Didier Pironi - 1982 German Grand Prix

1982 German Grand Prix

After winning pole position for the German Grand Prix, Pironi was also busy testing a new-composition Goodyear rain tire (under the guidance of Mauro Forghieri) in untimed practice. The "new-spec" Goodyears rain tires proved to be very successful, with Pironi lapping up to 2.5 seconds over newly recruited teammate Patrick Tambay driving the sister Ferrari. (Pironi: 2 min 10.9 sec, Tambay: 2 min 13.4 sec)

Racing journalists at the circuit were quick to say Pironi was driving "like a mad man." In defense of Pironi, Forghieri said the substantial differences in the lap times between the two sets of Goodyears were no surprise to the team. The weather conditions at Hockenheim that weekend were highly uncertain: quickly alternating back and forth between wet and dry.

In the rain, one of the many problems caused by "ground-effect" F1 cars was that the spray was forced out from under the side pods as a fine mist and virtually created a fog. To those behind, this made cars in front close to invisible.

When Pironi tried passing Derek Daly's Williams, the Ferrari 126C2 smashed into the back of Alain Prost's unsighted Renault, triggering a violent accident which bore some similarity to that suffered by Villeneuve. Pironi survived, but injuries to both his legs meant he never raced again in Formula 1. Pironi's crash was so bad that FIA doctor Sid Watkins had considered amputating Pironi's legs to remove him from the wrecked Ferrari. At this point, he was leading with 39 points in the championship, ahead of Watson (30) and Rosberg (27), but Pironi was relegated to runner-up as Rosberg passed him to become World Champion with 44 points.

In his Formula One career Didier Pironi won 3 races, achieved 13 podiums, and scored a total of 101 championship points. He also secured 4 pole positions.