1981 Monaco Grand Prix
43°44′4.74″N 7°25′16.8″E / 43.7346500°N 7.421333°E
| 1981 Monaco Grand Prix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 6 of 15 in the 1981 Formula One World Championship | |||
 | |||
| Race details | |||
| Date | May 31, 1981 | ||
| Location | Circuit de Monaco | ||
| Course | Street circuit | ||
| Course length | 3.312 km (2.057 miles) | ||
| Distance | 76 laps, 251.712 km (156.406 miles) | ||
| Weather | Dry | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Brabham-Ford | ||
| Time | 1:25.710 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 Alan Jones | Williams-Ford | |
| Time | 1:27.47 on lap 48 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Ferrari | ||
| Second | Williams-Ford | ||
| Third | Ligier-Matra | ||
The 1981 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monaco on May 31, 1981.
Race
The start of the race was delayed after a fire in the Loews Hotel kitchens, which necessitated the fire service pumping large quantities of water to put the fires out. Water then seeped through the floors of the hotel and into the tunnel, delaying the race for an hour. Nelson Piquet led for much of the race, but crashed out late on. New race leader Alan Jones then suffered a fuel feed problem in the latter stages of the race, allowing Gilles Villeneuve in his Ferrari, to take his first victory since 1979 as well as becoming the first, and to this day, the only Canadian to win in Monaco as well as the only driver from the whole of North America to win in Monaco. Championship leader Carlos Reutemann retired with gearbox problems, breaking a 15-race streak of consistently finishing in the points.
Classification
Pre-qualifying
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 33 |  Patrick Tambay
|
Theodore-Ford | 1:30.492 | — |
| 2 | 14 |  Marc Surer
|
Ensign-Ford | 1:31.249 | +0.757 |
| 3 | 31 |  Beppe Gabbiani
|
Osella-Ford | 1:32.704 | +2.212 |
| 4 | 32 | Piercarlo Ghinzani
|
Osella-Ford | 1:33.189 | +2.697 |
| 5 | 10 |  Slim Borgudd
|
ATS-Ford | 1:33.285 | +2.793 |
| 6 | 18 |  Derek Daly
|
March-Ford | 1:33.800 | +3.308 |
| 7 | 17 |  Eliseo Salazar
|
March-Ford | 1:35.249 | +4.757 |
| 8 | 35 |  Brian Henton
|
Toleman-Hart | 1:37.528 | +7.036 |
| 9 | 36 | Derek Warwick
|
Toleman-Hart | 1:41.966 | +11.474 |
Qualifying
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Q1 | Q2 | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 |  Nelson Piquet
|
Brabham-Ford | 1:25.710 | 1:28.667 | — |
| 2 | 27 |  Gilles Villeneuve
|
Ferrari | 1:26.891 | 1:25.788 | +0.078 |
| 3 | 12 | Nigel Mansell
|
Lotus-Ford | 1:27.174 | 1:25.815 | +0.105 |
| 4 | 2 |  Carlos Reutemann
|
Williams-Ford | 1:27.643 | 1:26.010 | +0.300 |
| 5 | 29 | Riccardo Patrese
|
Arrows-Ford | 1:27.447 | 1:26.040 | +0.330 |
| 6 | 11 | Elio de Angelis
|
Lotus-Ford | 1:28.381 | 1:26.259 | +0.549 |
| 7 | 1 | Alan Jones
|
Williams-Ford | 1:26.938 | 1:26.538 | +0.828 |
| 8 | 26 | Jacques Laffite
|
Ligier-Matra | 1:27.468 | 1:26.704 | +0.994 |
| 9 | 15 | Alain Prost
|
Renault | 1:27.623 | 1:26.953 | +1.243 |
| 10 | 7 | John Watson
|
McLaren-Ford | 1:28.137 | 1:27.058 | +1.348 |
| 11 | 8 | Andrea de Cesaris
|
McLaren-Ford | 1:28.966 | 1:27.122 | +1.412 |
| 12 | 22 |  Mario Andretti
|
Alfa Romeo | 1:27.512 | 1:28.162 | +1.802 |
| 13 | 16 | René Arnoux
|
Renault | 1:28.613 | 1:27.513 | +1.803 |
| 14 | 30 | Siegfried Stohr
|
Arrows-Ford | 1:29.789 | 1:27.564 | +1.854 |
| 15 | 3 | Eddie Cheever
|
Tyrrell-Ford | 1:29.282 | 1:27.594 | +1.884 |
| 16 | 33 | Patrick Tambay
|
Theodore-Ford | 1:28.897 | 1:27.939 | +2.229 |
| 17 | 28 | Didier Pironi
|
Ferrari | 1:29.150 | 1:28.266 | +2.556 |
| 18 | 23 | Bruno Giacomelli
|
Alfa Romeo | 1:28.335 | 1:28.323 | +2.613 |
| 19 | 14 | Marc Surer
|
Ensign-Ford | 1:29.611 | 1:28.339 | +2.629 |
| 20 | 4 | Michele Alboreto
|
Tyrrell-Ford | 1:30.699 | 1:28.358 | +2.648 |
| 21 | 20 |  Keke Rosberg
|
Fittipaldi-Ford | 1:29.924 | 1:28.436 | +2.726 |
| 22 | 25 | Jean-Pierre Jabouille
|
Ligier-Matra | 1:29.752 | 1:28.841 | +3.131 |
| 23 | 6 |  Héctor Rebaque
|
Brabham-Ford | 1:29.188 | 1:29.256 | +3.478 |
| 24 | 21 | Chico Serra
|
Fittipaldi-Ford | 1:32.109 | 1:29.434 | +3.724 |
| 25 | 32 | Piercarlo Ghinzani
|
Osella-Ford | no time | 1:29.694 | +3.984 |
| 26 | 31 | Beppe Gabbiani
|
Osella-Ford | 1:30.963 | 1:29.795 | +4.085 |
| Source: [1] | ||||||
Race
Championship standings after the race
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References
- ^ Hamilton, Maurice, ed. (1981). AUTOCOURSE 1981–82. Hazleton Publishing Ltd. p. 138. ISBN 0-905138-17-1.
- ^ "1981 Monaco Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 16 May 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
- ^ a b "Monaco 1981 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 19 March 2019.