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==Milestones== |
==Milestones== |
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| + | *The 1982 South African Grand Prix was the 27th running of the event. |
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| + | *Second win in a row for Renault in South Africa. |
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==Standings after race== |
==Standings after race== |
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Revision as of 10:55, 21 September 2014
The 1982 South African Grand Prix was the first race of the 1982 Formula One Season, held at the Kyalami circuit in South Africa.[1] The weekend saw a dispute between the drivers and FISA over the rules regarding the Superlicense drivers required to race, which threatened to see the race cancelled.[2] A temporary peace was negotiated, and the race was held on the 23rd of January, with Alain Prost claiming victory.[2]
Background
The winter of 1981/82 saw numerous changes across the teams, as teams focused on developing the infamous turbo charged engines that defined the 1980s.[2] Kyalami had already hosted a pre-season test, which had seen Marc Surer of Arrows F1 break both his feet in a crash, meaning they had to hire a new driver.[2] The race also saw the return of Niki Lauda to racing, who returned amid a series of rumours surrounding his finances, with McLaren offering him a drive.[2]
Over the winter, FISA (the governing body of Formula One) had introduced a new addition to the Superlicense, which tied drivers to a single team for three seasons, as well as effectively forcing them to declare their financial status.[2] Lauda and Didier Pironi led the protest against the new terms, which meant the drivers boycotted the practice sessions at Kyalami.[2] A compromise was reached to allow the race to go ahead, although the schedule was severely hampered.[2]
Practice Overview
The Friday practice sessions were not held due to the dispute between the drivers and FISA, meaning that qualifying and practice were held together after the dispute was resolved.[2]
Qualifying
Qualifying for the 1982 South African Grand Prix was held on the 24th of January, with the turbocharged cars having a significant advantage (around 120bhp) over their normally aspirated rivals.[2] The chaotic nature of the weekend meant that few people expected the car of René Arnoux to claim pole.[2] Four drivers failed to qualify for the race.[2]
Qualifying Results
Race
Before the race, there were no tensions between the drivers and FISA on show, with the entire 26 car field prepared to race.[2] The power advantage for the turbos meant that the top six drivers were aided by them from the start, although the work of the winter in making them more reliable was yet to be proved.[2]
Report
The Renaults made the best start, as Arnoux took the lead and Prost leapt from fifth to second over the course of the first lap.[2] They were followed by the battling Ferraris of Gilles Villeneuve and Didier Pironi, while Keke Rosberg (thie highest placed non-turbocharged car) bottled up the field behind.[2] Early casualties on the opening lap were Jean-Pierre Jarier and Nigel Mansell, who retired through an accident and an electrical issue respectively.[2]
Other early retirements came from Nelson Piquet (suffering from brake fade which sent him off on more than one occasion) on lap 3 and Villeneuve (with his turbo destroying his engine) on lap 6.[2] Between their failures, Rosberg fell behind Riccardo Patrese, before his gear lever began to fall apart, costing him time on every lap afterwards.[2] Eddie Cheever joined the crowds in watching the race with a fuel issue just before the leaders began to catch the back of the field.[2]
Arnoux remained in the lead, with Prost stalking him for the first thirteen laps.[2] As the pair travelled down the longest straight in Grand Prix racing in 1982, they caught the first of the backmarkers, causing Arnoux to lift.[2] Prost, ever the opportunist, pounced, sweeping past his team mate and quickly establishing an ever growing lead.[2] Over the next few laps, John Watson and Niki Lauda were promoted into the top six after Patrese (engine failure) and Pironi (tyre change) fell down the order.[2] The field began to spread as battles ended in stalemate, with Pironi the only driver making any progress on fresh tyres (flying past Lauda before the halfway mark).[2]
Prost enjoyed a huge lead, until, on lap 41, he came into the pits, his rear right tyre punctured.[2] Arnoux took over the lead, although the Renaults (which were the only turbocharged cars that had not run into problems) as a whole had established a significant gap over the field, meaning Prost dropped back into second.[2] The young Frenchman then set about the task of deposing his team mate, catching and passing him with ten laps to go.[2] Arnoux would then lose second to Carlos Reutermann with four to go, although he retained his podium spot by taking third.[2] The rest of the points went to Lauda (who benefitted from the demise of Pironi towards the end) in fourth and Watson (Lauda's McLaren teammate) in sixth, the pair split by Rosberg.[2]
Results
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Pts | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15 |  Alain Prost
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Renault | 77 | 1:32:08.401s | 5 | 9 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | 5 |  Carlos Reutemann
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Williams-Cosworth | 77 | +14.946s | 8 | 6 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | 16 | René Arnoux
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Renault | 77 | +27.900s | 1 | 4 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | 8 |  Niki Lauda
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McLaren-Ford | 77 | +32.113s | 13 | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | 6 |  Keke Rosberg
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Williams-Cosworth | 77 | +46.139s | 7 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | 7 |  John Watson
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McLaren-Ford | 77 | +50.993s | 9 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | 3 |  Michele Alboreto
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Tyrrell-Cosworth | 76 | +1 lap | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | 11 | Elio de Angelis
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Lotus-Cosworth | 76 | +1 lap | 15 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9 | 10 |  Eliseo Salazar
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Template:ATS-Cosworth | 75 | +2 laps | 12 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10 | 9 |  Manfred Winkelhock
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Template:ATS-Cosworth | 75 | +2 laps | 20 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 11 | 23 | Bruno Giacomelli
|
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74 | +3 laps | 19 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 12 | 17 | Jochen Mass
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March-Cosworth | 74 | +3 laps | 22 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 13 | 22 | Andrea de Cesaris
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73 | +4 laps | 16 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 14 | 33 |  Derek Daly
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Template:Theodore-Cosworth | 73 | +4 laps | 24 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 15 | 18 |  Raul Boesel
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March-Cosworth | 72 | +5 laps | 21 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 16 | 4 |  Slim Borgudd
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Tyrrell-Cosworth | 72 | +5 laps | 23 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 17 | 20 | Chico Serra
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Template:Fitipaldi-Cosworth | 72 | +5 laps | 25 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 18 | 28 | Didier Pironi
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Ferrari | 71 | Engine | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ret | 26 | Jacques Laffite
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Ligier-Matra | 54 | Fuel | 11 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ret | 35 | Derek Warwick
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Toleman-Hart | 43 | Accident | 14 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ret | 2 | Riccardo Patrese
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Brabham-BMW | 18 | Turbo | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ret | 25 |  Eddie Cheever
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Ligier-Matra | 11 | Fuel | 17 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ret | 27 |  Gilles Villeneuve
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Ferrari | 6 | Turbo | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ret | 1 | Nelson Piquet
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Brabham-BMW | 3 | Accident | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ret | 12 | Nigel Mansell
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Lotus-Cosworth | 0 | Electrics | 18 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ret | 31 | Jean-Pierre Jarier
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Template:Osella-Cosworth | 0 | Accident | 26 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Milestones
- The 1982 South African Grand Prix was the 27th running of the event.
- Second win in a row for Renault in South Africa.
Standings after race
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