1982 San Marino Grand Prix

In a decision relating to the 1982 Brazilian Grand Prix, Nelson Piquet and Keke Rosberg were excluded for their cars' use of water tanks as ballast to keep them under the weight limit during race conditions. The Formula One Constructors' Association (FOCA) protested, and took the decision to boycott the 1982 San Marino Grand Prix.

Most of the FOCA-aligned teams, including Brabham, McLaren, Williams and Lotus, boycotted the race. However, the Tyrrell, Osella, ATS and Toleman teams broke the boycott, citing "sponsor obligations". They joined the FISA-aligned Ferrari, Renault and Alfa Romeo teams in the race, giving a total of 14 cars.

The Renaults of René Arnoux and Alain Prost qualified first and second, but their cars failed in the race, leaving Ferrari occupying the top two positions with Gilles Villeneuve leading Didier Pironi. The third-placed Tyrrell of Michele Alboreto was far behind, so Ferrari ordered their drivers to slow down to minimize the risk of mechanical failure or running out of fuel. Villeneuve believed this order also meant that the cars were to maintain position on the track, with Villeneuve ahead of Pironi. However, Pironi believed that the cars were free to race, and passed Villeneuve. Villeneuve believed that Pironi was simply trying to spice up an otherwise dull race, and duly re-passed his teammate, assuming that he would then hold station for the remainder of the race. Thus, Villeneuve failed to protect the inside line going into the Tosa corner on the final lap, and Pironi passed him to take the win. Villeneuve was irate at what he saw as Pironi's betrayal, although opinion inside the Ferrari team was split over the true meaning of the order to slow down. Villeneuve's expression was sullen on the podium, enraged by Pironi's actions. He was quoted afterwards as saying, "I'll never speak to Pironi again in my life." They proved to be prophetic words, as he was still not on speaking terms with his teammate when he died during qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix two weeks later.

Manfred Winkelhock was disqualified for his car being underweight in post-race scrutineering.

Despite most of the FOCA-aligned teams boycotting the race it still counted towards the World Championship. This was a bone of contention with the FOCA teams as two previous races held during the war (the 1980 Spanish Grand Prix and the 1981 South African Grand Prix) which had seen all three manufacturer teams boycotting had been down-graded to non-championship races and had not counted towards the championship or official records.

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Alain Prost 18 2 Niki Lauda 12 3 Didier Pironi 10 4 Michele Alboreto 10 5 Keke Rosberg 8 Source: [2]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Renault 22 2 McLaren-Ford 20 3 Ferrari 16 4 Williams-Ford 14 5 Tyrrell-Ford 10 Source: [2]

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.