The 1982 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 36th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1982 Formula 1 World Championship, which commenced on 23 January and ended on 25 September after sixteen races. The Drivers' Championship was won by Keke Rosberg and the Manufacturers' Championship by Ferrari.
Rosberg was the first driver since Mike Hawthorn in the 1958 season to win the championship with only one race win. Eleven drivers won a race during the season, none of them more than two times, including nine different winners in nine consecutive races.
The combination of technical and sporting regulations used during this season prompted many complaints about safety before and during the season. The season saw two fatalities and many serious and violent accidents. Ferrari driver Gilles Villeneuve was killed in an accident during qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder after hitting the March car of Jochen Mass. Italian driver Riccardo Paletti died at the Canadian Grand Prix when his Osella car hit the back of Didier Pironi's stalled car at the start of the race. Pironi, who had been Villeneuve's teammate, suffered massive injuries to his legs in another qualifying accident at the German Grand Prix and never raced in Formula One again. At the time he was highly likely to win the title, and finished only five points behind eventual champion Rosberg. In the face of their tragic circumstances, Ferrari held on with Patrick Tambay finishing the season as its lead driver to win the constructors' title.
The season started with a drivers' strike at the first race of the season. Later in the season, the disagreement between the sport's governing body and the teams (known as the FISA-FOCA war) restarted and many of the teams boycotted the San Marino Grand Prix. For the first time since the inception of Formula One more than 30 years earlier, there were no non-Championship races run during 1982. This situation would become permanent from 1984 onward.
The 1982 season was the end of an era in which, since 1950, at least one or two drivers were killed every year in a Formula One-related event. Since 1982, only four drivers have died in Formula One cars: Elio de Angelis in 1986 driving a Brabham during testing at the Circuit Paul Ricard, Roland Ratzenberger in 1994 during practice for the San Marino Grand Prix, triple world champion Ayrton Senna during the race itself, and Jules Bianchi from injuries sustained during the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix.
Video 1982 FIA Formula One World Championship
Drivers and constructors
Team changes
All teams and constructors who had competed in 1981 returned for the new season. Brabham had entered a deal for engine supply with German car manufacturer BMW for the use of their L4 turbo engines. The team announced in January that they would only be using the new BMW engine, however, after the powerful turbocharger appeared to put too much strain on the car, they reverted back to using the Cosworth DFV engine several times during the season.
Driver changes
And the end of the 1981 season, both Williams drivers, 1980 world champion Alan Jones and Carlos Reutemann, had announced their retirement from racing. Reutemann did in fact return for 1982, competing in the first two races, before retiring unexpectedly at the end of March. Jones was replaced by Keke Rosberg, who had previously entered 36 Grands Prix, but won none with only one podium finish to his name. The off season saw rumours of several former champions returning to the sport, but in the end only double world champion Niki Lauda returned to Formula One after an absence of two years to partner John Watson at McLaren. Ferrari and Renault retained their race-winning line ups of Gilles Villeneuve and Didier Pironi and Alain Prost and René Arnoux, respectively. At Brabham, defending world champion Nelson Piquet remained with the team, now partnered by Riccardo Patrese, who moved from Arrows to replace Héctor Rebaque. The Osella team gave Riccardo Paletti his Grand Prix début, while Toleman replaced Brian Henton with Teo Fabi, also a newcomer to Formula One. Marc Surer was hired by Arrows, but broke both his feet in pre-season testing at Kyalami. He was set to be replaced by Patrick Tambay, who was then removed from the squad after taking part in the drivers' strike at that race and the car went to Henton.
- Mid-season changes
Following Reutemann's retirement, Williams hired 1978 world champion Mario Andretti as a one-off replacement for the United States Grand Prix West. Derek Daly then became the permanent second driver at the team, as Andretti had racing obligations in the United States to fulfill. Andretti returned with Ferrari for the last two races of the season, replacing Pironi, who had suffered career-ending injuries at the German Grand Prix. Villeneuve, who died following a crash in practice for the Belgian Grand Prix, was replaced by Tambay starting from the Dutch Grand Prix. At Team Lotus , Nigel Mansell missed two races due to injuries from a crash in Canada. His substitute at the Dutch Grand Prix was Roberto Moreno, who failed to qualify. Mansell attempted a comeback at Brands Hatch, but was again replaced at the French Grand Prix, this time by Geoff Lees. An accident at the race in France led Jochen Mass, already deeply shaken by the fatal crash of Villeneuve, in which he was involved, to walk away from Grand Prix racing. He was replaced at March by Rupert Keegan. Swedish driver Slim Borgudd had moved from ATS to Tyrrell, but was forced to leave the team when his sponsorship money ran out. Henton took his place from the Belgian Grand Prix onwards, as Surer returned to Arrows after his injuries had healed.
Maps 1982 FIA Formula One World Championship
Season calendar
Calendar changes
The Argentine Grand Prix was scheduled to take place on 7 March, but was cancelled due to lack of sponsors, with several of them pulling out of financing the race due to uncertainty following the drivers' strike at the previous round at Kyalami. The Spanish Grand Prix was omitted from the calendar for several reasons. The Circuito del Jarama, where the race had been held the previous year was unloved by drivers and the organisers had failed to pay their fees for 1981. The race was originally re-instated for 27 June after the organisers had paid their debts to the Formula One Constructors' Association (FOCA). However, protests from the teams over the dangerous nature of the Jarama venue led to the race to eventually be cancelled.
Two races were added to the calendar compared to 1981, the Detroit Grand Prix and the Swiss Grand Prix, held at Dijon-Prenois in France, since motor racing is outlawed in Switzerland since the 1955 Le Mans disaster. The addition of Detroit meant that the United States hosted three Grands Prix, the only time one country had more than two races in one season.
Background
Politics
The Formula One Constructors Association (FOCA) and FISA had been in dispute over the control of the sport since 1979. The worst period of the disagreement (known as the FISA-FOCA war) had ended in 1981 with the signing of the Concorde Agreement. FOCA consisted of the major British teams, while the manufacturer teams (Renault, Ferrari, Alfa Romeo and Talbot-Ligier), together with Italian team Osella and Toleman were aligned with FISA. The 1982 season had an unusually large number of teams representing major motor manufacturers, with Alfa Romeo and Talbot represented as well as Renault and Ferrari.
Regulation changes and technological development
Sporting regulations
The new rules for the season included an increase in the number of cars permitted to enter a Grand Prix from 30 to 34, and the number of starters from 24 to 26. To avoid having all 34 cars on the track at one time, a pre-qualifying session was introduced in which the three teams with the poorest record in the previous year would compete to be allowed into qualification proper. Just as the previous year, the best eleven results from all the races counted towards the Drivers' Championship.
Technology
In the years leading up to 1982, two major technological developments had shaped Formula One: the turbocharged engine and "ground effect". In 1977, Lotus had revolutionised aerodynamics in Formula One by introducing the Lotus 78, known as the "wing car". The car used what is commonly referred to as "ground effect", with the physical principle applied being the "Venturi effect". The sides of the underside of the car would be shut off with skirts to trap the under-pressure airflow underneath the car, effectively "sucking" the vehicle to the ground. This led to increased cornering speeds, but at the same time brought implications that had an adverse effect on the drivers' safety. Moveable skirts were thus banned in 1981, accompanied by a minimum ride height for the cars of 6 cm (2.4 in), targeted at minimising the "ground effect" and cut cornering speed. However, for 1982, both regulations were reversed as a result of the new Concorde Agreement. The skirts around the underpart of the chassis, which locked the airflow underneath the car, necessitated very stiff suspensions to work properly. This meant that every bump on track was putting enormous strain on the drivers, shaking them around in the cockpit. Additionally, the cornering speed and the resulting high g-forces put pressure on both the drivers and the cars' suspensions, making them prone to braking. The cars would also move up and down on the road, in an effect called "porpoising", making the cars very hard to control. These adverse effects were particularly impactful at bumpy circuits, such as Jacarepaguá, where Riccardo Patrese retired due to exhaustion. Other drivers reported dizziness and blurred vision, making it hard to see while driving.
The potentially dangerous implications of "ground effect" were only worsened by the advent of very powerful turbocharged engines. In 1977, Renault had introduced the first turbocharged engine into the sport with their Renault RS01. The regulations at the time allowed for either three-litre normally aspirated or 1.5-litre turbocharged engines, with Renault being the first to attempt to go the latter route. Over the next seasons, the turbo engines proved fast, yet unreliable. By 1979, Renault had shown that races could be won with this formula, and in 1981, Ferrari had followed them by introducing their own turbo engine. The cars however still suffered an effect often labelled "throttle lag", meaning that a significant and indeterminable time gap existed between applying the throttle of the car and the point when the full power of the turbo was taking effect. This made the turbo cars very difficult to drive. The Toleman team also used turbo engines for 1982, supplied by Hart. Alfa Romeo retained what motorsport writer Doug Nye has called the most powerful 3-litre engine seen in Formula One at that time, with 548 bhp (409 kW). They tested their turbocharged V8 engine during practice for the Italian Grand Prix, but did not race it until the next season. Most teams however still relied upon the Cosworth DFV engine, which had been introduced by Lotus in 1967.
In 1981, McLaren had built the first car monocoque from carbon fibre composite. This allowed for cars to be lighter, while at the same time being more rigid. McLaren had proven that carbon-fibre cars could be quick, with John Watson winning the 1981 British Grand Prix. But maybe more importantly, Watson's uninjured escape from a severe accident at that year's Italian Grand Prix had shown the superiority of the material in terms of safety. Lotus followed suit for 1982, introducing carbon fibre for their Lotus 91.
Even with these effective technical advances in chassis design, the mainly British constructor teams were still at a significant power disadvantage compared to the turbocharged engines. To counteract this, the non-turbo teams used a loophole in the regulations. The weight of the car was measured before and after the race, with oil and cooling liquids allowed to be refilled before the final weigh-in. The teams would therefore build their cars lighter than allowed by the regulations and add water tanks, which they claimed were used to cool brake temperatures, but in reality the water was dumped on the track as soon as the car left the pitlane, allowing them to run faster. Keke Rosberg later explained that "the water tank [...] was the one that gave us at least a theoretical chance to compete with the turbos."
In other regulation changes, the minimum weight of the cars was reduced from 585 kg (1,290 lb) to 580 kg (1,280 lb). A new "driver survival cell" cockpit protection was made mandatory as well.
Three companies, Goodyear, Michelin and Avon supplied tyres, including special qualifying tyres, which provided much increased levels of grip during the qualification sessions that determined the starting order for the race. These qualifying tyres had originally been banned in 1980, but had since been reallowed. For the first time the number of tyres permitted for qualification was limited to two sets per session, creating a situation which Villeneuve thought "...unnecessarily dangerous. If I have only two chances to set a time, I need a clear track, OK? If it isn't clear, if there's someone in my way, I just have to hope he's looking in his mirrors -- I mean, I can't lift, because this is my last chance." The necessity of having a clear track to make the most of the short-lasting qualifying tyres led to drivers taking risks, further increasing the danger while driving during the 1982 season.
Season report
Championship
Politics
The early races of the season were disrupted by politics. At the first race of the season, the South African Grand Prix, Niki Lauda led a drivers' strike against the "superlicences", newly required for participation in the championship, which included clauses that Lauda believed would unfairly tie drivers to their teams. Most of the drivers locked themselves in a conference room overnight before agreement was reached that the relevant clauses could be re-visited and the race was reinstated. The six factory turbocharged cars, including the Brabham-BMWs on this occasion, had their inherent power advantage exaggerated by the low air density at the high altitude Kyalami circuit and took the first six places on the grid. Alain Prost won the race in his Renault. Despite the pre-race agreement, the race stewards issued a statement during the race indicating that the licences of those drivers who had taken part in the strike were suspended.
The striking drivers were eventually fined $5,000 each and given a one race ban, suspended for six months, but the process of reaching this compromise position took several weeks and contributed to the cancellation of that year's Argentine Grand Prix, due to be the second race of the year. The Brazilian and United States West Grands Prix were both won by DFV-powered cars, and both results were protested by the Ferrari and Renault teams, on the grounds that the leading DFV teams were competing with underweight cars thanks to their water-cooled brakes. The stewards in Brazil ruled that the Piquet's winning Brabham and Rosberg's second-placed Williams were illegal, but their counterparts in the US rejected the same claim against Niki Lauda's McLaren and Rosberg's Williams, although they did uphold the Tyrrell team's protest against Ferrari's use of two rear wings and disqualified Villeneuve. The appeal process meant that the result of the protest would not be known for another month.
On 19 April, the FIA tribunal found in favour of Ferrari and Renault's protest of the Brazilian Grand Prix result. Piquet and Rosberg were disqualified and Prost was awarded the win. The other finishers, including some like title contender John Watson who had also been racing underweight, but had not been protested, were moved up the results accordingly. This gave Prost the lead in the world championship, with 18 points to Lauda's 12 and Rosberg and Watson's 8. The tribunal also ruled that after future races, all cars must be weighed before liquids were topped up. The FOCA teams requested a postponement of the next race, the San Marino Grand Prix, until July to allow consideration of the effects of the judgement, on the grounds that it changed the regulations of the sport. The race organisers refused to delay the race, which went ahead without the majority of the FOCA teams.
Villeneuve and Pironi
Only 14 cars competed at the San Marino Grand Prix because of the FOCA boycott, leaving the Ferraris to compete with the Renaults until both French cars broke down. By lap 45, Villeneuve and Pironi were contesting the lead, with Villeneuve in front, when their Ferrari team signalled them to slow down. Villeneuve did so and was passed by his teammate; they swapped the lead again several times before Pironi passed Villeneuve on the final lap for the win. After the race, Villeneuve said that the "Slow" sign at Ferrari had always previously meant that the drivers should hold their positions, adding "People seem to think we had the battle of our lives! [...] I was coasting those last 15 laps."; Pironi said that "The 'Slow' sign means only to use your head [... not that] if you think you can win, don't do it." In an interview the following week, Villeneuve said that he would never speak to Pironi again.
Two weeks later, Villeneuve died after an accident during the final qualifying session for the Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder. Bamsey and Lang write that he was trying to beat Pironi's time, while Ferrari race engineer Mauro Forghieri says that the Canadian was returning to the pits and would not therefore have set a lap time. Villeneuve caught Jochen Mass travelling much more slowly through a left-handed bend and moved to the right to pass him at the same instant that Mass also moved right to let Villeneuve through on the racing line. The two collided and Villeneuve was thrown out of his disintegrating car. He died of a fractured neck in a local hospital at 9:12 that evening. Ferrari withdrew from the race, which John Watson won for McLaren. His teammate Lauda was disqualified after the race for an underweight car. The results were dominated by the returning FOCA teams; even the only turbo-engined finisher, Piquet's Brabham-BMW, was from their number.
Roebuck writes that the next race, the Monaco Grand Prix, "was a sombre, edgy place [...] the sense of [Villeneuve's] absence was overwhelming": the Canadian had lived in the principality and had won the previous year's race. In the race itself Arnoux led early before spinning off, handing the lead to his Renault teammate Prost. Prost built up a massive lead, but a light rain shower in the closing laps triggered a chaotic finish. Prost crashed out, handing the lead to Patrese. Patrese spun on the penultimate lap and stalled, allowing Pironi into the lead, followed by Andrea de Cesaris. On the final lap Pironi, de Cesaris, and Derek Daly all dropped out while in potential race winning positions. Meanwhile, Patrese bump-started his car by coasting down a hill, completed the final two laps, and took his first career victory. Pironi was classified second, despite running out of fuel and stopping on the last lap. After the race, Prost, who had scored no points since the Brazilian Grand Prix in March, led the championship by one point from Watson and two points from Pironi.
North American tour
Formula One returned to North America for the Detroit Grand Prix, where Watson won again, this time from 17th place on the grid, to take the championship lead. Tragedy struck again in Canada. Pironi qualified on pole, but stalled at the start. His stationary car was hit by the Osella of young Italian Riccardo Paletti, who was killed in the impact and resultant fire. Piquet won the restarted race. Pironi came back to take a dominant victory in the Netherlands, where Arnoux was lucky to escape uninjured from a massive crash after his Renault's throttle stuck open.
Back to Europe
Lauda won in Britain, but the real star of the race was Derek Warwick, who hustled the unfancied Toleman into second place late in the race and was closing on Lauda before the car broke down. The next race at Le Castellet's Circuit Paul Ricard saw Frenchman Arnoux take victory in his French Renault, which was popular with the crowd but not with the team, as Arnoux was supposed to give the win to teammate Prost to help the latter's championship cause. But that was a race that saw 4 French drivers finish in the top 4 (Arnoux, Prost, Pironi and Patrick Tambay) and German driver Jochen Mass immediately retire from F1 after a near-catastrophic accident with Mauro Baldi at Signes, the fast corner after the long Mistral straight. Mass's car touched Baldi's, both went off the track and Mass hit the barrier and was then catapulted into grandstands full of people. Although several spectators had minor injures, this appalling accident left no one dead or even seriously injured- as Formula One came very close to having its own 1955 Le Mans disaster. As it was, Pironi seemed poised to run away with the title, but his quest was ended prematurely at the next race in Germany. During a wet qualifying session, Pironi plowed into the back of Prost's Renault. The Ferrari was launched into the air in an eerily similar accident to the one that killed Villeneuve. Pironi was not thrown from the car, but suffered career-ending leg injuries. Pironi's crash was so bad that FIA doctor Sid Watkins had considered amputating Pironi's legs to remove him from the wrecked Ferrari, which never happened. Ferrari chose to compete in the next day's race, and Patrick Tambay (who Ferrari had picked to replace Villeneuve) took a sombre win after Piquet crashed out of the lead while lapping Eliseo Salazar (Piquet famously punched Salazar for his trouble). The Austrian Grand Prix at the Österreichring, the fastest Grand Prix circuit of the year was next, and this was perhaps the most exciting race of the season: all the turbo cars eventually fell out or hit trouble, and Prost, still in contention for the championship was dealt a serious blow to his championship hopes when his car suffered turbo failure 5 laps from the end. The race then ended up being an exciting sprint for the finish between Rosberg and Italian Lotus driver Elio de Angelis. De Angelis beat Rosberg to the line by half a car's length. The Swiss Grand Prix, held at the Dijon-Prenois circuit in France, not Switzerland (where motor racing is banned) saw Rosberg win and took the lead in the championship after being held up by de Cesaris in the Alfa and catching Prost who suffered yet more mechanical troubles with his car; this was perhaps the fatal blow for the hapless Frenchman's championship hopes. The Italian Grand Prix was won by Prost's hated teammate Arnoux and the two Ferraris of Tambay and American Mario Andretti finished 2nd and 3rd; John Watson still remained in contention for the championship title with Rosberg going into the final race in Las Vegas.
Rosberg wins in Las Vegas
Suddenly, Rosberg (who had scored zero points the previous season) was leading the championship going into the final round at Las Vegas. He finished 5th in this race, while Watson finished 2nd; but even this was not enough to overhaul Rosberg's 44 point tally. Michele Alboreto took his first of 5 career F1 wins there at Vegas; he was the 11th different winner that season; a record that has yet to be broken in Formula One.
Results and standings
Grands Prix
World Drivers' Championship - final standings
Points were awarded to the top 6 classified finishers.
Constructors' Championship - final standings
Notes
External links
- Comprehensive Race-by-Race Review
- 1982 Formula 1 review
References
Bibliography
- Books
- Bamsey, Ian (1983). Automobile Sport 82-83. City: Haynes Manuals. ISBN 0-946321-01-9.
- Donaldson, Gerald (2003). Gilles Villeneuve. London: Virgin. ISBN 0-7535-0747-1.
- Hilton, Christopher (2007). 1982: The inside story of an astonishing Grand Prix season. Newbury Park, CT; Sparkford, Somerset: Haynes. ISBN 9781844254040.
- Lang, Mike (1992). Grand Prix!. vol.4. Sparkford: Foulis. ISBN 0-85429-733-2.
- Nye, Doug (1986). Autocourse history of the Grand Prix car 1966-85. Hazleton publishing. ISBN 0-905138-37-6.
- Roebuck, Nigel (1986). Grand Prix Greats. Cambridge: P. Stephens. ISBN 978-0-85059-792-9.
- Roebuck, Nigel (1999). Chasing the Title. City: Haynes Publications. ISBN 1-85960-604-0.
- Smith, Roger (2013). Formula 1: All the Races. The World Championship Story Race-by-Race 1950-2012 (2nd ed.). Sparkford: Haynes Publishing. ISBN 978 0 85733 350 6.
- Watkins, Sid (1997). Life at the Limit: Triumph and Tragedy in Formula One. City: Pan Books. ISBN 0-330-35139-7.
- Magazines
- Fearnley, Paul (May 2007). "It's war. Absolutely war". Motor Sport. Haymarket. pp. 52-61.
- Jenkinson, Denis (June 1982). "Grote Prijs van Belgie". Motor Sport. Motor Sport Magazine Ltd. pp. 708-712.
Source of article : Wikipedia
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