1982 San Marino Grand Prix

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1982 San Marino Grand Prix
Race 4 of 16 in the 1982 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date 25 April 1982
Official nameGran Premio di San Marino
Location Autodromo Dino Ferrari
Imola, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.040 km (3.132 miles)
Distance 60 laps, 302.400 km (187.902 miles)
Pole position
Driver Renault
Time 1:29.765
Fastest lap
Driver France Didier Pironi Ferrari
Time 1:35.036 on lap 44
Podium
First Ferrari
Second Ferrari
Third Tyrrell-Ford
Lap leaders

The 1982 San Marino Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 25 April 1982 at the Autodromo Dino Ferrari, Imola, Italy. It was the fourth race of the 1982 Formula One World Championship. The race was boycotted by many teams as part of a political war, unrelated to the event itself, involving the two dominant forces within Formula One, the Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA) and the Formula One Constructors' Association (FOCA). Only seven teams took part, giving a field of 14 cars.

The 60-lap race was won by Frenchman Didier Pironi, driving a Ferrari, with Canadian teammate Gilles Villeneuve second and Italian Michele Alboreto third in a Tyrrell-Ford. After the Renaults of René Arnoux and Alain Prost retired, Villeneuve led from Pironi before the Ferrari team ordered both drivers to slow down, with Alboreto far behind. Villeneuve interpreted this as an order to maintain position on the track; Pironi did not and thus overtook Villeneuve on the final lap, infuriating the Canadian to the point that he vowed never to speak to Pironi again. Villeneuve would lose his life in a crash during qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix two weeks later.

Summary[edit]

In a decision relating to the 1982 Brazilian Grand Prix, Nelson Piquet and Keke Rosberg were excluded for their cars' use of water tanks as ballast to keep them under the weight limit during race conditions. The Formula One Constructors' Association (FOCA) protested, and decided to boycott the 1982 San Marino Grand Prix.

Most of the FOCA-aligned teams, including Brabham, McLaren, Williams and Lotus, boycotted the race. However, the Tyrrell, Osella, ATS and Toleman teams broke the boycott, citing "sponsor obligations". They joined the FISA-aligned Ferrari, Renault and Alfa Romeo teams in the race, giving a total of 14 cars.

The Renaults of René Arnoux and Alain Prost qualified first and second, but their cars failed in the race, leaving Ferrari occupying the top two positions with Gilles Villeneuve leading Didier Pironi. The third-placed Tyrrell of Michele Alboreto was far behind, so Ferrari ordered their drivers to slow down to minimize the risk of mechanical failure or running out of fuel. Villeneuve believed this order also meant that the cars were to maintain position on the track, with Villeneuve ahead of Pironi. However, Pironi believed that the cars were free to race, and passed Villeneuve. Villeneuve believed that Pironi was simply trying to spice up an otherwise dull race, and duly re-passed his teammate, assuming that he would then hold station for the remainder of the race. Thus, Villeneuve failed to protect the inside line going into the Tosa corner on the final lap, and Pironi passed him to take the win. Villeneuve was irate at what he saw as Pironi's betrayal, although opinion inside the Ferrari team was split over the true meaning of the order to slow down. Villeneuve's expression was sullen on the podium, enraged by Pironi's actions. He was quoted afterwards as saying, "I'll never speak to Pironi again in my life." They proved to be prophetic words, as he was still not on speaking terms with his teammate when he died during qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix two weeks later. Pironi's pass on Villeneuve is considered to be one of the most controversial moments in Formula One.[1][2]

Manfred Winkelhock was disqualified for his car being underweight in post-race scrutineering.

Despite most of the FOCA-aligned teams boycotting the race it still counted towards the World Championship. This was a bone of contention with the FOCA teams as two previous races held during the war (the 1980 Spanish Grand Prix and the 1981 South African Grand Prix) which had seen all three manufacturer teams boycotting had been down-graded to non-championship races and had not counted towards the championship or official records.

Classification[edit]

Qualifying[edit]

Pos No. Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap
1 16 France René Arnoux Renault 1:32.628 1:29.765
2 15 France Alain Prost Renault 1:31.169 1:30.249 + 0.484
3 27 Canada Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 1:31.541 1:30.717 + 0.952
4 28 France Didier Pironi Ferrari 1:32.020 1:32.779 + 2.255
5 3 Italy Michele Alboreto Tyrrell-Ford 1:34.480 1:33.209 + 3.444
6 23 Italy Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo 1:35.214 1:33.230 + 3.465
7 22 Italy Andrea de Cesaris Alfa Romeo 1:33.879 1:33.397 + 3.632
8 35 United Kingdom Derek Warwick Toleman-Hart 1:34.062 1:33.503 + 3.738
9 31 France Jean-Pierre Jarier Osella-Ford 1:34.715 1:34.336 + 4.571
10 36 Italy Teo Fabi Toleman-Hart 1:42.529 1:34.647 + 4.882
11 4 United Kingdom Brian Henton Tyrrell-Ford 1:36.100 1:35.262 + 5.497
12 9 West Germany Manfred Winkelhock ATS-Ford 1:36.155 1:35.790 + 6.025
13 32 Italy Riccardo Paletti Osella-Ford 1:37.999 1:36.228 + 6.463
14 10 Chile Eliseo Salazar ATS-Ford 1:41.255 1:36.434 + 6.669

Race[edit]

Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 28 France Didier Pironi Ferrari G 60 1:36:38.887 4 9
2 27 Canada Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari G 60 + 0.366 3 6
3 3 Italy Michele Alboreto Tyrrell-Ford G 60 + 1:07.684 5 4
4 31 France Jean-Pierre Jarier Osella-Ford P 59 + 1 Lap 9 3
5 10 Chile Eliseo Salazar ATS-Ford A 57 + 3 Laps 14 2
DSQ 9 West Germany Manfred Winkelhock ATS-Ford A 54 Underweight 12  
NC 36 Italy Teo Fabi Toleman-Hart P 52 + 8 Laps 10  
Ret 16 France René Arnoux Renault M 44 Turbo 1  
Ret 23 Italy Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo M 24 Engine 6  
Ret 32 Italy Riccardo Paletti Osella-Ford P 7 Suspension 13  
Ret 15 France Alain Prost Renault M 6 Engine 2  
Ret 22 Italy Andrea de Cesaris Alfa Romeo M 4 Electrical 7  
Ret 4 United Kingdom Brian Henton Tyrrell-Ford G 0 Transmission 11  
Ret 35 United Kingdom Derek Warwick Toleman-Hart P 0 Electrical 8  
Source:[3][4]

Championship standings after the race[edit]

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Imola 1982: An F1 controversy that keeps on rolling". Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  2. ^ Cooper, Adam. "Treachery and betrayal at Imola: the most controversial San Marino GPs". Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  3. ^ "1982 San Marino Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 4 November 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  4. ^ "1982 San Marino Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive". GPArchive.com. 25 April 1982. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  5. ^ a b "San Marino 1982 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.


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1982 Belgian Grand Prix
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