1982 Belgian Grand Prix

Qualifying and death of Gilles Villeneuve

Gilles Villeneuve was killed in an accident during the final qualifying session. At the time of the crash, his teammate Didier Pironi had set a time 0.1s faster than Villeneuve for sixth place. Contemporary and more recent writers say that he was attempting to improve his time on his final lap. Some suggest that he was specifically aiming to beat Pironi due to bitterness at being passed by him two weeks earlier in the closing stages of the San Marino Grand Prix, when Villeneuve believed Pironi had been ordered to remain behind him. Villeneuve's biographer Gerald Donaldson quotes Ferrari race engineer Mauro Forghieri as saying that the Canadian, although pressing on in his usual fashion, was returning to the pits on his last set of qualifying tyres when the accident occurred. If so, he would not have set a time on that lap.

With eight minutes of the session left, Villeneuve came over the rise after the first chicane and found Jochen Mass in the March travelling much more slowly through Butte, the left-handed bend before the Terlamenbocht corner. Mass saw Villeneuve approaching at high speed and moved to the right to let him through on the racing line. At the same instant Villeneuve also moved right to pass Mass. The Ferrari hit the back of the March and was launched into the air at a speed estimated at 200–225 km/h (120–140 mph). It was airborne for over 100 metres before nosediving into the ground and disintegrating as it somersaulted along the edge of the track. Villeneuve, still strapped to his seat but without his helmet, was thrown a further 50 metres from the wreckage into the catch fencing on the outside edge of Terlamenbocht.

Several drivers stopped and rushed to the scene. John Watson and Derek Warwick pulled Villeneuve, his face blue, from the catch fencing. The first doctor arrived on the scene within 35 seconds to find that Villeneuve was not breathing, although his pulse continued throughout; he was intubated and ventilated before being transferred to the circuit medical centre and then by helicopter to University St Raphael Hospital where a fatal fracture of the neck was diagnosed. Villeneuve was kept alive on life support while his wife travelled to the hospital and the doctors consulted with specialists worldwide. He died at 9:12 that evening.

The Ferrari team withdrew from the race after the accident and left the circuit. The final eight minutes of the qualifying were run after the crash debris had been removed. No drivers improved their times, leaving the Renaults of Alain Prost and René Arnoux on the front row of the grid.

Abbreviated race summary

John Watson won the race after taking the lead on the penultimate lap from Keke Rosberg, who was struggling on worn tires. Niki Lauda finished third on the road but was disqualified when his car was found to be underweight in post-race scrutineering, and so the final podium place went to Eddie Cheever. The final point also went to Chico Serra, in what would turn out to be not only Serra's lone point in Formula 1, but also the final point the Fittipaldi team would score in Formula 1.

Classification

Pre-Qualifying

Qualifying

Race

Notes

• This was the 200th Grand Prix in which a German driver participated. In those 200 races, German drivers won 3 Grands Prix, achieved 20 podium finishes, 1 pole position, and 4 fastest laps.
• This was the 25th Grand Prix start for Osella and the 5th Grand Prix start for Toleman.
• This was the 5th Grand Prix start for Hart-powered car.
• This was the 9th Belgian Grand Prix win for a Ford-powered car, breaking the previous record set by Ferrari at the 1979 Belgian Grand Prix.
• This the second of only three races that the Ferrari team entered but did not start. The other two were the 1950 French Grand Prix and the 1982 Swiss Grand Prix.

Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings

;Constructors' Championship standings

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

References

References

1. [http://classic.wunderground.com/history/airport/EBLB/1982/5/9/DailyHistory.html? Weather info for the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix] {{Webarchive. link. (2015-02-14 at Weather Underground)
2. "1982 Belgian Grand Prix Entry list".
3. (4 July 2012). "Formula 1's greatest drivers. Number 12: Gilles Villeneuve". [[BBC Sport]].
4. Bamsey (1983) p.50, Lang (1992) pp.96–97, Watkins (1997) p.98 and Fearnley (May 2007) all write that Villeneuve was attempting to beat Pironi. Jenkinson (June 1982) writes only that he "was in the middle of a last desperate bid to improve his grid position."
5. Donaldson (2003) pp.296–298
6. Lang (1992) p.97
7. Fearnley (May 2007)
8. Watkins (1997) pp.96–98
9. Lang (1992) pp.95 99
10. "05/09/1982 race: Grand Prix of Belgium (F1) qualifying results - Racing-Reference.info".
11. "1982 Belgian Grand Prix". formula1.com.
12. (9 May 1982). "1982 Belgian Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive".
13. "Belgium 1982 - Championship • STATS F1".