1982 Detroit Grand Prix

The 1982 Detroit Grand Prix saw Formula One make its début in "The Motor City" when the city hosted the seventh round on the 1982 championship.'GRAND PRIX RESULTS: UNITED STATES GP, 1982', grandprix.com, (Inside F1 Inc., 1999), http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr364.html, (Accessed 28/07/2015) The second of a record three races in the United States, the Detroit Grand Prix was intended to spread Formula One further across North America and its audiences.
The race witnessed some of the best performances of most driver's careers, none more so than John Watson, who came from seventeenth to win by over 30 seconds.'1982 Detroit Grand Prix', wikipedia.org, (WikiMedia, 28/07/2015), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_Detroit_Grand_Prix, (Accessed 28/07/2015)
==Background==
 announced that Patrick Tambay would take over the deceased Gilles Villeneuve's seat, although the Frenchman would not compete in Detroit. Talbot announced that they would be returning to running the older spec JS17, after the car they débuted at Monaco was banned for being unsafe to drive (as Jacques Laffite had complained). The team also opted not to send their pair of cars over to the States, cost of shipping being the most likely reason.
Championship leader Alain Prost was still recovering from the crash he suffered in Monaco, with a bruised foot a potential problem for him around the streets of Detroit. Regardless, Prost went into Detroit with a one point lead, despite having failed to score since taking victory in Brazil. John Watson and Didier Pironi were his closest followers, with Keke Rosberg and maiden Grand Prix winner Riccardo Patrese also in touching distance.
 held a seven point advantage in the Constructors' Championship over both and , with the French team coming under fire for their reliability problems. were just a point behind in fourth, while , and looked to be set to battle for fifth throughout the season.
==Entry List==
The full entry list for the is displayed below
No.	Driver 	Entrant 	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Model 	Tyre
1 	Nelson Piquet 	Parmalat Racing Team 	 	BT50 	 	M12/13 L4t 1.5	
2 	Riccardo Patrese 	Parmalat Racing Team 	 	BT49 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
3 	Michele Alboreto 	Team Tyrrell 	 	011 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
4 	Brian Henton 	Team Tyrrell 	 	011 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
5 	Derek Daly 	TAG Williams Team 	 	FW08 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
6 	Keke Rosberg 	TAG Williams Team 	 	FW08 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
7 	John Watson 	Marlboro McLaren International	 	MP4/1B 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
8 	Niki Lauda 	Marlboro McLaren International	 	MP4/1B 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
9 	Manfred Winkelhock	Team ATS 	 	D5 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
10 	Eliseo Salazar 	Team ATS 	 	D5 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
11 	Elio de Angelis 	John Player Team Lotus 	 	91 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
12 	Nigel Mansell 	John Player Team Lotus 	 	91 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
14 	Roberto Guerrero 	Ensign Racing 	 	N181 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
15 	Alain Prost 	Equipe Renault Elf 	 	RE30B 	 	EF1 V6t 1.5 	
16 	René Arnoux 	Equipe Renault Elf 	 	RE30B 	 	EF1 V6t 1.5 	
17 	Jochen Mass 	Rothmans March Grand Prix Team	 	821 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
18 	Raul Boesel 	Rothmans March Grand Prix Team	 	821 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
19 	Emilio de Villota 	Rothmans March Grand Prix Team	 	821 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
20 	Chico Serra 	Fittipaldi Automotive 	 	F9 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
22 	Andrea de Cesaris 	Marlboro Team Alfa Romeo 	 	182 	 	1260 V12 3.0 	
23 	Bruno Giacomelli 	Marlboro Team Alfa Romeo 	 	182 	 	1260 V12 3.0 	
25 	Eddie Cheever 	Equipe Talbot Gitanes 	 	JS17 	 	MS81 V12 3.0 	
26 	Jacques Laffite 	Equipe Talbot Gitanes 	 	JS17 	 	MS81 V12 3.0 	
28 	Didier Pironi 	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC 	 	126C2 	 	021 V6t 1.5 	
29 	Marc Surer 	Arrows Racing Team 	 	A4 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
30 	Mauro Baldi 	Arrows Racing Team 	 	A4 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
31 	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Osella Squadra Course 	 	FA1D 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
32 	Riccardo Paletti 	Osella Squadra Course 	 	FA1D 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
33 	Jan Lammers 	Theodore Racing Team 	 	TY02 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
==Practice Overview==
There were no major shocks in practice, although Jan Lammers was forced to withdraw after breaking his thumb in a crash. This came after issues over the organisation of the new event meant that the planned Thursday practice had been cancelled (which had been intended to allow the drivers to learn the circuit better than normal practice time would have allowed). A slightly reduced entry list meant that there was not a pre-qualifying session to reduce the field as had happened at the previous two meetings.
==Qualifying==
Qualifying itself was split into two sessions, although fears about rain saw the majority of times set in the first session, as chaos throughout the field caused spins and several surprise results. Chief among these was defending World Champion Nelson Piquet, who failed to qualify for the race (joined by Emilio de Villota and the already withdrawn Lammers). Watson scrapped through to take seventeenth, while his team mate Niki Lauda had only just managed to take tenth , although even their struggles couldn't explain the result at the front.
Prost had taken (perhaps slightly unexpectedly given his foot) pole in the Renault, while Andrea de Cesaris, doing a lot to reverse the reputation he had earned for being unreliable, put the unfancied Alfa Romeo in second (his team mate Bruno Giacomelli claiming sixth). Didier Pironi and Keke Rosberg took their usual second row slots, while Manfred Winkelhock surprised the entire field by putting his unfancied onto the third row, massively quicker than team mate Eliseo Salazar.
===Qualifying Results===
Pos.	No.	Driver 	Constructor	Time'FORMULA ONE - RACECARD: Detroit Grand Prix Qualifying 1982', f1pulse.com, (F1PULSE.COM, 2015), http://f1pulse.com/racecard/USA-Detroit_1982/3D4042/race_card_qualify.aspx, (Accessed 27/07/2015)	Gap
1 	15 	Alain Prost 	 	1:48.537 	
2 	22 	Andrea de Cesaris 	 	1:48.872 	+ 0.335
3 	6 	Keke Rosberg 	 	1:49.264 	+ 0.727
4 	28 	Didier Pironi 	 	1:49.903 	+ 1.366
5 	9 	Manfred Winkelhock	 	1:50.066 	+ 1.529
6 	23 	Bruno Giacomelli 	 	1:50.252 	+ 1.715
7 	12 	Nigel Mansell 	 	1:50.294 	+ 1.757
8 	11 	Elio de Angelis 	 	1:50.443 	+ 1.906
9 	25 	Eddie Cheever 	 	1:50.520 	+ 1.983
10 	8 	Niki Lauda 	 	1:51.026 	+ 2.489
11 	14 	Roberto Guerrero 	 	1:51.039 	+ 2.502
12 	5 	Derek Daly 	 	1:51.227 	+ 2.690
13 	26 	Jacques Laffite 	 	1:51.270 	+ 2.733
14 	2 	Riccardo Patrese 	 	1:51.508 	+ 2.971
15 	16 	René Arnoux 	 	1:51.514 	+ 2.977
16 	3 	Michele Alboreto 	 	1:51.618 	+ 3.081
17 	7 	John Watson 	 	1:51.868 	+ 3.331
18 	17 	Jochen Mass 	 	1:52.271 	+ 3.734
19 	29 	Marc Surer 	 	1:52.316 	+ 3.779
20 	4 	Brian Henton 	 	1:52.867 	+ 4.330
21 	18 	Raul Boesel 	 	1:52.870 	+ 4.333
22 	31 	Jean-Pierre Jarier	 	1:52.988 	+ 4.451
23 	32 	Riccardo Paletti 	 	1:54.084 	+ 5.547
24 	30 	Mauro Baldi 	 	1:54.332 	+ 5.795
25 	10 	Eliseo Salazar 	 	1:55.633 	+ 7.096
26 	11 	Chico Serra 	 	1:55.848 	+ 7.311
27 	19 	Emilio de Villota 	 	1:56.589 	+ 8.052
28 	1 	Nelson Piquet 	 	1:57.779 	+ 9.242
WD 	33 	Jan Lammers 	 	Withdrawn 	Withdrawn
===Grid===
The starting grid for the 1982 Detroit Grand Prix is shown below.
** Riccardo Paletti had qualified in 23rd place, but missed the start after crashing in the warm-up on Sunday.
==Race==
Riccardo Paletti missed the start of the race after an accident in the warm-up, while Prost was still suffering with the pain in his foot. Nonetheless, the Frenchman would start the race from pole.
===Report===
The race around Detroit got off to a bang, with Raul Boesel and Mauro Baldi going off virtually at the start, with Winkelhock, rather disappointingly, joining them after a lap. Jean-Pierre Jarier and de Cesaris were the next to go, before the race was halted on the seventh lap. The Columbian Roberto Guerrero tapped the side of Elio de Angelis' Lotus going into the first corner, with Guerrero spinning into the barrier at turn one (de Angelis would survive until lap 18 when his gearbox failed). Riccardo Patrese, unsighted as Watson and Jochen Mass moved to miss the accident, swerved around the spinning Ensign and slammed into the wall, his car catching fire shortly after. The marshalls were untrained and hence unable to get the cars removed while the race went on, meaning the race was stopped for over an hour. More importantly, however, none of the drivers were hurt in these incidents.
The cars were made to do another standing start, with Prost again starting on pole (having had a rather painful first start with his injured foot), with Pironi now staring second and Keke Rosberg third (two of his nearest title contenders). Rosberg jumped the Ferrari at the restart, but could do little to beat the Renault, which quickly established a lead over the Fin. Pironi, meanwhile, was doing a good impression of a road block, holding Giacomelli and Eddie Cheever up for half the race distance, before the McLarens of Niki Lauda and Watson (who was storming through the midfield) joined the fray.
Drama arose at the front, however, as Prost, on the twenty third lap encountered a fuel problem, drastically reducing the Renault's power, allowing Rosberg to fly past for the lead. He gradually fell into the clutches of the Pironi passenger line, as Giacomelli lost a position to Lauda by getting on the power too early out of the second corner, barely managing to keep the Alfa on the road. A few laps later, he would put himself out of the race by trying to retake sixth from the charging Watson, clipping the rear wheel of the Brit and breaking his own suspension.
A majestic display by Watson followed, as he passed Lauda (who gave his team mate more than enough room to get past), Cheever and Pironi in a single lap, before catching and passing race leader Rosberg a few minutes later. Lauda soon made his way past the Ligier and the Ferrari, before starting after the slowing Williams himself, only to retire after a clumsy pass on the Fin damaged his car. Pironi, meanwhile, fell to Cheever, who then, with the red road block in tow, swung around the ailing Williams to take second.
By the end of the race (which finished a lap early due to time constraints), Watson had built a thirty second lead to take victory, with Cheever taking his best ever career result in second. Pironi took third having survived a tap from Cheever's team mate Jacques Laffite (whom finished sixth), while Rosberg and his team mate Derek Daly completed the points scorers.
===Results===
Pos.	No.	Driver 	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired* 	Grid	Points
1 	7 	John Watson 	 	62 	1:58:41.043s 	17 	9
2 	25 	Eddie Cheever 	 	62 	+15.726s 	9 	6
3 	28 	Didier Pironi 	 	62 	+28.077s 	4 	4
4 	6 	Keke Rosberg 	 	62 	1:11.976 	3 	3
5 	5 	Derek Daly 	 	62 	1:23.757 	12 	2
6 	26 	Jacques Laffite 	 	61 	+1 lap 	13 	1
7 	17 	Jochen Mass 	 	61 	+1 lap 	18 	
8 	29 	Marc Surer 	 	61 	+1 lap 	19 	
9 	4 	Brian Henton 	 	60 	+2 laps 	20 	
10 	16 	René Arnoux 	 	59 	+3 laps 	15 	
11 	20 	Chico Serra 	 	59 	+3 laps 	26 	
NC 	15 	Alain Prost 	 	54 	+8 laps 	1 	
Ret 	12 	Nigel Mansell 	 	44 	Engine 	7 	
Ret 	8 	Niki Lauda 	 	40 	Accident 	10 	
Ret 	3 	Michele Alboreto 	 	40 	Spin 	16 	
Ret 	23 	Bruno Giacomelli 	 	30 	Accident 	6 	
Ret 	11 	Elio de Angelis 	 	17 	Gearbox 	8 	
Ret 	10 	Eliseo Salazar 	 	13 	Accident 	25 	
Ret 	14 	Roberto Guerrero 	 	6 	Accident 	11 	
Ret 	2 	Riccardo Patrese 	 	6 	Accident 	14 	
Ret 	22 	Andrea de Cesaris 	 	2 	Transmission 	2 	
Ret 	31 	Jean-Pierre Jarier	 	2 	Ignition 	22 	
Ret 	9 	Manfred Winkelhock	 	1 	Spin 	5 	
Ret 	18 	Raul Boesel 	 	0 	Accident 	21 	
Ret 	30 	Mauro Baldi 	 	0 	Accident 	24 	
DNS 	32 	Riccardo Paletti 	 	0 	Warm-up Accident	23 	
DNQ 	19 	Emilio de Villota 	 	 	 	 	
DNQ 	1 	Nelson Piquet 	 	 	 	 	
WD 	33 	Jan Lammers 	 	 	 	 	
* The result was based on an aggregate of the times from the first six laps (before the race was stopped) and the remaining 56 laps (after the race was stopped).
==Milestones==
*First time that Detroit hosted a Grand Prix.
**The second of three American based Grand Prix in 1982 (the only time this would happen).
*Best qualifying for Manfred Winkelhock.
*First time that Nelson Piquet had failed to qualify for a race. He was became the second reigning World Champion in Formula 1 to fail to qualify for a Grand Prix.
*First time that Alain Prost had not topped the championship table in 1982.
==Standings==
Alain Prost's five race run without points finally cost him the lead in the Championship, as John Watson and Didier Pironi climbed ahead of him through their podiums. Keke Rosberg and Riccardo Patrese held station in fourth and fifth, while Jacques Laffite became the newest face on the 1982 scoreboard through his strong weekend. Eddie Cheever was another winner, as he climbed into the top ten for the first time all season, displacing the late Gilles Villeneuve.
McLaren extended their lead in the Constructors' Championship after Watson's win, with Ferrari and Williams locked together on 26 (the Italians ahead on wins). Renault were being punished for poor reliability, and now sat in fourth, as Brabham and Team Lotus held station in fifth and sixth. Talbot Ligier's weekend had also been profitable, as they overtook Tyrrell through a double points finish.
1982 Drivers' World Championship	1982 Drivers' World Championship	1982 Drivers' World Championship	1982 Drivers' World Championship
Pos. 	Driver 	Pts 	+/-
1 	John Watson 	26 	1
2 	Didier Pironi 	20 	1
3 	Alain Prost 	18 	2
4 	Keke Rosberg 	17 	
5 	Riccardo Patrese 	13 	
6 	Niki Lauda 	12 	
7 	Eddie Cheever 	10 	6
8 	Michele Alboreto 	10 	1
9 	Nigel Mansell 	7 	1
10 	Elio de Angelis 	7 	1
11 	Gilles Villeneuve 	6 	1
12 	Carlos Reutemann 	6 	1
13 	Andrea de Cesaris 	4 	1
14 	René Arnoux 	4 	1
15 	Jean-Pierre Jarier 	3 	
16 	Derek Daly 	3 	3
17 	Nelson Piquet 	2 	1
18 	Eliseo Salazar 	2 	1
19 	Manfred Winkelhock 	2 	1
20 	Jacques Laffite 	1 	1
21 	Chico Serra 	1 	1
Only point scoring drivers are shown.
1982 Constructors' World Championship	1982 Constructors' World Championship	1982 Constructors' World Championship	1982 Constructors' World Championship
Pos. 	Team 	Pts 	+/-
1 	 	38 	
2 	 	26 	1
3 	 	26 	1
4 	 	22 	2
5 	  	14 	
6 	 	13 	
7 	 	13 	1
8 	 	10 	1
9 	 	4 	
10 	 	4 	
11 	 	3 	
12 	 	2 	
13 	 	1 	
Only point scoring constructors are shown.
==References==
Category:Grand Prix articles
Category:1982 Grands Prix
Category:Detroit Grand Prix
Category:Formula One races in the United States