1982 Caesars Palace Grand Prix

  1982 Caesars Palace Grand Prix

Race details
Race 16 of 16 in the 1982 Formula One season
Date	September 25, 1982
Official name	2nd Caesars Palace Grand Prix
Location	Las Vegas Strip
Course	Temporary street course
Course length	3.650 km (2.268 mi)
Distance	75 laps, 273.75 km (170.10 mi)
Weather	Sunny with temperatures reaching up to 98.8 °F (37.1 °C); wind speeds approaching speeds up to 18.1 miles per hour (29.1 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Alain Prost	Renault
Time	1:16.356
Fastest lap
Driver	Michele Alboreto	Tyrrell-Ford
Time	1:19.639 on lap 59
Podium
First	Michele Alboreto	Tyrrell-Ford
Second	John Watson	McLaren-Ford
Third	Eddie Cheever	Ligier-Matra

The 1982 Caesars Palace Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on September 25, 1982 in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was won by Michele Alboreto for Tyrrell. This was also Mario Andretti's last F1 race.

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. Keke Rosberg of Williams had 42 points, to 33 for McLaren's John Watson, and needed to finish sixth or better to secure the title. Meanwhile, the race was former world champion Mario Andretti's final grand prix.

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. The turbocharged Renaults of Alain Prost and René Arnoux took first and second positions in qualifying, more than eight-tenths clear of Alboreto. The two Championship contenders, Rosberg and Watson, meanwhile, were in sixth and ninth places respectively, separated by the Ferraris of Mario Andretti and Patrick Tambay.

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 Ligier 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, meanwhile, had dropped to twelfth in the opening laps, but passed Piquet on lap 12, then Rosberg, Andretti and Cheever on successive laps, eventually reaching third place, with a 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. Niki Lauda's McLaren retired on lap 54, while Alboreto had eliminated the gap to Prost, and gotten by him to take the lead in a Grand Prix for the first time. 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.

Alboreto cruised to a comfortable victory, his first ever and the first for Tyrrell in four years. Alboreto was the 11th different victor that year. Cheever 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 Rosberg, who therefore won the title.

Classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	3	Michele Alboreto	Tyrrell-Ford	75	1:41:56.888	3	9
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	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
Source:

Notes

• Rosberg and Watson both entered this race with a chance of winning the Driver's Championship.
  • Rosberg (42pts) needed either
    • 6th or higher
    • Watson 2nd or lower
  • Watson (33pts) needed 1st, with Rosberg 7th or lower.
    • Although Watson would have equaled Rosberg's points total if he had won the race and Rosberg finished out of the points, Watson would have won the Driver's championship because he had won one more race than Rosberg during the season.
• For the first time in 18 years, three teams entered the final race with a chance of the Constructor's Championship.
  • Ferrari (74pts) needed either
    • 2nd (or 4th and 5th) or better
    • 4th (or 5th and 6th) or better, with the McLarens 1st and 3rd or lower
    • 5th or better, with the McLarens 1st and 4th or lower
    • 6th or better, with the McLarens 1st and 5th or lower
    • the McLarens scoring fewer than 11pts, with the Renaults 1st and 3rd or lower
  • McLaren-Ford (63pts) needed either
    • 1st and 2nd, with the Ferraris scoring fewer than 5pts
    • 1st and 3rd, with the Ferraris scoring fewer than 3pts
    • 1st and 4th, with the Ferraris 6th or lower
    • 1st and 5th, with the Ferraris 7th or lower
  • Renault (59pts) needed 1st and 2nd, with the Ferraris 7th or lower.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

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

Constructors' Championship standings

Pos	Constructor	Points
1	Ferrari	74
2	McLaren-Ford	69
3	Renault	62
4	Williams-Ford	58
5	Lotus-Ford	30

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

Further reading

• 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

Previous race: 1982 Italian Grand Prix	FIA Formula One World Championship 1982 season	Next race: 1983 Brazilian Grand Prix
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