F1 driver standings
Standings
| # | Driver | USW | BRA | ARG | SMR | BEL | MCO | ESP | FRA | GBR | DEU | AUT | NLD | ITA | CAN | CPL | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | (BRA) Nelson Piquet (Brabham) | 3 | 12 | 1 | 1 | R | R | R | 3 | R | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6R | 5 | 5 | 50 |
| 2 | (ARG) Carlos Reutemann (Williams) | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | R | 4 | 10 | 2 | R | 5 | R | 3 | 10 | 8 | 49 |
| 3 | (AUS) Alan Jones (Williams) | 1 | 2 | 4 | 12 | R | 2 | 7 | 17 | R | 11 | 4 | 3 | 2 | R | 1 | 46 |
| 4 | (FRA) Jacques Laffite (Ligier) | R | 6 | R | R | 2 | 3 | 2 | R | 3 | 3 | 1 | R | R | 1 | 6 | 44 |
| 5 | (FRA) Alain Prost (Renault) | R | R | 3 | R | R | R | R | 1 | R | 2 | R | 1 | 1 | R | 2 | 43 |
| 6 | (GBR) John Watson (McLaren) | R | 8 | R | 10 | 7 | R | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 6 | R | R | 2 | 7 | 27 |
| 7 | (CAN) Gilles Villeneuve (Ferrari) | R | R | R | 7 | 4 | 1 | 1 | R | R | 10 | R | R | R | 3 | DSQ | 25 |
| 8 | (ITA) Elio de Angelis (Lotus) | R | 5 | 6 | 5 | R | 5 | 6 | DSQ | 7 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 6 | R | 14 | |
| 9 | (FRA) Rene Arnoux (Renault) | 8 | R | 5 | 8 | DNQ | R | 9 | 4 | 9R | 13 | 2 | R | R | R | R | 11 |
| = | (MEX) Hector Rebaque (Brabham) | R | R | R | 4 | R | DNQ | R | 9 | 5 | 4 | R | 4 | R | R | R | 11 |
| 11 | (ITA) Riccardo Patrese (Arrows) | R | 3 | 7 | 2 | R | R | R | 14 | 10R | R | R | R | R | R | 11 | 10 |
| = | (USA) Eddie Cheever (Tyrrell) | 5 | NC | R | R | 6 | 5 | NC | 13 | 4 | 5 | DNQ | R | R | 12R | R | 10 |
| 13 | (FRA) Didier Pironi (Ferrari) | R | R | R | 5 | 8 | 4 | 15 | 5 | R | R | 9 | R | 5 | R | 9 | 9 |
| 14 | (GBR) Nigel Mansell (Lotus) | R | 11 | R | 3 | R | 6 | 7 | DNQ | R | R | R | R | R | 4 | 8 | |
| 15 | (ITA) Bruno Giacomelli (Alfa Romeo) | R | NC | 10R | R | 9 | R | 10 | 15 | R | 15 | R | R | 8 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| 16 | (CHE) Marc Surer (Ensign, Theodore) | R | 4 | R | 9 | 11 | 6 | 12 | 11R | 14R | R | 8 | DNQ | 9 | R | 4 | |
| 17 | (USA) Mario Andretti (Alfa Romeo) | 4 | R | 8 | R | 10 | R | 8 | 8 | R | 9 | R | R | R | 7 | R | 3 |
| 18 | (FRA) Patrick Tambay (Theodore, Ligier) | 6 | 10 | R | 11 | DNQ | 7 | 13 | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | 1 |
| = | (ITA) Andrea de Cesaris (McLaren) | R | R | 11 | 6 | R | R | R | 11 | R | R | 8 | DNS | 7R | R | 12 | 1 |
| = | (SWE) Slim Borgudd (ATS) | 13 | DNQ | DNPQ | DNQ | DNQ | 6 | R | R | 10 | R | R | DNQ | 1 | |||
| = | (CHL) Eliseo Salazar (March, Ensign) | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | R | DNQ | DNPQ | 14 | R | DNQ | NC | R | 6 | R | R | NC | 1 |
| (FRA) Jean-Pierre Jarier (Ligier, Osella) | R | 7 | 8 | 8 | 10 | R | 9 | R | R | ||||||||
| (ITA) Siegfried Stohr (Arrows) | DNQ | R | 9 | DNQ | R | R | R | DNQ | R | 12 | R | 7 | DNQ | ||||
| (IRL) Derek Daly (March) | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNPQ | 16 | R | 7 | R | 11 | R | R | 8 | DNQ | ||
| (BRA) Chico Serra (Fittipaldi) | 7 | R | R | DNQ | R | DNQ | 11 | DNS | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | |||
| (FIN) Keke Rosberg (Fittipaldi) | R | 9 | R | R | R | DNQ | 12 | R | R | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | 10 | |||
| (ITA) Michele Alboreto (Tyrrell) | R | 12 | R | DNQ | 16 | R | DNQ | R | 9R | R | 11 | 13R | |||||
| (GBR) Brian Henton (Toleman) | DNQ | DNQ | DNPQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | 10 | DNQ | DNQ | |||||
| (NLD) Jan Lammers (ATS) | R | DNQ | 12 | DNQ | |||||||||||||
| (ARG) Ricardo Zunino (Tyrrell) | 13 | 13 | |||||||||||||||
| (ITA) Piercarlo Ghinzani (Osella) | 13 | DNQ | |||||||||||||||
| (FRA) Jean-Pierre Jabouille (Ligier) | DNQ | NC | R | DNQ | R | ||||||||||||
| (ITA) Beppe Gabbiani (Osella) | R | DNQ | DNQ | R | R | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | ||
| (GBR) Derek Warwick (Toleman) | DNQ | DNQ | DNPQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | R | |||||
| (ARG) Miguel Angel Guerra (Osella) | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | R | |||||||||||||
| (CAN) Jacques Villeneuve Sr (Arrows) | DNQ | DNQ | |||||||||||||||
| (USA) Kevin Cogan (Tyrrell) | DNQ | ||||||||||||||||
| (ITA) Giorgio Francia (Osella) | DNQ | ||||||||||||||||
| (ESP) Emilio de Villota (Williams) | WD | ||||||||||||||||
| # | Driver | USW | BRA | ARG | SMR | BEL | MCO | ESP | FRA | GBR | DEU | AUT | NLD | ITA | CAN | CPL | Points |
Table key, points system and championship rules
- Highlight: Rookie
- Bold: pole position
- Underline: fastest lap
- Bold & underline: pole & fastest lap
- DNQ: Did not qualify
- DNPQ: Did not pre-qualify
- NC: Not classified
- DSQ: Disqualified
- DNS: Did not start
- WD: Withdrew
The top six classified finishers of each race were awarded points on the following basis:
- 1st (9)
- 2nd (6)
- 3rd (4)
- 4th (3)
- 5th (2)
- 6th (1)
Only the best 11 results counted towards the championship.
Race to the title
The Race to the title graph shows how the title race played out over the course of the season between the top five drivers of 1981.