Credit: Martin Lee / CC BY-SA 2.0 via FLICKR (Credit Links at the end of the content)
Turbo Era and the early 1980s, F1 was in a turbulent transition – Water-Cooled brakes story…
Renault introduced the first turbo engine in 1977. At first, it seemed like a failure, but it did not take long for other teams to hurry and develop their own turbo engines, after the French GP win in 1979.
On the other hand, Cosworth was unstoppable in the 1970s, while F1 was evolving rapidly at the end of the decade and into the early 1980s.
When turbocharged engines began to dominate, Williams stuck with their Cosworth engines for 1982, facing a growing performance gap.
Brabham had BMW turbo engines, but reliability remained a constant struggle.
Across the paddock, teams were in chaos, trying to find ways to stay competitive.
In 1982, Ferrari was the team to beat and Renault kept fighting with their turbo engines.
But how did McLaren manage to fight back in 1982?
The McLaren MP4/1B was the first car to use a carbon fiber monocoque, which alone reduced the weight by about 30%, an advantage their rivals simply did not have.
McLaren used a specially developed Nicholson-McLaren version of the DFV, which could rev higher than 11,500 RPM, and the team was able to keep up with turbo engines at the time.
However, for Williams and Lotus, they struggled to keep up, and the performance gap to the front runners was enormous.
Water-Cooled Brakes Story of 1982
So that was the moment, when they discovered a loophole that would become one of F1’s most audacious tricks, the so-called water-cooled brakes.
How the Water-Cooled Brakes Worked
Back in the day, F1 regulations allowed cars to top up fluids like oil and coolant after the race, just before the official weigh-in.
And yes, the teams saw a golden opportunity, if they could run the car lighter during the race and only restore the weight at the end, they would have a huge advantage.
So what did they do? They began installing massive water tanks, sometimes holding 40 to 60 kilograms. On paper, these tanks were meant to cool the brakes, but in reality, the plan was far more cunning.
And then came the crazy part. At the start of the race, the car weighed in legally at the 580 kg minimum, tanks full of water. Within the first few laps, the water was “sprayed” onto the brakes, or more accurately, dumped straight onto the track.
After a few laps, the car naturally was much faster, and by the time the checkered flag waved, teams would refill the tanks before the official weight-in, making the car appear completely legal once again.
1982 Brazilian GP Controversy
The trick worked brilliantly, until the officials stepped in, Nelson Piquet in the Brabham won the Brazilian GP, and Keke Rosberg in the Williams right behind him, so the top teams, Renault and Ferrari spotted something suspicious and filed a formal protest.
The cars were investigated, the officials ruled that the water tanks were illegal ballast disguised as functional systems, both Piquet and Rosberg were disqualified, and the victory was handed to the Renault driver, Alain Prost.
Why the Trick Was So Effective: It was simple, physics, by dumping around 10% of the car’s weight, they gained a decisive advantage in the race.
Overall, the lap times improved, faster through corners and better acceleration, so for a brief moment, they found a clever equalizer, which proved that sometimes ingenuity matters more than engine.
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Final Words
The controversy did not end there; it only escalated tensions leading into the San Marino Grand Prix.
Many British-based teams boycotted the 1982 San Marino GP in protest, refusing to race under the shadow of the disqualifications.
Moreover, the FIA moved quickly to close the loophole, mandating that cars had to be weighed exactly as they crossed the finish line, making any mid-race weight manipulation impossible.
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Credit: Martin Lee / CC BY-SA 2.0 via FLICKR
