The 1982 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 36th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It included two competitions run over the course of the year, the 33rd Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 25th Formula One World Championship for Constructors. The season featured sixteen rounds between 23 January and 25 September. The Drivers' Championship was won by Keke Rosberg and the Constructors' Championship by Scuderia Ferrari.
The Championship started with a drivers' strike at the season opener in South Africa and saw a partial race boycott as part of the ongoing FISA–FOCA war at the San Marino Grand Prix. Two drivers died during 1982: Gilles Villeneuve during qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix and Riccardo Paletti at the start of the Canadian Grand Prix. Championship front-runner Didier Pironi also suffered a career-ending accident while qualifying for the German Grand Prix. These incidents and several other major accidents led to regulation changes to increase driver safety for the 1983 season. Motorsport journalist Nigel Roebuck later wrote that 1982 was "an ugly year, pock-marked by tragedy, by dissension, by greed, and yet, paradoxically, it produced some of the most memorable racing ever seen".
Eventual champion Rosberg won only one race all season – the Swiss Grand Prix – but consistency gave him the Drivers' Championship, five points clear of Pironi and John Watson. Rosberg was the second driver to win the championship having won only one race in the season, after Mike Hawthorn in . Eleven different drivers from seven different teams won a race during the season, with no driver winning more than twice; there was also a run of nine different winners in nine consecutive races from the Monaco Grand Prix to the Swiss Grand Prix. Ferrari, who replaced Villeneuve with Patrick Tambay and Pironi with World Champion Mario Andretti, managed to score enough points to secure the Constructors' Championship, finishing five points clear of McLaren with Renault third. Rosberg's team Williams finished fourth in the Constructors' standing a further four points behind McLaren, marking the only time since the Constructors' Championship was introduced in 1958 that a team containing the eventual Drivers' Champion finished outside the top 3 of the Constructors' standings.
Drivers and constructors The following teams and drivers took part in the 1982 Formula One World Championship: + List of entrants into the 1982 Formula One World ChampionshipEntrantConstructorChassisEngineTyresDriver Parmalat Racing Brabham-BMW BT50 BMW M12/13 1.5 L4t 1 Nelson Piquet 1, 5–16 2 Riccardo Patrese 1, 5, 9–16 Brabham-Ford BT49CBT49D Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 1 Nelson Piquet 2–3 2 Riccardo Patrese 2–3, 6–8 Team Tyrrell Tyrrell-Ford 011 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 3 Michele Alboreto All 4 Slim Borgudd 1–3 Brian Henton 4–16 TAG Williams Team Williams-Ford FW07CFW07DFW08 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 5 Carlos Reutemann 1–2 Mario Andretti 3 Derek Daly 5–16 6 Keke Rosberg 1–3, 5–16 Marlboro McLaren International McLaren-Ford MP4/1B Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 7 John Watson 1–3, 5–16 8 Niki Lauda 1–3, 5–16 Team ATS ATS-Ford D5 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 9 Manfred Winkelhock All 10 Eliseo Salazar All John Player Team Lotus Lotus-Ford 87B91 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 11 Elio de Angelis 1–3, 5–16 12 Nigel Mansell 1–3, 5–8, 10, 12–16 Roberto Moreno 9 Geoff Lees 11 Ensign Racing Ensign-Ford N180BN181 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 14 Roberto Guerrero 1–3, 5–16 Équipe Renault Elf Renault RE30B Renault-Gordini EF1 1.5 V6t 15 Alain Prost All 16 René Arnoux All March Grand Prix Team Rothmans Racing with March Grand Prix LBT Team March March-Ford 821 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 17 Jochen Mass 1–3, 5–11 Rupert Keegan 12–16 18 Raul Boesel 1–3, 5–16 19 Emilio de Villota 5–9 Fittipaldi Automotive Fittipaldi-Ford F8DF9 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 20 Chico Serra 1–3, 5–16 Marlboro Team Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 179D182182B Alfa Romeo 1260 3.0 V12 22 Andrea de Cesaris All 23 Bruno Giacomelli All Équipe Talbot Gitanes Talbot Ligier-Matra JS17BJS19 Matra MS81 3.0 V12 25 Eddie Cheever 1–3, 5–16 26 Jacques Laffite 1–3, 5–16 Ferrari Ferrari 126C2 Ferrari 021 1.5 V6t 27 Gilles Villeneuve 1–5 Patrick Tambay 9–16 28 Didier Pironi 1–12 Mario Andretti 15–16 Ragno Arrows Arrows-Ford A4A5 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 29 Brian Henton 1–3 Marc Surer 5–16 30 Mauro Baldi 1–3, 5–16 Denim S.A.I.M.A. Team Osella Osella-Ford FA1CFA1D Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 31 Jean-Pierre Jarier All 32 Riccardo Paletti 1–8 Theodore Racing Team Theodore-Ford TY01TY02 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 33 Derek Daly 1–3 Jan Lammers 5–7, 9–11 Geoff Lees 8 Tommy Byrne 12–16 Candy Toleman Motorsport Toleman Group Motorsport Toleman-Hart TG181BTG181CTG183 Hart 415T 1.5 L4t 35 Derek Warwick 1–6, 9–16 36 Teo Fabi 1–6, 9–16 Source:+ Tyre manufacturers Key Symbol Tyre manufacturer Avon Goodyear Michelin Pirelli
Team changes All teams and constructors who had competed in returned for the new season. Brabham had entered an engine supply deal with German car manufacturer BMW for the use of their inline-four turbo engines. The team announced in January that they were committing to the use of the new BMW engine throughout the season, but after experiencing reliability problems with it, they reverted to the Cosworth DFV motor several times during the season.
Driver changes
At the end of the 1981 season, both Williams drivers, 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, with a third-place finish as his best result.
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, and was partnered by Riccardo Patrese, who moved from Arrows to replace Héctor Rebaque.
The Osella team gave Riccardo Paletti his Grand Prix debut, 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 fired after taking part in the drivers' strike at that race and the seat went to Henton. Eliseo Salazar transferred from Ensign Racing to the ATS team. Mid-season changes Following Reutemann's retirement, Williams hired 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 qualifying 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 in the off season, but was forced to leave the team after only three races 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.
Calendar
RoundGrand PrixCircuitDate 1 South African Grand Prix Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit, Midrand 23 January 2 Brazilian Grand Prix Autodromo Jacarepaguá, Rio de Janeiro 21 March 3 United States Grand Prix West Long Beach Street Circuit, California 4 April 4 San Marino Grand Prix Autodromo Dino Ferrari, Imola 25 April 5 Belgian Grand Prix Circuit Zolder, Heusden-Zolder 9 May 6 Monaco Grand Prix Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo 23 May 7 Detroit Grand Prix Detroit Street Circuit, Michigan 6 June 8 Canadian Grand Prix Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal 13 June 9 Dutch Grand Prix Circuit Park Zandvoort, Zandvoort 3 July 10 British Grand Prix Brands Hatch, West Kingsdown 18 July 11 French Grand Prix Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet 25 July 12 German Grand Prix Hockenheimring, Hockenheim 8 August 13 Austrian Grand Prix Österreichring, Spielberg 15 August 14 Swiss Grand Prix Circuit de Dijon-Prenois, Dijon 29 August 15 Italian Grand Prix Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza 12 September 16 Caesars Palace Grand Prix Caesars Palace Grand Prix Circuit, Las Vegas 25 September Source:
The Australian Grand Prix was a reserve, with a date of 3 October.
Calendar changes The Argentine Grand Prix was scheduled to take place on 7 March, but was cancelled due to lack of sponsors, as several pulled out due to uncertainty following the drivers' strike in the opening race. The Grand Prix was also cancelled due to political unrest in Argentina.David Hayhoe, Formula 1: The Knowledge records and trivia since 1950 – 2nd Edition, 2021, page 35.
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 unpopular with the drivers. In addition, the organisers had failed to pay their fees for 1981. Although the race was re-instated for 27 June after the organisers had paid off their debts to the Formula One Constructors' Association (FOCA), protests from the teams over the dangerous nature, the very narrow track, and outdated facilities of the Jarama venue led to the race being cancelled.
Two new races were added to the calendar compared to 1981: the Detroit Grand Prix and the Swiss Grand Prix, the latter to be held at Circuit de Dijon-Prenois in France since motor racing has been 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 until 2020, when Italy also hosted three Grands Prix.
Background Politics
Starting in the early 1970s, Bernie Ecclestone, owner of the Brabham team, had seized control of the Formula 1 Constructors Association, later renamed Formula One Constructors' Association. In this role, he began to negotiate more lucrative contracts between the teams and the track owners, including obtaining full control over television rights for FOCA. Realising the growing influence of Ecclestone and FOCA, the sport's governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and its head, Paul Metternich, instated Frenchman Jean-Marie Balestre as the head of the Commission Sportive Internationale in 1978, which was then renamed to Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA). FIA delegated running of the sporting regulations governing Formula One to FISA.
Over the following years, a power struggle developed between FOCA and FISA and Ecclestone and Balestre in particular. This conflict is generally referred to as the FISA–FOCA war. FOCA consisted of the majorly British constructor teams, while the manufacturer or "works" teams (Renault, Ferrari, Alfa Romeo and Talbot-Ligier), together with Osella and Toleman were aligned with FISA.