1982 Formula One World Championship

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".

[1] 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.

[4] At the end of the 1981 season, both Williams drivers, 1980 World Champion Alan Jones and Carlos Reutemann, had announced their retirement from racing.

[10] 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.

[5] The Osella team gave Riccardo Paletti his Grand Prix debut, while Toleman replaced Brian Henton with Teo Fabi, also a newcomer to Formula One.

[13] Following Reutemann's retirement, Williams hired 1978 World Champion Mario Andretti as a one-off replacement for the United States Grand Prix West.

[14] 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.

[20] 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.

[22] The following rounds were included on the provisional calendars but were cancelled: The Australian Grand Prix was a reserve race to be held in Ravenhall on the outskirts of Melbourne, with a date of 3 October.

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.

This agreement stipulated that all teams were obliged to attend all rounds of the championship, while at the same time settling differences over future regulation changes.

[d] 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 worst record in the previous year would compete to be allowed into qualification proper.

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 to reduce cornering speed.

[47] Alfa Romeo retained what motorsport writer Doug Nye called the most powerful three-litre engine seen in Formula One at that time, with 548 bhp (409 kW).

[52] Even with these effective technical advances in chassis design, the FOCA teams with a Cosworth DFV motor had a significant power disadvantage compared to the constructors who used a turbocharged engine.

[39] The week before the first Grand Prix weekend of the season in South Africa, teams gathered for a test session which was conducted at the Kyalami circuit.

[57] On the Wednesday between testing and the first practice session of the South African Grand Prix, during a meeting of the Formula One Commission,[e] Pironi, on behalf of the drivers, objected to the licence application.

[67][68] The heavy strain posed onto the drivers by the bumpy circuit and hot, humid weather was showcased not only by Patrese retiring on lap 34 due to exhaustion, but also when Piquet fainted on the winners' rostrum.

[69] Following the race, both Ferrari and Renault protested the first- and second-place finishes of Piquet and Rosberg, citing the water tanks used by Brabham and Williams to be illegal.

[73] In the week before the next round, the San Marino Grand Prix, the FIA International Court of Appeal sided with Ferrari and Renault on their complaint over the water tanks at the race in Brazil and disqualified Piquet and Rosberg, handing victory to Prost.

[74] All other runners' results from the Brazilian Grand Prix were upheld, including Watson's, who inherited second place even though his use of the water tanks had been as illegal as the others.

[75][76] The FOCA teams requested a postponement of the next race until July to allow consideration of the effects of the court's judgement, on the grounds that it changed the regulations of the sport.

[g] The turbocharged Renaults and Ferraris were heavily favoured and Arnoux duly took pole position ahead of Prost, with Villeneuve and Pironi on the second row.

Due to the fast nature of the Imola track, Ferrari team boss Mauro Forghieri told his drivers to save fuel.

But finishing second because the bastard steals it..." Gilles Villeneuve describing his relationship with teammate Didier Pironi after the San Marino Grand Prix.

The big surprise of the day was defending World Champion Piquet, who failed to qualify as his Brabham BT50 had engine problems and the spare car was not performing well either.

Watson, who qualified 17th on the grid, got his Michelin tyres working well on the Detroit circuit and overtook one driver after another until, on lap 37, he went into the lead, as Rosberg had gearbox issues.

A pit stop midway through the race was supposed to refuel the car and change tyres, giving the Brabham drivers the advantage to be able to lap quicker than everybody else and gain enough of a lead to win.

[123] At the last race of the season, the Caesars Palace Grand Prix in Las Vegas, Prost took pole position ahead of Arnoux.

[123] Following "a season touched by tragedy, clouded in controversy and enveloped in excitement",[27] FISA announced that the "ground effect" would be banned for 1983 to make the cars safer.

Black-and-white photograph of Keke Rosberg
Keke Rosberg won his first and only Drivers' Championship with Williams with 44 points, despite having trailed for most of the season and having only won one race.
Red Ferrari racing car exiting a corner during a race
Ferrari won the Constructors' Championship with the 126C2 .
Photograph of Carlos Reutemann in the background in conversation with Frank Williams, visible in the foreground with his head turned away from the camera.
Carlos Reutemann (pictured in 1981) stayed with the team of Frank Williams (right) , only to retire from the sport after two races.
Map view of downtown Detroit with the race course lined out in black.
A race in downtown Detroit was one of two new events on the calendar for 1982.
Portrait of Bernie Ecclestone
Bernie Ecclestone (pictured in 1991) , owner of Brabham and chairman of FOCA , was one of the leading figures in the FISA–FOCA war .
Sideview of a white Williams racing car going through a corner during a race
The Cosworth DFV -powered Williams FW08 was the last naturally aspirated car used to win the Drivers' Championship until 1989 . Pictured here is eventual World Champion Keke Rosberg at the British Grand Prix .
Black-and-white photograph of men playing football on a racetrack
Mechanics play football on the main straight of Kyalami during the drivers' strike
Two men in suits standing left and right of a red-and-white racing car
Andrea de Cesaris ( left ) took a surprise pole position at Long Beach in his Alfa Romeo 182 ( pictured ).
Sideview of a white-and-dark blue Brabham racing car during a race
Defending champion Nelson Piquet (pictured at the British Grand Prix ) , failed to qualify in Detroit , but won the next race in Canada .
Sideview of a red-and-white McLaren racing car during a race
Niki Lauda won two races in his comeback season, first in Long Beach , then in the United Kingdom (pictured) .
Frontview of a yellow-and-white Renault racing car during a race
Renault was dominant in qualifying, taking 10 out of 16 pole positions , but finished only third in the Constructors' Championship due to poor reliability of their RE30B (pictured) .