1982 French Grand Prix

1982 French Grand Prix
Race 11 of 16 in the 1982 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date	25 July 1982
Official name	68ème Grand Prix de France
Location	Circuit Paul Ricard Le Castellet, Var, France
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	5.809 km (3.610 mi)
Distance	54 laps, 313.686 km (194.915 mi)
Weather	Dry
Pole position
Driver	René Arnoux	Renault
Time	1:34.406
Fastest lap
Driver	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham-BMW
Time	1:40.075 on lap 4
Podium
First	René Arnoux	Renault
Second	Alain Prost	Renault
Third	Didier Pironi	Ferrari

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 FIA 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. However, Arnoux achieved his win in sour circumstances: 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 would leave 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, though 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

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	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
Ret	22	Andrea de Cesaris	Alfa Romeo	25	Spun Off	7
Ret	1	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-BMW	23	Engine	6
Ret	11	Elio de Angelis	Lotus-Ford	17	Fuel System	13
Ret	7	John Watson	McLaren-Ford	13	Electrical	12
Ret	17	Jochen Mass	March-Ford	10	Collision	26
Ret	30	Mauro Baldi	Arrows-Ford	10	Collision	25
Ret	2	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham-BMW	8	Engine	4
Ret	10	Eliseo Salazar	ATS-Ford	2	Spun Off	22
Ret	31	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Osella-Ford	0	Halfshaft	17
Ret	36	Teo Fabi	Toleman-Hart	0	Electrical	21
DNQ	33	Jan Lammers	Theodore-Ford
DNQ	14	Roberto Guerrero	Ensign-Ford
DNQ	20	Chico Serra	Fittipaldi-Ford
DNQ	18	Raul Boesel	March-Ford
Source:[1]

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 23

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 McLaren-Ford 54 2 Ferrari 52 3 Renault 38 4 Williams-Ford 36 5 Lotus-Ford 20

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References