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Home / Seasons / 1981 F1 World Championship Season / 1981 Monaco Grand Prix

1981 Monaco Grand Prix

DateSunday, 31 May 1981
Winner
  • Gilles Villeneuve
  • Ferrari
Pole position
  • Nelson Piquet
  • Brabham-Ford Cosworth
Fastest lap
  • Alan Jones
  • Williams-Ford Cosworth
CircuitMonte Carlo, 76 laps
Round6 of 15
Race numbers

The 1981 Monaco Grand Prix was the:

  • 348th World Championship race
  • 28th World Championship Monaco Grand Prix
  • 28th World Championship race at Monte Carlo
More 1981 season
More Monaco Grands Prix

Race result

PosDriverConstructorLapsTimePoints
1+1(CAN) Gilles VilleneuveFerrari761hr 54m 23.380s9
2+5(AUS) Alan JonesWilliams-Ford Cosworth76+39.910s6
3+5(FRA) Jacques LaffiteLigier-Matra76+1m 29.240s4
4+13(FRA) Didier PironiFerrari75+1 lap3
5+10(USA) Eddie CheeverTyrrell-Ford Cosworth74+2 laps2
6+13(CHE) Marc SurerEnsign-Ford Cosworth74+2 laps1
7+9(FRA) Patrick TambayTheodore-Ford Cosworth72+4 laps 
R (BRA) Nelson PiquetBrabham-Ford Cosworth53DNF 
R (GBR) John WatsonMcLaren-Ford Cosworth53DNF 
R (ITA) Michele AlboretoTyrrell-Ford Cosworth50DNF 
R (ITA) Bruno GiacomelliAlfa Romeo50DNF 
R (FRA) Alain ProstRenault45DNF 
R (ARG) Carlos ReutemannWilliams-Ford Cosworth34DNF 
R (ITA) Elio de AngelisLotus-Ford Cosworth32DNF 
R (FRA) Rene ArnouxRenault32DNF 
R (ITA) Riccardo PatreseArrows-Ford Cosworth29DNF 
R (GBR) Nigel MansellLotus-Ford Cosworth16DNF 
R (ITA) Siegfried StohrArrows-Ford Cosworth15DNF 
R (ITA) Andrea de CesarisMcLaren-Ford Cosworth0DNF 
R (USA) Mario AndrettiAlfa Romeo0DNF 

Notes

  • Nelson Piquet ended lap 53 as the race leader before retiring on the following lap.

Starting grid

Pole time: 1:25.710

PosDriverConstructor
1(BRA) Nelson PiquetBrabham-Ford Cosworth
2(CAN) Gilles VilleneuveFerrari
3(GBR) Nigel MansellLotus-Ford Cosworth
4(ARG) Carlos ReutemannWilliams-Ford Cosworth
5(ITA) Riccardo PatreseArrows-Ford Cosworth
6(ITA) Elio de AngelisLotus-Ford Cosworth
7(AUS) Alan JonesWilliams-Ford Cosworth
8(FRA) Jacques LaffiteLigier-Matra
9(FRA) Alain ProstRenault
10(GBR) John WatsonMcLaren-Ford Cosworth
11(ITA) Andrea de CesarisMcLaren-Ford Cosworth
12(USA) Mario AndrettiAlfa Romeo
13(FRA) Rene ArnouxRenault
14(ITA) Siegfried StohrArrows-Ford Cosworth
15(USA) Eddie CheeverTyrrell-Ford Cosworth
16(FRA) Patrick TambayTheodore-Ford Cosworth
17(FRA) Didier PironiFerrari
18(ITA) Bruno GiacomelliAlfa Romeo
19(CHE) Marc SurerEnsign-Ford Cosworth
20(ITA) Michele AlboretoTyrrell-Ford Cosworth

Non-qualifiers

DriverConstructorReason
(FIN) Keke RosbergFittipaldi-Ford CosworthDid not qualify
(FRA) Jean-Pierre JabouilleLigier-MatraDid not qualify
(MEX) Hector RebaqueBrabham-Ford CosworthDid not qualify
(BRA) Chico SerraFittipaldi-Ford CosworthDid not qualify
(ITA) Piercarlo GhinzaniOsella-Ford CosworthDid not qualify
(ITA) Beppe GabbianiOsella-Ford CosworthDid not qualify
(SWE) Slim BorguddATS-Ford CosworthDid not pre-qualify
(IRL) Derek DalyMarch-Ford CosworthDid not pre-qualify
(CHL) Eliseo SalazarMarch-Ford CosworthDid not pre-qualify
(GBR) Brian HentonToleman-HartDid not pre-qualify
(GBR) Derek WarwickToleman-HartDid not pre-qualify

Championship standings

How the championship standings stood post-race.

Driver

PosDriverPoints
1(ARG) Carlos Reutemann34
2(AUS) Alan Jones24
3(BRA) Nelson Piquet22
4(CAN) Gilles Villeneuve12
5(FRA) Jacques Laffite11
6(ITA) Riccardo Patrese10
7(FRA) Didier Pironi5
8(ITA) Elio de Angelis5
=(USA) Eddie Cheever5
10(FRA) Alain Prost4
=(GBR) Nigel Mansell4
12(CHE) Marc Surer4
13(USA) Mario Andretti3
=(MEX) Hector Rebaque3
15(FRA) Rene Arnoux2
16(FRA) Patrick Tambay1
=(ITA) Andrea de Cesaris1

Constructor

PosConstructorPoints
1Williams-Ford Cosworth58
2Brabham-Ford Cosworth25
3Ferrari17
4Ligier-Matra11
5Arrows-Ford Cosworth10
6Lotus-Ford Cosworth9
7Renault6
8Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth5
9Ensign-Ford Cosworth4
10Alfa Romeo3
11Theodore-Ford Cosworth1
=McLaren-Ford Cosworth1

Stats & milestones

Milestone race start
50th for Arrows (19th constructor to start 50 races)
Wins
5th for Gilles Villeneuve (first win since 1979)
80th for Ferrari (1st constructor to win 80 races)
Podiums
21st for Alan Jones & Jacques Laffite
10th for Gilles Villeneuve (34th driver to score ten podiums, 1st Canadian driver; first podium since 1979)
258th for Ferrari
38th for Williams
27th for Ligier
Poles
5th for Nelson Piquet
25th for Brabham
Fastest laps
10th for Alan Jones (13th driver to set ten fastest laps, 2nd Australian driver)
14th for Williams
Front row starts
8th for Nelson Piquet
7th for Gilles Villeneuve

See also

  • Monaco Grand Prix
  • Monte Carlo circuit
  • 1981 World Championship season

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