Opert turned his back on motorsport after the 1983 death of Chandon in one of his cars. Later in his life he took an active interest in Nico Rosberg's career, attending F1 races to follow Rosberg's fortunes. He died not long after attending the Hungarian Grand Prix then visiting Germany but missing 2016 German Grand Prix, because he was too ill. Later that year Nico Rosberg won the World Championship title.