Italian GP 1982

Italian GP, 1982

Ferrari had already signed Rene Arnoux as a driver for 1983 but with Didier Pironi out of action it was decided to ask Mario Andretti to race alongside Patrick Tambay at Monza. There was much wheeling and dealing going on over engines with rumors of Renault deals for Lotus and Ligier and a TAG-badged Porsche deal for McLaren. Tyrrell, in the meantime, had finally found some sponsorship from Denim and on the driver front Eddie Cheever had been signed by Renault to replace Arnoux in 1983.

The field was much as usual although Andrea de Cesaris appeared in practice with a turbocharged Alfa Romeo. There was also a new car for Toleman, the angular TG183 being raced by Derek Warwick. Jochen Mass was still out of action and so Rupert Keegan remained in the March although as usual neither car qualified.

Ferrari wanted to do well at Monza and so when Andretti took pole position on Saturday there was much rejoicing. Tambay was still not 100% fit because of his back problems but he was third behind Nelson Piquet's Brabham-BMW and with Riccardo Patrese fourth for Brabham the two Renaults were down in fifth and sixth, Alain Prost beating Rene Arnoux on this occasion. Then came World Championship leader Keke Rosberg (Williams), the two normal Alfa Romeos of Bruno Giacomelli and Andrea de Cesaris and Niki Lauda's McLaren.

There was plenty of action on the first lap as Andretti made a bad start, Prost tried to take the lead went on the grass and dropped back. Piquet led but was then bumped back behind Tambay, Arnoux, Patrese and Andretti. At the end of the first lap Arnoux was a fraction ahead of Tambay, Patrese and Andretti, while Piquet dropped down the order with a clutch problem. On the second lap Patrese moved ahead of Tambay and went after Arnoux but after six laps he slowed with a clutch failure. By now Prost was back among the front-runners and on lap 7 he overtook Andretti for third place. The order then stayed the same up front until lap 27 when Prost's fuel injection failed. This moved Andretti to third and that was it. Arnoux won from Tambay and Andretti, John Watson (McLaren) was fourth with Michele Alboreto (Tyrrell) fifth and Eddie Cheever (Talbot Ligier) sixth. Rosberg finished but out of the points after his rear wing fell off.

Watson closed to within nine points in the World Championship battle.

POSNODRIVERENTRANTLAPSTIME/RETIREMENTQUAL POS
1 16 Rene Arnoux Renault  52 1h22m25.734s  6 
2 27 Patrick Tambay Ferrari  52 1h22m39.798s  3 
3 28 Mario Andretti Ferrari  52 1h23m14.186s  1 
4 7 John Watson McLaren-Cosworth  52 1h23m53.579s  12 
5 3 Michele Alboreto Tyrrell-Cosworth  51  11 
6 25 Eddie Cheever Talbot Ligier-Matra  51  14 
7 12 Nigel Mansell Lotus-Cosworth  51  23 
8 6 Keke Rosberg Williams-Cosworth  50  7 
9 10 Eliseo Salazar ATS-Cosworth  50  25 
10 22 Andrea de Cesaris Alfa Romeo  50  9 
11 20 Chico Serra Fittipaldi-Cosworth  49  26 
12 30 Mauro Baldi Arrows-Cosworth  49  24 
nc 14 Roberto Guerrero Ensign-Cosworth  40  18 
r 11 Elio de Angelis Lotus-Cosworth  33 Throttle Jammed 17 
r 23 Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo  32 Side Pod/handling 8 
r 29 Marc Surer Arrows-Cosworth  28 Ignition 19 
r 15 Alain Prost Renault  27 Fuel Injection 5 
r 8 Niki Lauda McLaren-Cosworth  21 Brakes/handling 10 
r 31 Jean-Pierre Jarier Osella-Cosworth  10 Rear Wheel Lost 15 
r 1 Nelson Piquet Brabham-BMW  7 Clutch 2 
r 2 Riccardo Patrese Brabham-BMW  6 Clutch 4 
r 26 Jacques Laffite Talbot Ligier-Matra  5 Gearbox 21 
r 36 Teo Fabi Toleman-Hart  2 Engine 22 
r 5 Derek Daly Williams-Cosworth  0 Accident/rear Suspension 13 
r 35 Derek Warwick Toleman-Hart  0 Accident 16 
r 4 Brian Henton Tyrrell-Cosworth  0 Accident 20 
nq 17 Rupert Keegan March-Cosworth    27 
nq 9 Manfred Winkelhock ATS-Cosworth    28 
nq 18 Raul Boesel March-Cosworth    29 
nq 33 Tommy Byrne Theodore-Cosworth    30