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Home / Seasons / 1981 F1 World Championship Season / 1981 Caesars Palace Grand Prix

1981 Caesars Palace Grand Prix

DateSaturday, 17 October 1981
Winner
  • Alan Jones
  • Williams-Ford Cosworth
Pole position
  • Carlos Reutemann
  • Williams-Ford Cosworth
Fastest lap
  • Didier Pironi
  • Ferrari
CircuitLas Vegas, 75 laps
Round15 of 15
Race numbers

The 1981 Caesars Palace Grand Prix was the:

  • 357th World Championship race
  • 1st World Championship Caesars Palace Grand Prix
  • 1st World Championship race at Las Vegas
  • 1981 Drivers’ title decider
More 1981 season
More Caesars Palace Grands Prix
Next race1982 South African Grand Prix

On this page

  • Race result
  • Starting grid
  • Non-qualifiers
  • Championship standings
  • Statistics & milestones

Race result

PosDriverConstructorLapsTimePoints
1+1(AUS) Alan JonesWilliams-Ford Cosworth751hr 44m 09.077s9
2+3(FRA) Alain ProstRenault75+20.048s6
3+5(ITA) Bruno GiacomelliAlfa Romeo75+20.428s4
4+5(GBR) Nigel MansellLotus-Ford Cosworth75+47.473s3
5-1(BRA) Nelson PiquetBrabham-Ford Cosworth75+1m 16.438s2
6+6(FRA) Jacques LaffiteLigier-Matra75+1m 18.175s1
7-1(GBR) John WatsonMcLaren-Ford Cosworth75+1m 18.497s 
8-7(ARG) Carlos ReutemannWilliams-Ford Cosworth74+1 lap 
9+9(FRA) Didier PironiFerrari73+2 laps 
10+10(FIN) Keke RosbergFittipaldi-Ford Cosworth73+2 laps 
11 (ITA) Riccardo PatreseArrows-Ford Cosworth71+4 laps 
12+2(ITA) Andrea de CesarisMcLaren-Ford Cosworth69+6 laps 
13+4(ITA) Michele AlboretoTyrrell-Ford Cosworth67DNF 
NC (CHL) Eliseo SalazarEnsign-Ford Cosworth61+14 laps 
R (GBR) Derek WarwickToleman-Hart43DNF 
R (USA) Mario AndrettiAlfa Romeo29DNF 
DQ (CAN) Gilles VilleneuveFerrari22DSQ 
R (MEX) Hector RebaqueBrabham-Ford Cosworth20DNF 
R (CHE) Marc SurerTheodore-Ford Cosworth19DNF 
R (USA) Eddie CheeverTyrrell-Ford Cosworth10DNF 
R (FRA) Rene ArnouxRenault10DNF 
R (FRA) Patrick TambayLigier-Matra2DNF 
R (ITA) Elio de AngelisLotus-Ford Cosworth2DNF 
R (FRA) Jean-Pierre JarierOsella-Ford Cosworth0DNF 

Notes

  • Gilles Villeneuve was disqualified for starting the race from the wrong grid position.

Starting grid

Pole time: 1:17.821

PosDriverConstructor
1(ARG) Carlos ReutemannWilliams-Ford Cosworth
2(AUS) Alan JonesWilliams-Ford Cosworth
3(CAN) Gilles VilleneuveFerrari
4(BRA) Nelson PiquetBrabham-Ford Cosworth
5(FRA) Alain ProstRenault
6(GBR) John WatsonMcLaren-Ford Cosworth
7(FRA) Patrick TambayLigier-Matra
8(ITA) Bruno GiacomelliAlfa Romeo
9(GBR) Nigel MansellLotus-Ford Cosworth
10(USA) Mario AndrettiAlfa Romeo
11(ITA) Riccardo PatreseArrows-Ford Cosworth
12(FRA) Jacques LaffiteLigier-Matra
13(FRA) Rene ArnouxRenault
14(ITA) Andrea de CesarisMcLaren-Ford Cosworth
15(ITA) Elio de AngelisLotus-Ford Cosworth
16(MEX) Hector RebaqueBrabham-Ford Cosworth
17(ITA) Michele AlboretoTyrrell-Ford Cosworth
18(FRA) Didier PironiFerrari
19(USA) Eddie CheeverTyrrell-Ford Cosworth
20(FIN) Keke RosbergFittipaldi-Ford Cosworth
21(FRA) Jean-Pierre JarierOsella-Ford Cosworth
22(GBR) Derek WarwickToleman-Hart
23(CHE) Marc SurerTheodore-Ford Cosworth
24(CHL) Eliseo SalazarEnsign-Ford Cosworth

Non-qualifiers

DriverConstructor
(SWE) Slim BorguddATS-Ford Cosworth
(BRA) Chico SerraFittipaldi-Ford Cosworth
(IRL) Derek DalyMarch-Ford Cosworth
(CAN) Jacques Villeneuve SrArrows-Ford Cosworth
(GBR) Brian HentonToleman-Hart
(ITA) Beppe GabbianiOsella-Ford Cosworth

Championship standings

How the championship standings stood post-race.

Driver

PosDriverPoints
1(BRA) Nelson Piquet50
2(ARG) Carlos Reutemann49
3(AUS) Alan Jones46
4(FRA) Jacques Laffite44
5(FRA) Alain Prost43
6(GBR) John Watson27
7(CAN) Gilles Villeneuve25
8(ITA) Elio de Angelis14
9(FRA) Rene Arnoux11
10(MEX) Hector Rebaque11
11(ITA) Riccardo Patrese10
12(USA) Eddie Cheever10
13(FRA) Didier Pironi9
14(GBR) Nigel Mansell8
15(ITA) Bruno Giacomelli7
16(CHE) Marc Surer4
17(USA) Mario Andretti3
18(FRA) Patrick Tambay1
=(ITA) Andrea de Cesaris1
=(SWE) Slim Borgudd1
=(CHL) Eliseo Salazar1

Constructor

PosConstructorPoints
1Williams-Ford Cosworth95
2Brabham-Ford Cosworth61
3Renault54
4Ligier-Matra44
5Ferrari34
6McLaren-Ford Cosworth28
7Lotus-Ford Cosworth22
8Arrows-Ford Cosworth10
9Alfa Romeo10
10Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth10
11Ensign-Ford Cosworth5
12Theodore-Ford Cosworth1
=ATS-Ford Cosworth1

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
1-2 start
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)

See also

  • Caesars Palace Grand Prix
  • Las Vegas circuit
  • 1981 World Championship season

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