1981 British Grand Prix Explained

Type:F1
Country:Great Britain
Grand Prix:British
Official Name:XXXIV Marlboro British Grand Prix
Date:18 July
Year:1981
Race No:9
Season No:15
Location:Silverstone Circuit, Northamptonshire, Great Britain
Course:Permanent racing facility
Course Mi:2.932
Course Km:4.718
Distance Laps:68
Distance Mi:199.351
Distance Km:320.824
Weather:Dry
Pole Driver:René Arnoux
Pole Team:Renault
Pole Time:1:11.000
Pole Country:France
Fast Driver:René Arnoux
Fast Team:Renault
Fast Time:1:15.067
Fast Lap:50
Fast Country:France
First Driver:John Watson
First Team:McLaren-Ford
First Country:UK
Second Driver:Carlos Reutemann
Second Team:Williams-Ford
Second Country:Argentina
Third Driver:Jacques Laffite
Third Team:Ligier-Matra
Third Country:France

The 1981 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Silverstone on 18 July 1981. It was the ninth race of the 1981 Formula One World Championship. John Watson won his first race for five years, and McLaren's first since James Hunt's victory at the 1977 Japanese Grand Prix. The race also marked the first victory for a carbon fibre composite monocoque F1 car, the McLaren MP4/1.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap
116 René ArnouxRenault1:12.1581:11.000 —
215 Alain ProstRenault1:12.2371:11.046+0.046
35 Nelson PiquetBrabham-Ford1:12.3281:11.952+0.952
428 Didier PironiFerrari1:14.0701:12.644+1.644
57 John WatsonMcLaren-Ford1:13.3701:12.712+1.712
68 Andrea de CesarisMcLaren-Ford1:13.9761:12.728+1.728
71 Alan JonesWilliams-Ford1:12.9981:13.250+1.998
827 Gilles VilleneuveFerrari1:14.1821:13.311+2.311
92 Carlos ReutemannWilliams-Ford1:13.4671:13.371+2.371
1029 Riccardo PatreseArrows-Ford1:15.2171:13.762+2.762
1122 Mario AndrettiAlfa Romeo1:14.4401:13.928+2.928
1223 Bruno GiacomelliAlfa Romeo1:14.1191:14.442+3.119
136 Héctor RebaqueBrabham-Ford1:14.5941:14.542+3.542
1426 Jacques LaffiteLigier-Matra1:15.3131:14.798+3.798
1525 Patrick TambayLigier-Matra1:15.6561:14.976+3.976
1620 Keke RosbergFittipaldi-Ford1:16.6951:15.165+4.165
1717 Derek DalyMarch-Ford1:15.1891:15.303+4.189
1830 Siegfried StohrArrows-Ford1:17.2291:15.304+4.304
194 Michele AlboretoTyrrell-Ford1:16.4461:15.850+4.850
2032 Jean-Pierre JarierOsella-Ford1:15.9431:15.898+4.898
219 Slim BorguddATS-Ford1:16.7581:15.959+4.959
2211 Elio de AngelisLotus-Ford1:16.029†1:15.971+4.971
233 Eddie CheeverTyrrell-Ford1:16.3811:16.099+5.099
2433 Marc SurerTheodore-Ford1:17.1241:16.155+5.155
2521 Chico SerraFittipaldi-Ford1:18.1731:16.360+5.360
2635 Brian HentonToleman-Hart1:16.3881:19.602+5.388
2712 Nigel MansellLotus-Ford1:15.992†1:16.432+5.432
2814 Eliseo SalazarEnsign-Ford1:17.0531:16.694+5.694
2936 Derek WarwickToleman-Hart1:17.9981:16.891+5.891
3031 Beppe GabbianiOsella-Ford1:20.3771:17.784+6.784
Source: [1]

Race

Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
17 John WatsonMcLaren-Ford681:26:54.8059
22 Carlos ReutemannWilliams-Ford68+40.6596
326 Jacques LaffiteLigier-Matra67+1 lap144
43 Eddie CheeverTyrrell-Ford67+1 lap233
56 Héctor RebaqueBrabham-Ford67+1 lap132
69 Slim BorguddATS-Ford67+1 lap211
717 Derek DalyMarch-Ford66+2 laps17 
832 Jean-Pierre JarierOsella-Ford65+3 laps20 
916 René ArnouxRenault64Distributor1 
1029 Riccardo PatreseArrows-Ford64Engine10 
1133 Marc SurerTheodore-Ford61Out of fuel24 
Ret22 Mario AndrettiAlfa Romeo59Throttle11 
Ret20 Keke RosbergFittipaldi-Ford56Suspension16 
DSQ11 Elio de AngelisLotus-Ford25Ignoring yellow flags22 
Ret15 Alain ProstRenault17Distributor2 
Ret25 Patrick TambayLigier-Matra15Clutch15 
Ret28 Didier PironiFerrari13Turbo4 
Ret5 Nelson PiquetBrabham-Ford11Tyre3 
Ret23 Bruno GiacomelliAlfa Romeo5Transmission12 
Ret27 Gilles VilleneuveFerrari4Spun off8 
Ret1 Alan JonesWilliams-Ford3Collision7 
Ret8 Andrea de CesarisMcLaren-Ford3Spun off6 
Ret4 Michele AlboretoTyrrell-Ford1Clutch19 
Ret30 Siegfried StohrArrows-Ford0Spun off18 
DNQ21 Chico SerraFittipaldi-Ford  
DNQ35 Brian HentonToleman-Hart  
DNQ12 Nigel MansellLotus-Ford  
DNQ14 Eliseo SalazarEnsign-Ford  
DNQ36 Derek WarwickToleman-Hart  
DNQ31 Beppe GabbianiOsella-Ford    
Source: [2] [3] [4]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
PosDriverPoints
1 Carlos Reutemann43
2 Nelson Piquet26
3 Alan Jones24
4 Gilles Villeneuve21
5 Jacques Laffite21
Source: [5]
Constructors' Championship standings
PosConstructorPoints
1 Williams-Ford67
2 Brabham-Ford31
3 Ferrari28
4 Ligier-Matra21
5 McLaren-Ford20
Source:

Notes and References

  1. Book: Hamilton . Maurice . AUTOCOURSE 1981–82 . Hazleton Publishing Ltd . 1981 . 166 . 0-905138-17-1.
  2. Web site: The British Grand Prix: A very popular win. Motor Sport magazine archive . August 1981. 1048. Jenkinson. Denis. Denis Jenkinson . 2022-12-14.
  3. Web site: 1981 British Grand Prix . Formula1.com . 23 December 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140516114711/http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1981/366/ . 16 May 2014.
  4. Web site: 1981 British Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive. GPArchive.com. 18 July 1981 . 7 November 2021.
  5. Web site: Britain 1981 - Championship . StatsF1.com. 13 March 2019.

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