Photograph Copyright: © Paul Kooyman
1982 Rivals
The Rivals for the Title
Winning the 1982 F1 World Championship was far from easy for Keke. He had a number of rivals who were just as eager to win the title as he was. His five main rivals all had superior machinery, but in the age of turbo engines Keke proved that driver skill was just as important.
Five main rivals made up the main team gunning for the crown in ‘82 and all five of them wanted it just as badly as Keke. Each one had a good chance at winning the title that year and all scored two wins to Keke’s single victory but they all suffered from bad luck in the form of reliability and other problems. It is also worth mentioning that Gilles Villenuve would most definitely have been a major title contender if not for his tragic and fatal accident at Zolder earlier in the year.
The key to Keke’s success was that he kept scoring consistantly throughout the season taking points from many of the races. At the end of the season Keke had won with 44 points and one win, needing only a sixth place in the last race of the year. Michele Alboreto won the race but Keke did more than he needed and came a very deserved 5th. It is worth noting that this was during the era when only the top 6 scored points with the winner receiving just nine.
Through determination and raw talent Keke was able to beat some of the best drivers the sport has ever seen, picking up the ultimate accolade, the 1982 F1 Drivers World Championship.
The Champion
The single victory is often used against Keke's championship winning campaign as a reason why he didn't deserve his success. However finishing second in Austria by only 0.050 seconds, completing the most laps of any driver and scoring points at ten of the sixteen races is proof that Keke was more than deserving of his 1982 crown.
Keke Rosberg
Team: Williams Ford
Wins: 1
Podiums: 6
Points: 44
Final Position: 1st
The Five Main Rivals
These five drivers formed the main rivalry for the 1982 Drivers Championship. Each scored a win more than Keke but only John Watson matched Keke's consistency of six podium finishes. It's also worth noting that Pironi challenge was halted five races before the final due to career ending injuries he sustained at the German Grand Prix.
John Watson
Team: McLaren Ford
Wins: 2
Podiums: 6
Points: 39
Final Position: = 2nd
Didier Pironi
Team: Ferrari
Wins: 2
Podiums: 5
Points: 39
Final Position: = 2nd
Alain Prost
Team: Renault
Wins: 2
Podiums: 4
Points: 34
Final Position: 4th
Niki Lauda
Team: McLaren Ford
Wins: 2
Podiums: 3
Points: 30
Final Position: 5th
Rene Arnoux
Team: Renault
Wins: 2
Podiums: 4
Points: 28
Final Position: 6th
The Championship Battle
The graph below shows how many points each driver scored and the frequency with which they did this. The largest circles represent a win (9 points), the next largest for second (6 points), all the way down to sixth (1 point) with the smallest circles. The championship leaders are also displayed and despite winning two races a piece, neither Lauda or Arnoux would lead the championship.
The graph shows how consistency was key in 1982. The attritional nature of F1 during this era meant regularly finishing races was vital in scoring points. Keke's consistency, completing the most racing laps in 1982 (88.73%), was how he repeatedly outscored his competition. All of the rivals in comparison had large gaps in which they failed to score either due to unreliability or driver errors.
Chart - 1982 Points Scoring Comparison
Championship leader