1981 F1 World Championship – Results & Statistics

Fact File

Drivers’ Champion:	Nelson Piquet (1st title) Brabham
Constructors’ Champion:	Williams (2nd title)
Races:	15
Winning drivers:	7 – Nelson Piquet (3), Alain Prost (3), Carlos Reutemann (2), Gilles Villeneuve (2), Jacques Laffite (2), Alan Jones (2), John Watson (1)
Winning constructors:	6 – Williams (4), Brabham (3), Renault (3), Ferrari (2), Ligier (2), McLaren (1)
First-time winners (driver):	1 – Alain Prost
First-time winners (constructor):	0

No.	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date	Race Result
1	USA West	Long Beach	15 March	1981 United States Grand Prix West
2	Brazil	Jacarepagua	29 March	1981 Brazilian Grand Prix
3	Argentina	Buenos Aires	12 April	1981 Argentine Grand Prix
4	San Marino	Imola	3 May	1981 San Marino Grand Prix
5	Belgium	Zolder	17 May	1981 Belgian Grand Prix
6	Monaco	Monte Carlo	31 May	1981 Monaco Grand Prix
7	Spain	Jarama	21 June	1981 Spanish Grand Prix
8	France	Dijon-Prenois	5 July	1981 French Grand Prix
9	Britain	Silverstone	18 July	1981 British Grand Prix
10	Germany	Hockenheim	2 August	1981 German Grand Prix
11	Austria	Osterreichring	16 August	1981 Austrian Grand Prix
12	Netherlands	Zandvoort	30 August	1981 Dutch Grand Prix
13	Italy	Monza	13 September	1981 Italian Grand Prix
14	Canada	Montreal	27 September	1981 Canadian Grand Prix
15	Caesars Palace	Las Vegas	17 October	1981 Caesars Palace Grand Prix

No.	Grand Prix	Circuit	Driver	Constructor	Start	Win Margin
1	USA West	Long Beach	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford Cosworth	2	9.190s
2	Brazil	Jacarepagua	Carlos Reutemann	Williams-Ford Cosworth	2	4.440s
3	Argentina	Buenos Aires	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-Ford Cosworth	1	26.610s
4	San Marino	Imola	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-Ford Cosworth	5	4.580s
5	Belgium	Zolder	Carlos Reutemann	Williams-Ford Cosworth	1	36.060s
6	Monaco	Monte Carlo	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	2	39.910s
7	Spain	Jarama	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	7	0.211s
8	France	Dijon-Prenois	Alain Prost	Renault	3	2.290s
9	Britain	Silverstone	John Watson	McLaren-Ford Cosworth	5	40.650s
10	Germany	Hockenheim	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-Ford Cosworth	6	11.520s
11	Austria	Osterreichring	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Matra	4	5.170s
12	Netherlands	Zandvoort	Alain Prost	Renault	1	8.240s
13	Italy	Monza	Alain Prost	Renault	3	22.175s
14	Canada	Montreal	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Matra	10	6.233s
15	Caesars Palace	Las Vegas	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford Cosworth	2	20.048s

No.	Grand Prix	Circuit	Driver	Constructor	Race	Pole Margin
1	USA West	Long Beach	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows-Ford Cosworth	DNF	0.009s
2	Brazil	Jacarepagua	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-Ford Cosworth	12	0.311s
3	Argentina	Buenos Aires	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-Ford Cosworth	1	0.316s
4	San Marino	Imola	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	7	0.706s
5	Belgium	Zolder	Carlos Reutemann	Williams-Ford Cosworth	1	0.850s
6	Monaco	Monte Carlo	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-Ford Cosworth	DNF	0.078s
7	Spain	Jarama	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Matra	2	0.270s
8	France	Dijon-Prenois	Rene Arnoux	Renault	4	0.410s
9	Britain	Silverstone	Rene Arnoux	Renault	9	0.046s
10	Germany	Hockenheim	Alain Prost	Renault	2	0.460s
11	Austria	Osterreichring	Rene Arnoux	Renault	2	0.303s
12	Netherlands	Zandvoort	Alain Prost	Renault	1	0.079s
13	Italy	Monza	Rene Arnoux	Renault	DNF	0.673s
14	Canada	Montreal	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-Ford Cosworth	5	0.148s
15	Caesars Palace	Las Vegas	Carlos Reutemann	Williams-Ford Cosworth	8	0.174s

No.	Grand Prix	Circuit	Driver	Constructor
1	USA West	Long Beach	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford Cosworth
2	Brazil	Jacarepagua	Marc Surer	Ensign-Ford Cosworth
3	Argentina	Buenos Aires	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-Ford Cosworth
4	San Marino	Imola	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari
5	Belgium	Zolder	Carlos Reutemann	Williams-Ford Cosworth
6	Monaco	Monte Carlo	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford Cosworth
7	Spain	Jarama	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford Cosworth
8	France	Dijon-Prenois	Alain Prost	Renault
9	Britain	Silverstone	Rene Arnoux	Renault
10	Germany	Hockenheim	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford Cosworth
11	Austria	Osterreichring	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Matra
12	Netherlands	Zandvoort	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford Cosworth
13	Italy	Monza	Carlos Reutemann	Williams-Ford Cosworth
14	Canada	Montreal	John Watson	McLaren-Ford Cosworth
15	Caesars Palace	Las Vegas	Didier Pironi	Ferrari

Pos	Driver	Constructor	Points	Gap
1	Nelson Piquet	Brabham	50
2	Carlos Reutemann	Williams	49	-1
3	Alan Jones	Williams	46	-4
4	Jacques Laffite	Ligier	44	-6
5	Alain Prost	Renault	43	-7
6	John Watson	McLaren	27	-23
7	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	25	-25
8	Elio de Angelis	Lotus	14	-36
9	Rene Arnoux	Renault	11	-39
=	Hector Rebaque	Brabham	11	-39
11	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows	10	-40
=	Eddie Cheever	Tyrrell	10	-40
13	Didier Pironi	Ferrari	9	-41
14	Nigel Mansell	Lotus	8	-42
15	Bruno Giacomelli	Alfa Romeo	7	-43
16	Marc Surer	Ensign Theodore	4	-46
17	Mario Andretti	Alfa Romeo	3	-47
18	Patrick Tambay	Theodore Ligier	1	-49
=	Andrea de Cesaris	McLaren	1	-49
=	Slim Borgudd	ATS	1	-49
=	Eliseo Salazar	March Ensign	1	-49

Points scoring system used:

Only the best 11 results counted towards the championship.
Numbers shown without parentheses are the points scored that counted towards the championship; numbers in parentheses are the total number of points scored.

Pos	Team	Points	Gap
1	Williams-Ford Cosworth	95
2	Brabham-Ford Cosworth	61	-34
3	Renault	54	-41
4	Ligier-Matra	44	-51
5	Ferrari	34	-61
6	McLaren-Ford Cosworth	28	-67
7	Lotus-Ford Cosworth	22	-73
8	Arrows-Ford Cosworth	10	-85
9	Alfa Romeo	10	-85
10	Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth	10	-85
11	Ensign-Ford Cosworth	5	-90
12	Theodore-Ford Cosworth	1	-94
13	ATS-Ford Cosworth	1	-94

Points scoring system used:

Constructors received points for each of their cars.
Only the best 11 results counted towards the championship.
Numbers shown without parentheses are the points scored that counted towards the championship; numbers in parentheses are the total number of points scored.

The Race To The Title graph shows how the title race played out over the course of the season.