1981 British Grand Prix

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1981 British Grand Prix
Race 9 of 15 in the 1981 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date 18 July 1981
Official name XXXIV Marlboro British Grand Prix
Location Silverstone Circuit, Northamptonshire, Great Britain
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.718[1] km (2.932 miles)
Distance 68 laps, 320.824[1] km (199.351 miles)
Weather Dry
Pole position
Driver Renault
Time 1:11.000
Fastest lap
Driver France René Arnoux Renault
Time 1:15.067 on lap 50
Podium
First McLaren-Ford
Second Williams-Ford
Third Ligier-Matra
Lap leaders

The 1981 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Silverstone on 18 July 1981. It was the ninth race of the 1981 Formula One World Championship. John Watson won his first race for five years, and McLaren's first since James Hunt's victory at the 1977 Japanese Grand Prix. The race also marked the first victory for a carbon fibre composite monocoque F1 car, the McLaren MP4/1.

Classification[edit]

Qualifying[edit]

Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap
1 16 France René Arnoux Renault 1:12.158 1:11.000  —
2 15 France Alain Prost Renault 1:12.237 1:11.046 +0.046
3 5 Brazil Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford 1:12.328 1:11.952 +0.952
4 28 France Didier Pironi Ferrari 1:14.070 1:12.644 +1.644
5 7 United Kingdom John Watson McLaren-Ford 1:13.370 1:12.712 +1.712
6 8 Italy Andrea de Cesaris McLaren-Ford 1:13.976 1:12.728 +1.728
7 1 Australia Alan Jones Williams-Ford 1:12.998 1:13.250 +1.998
8 27 Canada Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 1:14.182 1:13.311 +2.311
9 2 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Williams-Ford 1:13.467 1:13.371 +2.371
10 29 Italy Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford 1:15.217 1:13.762 +2.762
11 22 United States Mario Andretti Alfa Romeo 1:14.440 1:13.928 +2.928
12 23 Italy Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo 1:14.119 1:14.442 +3.119
13 6 Mexico Héctor Rebaque Brabham-Ford 1:14.594 1:14.542 +3.542
14 26 France Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 1:15.313 1:14.798 +3.798
15 25 France Patrick Tambay Ligier-Matra 1:15.656 1:14.976 +3.976
16 20 Finland Keke Rosberg Fittipaldi-Ford 1:16.695 1:15.165 +4.165
17 17 Republic of Ireland Derek Daly March-Ford 1:15.189 1:15.303 +4.189
18 30 Italy Siegfried Stohr Arrows-Ford 1:17.229 1:15.304 +4.304
19 4 Italy Michele Alboreto Tyrrell-Ford 1:16.446 1:15.850 +4.850
20 32 France Jean-Pierre Jarier Osella-Ford 1:15.943 1:15.898 +4.898
21 9 Sweden Slim Borgudd ATS-Ford 1:16.758 1:15.959 +4.959
22 11 Italy Elio de Angelis Lotus-Ford 1:16.029† 1:15.971 +4.971
23 3 United States Eddie Cheever Tyrrell-Ford 1:16.381 1:16.099 +5.099
24 33 Switzerland Marc Surer Theodore-Ford 1:17.124 1:16.155 +5.155
25 21 Brazil Chico Serra Fittipaldi-Ford 1:18.173 1:16.360 +5.360
26 35 United Kingdom Brian Henton Toleman-Hart 1:16.388 1:19.602 +5.388
27 12 United Kingdom Nigel Mansell Lotus-Ford 1:15.992† 1:16.432 +5.432
28 14 Chile Eliseo Salazar Ensign-Ford 1:17.053 1:16.694 +5.694
29 36 United Kingdom Derek Warwick Toleman-Hart 1:17.998 1:16.891 +5.891
30 31 Italy Beppe Gabbiani Osella-Ford 1:20.377 1:17.784 +6.784
Source: [2]
  • †-time disallowed.

Race[edit]

Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 7 United Kingdom John Watson McLaren-Ford M 68 1:26:54.80 5 9
2 2 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Williams-Ford G 68 +40.65 9 6
3 26 France Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra M 67 +1 lap 14 4
4 3 United States Eddie Cheever Tyrrell-Ford M 67 +1 lap 23 3
5 6 Mexico Héctor Rebaque Brabham-Ford G 67 +1 lap 13 2
6 9 Sweden Slim Borgudd ATS-Ford A 67 +1 lap 21 1
7 17 Republic of Ireland Derek Daly March-Ford A 66 +2 laps 17  
8 32 France Jean-Pierre Jarier Osella-Ford M 65 +3 laps 20  
9 16 France René Arnoux Renault M 64 Distributor 1  
10 29 Italy Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford P 64 Engine 10  
11 33 Switzerland Marc Surer Theodore-Ford A 61 Out of fuel 24  
Ret 22 United States Mario Andretti Alfa Romeo M 59 Throttle 11  
Ret 20 Finland Keke Rosberg Fittipaldi-Ford M 56 Suspension 16  
DSQ 11 Italy Elio de Angelis Lotus-Ford G 25 Ignoring yellow flags 22  
Ret 15 France Alain Prost Renault M 17 Distributor 2  
Ret 25 France Patrick Tambay Ligier-Matra M 15 Clutch 15  
Ret 28 France Didier Pironi Ferrari M 13 Turbo 4  
Ret 5 Brazil Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford G 11 Tyre 3  
Ret 23 Italy Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo M 5 Transmission 12  
Ret 27 Canada Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari M 4 Spun off 8  
Ret 1 Australia Alan Jones Williams-Ford G 3 Collision 7  
Ret 8 Italy Andrea de Cesaris McLaren-Ford M 3 Spun off 6  
Ret 4 Italy Michele Alboreto Tyrrell-Ford M 1 Clutch 19  
Ret 30 Italy Siegfried Stohr Arrows-Ford P 0 Spun off 18  
DNQ 21 Brazil Chico Serra Fittipaldi-Ford M    
DNQ 35 United Kingdom Brian Henton Toleman-Hart P    
DNQ 12 United Kingdom Nigel Mansell Lotus-Ford G    
DNQ 14 Chile Eliseo Salazar Ensign-Ford A    
DNQ 36 United Kingdom Derek Warwick Toleman-Hart P    
DNQ 31 Italy Beppe Gabbiani Osella-Ford M        
Source: [1][3][4]

Championship standings after the race[edit]

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Jenkinson, Denis (August 1981). "The British Grand Prix: A very popular win". Motor Sport magazine archive. p. 1048. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  2. ^ Hamilton, Maurice, ed. (1981). AUTOCOURSE 1981–82. Hazleton Publishing Ltd. p. 166. ISBN 0-905138-17-1.
  3. ^ "1981 British Grand Prix". Formula1.com. Archived from the original on 16 May 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  4. ^ "1981 British Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive". GPArchive.com. 18 July 1981. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Britain 1981 - Championship". StatsF1.com. Retrieved 13 March 2019.


Previous race:
1981 French Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1981 season
Next race:
1981 German Grand Prix
Previous race:
1980 British Grand Prix
British Grand Prix Next race:
1982 British Grand Prix