Due to organizational problems, extra practice planned for Thursday was cancelled, and the first qualifying session on Friday had to be postponed. There was time for only a one-hour practice session on Friday, and so qualifying would take place on Saturday in two one-hour sessions, four hours apart. Saturday was cold and overcast with a threat of rain, and nearly all the drivers scrambled to get a time in on the dry track while they could, with many spins and trips down the escape roads of the unfamiliar circuit. Alain Prost took Renault's sixth pole in seven races on the season with a lap of 1:48.537, an average of less than 134 km/h (83 mph). Andrea de Cesaris, the only non-Renault driver with a pole so far in 1982 (Long Beach), put his Alfa Romeo alongside Prost on the front row with a 1:48.872, ahead of the Williams of Keke Rosberg. For the second straight race, Ferrari had only one entry following the death of Gilles Villeneuve in Belgium four weeks earlier, and Didier Pironi qualified it in fourth spot. The lone American driver in the race, Eddie Cheever, put on a fine show for the home crowd, placing his Ligier ninth, behind the Lotus pair of Nigel Mansell and Elio de Angelis and just ahead of Niki Lauda's McLaren. Nelson Piquet failed to qualify due to engine problems, one of only two instances of a reigning World Champion failing to qualify for a Grand Prix, the other being when Jody Scheckter failed to qualify for the 1980 Canadian Grand Prix.
In contrast to Saturday afternoon, Sunday was mostly sunny and pleasant. The top three drivers all managed excellent starts, and Prost led de Cesaris and Rosberg through the first turn. Just two laps later, on Lap three, de Cesaris limped into the pits with a broken driveshaft, leaving Rosberg in second place, three seconds behind Prost. Manfred Winkelhock retired from an excellent fifth position when a front hub upright that had been replaced on the grid broke anyway, putting his ATS into the wall. A collision between Roberto Guerrero and Elio de Angelis on lap seven, followed by Riccardo Patrese crashing and catching fire, prompted the red flag.
After nearly an hour of repairs, the race restarted, with the final result to be determined by the sum of the two times recorded in the two parts of the race. Prost again took the lead, but the Renault began to develop electronic injection problems, as teammate Arnoux had several laps earlier. Rosberg overtook Prost on lap 22, and Watson began a charge through the field from seventeenth place. On lap 30, Watson passed Giacomelli, but a collision resulted in Giacomelli retiring. Watson then passed Lauda and Pironi to take second place. Watson was able to back off as Rosberg struggled with fuel feed, worn tires, and his gearbox. Watson took his second win of the season, with Eddie Cheever finishing second and Didier Pironi completing the podium. Lauda crashed out while attempting to overtake Rosberg.
Only the top five positions from qualifying and the race are included.