Didier Pironi - Professional Driving Career (1972-1982)

Professional Driving Career (1972-1982)

Pironi was born in Villecresnes, Val-de-Marne.

Initially Pironi began studying as an engineer and earned a degree in science, but entering the family construction business fell by the wayside following his enrollment at the Paul Ricard driving school.

He was awarded the Pilot Elf sponsorship bursary in 1972, with the French national oil company funding his early career, mostly in Renault-powered vehicles. Benefiting from this same Elf sponsorship, to promote young French motorsport talent, that bequeathed the likes of Patrick Tambay and Alain Prost to Formula One, Didier Pironi made his top-flight debut on 15 January 1978. This was with Ken Tyrrell's team which, despite being British, had a strong working relationship with Elf, dating back to the late 1960s. In the same year, Pironi was part of the massive Renault squad tasked with winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Partnering Jean-Pierre Jaussaud in the team's second car, the unusual "bubble roof" A442B, he won the race by four laps from the rival Porsche 936s.

Two seasons with the underfinanced Tyrrell team demonstrated enough promise for Guy Ligier to sign Pironi to his rather erratic eponymous French team in 1980, a season in which Didier recorded his first victory, in the Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder, as well as several podium finishes. Indeed, such were Pironi's performances that as early as the second race of the season, Enzo Ferrari expressed an interest in the Frenchman's services, which he secured for 1981.

Mr. Ferrari later recalled, "As soon as Pironi arrived at Maranello, he won everyone's admiration and affection, not only for his gifts as an athlete, but also for his way of doing things - he was reserved while at the same time outgoing."

Teamed and compared with Gilles Villeneuve, Pironi was slower in qualifying but steadier in races during his first season with Ferrari, though Villeneuve welcomed the Frenchman and treated him as an equal. For someone so preoccupied with becoming the first French driver to win the Formula One title, the events of this year may have played a role in the turbulent and unhappy 1982 campaign. Establishing a fine rapport with the senior members of the team, Pironi arguably exploited this good relationship in the aftermath of the controversial San Marino race where he is widely thought to have duped Villeneuve into conceding victory by giving the impression that he would follow his Canadian team-mate through the final lap, only to unexpectedly power past him into the Tosa hairpin. Villeneuve was furious with Pironi and vowed never to say another word to him. The Canadian was killed in qualifying at the following Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder trying to better Pironi's lap time, and Villeneuve's furious state of mind is often considered a contributory cause to his accident.

Harvey Postlethwaite (the designer of the 126C2) believed that the "drama" following Imola was blown out of proportion by the press, "Villeneuve was really upset because he felt he should have been handed the race on a plate....They were competitive and either of them could win."

He also mentioned a technical note as to why the two Ferraris were swapping places so often during the San Marino race. "The (Ferrari 126C) turbo pressure was very, very difficult to control. Most of the reason that they were able to pass one another so evenly was that one would go through a sticky patch and sort of only be giving 4-bar of boost or 4.2, and the other would be getting a burst of 4.5, so it would have the legs of the other guy. It wasn't quite as spectacular as it appeared at the time."

In 2007, former Marlboro marketing executive John Hogan (whose company sponsored Pironi in his time as a Ferrari driver) disputed the claim that Pironi had gone back on a prior arrangement with Villeneuve. He said: "I think Gilles was stunned somebody had out-driven him and that it just caught him so much by surprise."

With a fast, reliable car, Pironi appeared to be on course for being 1982 World Champion, but the Frenchman's own state of mind underwent severe stress due to several factors. Widespread antipathy by many in the F1 fraternity was directed toward him in the wake of the Zolder tragedy, since Pironi was quickly judged to be the main catalyst behind Villeneuve's agitated mental state that led to his fatal crash. There was also the rapid breakdown of his marriage to longtime girlfriend Catherine Beynie within weeks of the ceremony taking place. He observed first hand the death of Riccardo Paletti in the 1982 Canadian Grand Prix, the young Italian ploughing into Pironi's stalled Ferrari on the starting grid. These tragic events may have resulted in Pironi being in a dour, gloomy mood that was misinterpreted at the time as over-confidence and arrogance.

Ferrari team members are reported to have observed changes in Pironi's behaviour throughout that summer. (Pironi remarked before the 1982 British Grand Prix, "I feel I am beginning to touch the World Championship.")