Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix, Monza September 12, 1982
The 1982 represented for Formula 1 the year in which each team felt the absolute necessity of using a turbocharged engine to have a chance of success. Of the 30 cars entered in the Italian Grand Prix, 8 were equipped with turbo engines, Renault, Brabham, Ferrari and Toleman that eventually occupied the first six positions on the starting grid and the first 3 positions on arrival. The supremacy of the turbocharged engines was now evident. The Italian Grand Prix 1982 was the 15th and penultimate round of the World Championship and the standings saw Keke Rosberg leading with a 3 point lead over Didier Pironi injured at Hockenheim. For the Monza race, Ferrari hired Mario Andretti to replace Didier Pironi. Andretti returned to Ferrari in Formula 1 from the distant United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen in 1972. Patrick Tambay had already replaced the late Gilles Villeneuve.
At the end of the qualifying practice Mario Andretti scored the fastest lap in 1'28"473, thus winning the pole position. At the start Renè Arnoux from the first row alongside Andretti started well and managed to get the lead at half of the first lap and led the race until the end despite a loss of fuel inside the cockpit had soaked his suit. Fourth career victory for Arnoux, just announced as a Ferrari driver for 1983, second place for Patrick Tambay and third for Mario Andretti, plagued from the start by problems with the gas throttle: Present and future of Scuderia Ferrari in just one podium.
Brabham BT50 - BMW
The Brabham BT50 equipped with the 4-cylinder turbo engine BMW brought to Monza were three, the # 5 for Neslon Piquet, the # 4 for Riccardo Patrese and the # 2 as a T-car, equipped with carbon brake discs. Nelson Piquet, the outgoing World Champion, qualified with the second fast time alongside Mario Andretti while Riccardo Patrese qualified fourth. At the start Piquet, forced to driven the T-car due to an engine failure in yours #5 chassis, took the lead but was immediately resumed and already in the middle of the first lap he was fifth. At the eighth lap Piquet stopped in the pits and retired due to problems with the clutch. Same fate for Patrese, also stopped with the broken clutch.
Williams FW08 - Ford Cosworth
Little luck for Williams. Keke Rosberg finished the race in eighth place after being forced to stop at the pits to mount a new rear wing after suffering the break of the support and the loss of the rear wing on the track. Derek Daly, hit by rear by Roberto Guerrero at the first chicane after the start was forced to retire with the broken rear suspension without even having completed a lap. In practice Rosberg obtained the seventh time resulting the fastest among the non-turbo cars while Daly obtained the thirteenth time.
Renault RE30B
The French cars equipped with the V6 turbo were entered for Alain Prost and Renè Arnoux. In qualifying they were in the third row, respectively with the fifth and sixth time. In the race, René Arnoux scored his fourth victory in Formula 1 despite his Renault near the end of the Grand Prix showed off strong vibrations at the front. Alain Prost was forced to retire due to the injection system trouble that had already forced him to a pit stop and that broke definitively on lap 27th, leaving it in the first chicane. With this retirement Prost said farewell to the chance to fight again for the title at the last race of the season in Nevada.
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McLaren MP4B - Ford Cosworth
The news that surprised everyone on Saturday at Monza was that the TAG, a manufacturer of aeronautical components and sponsors of the Williams team, had set up a company, the "TAG Turbo Engines" together with McLaren to manage the new Porsche Turbo engines designed specifically for McLaren. In 1982 the McLaren MP4B with the all-carbon chassis were equipped with the classic 3-liter Ford Cosworth DFV and was entered for Niki Lauda and John Watson. At the end of the race John Watson finished fourth, first of the "non-turbo" remaining in contention for the world title also thanks of his two victories at Zolder and in Detroit while Niki Lauda was forced to retire due to a brake failure. Watson used the MP4/1B chassis #5, Lauda used chassis #7 while the MP4/1B chassis #6 was brought to Monza as a T-car.
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Lotus 91 - Ford Cosworth
Absolutely ineffective the Lotus 91 at Monza with Nigel Mansell seventh at the finish after starting far behind on the grid and Elio de Angelis forced to a pit stop by the poor handling of his Lotus and then forced to retire due to the throttle failure. The Lotus 91, derived from the Lotus 87 had a monocoque entirely in carbon fiber and was powered by the classic Ford Cosworth DFV. The only moment of glory he had at the Austrian Grand Prix where Elio de Angelis won by beating in the sprint Keke Rosberg.
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Talbot Ligier JS19 Matra
Jacques Laffite with the number 25 and Eddie Cheever with the number 26 were the drivers of the Talbot Ligier Team in 1982. The JS19, designed by Jean-Pierre Jabouille and Michel Beaujon was a conventional car equipped with the Matra MS81 V12 engine and was never competitive. At Monza Cheever and Laffite qualified in seventh and ninth row respectively. At the finish line only Cheever arrived in sixth position while Laffite broke the gearbox on lap fifth.
Tyrrell 011 - Ford Cosworth
The Michele Alboreto and Brian Henton's Tyrrell showed up at Monza with the only novelty represented by the body color that from blue became dark green due to the new sponsor DENIM. The cars were practically the same as the previous Grand Prix and after qualifying in sixth row Michele Alboreto and in the eleventh row Brian Henton, at the end Michele Alboreto had a good race that saw him reach the fifth place while Henton remained involved in a multiple collision that put Derek Daly and Derek Warwich out of the game besides him at the first lap.
The Tyrrell 011 had an aluminum honeycomb panels chassis and was powered by the classic Ford Cosworth DFV. The car was not very competitive, mainly due to the financial difficulties of the team that failed to develop the car. At the last Grand Prix of the season in Las Vegas Michele Alboreto scored a lucky victory managing to contain the comeback of John Watson and the excessive consumption of the tires.
The Tyrrell 011 had an aluminum honeycomb panels chassis and was powered by the classic Ford Cosworth DFV. The car was not very competitive, mainly due to the financial difficulties of the team that failed to develop the car. At the last Grand Prix of the season in Las Vegas Michele Alboreto scored a lucky victory managing to contain the comeback of John Watson and the excessive consumption of the tires.
Fittipaldi F9 - Ford Cosworth
The Brazilian team's last appearance in the Formula 1 World Championship. At the wheel of the Fittipaldi F9, the Brazilian Chico Serra qualified with the last time and reached the finish line in eleventh position. The FA9 was a car powered by the Ford Cosworth DFV with a chassis consisting of two aluminum honeycomb shells joined along the longitudinal axis. Also in this case the car, introduced at the German Grand Prix in Hockenheim and on average competitive was not developed properly due to the lack of an adequate budget and did not get any results.
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The fight for the drivers' title remained a matter between Keke Rosberg on Williams and John Watson on McLaren, the only two remaining to contend for the 1982 World Title with the last challenge at the Grand Prix in Las Vegas. For the constructors' title the fight remained confined between Ferrari and McLaren.
Toleman Team
The Team Toleman drivers were Derek Warwick and Teo Fabi. At Monza Derek Warwick brought the new car to its debut, the TG183 with the chassis entirely in carbon fiber while Teo Fabi used the TG182.
The Toleman were powered by the 4-cylinder turbo designed and built by Brian Hart, still uncompetitive.
Derek Warwick qualified in the eighth row while Teo Fabi in the eleventh. Neither of them completed the race, Warwick was eliminated on the first lap in the multiple collision that also eliminated Henton and Daly while Fabi broke the engine on the second lap.
The Toleman were powered by the 4-cylinder turbo designed and built by Brian Hart, still uncompetitive.
Derek Warwick qualified in the eighth row while Teo Fabi in the eleventh. Neither of them completed the race, Warwick was eliminated on the first lap in the multiple collision that also eliminated Henton and Daly while Fabi broke the engine on the second lap.
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