, his F1 career over. Watson would never be able to properly take advantage of his newfound fitness and self-belief when the turbo TAG-Porsche McLaren came on line, but takes some satisfaction in taking his greatest win in his final F1 season.

“It’s a record that’s likely to stand for some considerable time,” he says, speaking at a time when Andretti’s attempts to get on the grid are still a hot topic.

“If you don’t have 24 cars on the grid, there ain’t anybody going to beat my record starting from where I started.”