I have no qualms whatsoever with Keke Rosberg's championship. If Gilles was not destined to win it in 1982, there is no one else i would rather it have gone to and I'm sure Gilles felt the same as they were good friends. Plus it is my considered opinion that until the arrival of Bellof and Senna in 1984, Gilles's position as F1's fastest driver was taken on by Rosberg. He didn't even have the 3rd fastest car on the grid in 1982 but he was often challenging for the lead in the early stages of the races that year, even before the season's characteristic high attrition rate began to tell.
Ah but you see there was alot more to the 1982 season than that. Although the high attrition rate was a huge issue you have to remember that the FOCA teams ran underweight for the first few races due to the water-cooled brakes. Thus allowing them to practically hastle the manufacturers. They had been doing that too throughout the latter end of 1981. The best example is Piquet and Villeneuve in Brazil 82.
The political storm was also still brewing and it spilled into the technical regulations. Although peace had been reached, the Concorde Agreement was still getting walked over time and time again by either the constructors or the FISA. The squabbles were making the cars far too dangerous to drive. The suspensions were too stiff and the corners speeds were far far too high.
Sadly both the infighting in Renault and the unreliability cost Renault who undoubtably had one of the best cars.
You could argue that Pironi was the man indeed destined to win the title, until his shocking accident of course.
Not to take anything away from Rosberg, especially when Williams new car was introduced late and the rival teams (including Brabham at the end) were running on turbos which were by 1982, thanks to M Balestre, the dominant force. He did the best job he could and probably should have won in Austria if he had decided to push earlier.
- By darwin dali