It could probably only happen in France. A French driver is leading with two laps remaining but is being rapidly caught by a Finn. So what does the man with the chequered flag do? He tries to wave it two laps early to secure a home victory.
Such a scenario might sound far-fetched, but few neutrals who were present at Dijon in August 1982 could come up with any other explanation for the curious antics at the end of the Swiss Grand Prix.
It was an odd race from the outset. But then again, it was an odd year all round in Formula One. For the answer to the riddle, ‘When is a Swiss Grand Prix not a Swiss Grand Prix?’ is simply, ‘When it was in 1982.’ Already that season the Spanish Grand Prix had not taken place, a race had suddenly appeared around the streets of Detroit, the Dutch Grand Prix had happened when everyone thought it would be off, there were four Grands Prix in five weeks when it had been universally agreed to allow two weeks between races, and, to cap it all, there were now two Grands Prix in France. The official French Grand Prix had taken place earlier in the season at Paul Ricard, but now a second event – calling itself the Swiss Grand Prix even though it was being staged on French soil – cropped up at Dijon. It was all highly confusing. Alain Prost put his Renault on pole from team-mate René Arnoux and Riccardo Patrese in a Brabham-BMW. But there was little jubilation in the Renault camp as Arnoux had just announced that he was joining Ferrari for the 1983 season. Renault had no intention of keeping him anyway – not after he had disobeyed team orders to snatch the prize from Prost at the official French Grand Prix – but the atmosphere in the pit was one of stony silence whenever Arnoux was around, not least because Renault were anxious to prevent him giving away precious team secrets to the opposition.
Patrick Tambay withdrew on the morning of the race with back trouble, leaving 25 starters. Arnoux got away fastest and led them around for the first time but then Prost took control. Nelson Piquet’s Brabham-BMW went second, only to surrender the position to Arnoux when stopping for fuel and tyres at mid-distance. In fact Piquet’s pit stop proved a disaster for the Brazilian as his replacement tyres were out of balance. He was lapped soon after rejoining the race and never again threatened the leaders.
Piquet’s decline allowed Keke Rosberg to inherit third place in his Williams but a delay in lapping Andrea de Cesaris, who refused to let him by, meant that his chances of catching the two Renaults appeared remote. Then with ten of the 80 laps remaining, Arnoux retired, the car’s fuel injection system having failed. And suddenly Prost was slowing too. He had lost fourth gear. As Rosberg pegged him back, the French crowd grew increasingly uneasy. With just over two laps remaining, it seemed only a matter of time before Rosberg caught and passed the Renault. At that point Williams team manager Peter Collins noticed that the official with the chequered flag was about to hang it out … two laps early. Collins quickly pointed out the ‘error’ and the flag was put away. Sure enough on lap 79, to the accompaniment of groans from the crowd, Rosberg caught and passed Prost at the downhill left-hander. The Frenchman had no answer.
After seconds that year in Brazil, the United States, Belgium and Austria, Rosberg approached the finish line for the eightieth time and prepared to celebrate his first ever World Championship Grand Prix win – at the forty-ninth attempt. Yet bizarrely, having tried to end the race two laps prematurely, the man with the chequered flag now compounded his blunder by failing to spot Rosberg as he roared by. So the bemused Finn did an extra circuit and finally received the flag at the end of lap 81! In mitigation, it was pointed out that the Swiss had not staged a Grand Prix since 1954 …
Niki Lauda came third for McLaren while Nigel Mansell, having started from last on the grid, fought his way up to finish eighth of the 16 survivors. Rosberg’s sole victory of the year turned out to be sufficient to clinch the title, but no thanks to the man with the chequered flag at Dijon … whether his actions were guided by sheer incompetence or something more sinister.