Paletti tested extensively during the winter, and the effort paid off during the opening rounds of the season, as he qualified 10th in the first race at Silverstone, before finishing second behind Mike Thackwell.

He travelled with a personal medical adviser who was monitoring his blood pressure and heartbeat with small sensors attached to his body during testing and practice sessions.

For the second round of the season, at the Jacarepaguá circuit near Rio de Janeiro, the venue for the Brazilian Grand Prix, Paletti had to prequalify on Friday morning, but a wheel fell off the Osella after a suspension failure and again he did not make the grid.

For the fourth Grand Prix of the season, at Imola on 25 April, amidst a war between the FISA and FOCA, only 14 cars loyal to the organisation started the race.

However, on Sunday afternoon Paletti's Osella failed to fire up for the warm-up lap and by the time he had left the pits the other cars were already lining up for the start.

This meant it would be a race against time for Paletti's mechanics to set up the car and they were still busy when the rest of the field progressed to the grid.

Paletti qualified for the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday 13 June 1982, the first time he would start successfully in a full line-up.

[3] Raul Boesel just clipped the back left of the Ferrari, spinning his March into the path of Eliseo Salazar and Jochen Mass.

[4] However, Paletti could not react in time and slammed into the rear of the stranded Ferrari at 180 km/h (110 mph), catapulting it into the path of Geoff Lees.

Due to the force of the severe impact, Paletti sustained heavy chest injuries and was lying unconscious in his car, wedged against the steering wheel.

As Watkins climbed over the wreckage of the Osella, the petrol from the fuel tank ignited, enveloping the car in a wall of fire.

[5] According to track doctor Jacques Bouchard his pupils were already dilated[6] when medical personnel arrived and that the extended extraction time made no difference to his chances of survival.

There is also a side altar in the Church of Santa Maria al Carrobiolo, Monza dedicated to his memory, in the Chapel of the Crucifix.