1982 F1 Season

The 1982 Formula One World Championship was a season marked by tragedy, controversy, and unexpected outcomes. Keke Rosberg, driving for Williams, won the Drivers’ Championship despite claiming only a single race victory at the Swiss Grand Prix. This achievement made him the second driver in Formula One history to win the championship with just one race win in a season. Ferrari, despite enduring a year of heartbreak and loss, secured the Constructors’ Championship. The season, which ran from 23 January to 25 September, featured sixteen races and was characterized by a remarkable level of competitiveness, with eleven different drivers from seven teams winning races. No driver won more than twice, and there was a streak of nine different winners in nine consecutive races.

1982 was a year overshadowed by loss and safety concerns. The motorsport community mourned the deaths of Gilles Villeneuve during qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix and Riccardo Paletti at the start of the Canadian Grand Prix. Additionally, Didier Pironi suffered a career-ending accident in qualifying for the German Grand Prix. These incidents, along with several other major accidents, prompted significant changes in regulations to enhance driver safety from the 1983 season onwards. The season also marked the end of an era of frequent driver fatalities, with a notable reduction in such incidents from 1983 onwards. The introduction of carbon fibre cars by McLaren in 1981 had begun a shift towards greater safety, a trend that continued to evolve in the subsequent years.