1982 German Grand Prix

1982 German Grand Prix
Race 12 of 16 in the 1982 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date	8 August 1982
Official name	XLIV Großer Preis von Deutschland
Location	Hockenheimring, Hockenheim, West Germany
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	6.802 km (4.227 miles)
Distance	45 laps, 306.090 km (190.215 miles)
Weather	Dry
Pole position
Driver	Didier Pironi	Ferrari
Time	1:47.947
Fastest lap
Driver	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-BMW
Time	1:54.035 on lap 7
Podium
First	Patrick Tambay	Ferrari
Second	René Arnoux	Renault
Third	Keke Rosberg	Williams-Ford
Lap leaders

The 1982 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Hockenheimring on 8 August 1982. It was won by Patrick Tambay for Scuderia Ferrari. René Arnoux finished second in a Renault with Keke Rosberg third for Williams. This was the last race for Didier Pironi as he crashed heavily during qualifying sustaining injuries ending his championship hopes.

Report

Qualifying

Hockenheim had been modified from the year before, with the first chicane being made slower and another chicane added to slow cars through the very fast Ostkurve. Didier Pironi set the fastest practice time, but was seriously injured in qualifying for this Grand Prix and never raced in Formula One again. With the track wet thanks to persistent showers, Pironi was on a quick lap when his Ferrari hit the back of Alain Prost's slow moving Renault at high speed, vaulting over the top of it before landing tail-first and cartwheeling to a stop in eerie similarity to Gilles Villeneuve's fatal accident earlier in the season. Pironi survived but suffered severe leg injuries that sidelined him for the rest of the year. He never managed to return to Formula One and died in 1987. Pironi's accident also had a profound effect on Prost who never forgot the sight of the Ferrari flying over his car, the crash firming his views on the danger of driving Formula One cars in the wet, where visibility was virtually zero when following behind another car.

Thanks to Hockenheim's long straights, the turbocharged cars were overwhelmingly dominant in qualifying. Not only did turbocharged cars take up the first six grid positions, but the utmost proof of this was how Riccardo Patrese, who placed 6th in the turbocharged Brabham-BMW, was 2.9 seconds faster than the fastest non-turbo qualifier, Michele Alboreto in 7th driving a Ford-Cosworth powered Tyrrell. The Toleman pair of Derek Warwick and Teo Fabi could not use the turbocharged Hart engines to their advantage, with Warwick only managing 14th position and Fabi failing to qualify.

Race

Since Ferrari never withdrew the injured Pironi, pole position was left empty at the start. Nelson Piquet led the race, but collided with Eliseo Salazar while lapping him at the new Ostkurve chicane. Piquet ripped his seatbelt off before his car had stopped moving. After the two cars came to a stop, an irate Piquet quickly climbed out of his Brabham, approached Salazar, and then punched and kicked Salazar in a rage, which continued for some time after the collision. Patrick Tambay, driving the lone Ferrari, won his first Formula One race.

Several months later, a mechanic revealed that Piquet's BMW engine was suffering from mechanical issues and would have blown up anyway had he not been taken out by the crash. Piquet then phoned Salazar, both to apologize for his outburst and to convey the gratitude of BMW executives, several of whom personally attended the race and were thus spared the embarrassment of witnessing their engine failing at their home country Grand Prix.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Q1	Q2	Gap
1	28	Didier Pironi	Ferrari	1:47.947	no time	—
2	15	Alain Prost	Renault	1:48.890	2:07.540	+0.943
3	16	René Arnoux	Renault	1:49.256	2:11.164	+1.309
4	1	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-BMW	1:49.415	2:03.434	+1.468
5	27	Patrick Tambay	Ferrari	1:49.570	2:04.090	+1.623
6	2	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham-BMW	1:49.760	no time	+1.813
7	3	Michele Alboreto	Tyrrell-Ford	1:52.625	no time	+4.678
8	22	Andrea de Cesaris	Alfa Romeo	1:52.786	2:08.873	+4.839
9	6	Keke Rosberg	Williams-Ford	1:52.892	2:05.368	+4.945
10	7	John Watson	McLaren-Ford	1:53.073	2:07.821	+5.126
11	23	Bruno Giacomelli	Alfa Romeo	1:53.887	2:12.280	+5.940
12	25	Eddie Cheever	Ligier-Matra	1:54.211	no time	+6.264
13	11	Elio de Angelis	Lotus-Ford	1:54.476	no time	+6.529
14	35	Derek Warwick	Toleman-Hart	1:54.594	no time	+6.647
15	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Matra	1:54.982	no time	+7.035
16	9	Manfred Winkelhock	ATS-Ford	1:55.223	2:11.546	+7.276
17	4	Brian Henton	Tyrrell-Ford	1:55.474	2:11.280	+7.527
18	12	Nigel Mansell	Lotus-Ford	1:55.866	no time	+7.919
19	5	Derek Daly	Williams-Ford	1:55.876	2:07.514	+7.929
20	31	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Osella-Ford	1:56.250	2:11.607	+8.303
21	14	Roberto Guerrero	Ensign-Ford	1:56.489	2:14.398	+8.542
22	10	Eliseo Salazar	ATS-Ford	1:56.537	2:11.823	+8.590
23	30	Mauro Baldi	Arrows-Ford	1:56.680	2:12.107	+8.733
24	18	Raul Boesel	March-Ford	1:57.245	2:13.758	+9.298
25	20	Chico Serra	Fittipaldi-Ford	1:57.337	no time	+9.390
26	29	Marc Surer	Arrows-Ford	1:57.402	2:10.226	+9.455
27	33	Tommy Byrne	Theodore-Ford	1:59.007	2:13.032	+11.060
28	17	Rupert Keegan	March-Ford	1:59.951	no time	+12.004
29	36	Teo Fabi	Toleman-Hart	no time	no time	–
WD	8	Niki Lauda	McLaren-Ford	1:52.683	no time	+4.736

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Tyre	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	27	Patrick Tambay	Ferrari	G	45	1:27:25.178	5	9
2	16	René Arnoux	Renault	G	45	+ 16.379	3	6
3	6	Keke Rosberg	Williams-Ford	G	44	+ 1 Lap	9	4
4	3	Michele Alboreto	Tyrrell-Ford	G	44	+ 1 Lap	7	3
5	23	Bruno Giacomelli	Alfa Romeo	G	44	+ 1 Lap	11	2
6	29	Marc Surer	Arrows-Ford	P	44	+ 1 Lap	26	1
7	4	Brian Henton	Tyrrell-Ford	G	44	+ 1 Lap	17
8	14	Roberto Guerrero	Ensign-Ford	M	44	+ 1 Lap	21
9	12	Nigel Mansell	Lotus-Ford	G	43	+ 2 Laps	18
10	35	Derek Warwick	Toleman-Hart	P	43	+ 2 Laps	14
11	20	Chico Serra	Fittipaldi-Ford	P	43	+ 2 Laps	25
Ret	7	John Watson	McLaren-Ford	G	36	Spun Off	10
Ret	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Matra	G	36	Handling	15
Ret	5	Derek Daly	Williams-Ford	G	25	Engine	19
Ret	18	Raul Boesel	March-Ford	A	22	Tyre	24
Ret	11	Elio de Angelis	Lotus-Ford	G	21	Handling	13
Ret	1	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-BMW	G	18	Collision	4
Ret	10	Eliseo Salazar	ATS-Ford	M	17	Collision	22
Ret	15	Alain Prost	Renault	G	14	Injection	2
Ret	2	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham-BMW	G	13	Engine	6
Ret	22	Andrea de Cesaris	Alfa Romeo	G	9	Gearbox	8
Ret	25	Eddie Cheever	Ligier-Matra	G	8	Fuel System	12
Ret	30	Mauro Baldi	Arrows-Ford	P	6	Fuel System	23
Ret	31	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Osella-Ford	P	3	Steering	20
Ret	9	Manfred Winkelhock	ATS-Ford	M	3	Clutch	16
DNS	28	Didier Pironi	Ferrari	G	0	Practice Accident	1
DNS	8	Niki Lauda	McLaren-Ford	G	0	Withdrew
DNQ	33	Tommy Byrne	Theodore-Ford	G
DNQ	17	Rupert Keegan	March-Ford	A
DNQ	36	Teo Fabi	Toleman-Hart	P
Source:

Notes

• This was the Formula One World Championship debut for Irish driver Tommy Byrne.
• This was the 5th Grand Prix start for a Colombian driver.
• This was the 5th podium finish for a Finnish driver.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Didier Pironi	39
2	John Watson	30
3	Keke Rosberg	27
4	Alain Prost	25
5	Niki Lauda	24
Source:

Constructors' Championship standings

Pos	Constructor	Points
1	Ferrari	61
2	McLaren-Ford	54
3	Renault	44
4	Williams-Ford	40
5	Lotus-Ford	20
Source:

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