1982 Austrian Grand Prix

The 1982 Austrian Grand Prix (officially the XX Großer Preis von Österreich) was the thirteenth race of the 1982 Formula One Season. It was the twentieth Austrian Grand Prix (fourteen of which had been held under Formula One regulations) and the thirteenth time that the Österreichring had hosted a Formula One World Championship race.
Championship leader Didier Pironi had fractured both his legs in qualifying for the previous race; thus, the title race was flung wide open, with John Watson, Keke Rosberg, Alain Prost and Niki Lauda all in contention.
As the race was expected to be dominated by turbo engines (which work better at higher altitudes), it was no surprise to see the s take the front row, with the top five cars all being turbos. Nelson Piquet was the Brabham driver who took pole, and fastest lap in the race, though teammate Riccardo Patrese lead the first half of the race before and engine failure lead him to crash in spectacular fashion, leaving 's Prost in a clear lead.
However, with five laps remaining, Prost slowed to a halt. This left Elio de Angelis with a opportunity to take his first ever victory in the non-turbo 91. However, Rosberg was closing fast, and De Angelis crossed the line just 0.05 seconds ahead, securing his first victory. It would also be a memorable day for Jacques Laffite, who claimed the final podium position for , who completed a non-turbo podium at the turbo-favouring circuit. Patrick Tambay, who obtained a puncture on the second lap, eventually fought his way to fourth place.
Pironi's lead in the Championship remained, but dropped to six points with Rosberg now in second place, and Watson in third. managed to extend its lead over by a point, to eight points.
==Background==
News in the week between the German and Austrian Grand Prix revealed that Didier Pironi, who was left fighting for his life after a huge accident in qualifying at the Hockenheimring, would survive his injuries, although the likelihood of him driving in F1 again was in serious doubt.http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr370.html ran Patrick Tambay as their only entry in Austria, although the tifosi believed that their adopted Frenchman could claim a heroic victory, with the turbocharged cars expected to enjoy another significant power advantage over their rivals, as turbocharged engines work more efficiently at higher altitudes.
The post-Pironi era in Ferrari also came to light during the break, with rumours emerging that René Arnoux had agreed to join Tambay for the 1983 season. This move would be announced at the Austrian Grand Prix, but would not affect the 1982 championship, as Ferrari looked for a temporary replacement for the second car.
Championship wise, Pironi still retained a nine point lead, with John Watson in second after three consecutive retirements. The initative seemed to be with Arnoux, whom had been on the best run in recent races, but is points deficit meant that Rosberg and Alain Prost were the most likely candidates to overtake the Brit and the Frenchman. Ferrari, meanwhile, brought (for the first time since the end of the 1979 season) a lead with them to the Österreichring, having overhauled in Germany.
==Entry list==
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 	 	BT50 	 	M12/13 L4t 1.5	
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 	
17 	Rupert Keegan 	Rothmans March Grand Prix Team	 	821 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
18 	Raul Boesel 	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 	 	JS19 	 	MS81 V12 3.0 	
26 	Jacques Laffite 	Equipe Talbot Gitanes 	 	JS19 	 	MS81 V12 3.0 	
27 	Patrick Tambay 	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 	
33 	Tommy Byrne 	Theodore Racing Team 	 	TY02 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
35 	Derek Warwick 	Toleman Group Motorsport 	 	TG181C 	 	415T L4t 1.5 	
36 	Teo Fabi 	Toleman Group Motorsport 	 	TG181C 	 	415T L4t 1.5 	
==Practice Overview==
McLaren struggled with tyre wear in practice, destroying their tyres over one qualifying lap.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBp2yfMjR24 Their problems were enhanced by the fact that the turbos, by virtue of the high altitude circuit, enjoyed a 150bhp advantage over their rivals. were clearly in front, with and Ferrari on an equal footing, while the combination showed promise. The ever decreasing entry list meant that practice did not form a pre-qualifying session.
==Qualifying==
Brabham enjoyed a large margin in qualifying, with Nelson Piquet taking pole by three tenths from team mate Riccardo Patrese. They enjoyed a second over the Renault and Ferrari, with Arnoux beating Tambay and Prost, with Keke Rosberg the best placed of the non-turbo cars in fifth. Of the two days of practice, Piquet set his time on Friday, but most drivers set their best time on Saturday.
Tommy Byrne, in only his second entry for Theodore, managed to qualify for the race, a feat that the man he replaced, Jan Lammers, only achieved twice. The three failures were Raul Boesel (), Jean-Pierre Jarier (a surprise for the team) and Eliseo Salazar (possibly recovering from the bruises inflicted by Piquet in Germany).
===Qualifying Results===
Pos.	No.	Driver 	Constructor	Timehttp://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/page/september-1982/45	Timehttp://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/page/september-1982/45	Gap
Pos.	No.	Driver 	Constructor	Friday 	Saturday 	Gap
1 	1 	Nelson Piquet 	 	1:27.612T 	1:28.398T 	
2 	2 	Riccardo Patrese 	 	1:27.971 	1:28.296 	+ 0.359 s
3 	15 	Alain Prost 	 	1:29.867 	1:28.864T 	+ 1.252 s
4 	27 	Patrick Tambay 	 	1:29.522 	1:29.856 	+ 1.910 s
5 	16 	René Arnoux 	 	no time 	1:30.261* 	+ 2.649 s
6 	6 	Keke Rosberg 	 	1:31.108T 	1:30.300T 	+ 2.688 s
7 	11 	Elio de Angelis 	 	1:32.686 	1:31.626 	+ 4.014 s
8 	3 	Michele Alboreto 	 	1:31.814 	1:34.534T 	+ 4.202 s
9 	5 	Derek Daly 	 	1:34.114 	1:32.062 	+ 4.450 s
10 	8 	Niki Lauda 	 	1:33.005 	1:32.131 	+ 4.519 s
11 	22 	Andrea de Cesaris 	 	1:33.353 	1:32.308 	+ 4.696 s
12 	12 	Nigel Mansell 	 	1:34.070 	1:32.881 	+ 5.269 s
13 	23 	Bruno Giacomelli 	 	1:34.431 	1:32.950 	+ 5.338 s
14 	26 	Jacques Laffite 	 	1:34.530 	1:32.957 	+ 5.345 s
15 	35 	Derek Warwick 	 	1:33.678 	1:33.208 	+ 5.596 s
16 	14 	Roberto Guerrero 	 	1:34.796 	1:33.555 	+ 5.943 s
17 	36 	Teo Fabi 	 	1:34.690 	1:33.971 	+ 6.359 s
18 	7 	John Watson 	 	1:34.668 	1:34.164T 	+ 6.552 s
19 	4 	Brian Henton 	 	1:34.184 	1:36.228 	+ 6.572 s
20 	20 	Chico Serra 	 	1:35.724 	1:34.187 	+ 6.575 s
21 	29 	Marc Surer 	 	1:34.422 	1:34.579 	+ 6.810 s
22 	25 	Eddie Cheever 	 	1:34.620 	1:34.815 	+ 7.008 s
23 	30 	Mauro Baldi 	 	1:35.653 	1:34.715 	+ 7.103 s
24 	17 	Rupert Keegan 	 	1:36.274 	1:34.770 	+ 7.158 s
25 	9 	Manfred Winkelhock	 	1:35.666 	1:34.984 	+ 7.372 s
26 	33 	Tommy Byrne 	 	1:35.318 	1:34.985 	+ 7.373 s
DNQ 	18 	Raul Boesel 	 	1:35.149 	1:35.654 	+ 7.537 s
DNQ 	31 	Jean-Pierre Jarier	 	1:35.622 	1:35.206 	+ 7.594 s
DNQ 	10 	Eliseo Salazar 	 	1:35.581 	1:35.271 	+ 7.659 s
Notes:
* Best time for driver in bold.
* T Time done in spare car.
* * Time recorded in car number 15.
===Grid===
Note:
* * Marc Surer (21st) started from the pit lane in the spare car.
==Race==
So could Brabham, with their best grid start of the year, finally get a chance to try their refuelling strategy, which had, so far, been disrupted by crashes and retirements? Would Tambay take his second win in a week to ensure he would be the lead driver next year with the imminent arrival of Arnoux? Or could Williams or Lotus (the best of the rest) take advantage of the delicate nature of the turbo cars to take victory. Time would tell, with a 53 lap race around the Österreichring to answer these questions.
===Report===
There was drama from the start, as Andrea de Cesaris and Bruno Giacomelli smashed their s into each other off the line, causing both to retire. Their coming together also claimed Derek Daly (whom had nowhere to go), and also had an effect on the leaders, with Tambay picking up a puncture on the second lap from the debris. At the front, meanwhile, the Brabhams (with only half the fuel of their competitors) quickly pulled away, as Riccardo Patrese dived ahead of Nelson Piquet early on.
Michele Alboreto crashed heavily on the second lap, although it was unclear if he was aided into the barrier by Rupert Keegan (whom also retired with accident damage). The race continued unabated, with the Tolemans next to fall with mechanical failures (unrelated) on the seventh lap. The order at the front remained unchanged until the 15th lap, when Arnoux pulled off with another mechanical issue (this time turbo flavoured) as the Renault once again showed it was prone to failure.
Piquet became the first driver to have a pre-planned pitstop in the 1980s when he pitted on the halfway mark, with Patrese coming in a lap later. Piquet fell to fourth, but could not pull away from Keke Rosberg (the cars now with equal fuel), while Patrese held on to his lead. Things got worse for Brabham when Patrese suffered an engine failure on lap 31, while Piquet fell down through the field (ultimately retiring with a damage camshaft). It was advantage Renault at the front, with Alain Prost leading over Elio de Angelis in the 91, with Keke Rosberg closing the gap to the Italian in third.
Further down, Tambay was making short work of the non-turbo cars to climb back into the points, as Rosberg continued to close on De Angelis as the race entered its final phase. It seemed that they would be battling for second, until Prost pulled off with an engine fire, promoting the young Italian to first. Rosberg was on his tail by the final lap, jinking either side but unable to get past the Lotus. Out of the final corner, Rosberg carried more speed, pulling alongside De Angelis as they came to line. Fortunately for the Italian, however, they crossed the line with De Angelis half a car length ahead (0.05s according to the official time keeper), meaning he had won for the first time in his F1 career.
Behind their duel came the of Jacques Laffite, whom had had a quiet race to creep onto the podium (mainly through retirements). Tambay stood out with an impressive recovery drive to take fourth, with Niki Lauda (another driver having a quiet day) finishing fifth. Mauro Baldi battled to only his second championship point in the Arrows by claiming sixth, with his name on the lips of many to join a top team in 1983.
===Results===
Pos.	No.	Driver 	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired 	Grid	Pts
1 	11 	Elio de Angelis 	 	53 	1:25:02.212 	7 	9
2 	6 	Keke Rosberg 	 	53 	+ 0.050 s 	6 	6
3 	26 	Jacques Laffite 	 	52 	+ 1 lap 	14 	4
4 	27 	Patrick Tambay 	 	52 	+ 1 lap 	4 	3
5 	8 	Niki Lauda 	 	52 	+ 1 lap 	10 	2
6 	30 	Mauro Baldi 	 	52 	+ 1 lap 	23 	1
7 	20 	Chico Serra 	 	51 	+ 2 laps 	20 	
8 	15 	Alain Prost* 	 	48 	Fuel injector	3 	
Ret 	7 	John Watson 	 	44 	Water pump 	18 	
Ret 	4 	Brain Henton 	 	32 	Valve 	19 	
Ret 	1 	Nelson Piquet 	 	31 	Camshaft 	1 	
Ret 	33 	Tommy Byrne 	 	28 	Spin 	26 	
Ret 	29 	Marc Surer 	 	28 	Fuel system 	21 	
Ret 	2 	Riccardo Patrese 	 	27 	Engine 	2 	
Ret 	25 	Eddie Cheever 	 	22 	Valve 	22 	
Ret 	12 	Nigel Mansell 	 	17 	Engine 	12 	
Ret 	16 	René Arnoux 	 	16 	Turbo 	5 	
Ret 	9 	Manfred Winkelhock	 	15 	Spin 	25 	
Ret 	35 	Derek Warwick 	 	7 	Suspension 	15 	
Ret 	36 	Teo Fabi 	 	7 	Drive shaft 	17 	
Ret 	14 	Roberto Guerrero 	 	6 	Drive shaft 	16 	
Ret 	3 	Michele Alboreto 	 	1 	Accident 	8 	
Ret 	17 	Rupert Keegan 	 	1 	Accident 	24 	
Ret 	22 	Andrea de Cesaris 	 	0 	Accident 	11 	
Ret 	5 	Derek Daly 	 	0 	Accident 	9 	
Ret 	23 	Bruno Giacomelli 	 	0 	Accident 	13 	
* Prost was still classified despite his engine failure five laps from the finish.
===Fastest laps===
Pos.	No.	Driver 	Constructor	Lap	Time 	Gap 	Avg Speed 	Race
1 	1 	Nelson Piquet 	 	5 	1:33.699	 	228.297 km/h	Ret
2 	2 	Riccardo Patrese 	 	4 	1:33.736	+ 0.037 s 	228.207 km/h	Ret
3 	6 	Keke Rosberg 	 	52 	1:33.821	+ 0.122 s 	228.000 km/h	2nd
4 	27 	Patrick Tambay 	 	41 	1:34.298	+ 0.599 s 	226.847 km/h	4th
5 	15 	Alain Prost 	 	32 	1:34.457	+ 0.758 s 	226.465 km/h	8th
6 	11 	Elio de Angelis 	 	52 	1:34.597	+ 0.898 s 	226.130 km/h	1st
7 	16 	René Arnoux 	 	3 	1:35.835	+ 2.136 s 	223.209 km/h	Ret
8 	36 	Teo Fabi 	 	5 	1:36.551	+ 2.852 s 	221.553 km/h	Ret
9 	35 	Derek Warwick 	 	6 	1:36.586	+ 2.887 s 	221.473 km/h	Ret
10 	4 	Brian Henton 	 	31 	1:36.790	+ 3.091 s 	221.006 km/h	Ret
11 	26 	Jacques Laffite 	 	23 	1:36.845	+ 3.146 s 	220.881 km/h	3rd
12 	8 	Niki Lauda 	 	41 	1:37.252	+ 3.553 s 	219.956 km/h	5th
13 	30 	Mauro Baldi 	 	38 	1:38.066	+ 4.367 s 	218.131 km/h	6th
14 	12 	Nigel Mansell 	 	12 	1:38.306	+ 4.607 s 	217.598 km/h	Ret
15 	7 	John Watson 	 	38 	1:38.330	+ 4.631 s 	217.545 km/h	Ret
16 	25 	Eddie Cheever 	 	21 	1:38.878	+ 5.179 s 	216.339 km/h	Ret
17 	14 	Roberto Guerrero 	 	6 	1:39.016	+ 5.317 s 	216.038 km/h	Ret
18 	29 	Marc Surer 	 	7 	1:39.415	+ 5.716 s 	215.171 km/h	Ret
19 	9 	Manfred Winkelhock	 	11 	1:40.300	+ 6.601 s 	213.272 km/h	Ret
20 	20 	Chico Serra 	 	16 	1:40.415	+ 6.716 s 	213.028 km/h	7th
21 	33 	Tommy Byrne 	 	12 	1:40.746	+ 7.046 s 	212.330 km/h	Ret
22 	3 	Michele Alboreto 	 	1 	1:47.893	+ 14.194 s	198.263 km/h	Ret
23 	17 	Rupert Keegan 	 	1 	2:25.720	+ 52.021 s	146.797 km/h	Ret
===Laps in the lead===
====Stints====
Stint	Driver 	Laps 	Total	Distance
1 	Nelson Piquet 	1 	1 	5.942 km
2 	Riccardo Patrese	2 – 27 	26 	154.492 km
3 	Alain Prost 	28 – 48	21 	124.782 km
4 	Elio de Angelis 	49 – 53	5 	29.710 km
====Totals====
Pos.	Driver 	Laps	Distance
1 	Riccardo Patrese	26 	154.492 km
2 	Alain Prost 	21 	124.782 km
3 	Elio de Angelis 	5 	29.710 km
4 	Nelson Piquet 	1 	5.942 km
==Milestones==
* First win for Elio de Angelis.
* Last win for Team Lotus to be witnessed by Colin Chapman (whom died later that year at the age of 54).
* Tommy Byrne's début.
==Standings==
After his second place finish, Keke Rosberg went up into second place in the championship and in the process closed the gap from Didier Pironi to six points, and pushed John Watson into third. Niki Lauda gained fourth from Alain Prost after his fifth place, while Jacques Laffite climbed seven places in the standing's courtesy of his podium finish (leaving Austria in seventeenth).
The Constructor's Championship saw Patrick Tambay increase 's lead to eight points over , themselves now ten points ahead of Williams. Williams, meanwhile, over took to take third in the same championship, while furtherdown, Laffite's podium pushed above for eighth.
Drivers' World Championship	Drivers' World Championship	Drivers' World Championship	Drivers' World Championship
Pos. 	Driver 	Pts 	+/-
1 	Didier Pironi 	39 	
2 	Keke Rosberg 	33 	1
3 	John Watson 	30 	1
4 	Niki Lauda 	26 	1
5 	Alain Prost 	25 	1
6 	Elio de Angelis 	22 	5
7 	René Arnoux 	19 	1
8 	Riccardo Patrese 	19 	1
9 	Patrick Tambay 	19 	
10 	Nelson Piquet 	17 	2
11 	Michele Alboreto 	14 	1
12 	Eddie Cheever 	10 	
13 	Nigel Mansell 	7 	
14 	Derek Daly 	7 	
15 	Carlos Reutemann 	6 	
16 	Gilles Villeneuve 	6 	
17 	Jacques Laffite 	5 	7
18 	Andrea de Cesaris 	5 	1
19 	Jean-Pierre Jarier 	3 	1
20 	Marc Surer 	3 	1
21 	Bruno Giacomelli 	2 	1
22 	Eliseo Salazar 	2 	1
23 	Manfred Winkelhock 	2 	1
24 	Mauro Baldi 	2 	1
25 	Chico Serra 	1 	
Constructors' World Championship	Constructors' World Championship	Constructors' World Championship	Constructors' World Championship
Pos. 	Team 	Pts 	+/-
1 	 	64 	
2 	 	56 	
3 	 	46 	1
4 	 	44 	1
5 	 	29 	
6 	 	19 	
7 	 	17 	
8 	 	15 	1
9 	 	14 	1
10 	 	7 	
11 	 	5 	1
12 	 	4 	1
13 	 	3 	
14 	 	1 	
==References==
Category:Grand Prix articles
Category:1982 Grands Prix
Category:Austrian Grand Prix
Category:Formula One races in Austria