1982 LAS VEGAS GRAND PRIX

The '1982 Las Vegas Grand Prix' was a Formula One race held on September 25, 1982 in Las Vegas, Nevada. This event was also referred to as the 'Caesar's Palace Grand Prix'.
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Contents

Summary

Classification

Notes

References

Summary

For the first time since the World Championship began in 1950, a country hosted three rounds in the same season in 1982. The final race of the year, and the third in the US, would once again decide the Championship.

''It had been a tragic season with the deaths of Gilles Villeneuve and Riccardo Paletti, and the career-ending injuries of Didier Pironi. Though two separate appeals remained pending and clouded the title picture, Keke Rosberg of Williams had 42 points, to 35 for McLaren's John Watson when the teams arrived in Las Vegas. All Rosberg could do was forget about the legal possibilities and try to settle things outright with a fifth place finish, or even better, a win.''

The course's tight turns and short straights allowed the non-turbo cars to be more competitive than usual, with Michele Alboreto's Tyrrell and Eddie Cheever's Talbot Ligier fastest among them. It wasn't until final qualifying on Friday afternoon that the turbocharged Renaults of Alain Prost and René Arnoux were
able to really separate themselves from the rest, as they occupied the front row positions, more than eight-tenths clear of Alboreto. The two Championship contenders, Rosberg and Watson, meanwhile, were left in sixth and ninth places respectively, separated by the Ferraris of Mario Andretti and Patrick Tambay.

''1981 had been the last full Grand Prix season for Andretti. So, after a non-finish for Williams at Long Beach and a stunning pole position and third-place finish at Monza for Ferrari, this would be the last Formula One race for America's greatest Grand Prix driver. In his fourteen-year F1 career with six teams, Andretti collected 12 wins, 18 pole positions, 10 fastest laps and one World Driver's Championship. Some still consider him the greatest all-around driver in motor racing history.''

At the green light for the race on Saturday, Prost led from the pole, followed by teammate Arnoux. Cheever, from the fourth spot on the grid, was determined to get around the outside of Alboreto on the first left-hander. They touched wheels, but both continued with Alboreto still in front, Cheever's Talbot sporting a vibrating front wheel and the Tyrrell of Alboreto bearing a tire mark on the right sidepod.
For the first ten laps, the Renaults steadily pulled away from Alboreto, with Arnoux now leading Prost. The Tyrrell began to match Arnoux's times, however, and then to close on him, as Prost took back the lead on lap 15. Speculation of a problem with Arnoux's car proved true, as the Renault was
faltering, and he retired on lap 21.

''Watson was now on fire, after dropping to twelfth in the opening laps, and was bringing the Championship battle to life. He passed Piquet on lap 12, then Rosberg, Andretti and Cheever on successive laps, and now stood in third place as he set about reducing the thirty-second gap to the two leaders. However, when Andretti, hoping to help clinch the Constructor's title for Ferrari, slid off directly in front of Rosberg on lap 27 with a broken rear suspension link, Rosberg took over the fifth place he sought.''

Among the leaders, Alboreto began inching closer to Prost again, and Watson continued to close on both of them. When Niki Lauda's McLaren retired on lap 54, hardly anyone noticed, for Alboreto had eliminated the gap to Prost, and gotten by him to take his first lead in a Grand Prix. Prost's tires were picking up rubber and had developed a vibration. In four more laps, Watson had also caught and passed him, but he was having the same problem as Prost, and so could make no progress on Alboreto.
What had promised to be a scintillating finish, therefore, never materialized, and Alboreto cruised to a comfortable victory, his first ever and the first for Tyrrell in four years. Cheever thrilled the American crowd when he was also able to overtake the ailing Prost for third, nine laps from the end. Less than three seconds behind Prost, and the last car on the lead lap, was an overjoyed Rosberg in fifth place. No need to wait for the lawyers, Keke's one victory, along with five other podium finishes, had been enough to make him the Champion, Scandinavia's first.

Classification

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	3	'Michele Alboreto'	'Tyrrell-Ford'	75	1:41'56.888	3	'10'
2	7	'John Watson'	'McLaren-Ford'	75	+ 27.292 secs	9	'6'
3	25	'Eddie Cheever'	'Ligier-Matra'	75	+ 56.450 secs	4	'4'
4	15	'Alain Prost'	'Renault'	75	+ 1'08.648 secs	1	'3'
5	6	'Keke Rosberg'	'Williams-Ford'	75	+ 1'11.375	6	'2'
6	5	'Derek Daly'	'Williams-Ford'	74	+ 1 Lap	14	'1'
7	29	Marc Surer	Arrows-Ford	74	+ 1 Lap	17
8	4	Brian Henton	Tyrrell-Ford	74	+ 1 Lap	19
9	22	Andrea de Cesaris	Alfa Romeo	73	+ 2 Laps	18
10	23	Bruno Giacomelli	Alfa Romeo	73	+ 2 Laps	16
11	30	Mauro Baldi	Arrows-Ford	73	+ 2 Laps	23
12	17	Rupert Keegan	March-Ford	73	+ 2 Laps	25
13	18	Raul Boesel	March-Ford	69	+ 6 Laps	24
NC	9	Manfred Winkelhock	ATS-Ford	62	Not Classified	22
Ret	8	Niki Lauda	McLaren-Ford	53	Engine	13
Ret	33	Tommy Byrne	Theodore-Ford	39	Spun Off	26
Ret	35	Derek Warwick	Toleman-Hart	32	Spark Plugs	10
Ret	11	Elio de Angelis	Lotus-Ford	28	Engine	20
Ret	28	Mario Andretti	Ferrari	26	Rear Suspension	7
Ret	1	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-BMW	26	Spark Plugs	12
Ret	16	René Arnoux	Renault	20	Engine	2
Ret	2	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham-BMW	17	Clutch	5
Ret	12	Nigel Mansell	Lotus-Ford	8	Collision	21
Ret	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Matra	5	Ignition	11
DNS	27	Patrick Tambay	Ferrari	0	Driver Unfit	8
DNS	14	Roberto Guerrero	Ensign-Ford	0	Engine	15
DNS	31	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Osella-Cosworth	0	Accident	27
DNQ	36	Teo Fabi	Toleman-Hart
DNQ	10	Eliseo Salazar	ATS-Ford
DNQ	20	Chico Serra	Fittipaldi-Ford

Notes

★ Las Vegas exceeded nearly everyone's expectations as a Grand Prix venue, but it would not return to the calendar, and what many Europeans considered a uniquely American experience was gone from Formula One after just two races.

References

★ Rob Walker (January, 1983). "2nd Las Vegas Grand Prix: King Keke". ''Road & Track'', 96-99.

★ Mike S. Lang (1992). ''Grand Prix!: Race-by-race account of Formula 1 World Championship motor racing. Volume 4: 1981 to 1984''. Haynes Publishing Group. ISBN 0-85429-733-2