1982 Season

Driver changes

Williams loses both its 1981 drivers. 1980 World Champion Alan Jones has retired. Carlos Reutemann, who led the Drivers’ Championship deep into last season, also announced his retirement — though he commits to racing the first two rounds before walking away. Jones is replaced by Keke Rosberg, who has contested 36 Grands Prix with a third-place finish as his best result.

Niki Lauda returns to Formula One after a two-year self-imposed absence, joining McLaren to partner John Watson. Lauda had won his second World Championship in 1977 and abruptly retired mid-race at the 1979 Canadian Grand Prix.

At Brabham, defending World Champion Nelson Piquet remains. Riccardo Patrese moves from Arrows to partner him, replacing Héctor Rebaque. Arrows hires Marc Surer for the season.

Toleman replaces Brian Henton with Teo Fabi for his Formula One debut. The Osella team gives Riccardo Paletti his Grand Prix debut. Eliseo Salazar transfers from Ensign to ATS.

Ferrari retain Gilles Villeneuve and Didier Pironi. Renault retain Alain Prost and René Arnoux.

Team changes

Brabham enters an engine supply deal with BMW, fielding their new turbocharged inline-four BT50 alongside the existing Cosworth DFV-powered BT49D. The team commits to running the BMW unit throughout the season, though reliability problems force periodic returns to the DFV.

Toleman fields turbocharged Hart engines for 1982, joining Renault, Ferrari, and Brabham as the turbo runners in the field. All other FOCA-aligned teams remain on the Cosworth DFV.

McLaren, having introduced the first carbon-fibre monocoque in 1981, demonstrated its safety when Watson walked away from a severe accident at Monza that year. Lotus follows suit for 1982, building their new Lotus 91 with carbon fibre.

Calendar

The season runs to 16 rounds, with the Argentine Grand Prix and the Spanish Grand Prix both absent. Argentina is cancelled following the withdrawal of several sponsors — spooked by political unrest and uncertainty after driver market turbulence in the off-season — while Spain is dropped because the organisers of the Circuito del Jarama had failed to pay their 1981 fees and the track’s narrow, outdated facilities drew protests from the teams.

Two new races are added: the Detroit Grand Prix, the first Formula One race to be held in the city, and the Swiss Grand Prix, held at Circuit de Dijon-Prenois in France. Motor racing has been banned in Switzerland since the 1955 Le Mans disaster, so the Swiss GP returns to the calendar for the first time since 1954 but is staged across the border. With Detroit joining Long Beach and Las Vegas, the United States hosts three Grands Prix in 1982 — the only time one country has staged more than two races in a single season.

Regulation changes

The grid is expanded: up to 34 cars may enter a race (previously 30) and 26 may start (previously 24). To manage the larger field, a pre-qualifying session is introduced for the three teams with the worst record from the previous year, who must compete for entry into qualifying proper.

The best 11 results from all 16 rounds count towards the Drivers’ Championship, as in 1981. All rounds count for the Constructors’ Championship.

In a key reversal from 1981, the ban on moveable aerodynamic skirts is lifted as part of the new Concorde Agreement. Teams may again seal the underside of the car with skirts to trap low-pressure airflow, restoring significant cornering speeds — and the associated stiff suspensions and physical demands on drivers. Alfa Romeo retains what is widely described as the most powerful naturally aspirated three-litre engine in the field at 548 bhp.

Non-turbo teams exploit a regulation that allows oil and cooling liquids to be replenished before the final post-race weigh-in. They build their cars lighter than the minimum weight limit and fit water tanks — nominally for brake cooling — which are emptied at the start of the race, then refilled at the end. Keke Rosberg later explains the water tank “was the one that gave us at least a theoretical chance to compete with the turbos.”

The minimum car weight is cut from 585 kg to 580 kg. A new mandatory driver survival cell provides additional cockpit protection. Qualifying tyres — banned in 1980 but since reinstated — are now limited to two sets per session per driver, increasing pressure on each flying lap.

Four tyre suppliers compete: Goodyear, Michelin, Pirelli, and Avon.

Before the start of the season, FISA distributes a new Super Licence application form requiring drivers to commit to a single team for up to three years, and forbidding “actions which might harm the moral or material interests” of Formula One. Several drivers are already pushing back on the terms.

Pre-season testing

Teams gather at Kyalami the week before the South African Grand Prix. Prost sets the fastest time of 1:05.71 — almost eight seconds quicker than the circuit’s previous track record. Surer crashes his Arrows and breaks both feet, ruling him out of the season opener; Patrick Tambay steps in to replace him. Mass walks away unhurt from a separate accident in his March 821. Ferrari, without their new 126C2 ready, run an updated version of the 1981 126CK. Brabham are satisfied with the progress of the new BT50 with the BMW turbo engine.