Originally posted by angst
1982 - 11 different drivers from seven different teams won races that year, but it was a awful year in terms of politics and deaths and injuries.
Originally posted by Twin Window
As Angst says, 1982 was probably the most impressive year statistically, but in some ways it was an unusual 'one-off' due largely to the mortality & bad accident count.
Originally posted by Jerome.Inen
The most competitive year in Formula 1 according to me was 1982...
Arnoux (Renault), Prost (Renault), Rosberg (Williams), Pironi (Ferrari), Tambay (Ferrari), De Angelis (Lotus), Alboreto (Tyrrel), Watson (McLaren), Lauda (McLaren), Patrese (Brabham), Piquet
(Brabham).
11 (eleven!) different drivers winning Grand Prix, 7 different carmakers... pretty amazing year
(Alas also the year that Villeneuve died and Pironi smashed both his legs and his career)
Surprisingly, I had never quite viewed 1982 in the way that Stuart discribes it, although it is a very reasonable view of the season. However, it is one of those seasons where the statistics and the story of the season seem to agree.
I really hadn't thought about that season very much lately until I stumbled upon these posts. In retrospect, the season seems to be a part of the faultline which divides Then from Now. Despite all the difficulties of the season, I still find it such an amazing story that had anyone told us about it on 1 January 1982, he would have been either laughed at or jeered. Or both.
The pity is that most simply look at the statistics and often forget about all the drama that seemed to descend upon that season. I don't know about how it affected any of the others, but I have always suspected that it was one of the reasons that led me away from F1. Not certain exactly why, but it wasn't just the death of Gilles Villeneuve, more a change of tone that I was out of synch with. Plus, CART and IMSA GTP racing seemed much more enjoyable at the time.
So, is the consensus pretty much what Stuart says?