Keke Rosberg rounds the hairpin
With such a legendary track on the calendar, it was never going to be easy to choose a classic race for this weekend. In the end, I’ve decided to look back to the 1982 Monaco Grand Prix. Besides their home race, it is said that every driver wants to win in Monaco. The 1982 race, though, appeared to be the complete opposite!
The green light came on to signal the start of the race, with Rene Arnoux leading from pole position in his Renault. Bruno Giacomelli was up to second in his Alfa Romeo, with Prost passing Patrese on the first lap to take third place.
Arnoux was dominating the race, but a spin going into the swimming pool section would bring an end to that. After taking too much kerb, his Renault spun out and stalled – allowing his compatriot and team mate Alain Prost to take the lead.
Lap 33 and Prost has been slowed trying to pass traffic. He was now under serious pressure from second and third place men Ricardo Patrese and Didier Pironi in their respective Brabham and Ferrari cars. Patrese looked here, there and everywhere for a way past the Renault, but couldn’t find the gap needed. Once they passed the traffic, Prost pulled away again.
The rain began to fall late in the race – something Frenchman Alain Prost was all to aware of. He began to push, hard, in a bid to finish the race before the weather made too much of an impact. It turns out, he pushed too hard. With just four laps to go, the rain caught Prost out at the exit of the chicane. The Renault spun into the barriers, causing debris to be scattered across the track and Prost to be out of the race.
Prost’s crash was the start of a truly remarkable series of events. Ricardo Patrese took the lead, but the greasy track caught him out too. He spun just before the hairpin and stalled, allowing Didier Pironi to take what looked like a certain win – the race after Giles Villeneuve was tragically killed.
On the final lap, however, his Ferrari thought otherwise. The fuel thirsty V6 turbo in the back of the Ferrari 126C2 spluttered to a halt in the tunnel after drinking a bit too much. This should have allowed Andrea de Cesaris to take the win for Alfa Romeo, but he had suffered the same problem! The 3.0L V12 ran out of juice, costing him what would have been his only F1 win.
Irishman Derek Daly was now the man destined to take the lead, but no! After limping around for lap after lap missing both front and rear wing, his Williams gave up the ghost when its gearbox ceased and forced him to retire at the Rascasse.
In the end, the race would be won by a certain Ricardo Patrese. Despite stalling, he took the win after bump starting the Ford engine in his Brabham down the hill. Pironi was classified second and de Cesaris third.
A legendary race quite literally had a twist around every corner on the final lap. This race saw half the field retire, and with high attrition rates common at Monaco, it does make you wonder whether we’ll see another this year.
Picture courtesy of Williams F1 Team
