1981 Caesars Palace Grand Prix
| Date | Saturday, 17 October 1981 |
|---|---|
| Winner |
|
| Pole position |
|
| Fastest lap |
|
| Circuit | Las Vegas, 75 laps |
| Round | 15 of 15 |
| Race numbers | The 1981 Caesars Palace Grand Prix was the
|
| More 1981 season | |
| More Caesars Palace Grands Prix | |
| Next race | 1982 South African Grand Prix |
Race result
| Pos | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | +1 |  Alan Jones | Williams-Ford Cosworth | 75 | 1hr 44m 09.077s | 9 |
| 2 | +3 |  Alain Prost | Renault | 75 | +20.048s | 6 |
| 3 | +5 |  Bruno Giacomelli | Alfa Romeo | 75 | +20.428s | 4 |
| 4 | +5 |  Nigel Mansell | Lotus-Ford Cosworth | 75 | +47.473s | 3 |
| 5 | -1 |  Nelson Piquet | Brabham-Ford Cosworth | 75 | +1m 16.438s | 2 |
| 6 | +6 | Jacques Laffite | Ligier-Matra | 75 | +1m 18.175s | 1 |
| 7 | -1 | John Watson | McLaren-Ford Cosworth | 75 | +1m 18.497s | |
| 8 | -7 |  Carlos Reutemann | Williams-Ford Cosworth | 74 | +1 lap | |
| 9 | +9 | Didier Pironi | Ferrari | 73 | +2 laps | |
| 10 | +10 |  Keke Rosberg | Fittipaldi-Ford Cosworth | 73 | +2 laps | |
| 11 | Riccardo Patrese | Arrows-Ford Cosworth | 71 | +4 laps | ||
| 12 | +2 | Andrea de Cesaris | McLaren-Ford Cosworth | 69 | +6 laps | |
| 13 | +4 | Michele Alboreto | Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth | 67 | DNF | |
| NC |  Eliseo Salazar | Ensign-Ford Cosworth | 61 | +14 laps | ||
| R | Derek Warwick | Toleman-Hart | 43 | DNF | ||
| R |  Mario Andretti | Alfa Romeo | 29 | DNF | ||
| DQ |  Gilles Villeneuve | Ferrari | 22 | DSQ | ||
| R |  Hector Rebaque | Brabham-Ford Cosworth | 20 | DNF | ||
| R |  Marc Surer | Theodore-Ford Cosworth | 19 | DNF | ||
| R | Eddie Cheever | Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth | 10 | DNF | ||
| R | Rene Arnoux | Renault | 10 | DNF | ||
| R | Patrick Tambay | Ligier-Matra | 2 | DNF | ||
| R | Elio de Angelis | Lotus-Ford Cosworth | 2 | DNF | ||
| R | Jean-Pierre Jarier | Osella-Ford Cosworth | 0 | DNF | ||
Notes
- Gilles Villeneuve was disqualified for starting the race from the wrong grid position.
Starting grid
Pole time: 1:17.821
| Pos | Driver | Constructor |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carlos Reutemann | Williams-Ford Cosworth |
| 2 | Alan Jones | Williams-Ford Cosworth |
| 3 | Gilles Villeneuve | Ferrari |
| 4 | Nelson Piquet | Brabham-Ford Cosworth |
| 5 | Alain Prost | Renault |
| 6 | John Watson | McLaren-Ford Cosworth |
| 7 | Patrick Tambay | Ligier-Matra |
| 8 | Bruno Giacomelli | Alfa Romeo |
| 9 | Nigel Mansell | Lotus-Ford Cosworth |
| 10 | Mario Andretti | Alfa Romeo |
| 11 | Riccardo Patrese | Arrows-Ford Cosworth |
| 12 | Jacques Laffite | Ligier-Matra |
| 13 | Rene Arnoux | Renault |
| 14 | Andrea de Cesaris | McLaren-Ford Cosworth |
| 15 | Elio de Angelis | Lotus-Ford Cosworth |
| 16 | Hector Rebaque | Brabham-Ford Cosworth |
| 17 | Michele Alboreto | Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth |
| 18 | Didier Pironi | Ferrari |
| 19 | Eddie Cheever | Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth |
| 20 | Keke Rosberg | Fittipaldi-Ford Cosworth |
| 21 | Jean-Pierre Jarier | Osella-Ford Cosworth |
| 22 | Derek Warwick | Toleman-Hart |
| 23 | Marc Surer | Theodore-Ford Cosworth |
| 24 | Eliseo Salazar | Ensign-Ford Cosworth |
Non-qualifiers
| Driver | Constructor |
|---|---|
 Slim Borgudd | ATS-Ford Cosworth |
| Chico Serra | Fittipaldi-Ford Cosworth |
 Derek Daly | March-Ford Cosworth |
| Jacques Villeneuve Sr | Arrows-Ford Cosworth |
| Brian Henton | Toleman-Hart |
| Beppe Gabbiani | Osella-Ford Cosworth |
Championship standings
How the championship standings stood post-1981 Caesars Palace Grand Prix.
Driver
| Pos | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nelson Piquet | 50 |
| 2 | Carlos Reutemann | 49 |
| 3 | Alan Jones | 46 |
| 4 | Jacques Laffite | 44 |
| 5 | Alain Prost | 43 |
| 6 | John Watson | 27 |
| 7 | Gilles Villeneuve | 25 |
| 8 | Elio de Angelis | 14 |
| 9 | Rene Arnoux | 11 |
| 10 | Hector Rebaque | 11 |
| 11 | Riccardo Patrese | 10 |
| 12 | Eddie Cheever | 10 |
| 13 | Didier Pironi | 9 |
| 14 | Nigel Mansell | 8 |
| 15 | Bruno Giacomelli | 7 |
| 16 | Marc Surer | 4 |
| 17 | Mario Andretti | 3 |
| 18 | Patrick Tambay | 1 |
| = | Andrea de Cesaris | 1 |
| = | Slim Borgudd | 1 |
| = | Eliseo Salazar | 1 |
Constructor
| Pos | Constructor | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Williams-Ford Cosworth | 95 |
| 2 | Brabham-Ford Cosworth | 61 |
| 3 | Renault | 54 |
| 4 | Ligier-Matra | 44 |
| 5 | Ferrari | 34 |
| 6 | McLaren-Ford Cosworth | 28 |
| 7 | Lotus-Ford Cosworth | 22 |
| 8 | Arrows-Ford Cosworth | 10 |
| 9 | Alfa Romeo | 10 |
| 10 | Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth | 10 |
| 11 | Ensign-Ford Cosworth | 5 |
| 12 |  Theodore-Ford Cosworth | 1 |
| = |  ATS-Ford Cosworth | 1 |
Statistics & milestones
- Race debut
- Derek Warwick
- Last start
- Hector Rebaque (last Mexican driver to start a race until 2011)
- World Champion
- 1st title for Nelson Piquet (19th driver to win the World Championship, 2nd Brazilian champion; first Brazilian champion since 1974)
- Wins
- 12th and last for Alan Jones (last Australian winner until 2009)
- 15th for Williams
- Podiums
- 24th and last for Alan Jones (last Australian driver to finish on the podium until 2005), 6th for Alain Prost, 1st and only for Bruno Giacomelli (139th different podium finisher, 18th Italian driver)
- 43rd for Williams, 22nd for Alfa Romeo (first since 1951), 15th for Renault
- Poles
- 6th and last for Carlos Reutemann
- 8th for Williams
- Qualifying 1-2
- 1st for Williams (16th different constructor to qualify 1-2)
- Fastest laps
- 3rd for Didier Pironi (first for Ferrari)
- 91st for Ferrari
- Front row starts
- 21st and last for Carlos Reutemann, 13th and last for Alan Jones (last Australian front row starter until 2004)