Never as in the case of the 1982 San Marino Grand Prix has a team order not respected had such dire consequences for all the protagonists, in what should have been an announced party and instead turned into the tragic end of a friendship.
The context – The 1982 San Marino Grand Prix, scheduled for April 25 of that year, is already being discussed even before starting. We are in the middle of the FISA-FOCA war and the British assemblers, under the pressure of Bernie Ecclestone, decide to boycott the Imola race to protest against the Federation, guilty of having accepted the appeal presented by Ferrari and Renault on the outcome of the Brazilian GP. A decision that could lead to the disqualification of the first two classified cars of that race – Piquet (Brabham) and Rosberg (Williams) – because they are judged underweight. Therefore, only seven teams show up on the Santerno circuit, for a total of 14 drivers. The only English team is Tyrrell, which FOCA has given the green light to run due to the Italian sponsors who support it.
The race – Without the teams from across the Channel, the weekend becomes a direct confrontation between the turbo cars of Renault and Ferrari. In qualifying the two French cars stand out, with Arnoux ahead of Prost, but in the race the balance is overturned. The Professor retires after a few laps, while Arnoux leaves on the 44th lap, thus leaving the field free for the all-Ferrari confrontation between Gilles Villeneuve and Didier Pironi. The reds # 27 and # 28 seem alone on the track as the closest rival is Alboreto, on the Tyrrell, who will arrive at the finish line with more than a minute behind.
The team-order – Immediately after Arnoux retires, the ‘Slow’ sign is displayed from the red box. The message seems apparently clear: slow down and, implicitly, keep positions until the finish line. Pironi, however, feels authorized to challenge his rival and overtakes him, thus giving life to a spectacular duel that lasts for many laps. Villeneuve initially accepts the challenge, thinking that his French companion and friend above all wants to entertain the Ferrari public in the stands. Several times from the Ferrari wall the two drivers are again invited to raise their foot, managing the race without further overtaking between them. During the last lap, however, Pironi threw himself into Villeneuve alla Tosa, making the last, decisive, overtaking. At the finish line the Frenchman is first, ahead of his teammate. That takes it very badly.
The after – After the race and on the podium Villeneuve is a fury. He feels betrayed by Pironi, who was his friend, and by Ferrari itself, who would not have protected his victory. “Find yourself another pilot. I’ll never talk to him again in my life “, he swears. Unfortunately, that’s the way it will go. On May 8, during qualifying for the Belgian GP in Zolder, Gilles Villeneuve will die in an attempt to overcome the time set by his team-mate-rival shortly before. Pironi himself in the German GP that year will suffer a terrible accident that will put an end to his racing career.
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