1982 German Grand Prix

The 1982 German Grand Prix was Round 12 of the 1982 FIA Formula 1 World Championship. The event was held at Hockenheim in Germany on Sunday, 8 August 1982. Didier Pironi claimed pole position for Ferrari and his team-mate Patrick Tambay was the race winner.

During the race, a furious Nelson Piquet attacked Eliseo Salazar, launching a series of punches and kicks at the Chilean driver after he was taken out of the race while leading and attempting to lap Salazar’s ATS on the entry to the first chicane.

Runaway championship leader Didier Pironi was seriously injured in the final wet practice session prior to the race. Pironi, who had claimed pole position, was overtaking Derek Daly’s Williams, when – unsighted by thick rain and fog – he crashed into the back of Alain Prost’s slower Renault. The contact launched his Ferrari 126C2 high into the air and he sustained major fractures to both of his legs in the subsequent violent wreck that followed. Sadly, this horrific accident not only cost Pironi the 1982 driver’s championship title but completely ended his racing career. He subsequently took up offshore powerboat racing but was killed in an accident during the Needles Trophy in August 1987.