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 since the 1976 Austrian Grand Prix, and McLaren's and a British driver's first since James Hunt's victory at the 1977 Japanese Grand Prix. The race also marked the first victory for a carbon composite monocoque F1 car, the McLaren MP4/1.
Classification Qualifying Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap 1 16 René Arnoux Renault 1:12.158 1:11.000 — 2 15 Alain Prost Renault 1:12.237 1:11.046 +0.046 3 5 Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford 1:12.328 1:11.952 +0.952 4 28 Didier Pironi Ferrari 1:14.070 1:12.644 +1.644 5 7 John Watson McLaren-Ford 1:13.370 1:12.712 +1.712 6 8 Andrea de Cesaris McLaren-Ford 1:13.976 1:12.728 +1.728 7 1 Alan Jones Williams-Ford 1:12.998 1:13.250 +1.998 8 27 Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 1:14.182 1:13.311 +2.311 9 2 Carlos Reutemann Williams-Ford 1:13.467 1:13.371 +2.371 10 29 Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford 1:15.217 1:13.762 +2.762 11 22 Mario Andretti Alfa Romeo 1:14.440 1:13.928 +2.928 12 23 Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo 1:14.119 1:14.442 +3.119 13 6 Héctor Rebaque Brabham-Ford 1:14.594 1:14.542 +3.542 14 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 1:15.313 1:14.798 +3.798 15 25 Patrick Tambay Ligier-Matra 1:15.656 1:14.976 +3.976 16 20 Keke Rosberg Fittipaldi-Ford 1:16.695 1:15.165 +4.165 17 17 Derek Daly March-Ford 1:15.189 1:15.303 +4.189 18 30 Siegfried Stohr Arrows-Ford 1:17.229 1:15.304 +4.304 19 4 Michele Alboreto Tyrrell-Ford 1:16.446 1:15.850 +4.850 20 32 Jean-Pierre Jarier Osella-Ford 1:15.943 1:15.898 +4.898 21 9 Slim Borgudd ATS-Ford 1:16.758 1:15.959 +4.959 22 11 Elio de Angelis Lotus-Ford 1:16.029† 1:15.971 +4.971 23 3 Eddie Cheever Tyrrell-Ford 1:16.381 1:16.099 +5.099 24 33 Marc Surer Theodore-Ford 1:17.124 1:16.155 +5.155 25 21 Chico Serra Fittipaldi-Ford 1:18.173 1:16.360 +5.360 26 35 Brian Henton Toleman-Hart 1:16.388 1:19.602 +5.388 27 12 Nigel Mansell Lotus-Ford 1:15.992† 1:16.432 +5.432 28 14 Eliseo Salazar Ensign-Ford 1:17.053 1:16.694 +5.694 29 36 Derek Warwick Toleman-Hart 1:17.998 1:16.891 +5.891 30 31 Beppe Gabbiani Osella-Ford 1:20.377 1:17.784 +6.784Source:
†-time disallowed.
Race Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 7 John Watson McLaren-Ford 68 1:26:54.80 5 9 2 2 Carlos Reutemann Williams-Ford 68 +40.65 9 6 3 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 67 +1 lap 14 4 4 3 Eddie Cheever Tyrrell-Ford 67 +1 lap 23 3 5 6 Héctor Rebaque Brabham-Ford 67 +1 lap 13 2 6 9 Slim Borgudd ATS-Ford 67 +1 lap 21 1 7 17 Derek Daly March-Ford 66 +2 laps 17 8 32 Jean-Pierre Jarier Osella-Ford 65 +3 laps 20 9 16 René Arnoux Renault 64 Distributor 1 10 29 Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford 64 Engine 10 11 33 Marc Surer Theodore-Ford 61 Out of fuel 24 22 Mario Andretti Alfa Romeo 59 Throttle 11 20 Keke Rosberg Fittipaldi-Ford 56 Suspension 16 11 Elio de Angelis Lotus-Ford 25 Ignoring yellow flags 22 15 Alain Prost Renault 17 Distributor 2 25 Patrick Tambay Ligier-Matra 15 Clutch 15 28 Didier Pironi Ferrari 13 Turbo 4 5 Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford 11 Tyre 3 23 Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo 5 Transmission 12 27 Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 4 Spun off 8 1 Alan Jones Williams-Ford 3 Collision 7 8 Andrea de Cesaris McLaren-Ford 3 Spun off 6 4 Michele Alboreto Tyrrell-Ford 1 Clutch 19 30 Siegfried Stohr Arrows-Ford 0 Spun off 18 21 Chico Serra Fittipaldi-Ford 35 Brian Henton Toleman-Hart 12 Nigel Mansell Lotus-Ford 14 Eliseo Salazar Ensign-Ford 36 Derek Warwick Toleman-Hart 31 Beppe Gabbiani Osella-Ford Source:
Notes
This was the 200th Grand Prix start for McLaren. In those 200 races, McLaren had won 25 Grands Prix, achieved 78 podium finishes, 18 pole positions, 14 fastest laps, 2 Grand Slams, and had won 2 Driver's and 1 Constructor's Championship.
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Carlos Reutemann 43 2 Nelson Piquet 26 3 Alan Jones 24 4 Gilles Villeneuve 21 5 Jacques Laffite 21Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Williams-Ford 67 2 Brabham-Ford 31 3 Ferrari 28 4 Ligier-Matra 21 5 McLaren-Ford 20Source:
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References