1981 Monaco Grand Prix

Coordinates: 43°44′4.74″N 7°25′16.8″E / 43.7346500°N 7.421333°E / 43.7346500; 7.421333
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43°44′4.74″N 7°25′16.8″E / 43.7346500°N 7.421333°E / 43.7346500; 7.421333

1981 Monaco Grand Prix
Race 6 of 15 in the 1981 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date 31 May 1981
Location Circuit de Monaco
Course Street circuit
Course length 3.312 km (2.057 miles)
Distance 76 laps, 251.712 km (156.406 miles)
Weather Dry
Pole position
Driver Brabham-Ford
Time 1:25.710
Fastest lap
Driver Australia Alan Jones Williams-Ford
Time 1:27.47 on lap 48
Podium
First Ferrari
Second Williams-Ford
Third Ligier-Matra
Lap leaders
Nelson Piquet in a Brabham BT49C

The 1981 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monaco on 31 May 1981. It was the sixth race of the 1981 Formula One World Championship.[1]

The 76-lap race was won by Canadian driver Gilles Villeneuve, driving a Ferrari. Brazilian Nelson Piquet took pole position in his Brabham-Ford and led until he crashed out on lap 54. Australian Alan Jones finished second in a Williams-Ford, with Frenchman Jacques Laffite third in a Ligier-Matra.

Race[edit]

The start of the race was delayed after a fire in the Loews Hotel kitchens, which necessitated the fire service pumping large quantities of water to put the fires out. Water then seeped through the floors of the hotel and into the tunnel, delaying the race for an hour. Nelson Piquet led for much of the race, but crashed out late on. New race leader Alan Jones then suffered a fuel feed problem in the latter stages of the race, allowing Gilles Villeneuve in his Ferrari, to take his first victory since 1979 as well as becoming the first, and to this day, the only Canadian to win in Monaco. Championship leader Carlos Reutemann retired with gearbox problems, breaking a 15-race streak of consistently finishing in the points.

Classification[edit]

Pre-qualifying[edit]

Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap
1 33 France Patrick Tambay Theodore-Ford 1:30.492
2 14 Switzerland Marc Surer Ensign-Ford 1:31.249 +0.757
3 31 Italy Beppe Gabbiani Osella-Ford 1:32.704 +2.212
4 32 Italy Piercarlo Ghinzani Osella-Ford 1:33.189 +2.697
5 10 Sweden Slim Borgudd ATS-Ford 1:33.285 +2.793
6 18 Republic of Ireland Derek Daly March-Ford 1:33.800 +3.308
7 17 Chile Eliseo Salazar March-Ford 1:35.249 +4.757
8 35 United Kingdom Brian Henton Toleman-Hart 1:37.528 +7.036
9 36 United Kingdom Derek Warwick Toleman-Hart 1:41.966 +11.474

Qualifying[edit]

Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap
1 5 Brazil Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford 1:25.710 1:28.667
2 27 Canada Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 1:26.891 1:25.788 +0.078
3 12 United Kingdom Nigel Mansell Lotus-Ford 1:27.174 1:25.815 +0.105
4 2 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Williams-Ford 1:27.643 1:26.010 +0.300
5 29 Italy Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford 1:27.447 1:26.040 +0.330
6 11 Italy Elio de Angelis Lotus-Ford 1:28.381 1:26.259 +0.549
7 1 Australia Alan Jones Williams-Ford 1:26.938 1:26.538 +0.828
8 26 France Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 1:27.468 1:26.704 +0.994
9 15 France Alain Prost Renault 1:27.623 1:26.953 +1.243
10 7 United Kingdom John Watson McLaren-Ford 1:28.137 1:27.058 +1.348
11 8 Italy Andrea de Cesaris McLaren-Ford 1:28.966 1:27.122 +1.412
12 22 United States Mario Andretti Alfa Romeo 1:27.512 1:28.162 +1.802
13 16 France René Arnoux Renault 1:28.613 1:27.513 +1.803
14 30 Italy Siegfried Stohr Arrows-Ford 1:29.789 1:27.564 +1.854
15 3 United States Eddie Cheever Tyrrell-Ford 1:29.282 1:27.594 +1.884
16 33 France Patrick Tambay Theodore-Ford 1:28.897 1:27.939 +2.229
17 28 France Didier Pironi Ferrari 1:29.150 1:28.266 +2.556
18 23 Italy Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo 1:28.335 1:28.323 +2.613
19 14 Switzerland Marc Surer Ensign-Ford 1:29.611 1:28.339 +2.629
20 4 Italy Michele Alboreto Tyrrell-Ford 1:30.699 1:28.358 +2.648
21 20 Finland Keke Rosberg Fittipaldi-Ford 1:29.924 1:28.436 +2.726
22 25 France Jean-Pierre Jabouille Ligier-Matra 1:29.752 1:28.841 +3.131
23 6 Mexico Héctor Rebaque Brabham-Ford 1:29.188 1:29.256 +3.478
24 21 Brazil Chico Serra Fittipaldi-Ford 1:32.109 1:29.434 +3.724
25 32 Italy Piercarlo Ghinzani Osella-Ford no time 1:29.694 +3.984
26 31 Italy Beppe Gabbiani Osella-Ford 1:30.963 1:29.795 +4.085
Source: [2]

Race[edit]

Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 27 Canada Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari M 76 1:54:23.38 2 9
2 1 Australia Alan Jones Williams-Ford M 76 + 39.91 7 6
3 26 France Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra M 76 + 1:29.24 8 4
4 28 France Didier Pironi Ferrari M 75 + 1 Lap 17 3
5 3 United States Eddie Cheever Tyrrell-Ford M 74 + 2 Laps 15 2
6 14 Switzerland Marc Surer Ensign-Ford M 74 + 2 Laps 19 1
7 33 France Patrick Tambay Theodore-Ford M 72 + 4 Laps 16  
Ret 5 Brazil Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford M 53 Spun off 1  
Ret 7 United Kingdom John Watson McLaren-Ford M 52 Engine 10  
Ret 4 Italy Michele Alboreto Tyrrell-Ford M 50 Collision 20  
Ret 23 Italy Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo M 50 Collision 18  
Ret 15 France Alain Prost Renault M 45 Engine 9  
Ret 2 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Williams-Ford M 33 Gearbox 4  
Ret 11 Italy Elio de Angelis Lotus-Ford M 32 Engine 6  
Ret 16 France René Arnoux Renault M 32 Spun off 13  
Ret 29 Italy Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford M 29 Gearbox 5  
Ret 12 United Kingdom Nigel Mansell Lotus-Ford M 15 Suspension 3  
Ret 30 Italy Siegfried Stohr Arrows-Ford M 14 Fuel system 14  
Ret 8 Italy Andrea de Cesaris McLaren-Ford M 0 Collision 11  
Ret 22 United States Mario Andretti Alfa Romeo M 0 Collision 12  
DNQ 20 Finland Keke Rosberg Fittipaldi-Ford A        
DNQ 25 France Jean-Pierre Jabouille Ligier-Matra M        
DNQ 6 Mexico Héctor Rebaque Brabham-Ford M        
DNQ 21 Brazil Chico Serra Fittipaldi-Ford A        
DNQ 32 Italy Piercarlo Ghinzani Osella-Ford M        
DNQ 31 Italy Beppe Gabbiani Osella-Ford M        
DNPQ 10 Sweden Slim Borgudd ATS-Ford M        
DNPQ 18 Republic of Ireland Derek Daly March-Ford M        
DNPQ 17 Chile Eliseo Salazar March-Ford M        
DNPQ 35 United Kingdom Brian Henton Toleman-Hart P        
DNPQ 36 United Kingdom Derek Warwick Toleman-Hart P        
Source: [3][4]

Championship standings after the race[edit]

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "1981 Monaco Grand Prix Entry list".
  2. ^ Hamilton, Maurice, ed. (1981). AUTOCOURSE 1981–82. Hazleton Publishing Ltd. p. 138. ISBN 0-905138-17-1.
  3. ^ "1981 Monaco Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 16 May 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  4. ^ "1981 Monaco Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive". GPArchive.com. 31 May 1981. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Monaco 1981 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 19 March 2019.


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1981 Belgian Grand Prix
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1981 Spanish Grand Prix
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1980 Monaco Grand Prix
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