Niki Lauda and Keke Rosberg salute the crowd after the 1982 US Grand Prix West at the Long Beach circuit in California. Photograph: Allsport
Some Formula 1 seasons have been more eventful and exciting
than 2013. Take 1982 for example. What it may have lacked in quality, it made
up for in talking points. It was rarely dull. The year started with a drivers'
strike, contained a Grand Prix postponement, controversial disqualifications, a
boycott, tragedies, last-lap dramas, and a world champion who only won one
race. Never mind a blog, there is enough material for a whole book from this
period in the sport.
The strike
The season had barely begun before the chaos started.
Unhappy with certain elements of the new super licences proposed by the
Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA), the drivers took the
decision to strike during the practice sessions of the opening race in South
Africa.
Thirty drivers boarded a coach – Jochen Mass was unaware of
the group actions and was staying in a different location to the other drivers
– and departed the Kyalami circuit en masse. Strength in unity was very much
the mantra for the group, as the rebels barricaded themselves in a conference
room in the Sunnyside Hotel so that they could not be pestered by their teams
and the relevant authorities.
The room was turned into a makeshift dorm, mattresses laid
across the floor with drivers sharing beds, and the group being royally
entertained by Elio de Angelis and Gilles Villeneuve on the piano. Stories from
this episode are boundless, the feeling of camaraderie growing among the
usually independent drivers. Only one man backed down – Teo Fabi, who was
rumoured to have fled through a bathroom window – a move that hardly endeared
him to the other drivers throughout the remainder of the season.
There were two main gripes with the super licences. Firstly,
that each individual driver had to sign a contract stating that they would
drive for a given team for a defined period of time, up to three years, thus
preventing them from entering contract negotiations with other teams. And
secondly, that they could no way speak in a way that would reflect badly on the
governing body FISA.
Represented by Ferrari's Didier Pironi, with the returning
Niki Lauda acting as group spokesman, the drivers were determined to stay
strong throughout. The situation was looking desperate at various points, with
teams actually looking into the option of bringing in other drivers to solve
the problem, and the South African Grand Prix was in serious danger of being
called off. With only Jochen Mass taking to the track for the practice session,
a sense of farce descended over proceedings.
Eventually the drivers returned, given verbal assurances by
FISA President Jean-Marie Balestre that they would not be punished for their
misdemeanours. Unfortunately Balestre was not totally honest, his fury over
events leading to fines ranging between $5,000-$10,000 and suspended bans
varying from two to five races being imposed on the 29 men who stuck things out
until the end. The row would rumble on and on.
The cancellation
Alain Prost won the South African Grand Prix on 23 January,
but it would be almost two months before the next race of the season in Brazil.
The scheduled follow-up to South Africa – the Argentinian Grand Prix on 7 March
– never took place, as the championship lurched from one crisis to another.
The Argentinian Grand Prix was postponed after race
organisers declared that various sponsors had backed out of the event due to
the indecision caused by the drivers' strike in South Africa. With potential
heavy losses, the Argentinian authorities simply could not afford to take any
risks.
Eventually, the International Automobile Federation (FIA)
Court of Appeal adjusted the super licence contract issues, and reduced the
fines and suspended race sentences dished out after South Africa. The circus
moved on to the Brazilian Grand Prix, but you may have guessed that the
controversy did not end there.
The disqualification
After the hassle of South Africa and the postponement in
Argentina, it appeared to be business as usual in Brazil. Nelson Piquet
delighted home fans by winning the race in his Brabham, with the Williams
driver Keke Rosberg in second place. In 1982 though, nothing could be taken for
granted.
Renault and Ferrari immediately lodged a protest against
Brabham and Williams, insisting that both drivers had raced in cars under the
minimum legal weight. Another race – the US Grand Prix West at Long Beach, won
by Lauda – had taken place before the appeal was heard by the FIA. When Piquet
and Rosberg were disqualified, Prost was promoted to first place, thus taking
an early lead in the championship, and in the process, opening up a whole new
can of worms before the next race in San Marino.
The boycott
The disqualification of Piquet and Rosberg was one thing,
but when a decision was taken by the FIA to adjust the weighing procedures of
cars after a race, another messy situation developed in the already volatile
world of F1.
Post-race weighing of cars had previously seen oil and
coolant levels topped up before a reading was taken, but now the FIA seemed to
be moving the goalposts. After Brazil, the FIA announced that cars would now be
weighed before any liquids were added, greatly impacting on any team that used
the ballast water tank for cooling brakes through the race (and refilled after
finishing). The Britain-based Formula OneConstructors'
Association (FOCA) were up in arms over this new development.
An emergency meeting was held, with FOCA decreeing that any
teams based in Britain were to boycott the forthcoming Grand Prix at Imola.
Although some teams (Tyrrell, Osella, ATS and Toleman) ignored this course of
action, only 14 cars took part in the San Marino Grand Prix, with the Ferrari's
of Villeneuve and Pironi unsurprisingly dominating after both Renaults had
retired.
Even a race involving only 14 cars caused some rancour,
however. Villeneuve and Pironi swapped positions at the head of the field five
times, but after Pironi regained the lead on the final lap – apparently ignoring
team orders to slow down – Villeneuve was furious, allegedly vowing never to
speak to Pironi again. Which makes the subsequent disaster in Belgium even
sadder.
The tragedies
Just two weeks after Imola, Villeneuve was killed during the
closing stages of qualification for the Belgian Grand Prix. An accidental
coming together with Mass' slow-moving March car saw Villeneuve's Ferrari
catapulted into the sky, bodywork strewn in all directions, and Villeneuve
thrown from the car.
Villeneuve was given the kiss of life and a heart massage by
track marshalls, but after being helicoptered to Louvain hospital with severe
neck and brain injuries, he passed away later that evening. Ferrari instantly
withdrew from the race, and F1 mourned the loss of a popular and supremely
talented driver.
Sadly this was not the only fatality during the 1982 season.
Italian Riccardo Paletti, participating in only his second race, crashed into
Pironi's stalled car at the start of the Canadian Grand Prix, and he later died
due to massive internal haemorrhaging.
It was estimated that Paletti had been travelling at 120mph
at the time of the collision, but before Pironi and race marshalls could get to
the Osella, Paletti's car burst into flames. The fire was extinguished, but
there was a delay of half an hour, until Paletti was cut free, and his death,
coming so soon after that of Villeneuve, shook the sport further.
These were not the only safety incidents, however. After
surviving a serious crash at the French Grand Prix in July, Mass was a lucky
man to hobble away with minor burns, but such had been the impact of
Villeneuve's death on the German, that he took his own accident as a sign that
he needed to quit the sport. He would never race again in a F1 Grand Prix.
As ever in sport, the show went on, and it appeared as if
Pironi would go on to claim the title. Yet in this troublesome year there would
be one more incident which shaped the destiny of the championship.
During qualification for the German Grand Prix (in wet
conditions), Pironi crashed into the back of Prost's Renault and was flung into
the air. "Suddenly I felt something hit me very hard in the back. Then I
saw the red Ferrari flying over me. It was doing 140 miles an hour," said
Prost.
The injuries to Pironi's legs were so hideous, that the
first driver on the scene vomited at seeing the damage caused to the Ferrari
driver. Doctors feared that Pironi would never walk again, and despite
recovering after numerous operations, the German Grand Prix would be the last
F1 race of his career.
The German Grand Prix is also remembered for Nelson Piquet's infamous attack on Eliseo Salazar. This was no
ordinary season.
The mayhem in Monaco
The race after Villeneuve's death was in Monaco,
unsurprisingly conducted under grey clouds, both metaphorically and in terms of
the weather. For 73 of the 76 laps there had been little to write home about.
And then pandemonium.
Alain Prost looked to be coasting to victory with just two
laps to go, until the light rain showers that had hit the circuit started to
have an impact. Prost spun out of the race, handing the lead to Riccardo
Patrese, before he too appeared to throw away his chance at glory, sliding
across a bend at Loews and stalling his Brabham.
The chaos continued. Pironi now took a turn to be race
leader, but agonisingly his car developed an electrical fault on the last lap,
ending his hopes. Andrea de Cesaris was briefly promoted to first place, only
for his vehicle to run out of fuel. All eyes then turned to Ireland's Derek
Daly, yet as the cameras cut to his Williams car grinding to a halt, confusion
reigned.
In the mess, Patrese had been pushed back into a safe
position by race marshalls, and had managed to bump start his car while moving
downhill. On crossing the finishing line the Italian had no idea he had won his
first Grand Prix, mistakenly thinking he was in second place. "On the
finishing lap everybody was waving flags and so on, while I was thinking I'd
thrown it all away," said Patrese, who remained unaware of his win until
he was ushered towards the podium.
Five different leaders in the last two laps; it's hardly
surprising that Murray Walker described the race at the time as "certainly
the most eventful, exciting, momentous Grand Prix I have ever seen".
The champion
In Pironi's absence, the world title was up for grabs. With
just four races left in the season, the table indicated just how close things
were: Pironi 39 points, John Watson 30, Keke Rosberg 27, Prost 25, Lauda 24. In
a crazy race for the title, even Pironi still had an outside chance.
Pironi was only knocked off top spot with two races to go.
The man who finally took charge of the championship must at one point have
wondered if he was ever destined to win a Grand Prix at all. Keke Rosberg's win
in the Grand Prix of Switzerland – hosted in France due to Switzerland's laws
on hosting motor racing – was a decisive moment in the season. It gave Rosberg
his first ever Grand Prix win and the lead in the championship. After the
dramatic events at the previous race in Austria, Rosberg's joy was twofold.
Rosberg had been denied his maiden win in Austria in one of
the closest finishes of all time. With a lap remaining, the Lotus of Elio de
Angelis led Rosberg's Williams by 1.64 seconds, but in a gripping finale, the
Finn closed the gap, pushing desperately for an opening. De Angelis held on for
his first Grand Prix win, beating Rosberg by 0.05 seconds and by just four
feet.
The win in France ensured Rosberg's Austrian agony was
quickly forgotten, and come the final race of the season in Las Vegas – the
third Grand Prix to have been held in America in 1982 – the Finn needed just a
point to secure the title. His fifth-place finish made Rosberg the 1982 world
champion, even though he had only won one race during the season. Consistency
was the key, although Pironi's career-ending crash was obviously a significant
turning point.
Overall, the 1982 season was fairly unusual. No driver won
more than two races, five men secured their maiden wins – Patrese, Patrick
Tambay, de Angelis, Rosberg, and Michele Alboreto – with 11 different men
winning the 16 races. From the strike shenanigans in South Africa to Rosberg
claiming the title, it was a season touched by tragedy, clouded in controversy
and enveloped in excitement.
It has been a delight researching this piece, finding out
information on a season which was interesting from the beginning to the end. In
fact, it has whetted my appetite so much for the sport that I may go to the
loft and dust off my Scalectrix set..
source http://www.theguardian.com/sport/that-1980s-sports-blog/2013/oct/14/remembering-1982-f1-world-championshipby Steven Pye
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