The 1982 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Paul Ricard on 25 July 1982. It was the eleventh race of the 1982 Formula One World Championship.
The 54-lap race was won from pole position by René Arnoux, driving a Renault. The turbocharged Renaults, Ferraris and Brabham-BMWs took up the first six grid positions, and Arnoux led home a French 1–2–3–4, with teammate Alain Prost second and the Ferraris of Didier Pironi and Patrick Tambay third and fourth, respectively. Arnoux achieved his win in sour circumstances, as he violated a pre-race agreement that if he and Prost were running first and second, respectively, he would let Prost past to aid his Drivers' Championship hopes. Arnoux left Renault at the end of the year.
The top six was completed by Keke Rosberg in the Williams-Ford and Michele Alboreto in the Tyrrell-Ford. Pironi's third place enabled him to extend his lead in the Drivers' Championship to nine points, although this would turn out to be his last finish before his career-ending accident at the next race in Germany.
The eleventh lap of this race saw a big accident when Jochen Mass's March and Mauro Baldi's Arrows collided at Signes. Mass's car went through the catch fencing into the tyre walls, then catapulted into a spectator area and caught fire. Mass escaped with burns on his hands, while several spectators were injured. The West German driver retired from Formula One immediately after this race.
Classification
Qualifying PosNoDriverConstructorQ1Q2Gap116 René ArnouxRenault1:36.5481:34.406—215 Alain ProstRenault1:35.8021:34.688 +0.282328 Didier PironiFerrari1:36.4771:35.790 +1.38442 Riccardo PatreseBrabham-BMW1:38.5411:35.811 +1.405527 Patrick TambayFerrari1:38.7451:35.905 +1.49961 Nelson PiquetBrabham-BMW1:37.1621:36.359 +1.953722 Andrea de CesarisAlfa Romeo1:38.9961:37.573 +3.167823 Bruno GiacomelliAlfa Romeo1:38.9971:37.705 +3.29998 Niki LaudaMcLaren-Ford1:37.7781:38.034 +3.372106 Keke RosbergWilliams-Ford1:37.7801:38.865 +3.374115 Derek DalyWilliams-Ford1:38.7671:39.641 +4.361127 John WatsonMcLaren-Ford1:38.9441:39.150 +4.5381311 Elio de AngelisLotus-Ford1:40.5691:39.118 +4.7121435 Derek WarwickToleman-Hart1:41.2661:39.306 +4.900153 Michele AlboretoTyrrell-Ford1:39.8231:39.330 +4.9241626 Jacques LaffiteLigier-Matra1:40.3261:39.605 +5.1991731 Jean-Pierre JarierOsella-Ford1:40.3701:39.909 +5.503189 Manfred WinkelhockATS-Ford1:39.9171:39.942 +5.5111925 Eddie CheeverLigier-Matra1:41.5181:40.187 +5.7812029 Marc SurerArrows-Ford1:42.6031:40.335 +5.9292136 Teo FabiToleman-Hartno time1:40.421 +6.0152210 Eliseo SalazarATS-Ford1:42.8221:40.673 +6.267234 Brian HentonTyrrell-Ford1:41.1091:40.852 +6.4462412 Geoff LeesLotus-Ford1:45.6471:40.974 +6.5682530 Mauro BaldiArrows-Ford1:42.1621:40.997 +6.5912617 Jochen MassMarch-Ford1:41.9731:41.579 +7.1732733 Jan LammersTheodore-Ford1:41.9241:41.714 +7.3082814 Roberto GuerreroEnsign-Ford1:42.2701:42.532 +7.8642920 Chico SerraFittipaldi-Ford1:43.5621:42.414 +8.0083018 Raul BoeselMarch-Ford1:43.5151:43.099 +8.693
Race Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 16 René Arnoux Renault 54 1:33:33.217 1 9 2 15 Alain Prost Renault 54 + 17.308 2 6 3 28 Didier Pironi Ferrari 54 + 42.128 3 4 4 27 Patrick Tambay Ferrari 54 + 1:16.241 5 3 5 6 Keke Rosberg Williams-Ford 54 + 1:30.994 10 2 6 3 Michele Alboreto Tyrrell-Ford 54 + 1:32.339 15 1 7 5 Derek Daly Williams-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 11 8 8 Niki Lauda McLaren-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 9 9 23 Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo 53 + 1 Lap 8 10 4 Brian Henton Tyrrell-Ford 53 + 1 Lap 23 11 9 Manfred Winkelhock ATS-Ford 52 + 2 Laps 18 12 12 Geoff Lees Lotus-Ford 52 + 2 Laps 24 13 29 Marc Surer Arrows-Ford 52 + 2 Laps 20 14 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 51 + 3 Laps 16 15 35 Derek Warwick Toleman-Hart 50 + 4 Laps 14 16 25 Eddie Cheever Ligier-Matra 49 + 5 Laps 19 22 Andrea de Cesaris Alfa Romeo 25 Spun Off 7 1 Nelson Piquet Brabham-BMW 23 Engine 6 11 Elio de Angelis Lotus-Ford 17 Fuel System 13 7 John Watson McLaren-Ford 13 Electrical 12 17 Jochen Mass March-Ford 10 Collision 26 30 Mauro Baldi Arrows-Ford 10 Collision 25 2 Riccardo Patrese Brabham-BMW 8 Engine 4 10 Eliseo Salazar ATS-Ford 2 Spun Off 22 31 Jean-Pierre Jarier Osella-Ford 0 Halfshaft 17 36 Teo Fabi Toleman-Hart 0 Electrical 21 33 Jan Lammers Theodore-Ford 14 Roberto Guerrero Ensign-Ford 20 Chico Serra Fittipaldi-Ford 18 Raul Boesel March-Ford
Notes
This race marked the 25th Grand Prix win for a French driver. This was the 25th pole position and 10th Grand Prix win for Renault and a Renault-powered car. This was the 1st fastest lap set by a BMW-powered car. Last race for Didier Pironi and Jochen Mass
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Didier Pironi 39 2 John Watson 30 3 Alain Prost 25 4 Niki Lauda 24 5 Keke Rosberg 23Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 McLaren-Ford 54 2 Ferrari 52 3 Renault 38 4 Williams-Ford 36 5 Lotus-Ford 20Source:
References