All information on this page is not part of canon.
Drivers Champion
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Manufacturers Champion
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TBD
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TBD
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The 1982 Elite Racing League season was the 23rd season of the FIA's Formula One motor racing support series (the series would remain a support series until 1997.)
This year would be the third of the F1/ERL merge which saw the championship start with a drivers' strike at the season opener in South Africa on the F1 side and saw a partial-race boycott as part of the ongoing FISA–FOCA war at the San Marino Grand Prix, the season was called "ugly and marked by tragedy, dissension and greed" which gave both F1 and the ERL alot of thinking to do especially at the Belgian Grand Prix when beloved Gilles Vileneuve would tragically lose his life, also on the F1 side of things - Didier Pironi also suffered a career-ending accident while qualifying for the German Grand Prix. These incidents and several other major accidents led to regulation changes to increase driver safety for the 1983 season.
Season Review
- The Argentine Grand Prix was scheduled to take place on 7 March, but was cancelled due to lack of sponsors, as several pulled out due to uncertainty following the drivers' strike in the opening race.
- The Spanish Grand Prix was omitted from the calendar for several reasons. The Circuito del Jarama, where the race had been held the previous year, was unpopular with the drivers. In addition, the organisers had failed to pay their fees for 1981. Although the race was re-instated for 27 June after the organisers had paid off their debts to the Formula One Constructors' Association (FOCA), protests from the teams over the dangerous nature of the Jarama venue led to the race being cancelled.
- The French Grand Prix returned to Circuit Paul Ricard whilst Dijon-Prenois became the new European Grand Prix venue.
- The British Grand Prix returned to Brands Hatch
- The United States Grand Prix returned at a new venue, the Detroit Street Circuit (now known as Belle Isle.)
Rnd
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Race
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Circuit
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Pole position
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Fastest lap
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Winning driver
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Constructor
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1
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South African Grand Prix
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Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit
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Teams and Drivers
- Fittipaldi Automotive, despite two strong seasons, withdrew from the ERL after downgrading their F1 efforts to just one car.
- Goodyear and Pirelli returned to the sport to battle Michelin in the ERL's first three way tyre war.
- BMW entered the series becoming the engine supplier for the midfield Brabham team.
Mid-season
- Ferrari made the decision following the Belgian Grand Prix to replace Vileneuve with former teammate Clay Regazzoni who came out of retirement to honour his former teammate by racing his car - the two had led Clay and Ferrari to success as teammates and Regazzoni said he needed to finally do something for Gilles.
- Following his career ending crash at Hockenheim, Didier Pironi was replaced at Ligier with Patrick Tambay who had a lot to prove upon returning to the ERL after finishing last with 0 points when he last raced in the series for McLaren
Drivers Championship
Pos.
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Driver
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Points
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1
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TBD
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0
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Manufacturers Championship
Pos.
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Driver
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Points
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1
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TBD
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0
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