1982 Brazilian F1 Grand Prix Race Report & Results

Event: Brazilian Grand Prix
Track: Autódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet

Weather: very hot, dry

Nelson Piquet won his 7th F1 World Championship race at the 1982 Brazilian Grand Prix on the road. The Brabham-Ford Cosworth driver started from 7th on the grid and won on the Jacarepagua circuit for the 2nd time. The win was later disqualified for water-tank weight irregularity, handing victory to Alain Prost's Renault.

Piquet wins at home, then loses it

The 1982 Brazilian Grand Prix at Jacarepagua was Nelson Piquet’s race in front of his crowd, but the FOCA teams’ “water-cooled brakes” cheat caught up with him weeks later. Williams and Brabham (and Arrows) carried huge “water tanks” for the post-race weight check; the tanks were empty during the race and refilled with water afterwards. Rio stewards accepted it; Renault and Ferrari appealed; the FIA International Court eventually disqualified Piquet and Rosberg, handing the win to Prost.

The race

Villeneuve took the lead from Arnoux at the start and led for 30 laps; Piquet caught him at Nonato on lap 30 and Villeneuve, trying to defend, spun on the grass and crashed. Rosberg ran the leaders home at Williams’s reduced weight, holding off Prost for second on the road. Piquet collapsed in his cockpit at the flag from heat exhaustion and fainted on the podium during the Brazilian anthem.

Watson and Lauda crashed each other out at Lagoa on lap 22; Reutemann hit Arnoux on the same lap. Reutemann announced his retirement days later, his planned three-year contract with Williams torn up. Mansell fifth on the road for Lotus, Alboreto sixth for Tyrrell’s first 1982 point. Once Piquet and Rosberg were thrown out, Prost was credited with the win, Mansell up to third, Alboreto fourth.

Classification 1982 Brazilian F1 GP

Pos	#	Driver	Team	Time	Laps	Grid	Pts
1	15	Alain Prost	Renault	1:44:33.134	63	1	9
2	7	John Watson	McLaren	1:44:36.124	63	12	6
3	12	Nigel Mansell	Team Lotus	1:45:09.993	63	14	4
4	3	Michele Alboreto	Tyrrell	1:45:23.895	63	13	3
5	9	Manfred Winkelhock	ATS	+1 lap	62	15	2
6	28	Didier Pironi	Ferrari	+1 lap	62	8	1
7	4	Slim Borgudd	Tyrrell	+2 laps	61	21	0
8	17	Jochen Mass	March	+2 laps	61	22	0
9	31	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Osella	+3 laps	60	23	0
10	30	Mauro Baldi	Arrows	+6 laps	57	19	0
DSQ	1	Nelson Piquet	Brabham	Disqualified (Illegal Water Tank)	63	7	0
DSQ	6	Keke Rosberg	Williams	Disqualified (Illegal Water Tank)	63	3	0
DNF	10	Eliseo Salazar	ATS	Engine	38	18	0
DNF	20	Chico Serra	Fittipaldi	Suspension	36	25	0
DNF	2	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham	Physical	34	9	0
DNF	27	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	Spun Off	29	2	0
DNF	8	Niki Lauda	McLaren	Collision	22	5	0
DNF	16	René Arnoux	Renault	Collision	21	4	0
DNF	5	Carlos Reutemann	Williams	Collision	21	6	0
DNF	11	Elio de Angelis	Team Lotus	Collision	21	11	0
DNF	25	Eddie Cheever	Ligier	Water Leak	19	26	0
DNF	23	Bruno Giacomelli	Alfa Romeo	Clutch	16	16	0
DNF	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier	Chassis	15	24	0
DNF	22	Andrea de Cesaris	Alfa Romeo	Chassis	14	10	0
DNF	33	Derek Daly	Theodore	Spun Off	12	20	0
DNF	18	Raul Boesel	March	Spun Off	11	17	0
DNQ	36	Teo Fabi	Toleman	No Time	0		0
DNQ	29	Brian Henton	Arrows	No Time	0		0
DNQ	35	Derek Warwick	Toleman	No Time	0		0
DNQ	14	Roberto Guerrero	Ensign	No Time	0		0
DNQ	32	Riccardo Paletti	Osella	No Time	0		0

Fastest lap: 1:37.016 min by Alain Prost (Renault RE30B) in lap 36

✅ Check out 1982 F1 Championship Standings
✅ Check out 1982 F1 Teams & Drivers

✅ Check out All Time F1 Drivers Rankings
✅ Check out All Time F1 Driver Records
✅ Check out All Time F1 Teams Rankings

About the author

Leopold

Leopold Pleijsier founded F1-Fansite.com in 2001 and has followed Formula 1 since the early 1980s. He writes about daily F1 news, race weekends, drivers and the sport’s history.

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