1982 Formula One season Facts for Kids

The 1982 Formula One season was the 33rd time the Formula One World Championship was held. It was a very exciting year, and Keke Rosberg from Finland became the champion after a very close fight!

What is Formula One?
The Exciting 1982 Season
Top Drivers of 1982
Images for kids
See also

What is Formula One?

Formula One, often called F1, is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater racing cars. It's like the Olympics of car racing! Drivers compete in many races, called Grand Prix, around the world. The goal is to score points and become the World Champion. Teams also compete to win the Constructors' Championship.

The Exciting 1982 Season

The 1982 season was full of drama and surprises. Many different drivers and teams won races, making it hard to predict who would be the champion until the very end. There were 16 races in total, held in different countries.

Key Moments and Winners

Some of the big winners in 1982 included:

Alain Prost from France, who won the first two races in South Africa and Brazil.
Niki Lauda from Austria, a famous driver who had returned to F1, won races in the USA and Britain.
Didier Pironi from France won two races for Scuderia Ferrari.
John Watson from the UK also won two races for McLaren.
René Arnoux from France won two races later in the season for Renault.

It was a season where no single driver or team completely dominated. This made the championship battle very intense!

Keke Rosberg: The Champion

Keke Rosberg from Finland, driving for the Williams team, became the World Champion. What's amazing is that he only won one race all season, the Swiss Grand Prix! But he was very consistent, meaning he often finished in good positions and scored points in many races. This steady performance helped him win the championship even though other drivers won more races.

His car, the Williams FW08, used a Cosworth DFV engine. It was the last time a car with this type of engine won the Drivers' Championship for many years.

The Constructors' Championship

While Keke Rosberg won the Drivers' title, the Ferrari team won the Constructors' Championship. This award goes to the team that scores the most points with both of its cars combined. Ferrari's 126C2 car was very strong, even though they faced some sad moments during the season.

Sad Moments in 1982

The 1982 season also had some very sad moments.

The season saw a drivers' strike before the first race in South Africa, where drivers protested new rules.
Tragically, Gilles Villeneuve, a popular Canadian driver for Ferrari, died in a crash during qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix.
Later in the season, another driver, Riccardo Paletti, also died in a crash at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Didier Pironi, who was leading the championship, had a serious accident in Germany that ended his career.

These events made the 1982 season one of the most difficult and emotional years in Formula One history.

Top Drivers of 1982

Here are the top drivers from the 1982 season:

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Keke Rosberg	44
2	Didier Pironi	39
3	John Watson	39
4	Alain Prost	34
5	Niki Lauda	30
6	René Arnoux	28

The 1982 Formula One season is remembered as one of the most unpredictable and dramatic championships ever, showing that consistency can be just as important as winning races.

Images for kids

The 1982 Drivers' Championship winner was Keke Rosberg
Scuderia Ferrari won the Constructors' Championship with the 126C2.
Carlos Reutemann (pictured in 1981) stayed with the team of Frank Williams (right), only to retire from the sport after two races.
The Cosworth DFV-powered Williams FW08 was the last naturally aspirated car used to win the Drivers' Championship until 1989. Pictured here is eventual World Champion Keke Rosberg at the British Grand Prix.
Mechanics play football on the main straight of Kyalami during the drivers' strike
Andrea de Cesaris (left) took a surprise pole position at Long Beach in his Alfa Romeo 182 (pictured).
Defending champion Nelson Piquet (pictured at the British Grand Prix), failed to qualify in Detroit, but won the next race in Canada.
Niki Lauda won two races in his comeback season, first in Long Beach, then in Britain (pictured).
Renault was dominant in qualifying, taking 10 out of 16 pole positions, but finished only third in the Constructors' Championship due to poor reliability of their RE30B (pictured).
Gilles Villeneuve (pictured in 1979) scored his last podium at the San Marino Grand Prix, two weeks before his death at the next round.
McLaren placed second in the Constructors' Championship with the MP4/1B (John Watson pictured at the British Grand Prix).
Williams placed fourth with the FW07 and FW08 (pictured in 2009).