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 miles)
Distance	54 laps, 313.686 km (194.915 miles)
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
Lap leaders

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

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Q1	Q2	Gap
1	16	René Arnoux	Renault	1:36.548	1:34.406	—
2	15	Alain Prost	Renault	1:35.802	1:34.688	+0.282
3	28	Didier Pironi	Ferrari	1:36.477	1:35.790	+1.384
4	2	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham-BMW	1:38.541	1:35.811	+1.405
5	27	Patrick Tambay	Ferrari	1:38.745	1:35.905	+1.499
6	1	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-BMW	1:37.162	1:36.359	+1.953
7	22	Andrea de Cesaris	Alfa Romeo	1:38.996	1:37.573	+3.167
8	23	Bruno Giacomelli	Alfa Romeo	1:38.997	1:37.705	+3.299
9	8	Niki Lauda	McLaren-Ford	1:37.778	1:38.034	+3.372
10	6	Keke Rosberg	Williams-Ford	1:37.780	1:38.865	+3.374
11	5	Derek Daly	Williams-Ford	1:38.767	1:39.641	+4.361
12	7	John Watson	McLaren-Ford	1:38.944	1:39.150	+4.538
13	11	Elio de Angelis	Lotus-Ford	1:40.569	1:39.118	+4.712
14	35	Derek Warwick	Toleman-Hart	1:41.266	1:39.306	+4.900
15	3	Michele Alboreto	Tyrrell-Ford	1:39.823	1:39.330	+4.924
16	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Matra	1:40.326	1:39.605	+5.199
17	31	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Osella-Ford	1:40.370	1:39.909	+5.503
18	9	Manfred Winkelhock	ATS-Ford	1:39.917	1:39.942	+5.511
19	25	Eddie Cheever	Ligier-Matra	1:41.518	1:40.187	+5.781
20	29	Marc Surer	Arrows-Ford	1:42.603	1:40.335	+5.929
21	36	Teo Fabi	Toleman-Hart	no time	1:40.421	+6.015
22	10	Eliseo Salazar	ATS-Ford	1:42.822	1:40.673	+6.267
23	4	Brian Henton	Tyrrell-Ford	1:41.109	1:40.852	+6.446
24	12	Geoff Lees	Lotus-Ford	1:45.647	1:40.974	+6.568
25	30	Mauro Baldi	Arrows-Ford	1:42.162	1:40.997	+6.591
26	17	Jochen Mass	March-Ford	1:41.973	1:41.579	+7.173
27	33	Jan Lammers	Theodore-Ford	1:41.924	1:41.714	+7.308
28	14	Roberto Guerrero	Ensign-Ford	1:42.270	1:42.532	+7.864
29	20	Chico Serra	Fittipaldi-Ford	1:43.562	1:42.414	+8.008
30	18	Raul Boesel	March-Ford	1:43.515	1:43.099	+8.693

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Tyre	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	16	René Arnoux	Renault	M	54	1:33:33.217	1	9
2	15	Alain Prost	Renault	M	54	+ 17.308	2	6
3	28	Didier Pironi	Ferrari	G	54	+ 42.128	3	4
4	27	Patrick Tambay	Ferrari	G	54	+ 1:16.241	5	3
5	6	Keke Rosberg	Williams-Ford	G	54	+ 1:30.994	10	2
6	3	Michele Alboreto	Tyrrell-Ford	G	54	+ 1:32.339	15	1
7	5	Derek Daly	Williams-Ford	G	53	+ 1 Lap	11
8	8	Niki Lauda	McLaren-Ford	M	53	+ 1 Lap	9
9	23	Bruno Giacomelli	Alfa Romeo	M	53	+ 1 Lap	8
10	4	Brian Henton	Tyrrell-Ford	G	53	+ 1 Lap	23
11	9	Manfred Winkelhock	ATS-Ford	M	52	+ 2 Laps	18
12	12	Geoff Lees	Lotus-Ford	G	52	+ 2 Laps	24
13	29	Marc Surer	Arrows-Ford	P	52	+ 2 Laps	20
14	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Matra	M	51	+ 3 Laps	16
15	35	Derek Warwick	Toleman-Hart	P	50	+ 4 Laps	14
16	25	Eddie Cheever	Ligier-Matra	M	49	+ 5 Laps	19
Ret	22	Andrea de Cesaris	Alfa Romeo	M	25	Spun Off	7
Ret	1	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-BMW	G	23	Engine	6
Ret	11	Elio de Angelis	Lotus-Ford	G	17	Fuel System	13
Ret	7	John Watson	McLaren-Ford	M	13	Electrical	12
Ret	17	Jochen Mass	March-Ford	A	10	Collision	26
Ret	30	Mauro Baldi	Arrows-Ford	P	10	Collision	25
Ret	2	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham-BMW	G	8	Engine	4
Ret	10	Eliseo Salazar	ATS-Ford	M	2	Spun Off	22
Ret	31	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Osella-Ford	P	0	Halfshaft	17
Ret	36	Teo Fabi	Toleman-Hart	P	0	Electrical	21
DNQ	33	Jan Lammers	Theodore-Ford	G
DNQ	14	Roberto Guerrero	Ensign-Ford	M
DNQ	20	Chico Serra	Fittipaldi-Ford	P
DNQ	18	Raul Boesel	March-Ford	A
Source:

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.

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
Source:

Constructors' Championship standings

Pos	Constructor	Points
1	McLaren-Ford	54
2	Ferrari	52
3	Renault	38
4	Williams-Ford	36
5	Lotus-Ford	20
Source:

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