Formula 1 Wiki
Register
Advertisement

The 1981 British Grand Prix was the ninth round of the 1981 Formula One season. The race was won by John Watson who took his first win since the 1976 Austrian Grand Prix. His team McLaren also returned to winning ways having not won since 1977.

Background[]

The championship order was much the same heading into Britain as it was in the previous round heading into France. All the lead championship contenders bar Nelson Piquet had failed to score in Britain. Piquet managing a third place had moved into second in the championship standings, now only eleven points behind championship leader Carlos Reutemann.

In Britain, Osella returned to running two cars for the event after only running a sole car of Beppe Gabbiani in France. The team had hired Formula One veteran Jean-Pierre Jarier who had largely been out of work in 1981 with the exception of participating in the opening two rounds for Ligier.

Lotus had announced that it was to reenter its Lotus 88 chassis for Britain, updating it to a configuration that would be hoped to be accepted by the FISA unlike the team's previous entry attempts with the chassis. Whilst Colin Chapman's team was optimistic, there was much doubt within the paddock that the FISA would accept the Lotus 88 entrant.

Entry List[]

The full entry list for the 1981 British Grand Prix is outlined below:

No. Driver Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine Model Tyre
1 Australia Alan Jones United Kingdom TAG Williams Team Williams FW07C Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 G
2 Argentina Carlos Reutemann United Kingdom TAG Williams Team Williams FW07C Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 G
3 United States Eddie Cheever United Kingdom Tyrrell Racing Team Tyrrell 011 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 G
4 Italy Michele Alboreto United Kingdom Tyrrell Racing Team Tyrrell 011 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 A
5* Brazil Nelson Piquet United Kingdom Parmalat Racing Team Brabham BT49C Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 G
BT50 BMW M12/13 1.5 L4t
6 Mexico Héctor Rebaque United Kingdom Parmalat Racing Team Brabham BT49C Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 G
7 United Kingdom John Watson United Kingdom Marlboro McLaren International McLaren MP4/1 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 M
8 Italy Andrea de Cesaris United Kingdom Marlboro McLaren International McLaren MP4/1 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 M
9 Sweden Slim Borgudd West Germany Team ATS ATS HGS1 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 A
11 Italy Elio de Angelis United Kingdom John Player Team Lotus Lotus 87 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 G
12 United Kingdom Nigel Mansell United Kingdom John Player Team Lotus Lotus 87 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 G
14 Chile Eliseo Salazar United Kingdom Ensign Racing Ensign N180B Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 A
15 France Alain Prost France Equipe Renault Elf Renault RE30 Renault EF1 3.0 V6t M
16 France René Arnoux France Equipe Renault Elf Renault RE30 Renault EF1 3.0 V6t M
17 Ireland Derek Daly United Kingdom March Grand Prix Team March 811 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 A
18 Sweden Stefan Johansson United Kingdom March Grand Prix Team March 811 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 A
20 Finland Keke Rosberg Brazil Fittipaldi Automotive Fittipaldi F8C Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 P
21 Brazil Chico Serra Brazil Fittipaldi Automotive Fittipaldi F8C Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 P
22 United States Mario Andretti Italy Marlboro Team Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 179C Alfa Romeo 1260 3.0 V12 M
23 Italy Bruno Giacomelli Italy Marlboro Team Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 179C Alfa Romeo 1260 3.0 V12 M
25 France Patrick Tambay France Equipe Talbot Gitanes Ligier JS17 Matra MS81 3.0 V12 M
26 France Jacques Laffite France Equipe Talbot Gitanes Ligier JS17 Matra MS81 3.0 V12 M
27 Canada Gilles Villeneuve Italy Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC Ferrari 126CK Ferrari 021 3.0 V6t M
28 France Didier Pironi Italy Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC Ferrari 126CK Ferrari 021 3.0 V6t M
29 Italy Riccardo Patrese United Kingdom Ragno Arrows Beta Racing Team Arrows A3 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 P
30 Italy Siegfried Stohr United Kingdom Ragno Arrows Beta Racing Team Arrows A3 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 P
31 Italy Beppe Gabbiani Italy Osella Squadra Corse Osella FA1B Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 M
32 France Jean-Pierre Jarier Italy Osella Squadra Corse Osella FA1B Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 M
33 Switzerland Marc Surer Hong Kong Theodore Racing Team Theodore TY01 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 A
34 United Kingdom Geoff Lees Hong Kong Theodore Racing Team Theodore TY01 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 A
35 United Kingdom Brian Henton United Kingdom Candy Toleman Motorsport Toleman TG181 Hart 415T 3.0 L4t P
36 United Kingdom Derek Warwick United Kingdom Candy Toleman Motorsport Toleman TG181 Hart 415T 3.0 L4t P

Practice Overview[]

During practice, Nelson Piquet and Brabham ran their Brabham BT50 chassis for the first time, notably powered by a turbo engine supplied by BMW. The team would not run the BT50 in 1981, the new car was announced to be making its debut in the next season in 1982.

Lotus ran their Lotus 88 chassis in practice with seemingly little resistance, the race organisers at Silverstone the Royal Automobile Club feeling that the 88 chassis was perfectly legal. When FISA President Jean-Marie Balestre heard of this, he immediately began to angrily demand that the Lotus 88 chassis be withdrawn from the event. Therefore beginning the controversy surrounding the car once again.

Qualifying[]

The Renault cars continued their competitive form from France, René Arnoux was in pole position with Alain Prost alongside him. Nelson Piquet lined up in fourth place, whilst Didier Pironi had found his form again to start from fourth place. Behind Pironi came John Watson and Andrea de Cesaris, the McLaren's continuing their resurgence in pace.

Williams were underperforming in qaulifying, Alan Jones could only manage seventh whilst Carlos Reutemann was in ninth. Splitting the two Williams cars was Gilles Villeneuve's Ferrari. Riccardo Patrese occupied the final place in the top ten for Arrows.

Lotus had responded to the demand from the FISA to withdraw their 88 chassis by cannabalising the Lotus 87 into a form similar to the 88 overnight. The result was not a success and Lotus were not competitive. Nigel Mansell failed to qualify for his home race whilst Elio de Angelis could only manage twenty second on the grid.

Qualifying Results[]

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Time Gap
16 France René Arnoux France Renault 1:11.000
2 15 France Alain Prost France Renault 1:11.046 + 0.046
3 5 Brazil Nelson Piquet United Kingdom Brabham-Ford 1:11.952 + 0.952
4 28 France Didier Pironi Italy Ferrari 1:12.644 + 1.644
5 7 United Kingdom John Watson United Kingdom McLaren-Ford 1:12.712 + 1.712
6 8 Italy Andrea de Cesaris United Kingdom McLaren-Ford 1:12.728 + 1.728
7 1 Australia Alan Jones United Kingdom Williams-Ford 1:12.998 + 1.998
8 27 Canada Gilles Villeneuve Italy Ferrari 1:13.311 + 2.311
9 2 Argentina Carlos Reutemann United Kingdom Williams-Ford 1:13.371 + 2.371
10 29 Italy Riccardo Patrese United Kingdom Arrows-Ford 1:13.762 + 2.762
11 22 United States Mario Andretti Italy Alfa Romeo 1:13.928 + 2.928
12 23 Italy Bruno Giacomelli Italy Alfa Romeo 1:14.119 + 3.119
13 6 Mexico Héctor Rebaque United Kingdom Brabham-Ford 1:14.542 + 3.542
14 26 France Jacques Laffite France Ligier-Matra 1:14.798 + 3.798
15 25 France Patrick Tambay France Ligier-Matra 1:14.976 + 3.976
16 20 Finland Keke Rosberg Brazil Fittipaldi-Ford 1:15.165 + 4.165
17 17 Ireland Derek Daly United Kingdom March-Ford 1:15.189 + 4.189
18 30 Italy Siegfried Stohr United Kingdom Arrows-Ford 1:15.304 + 4.304
19 4 Italy Michele Alboreto United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford 1:15.850 + 4.850
20 32 France Jean-Pierre Jarier Italy Osella-Ford 1:15.898 + 4.898
21 9 Sweden Slim Borgudd Germany ATS-Ford 1:15.959 + 4.959
22 11 Italy Elio de Angelis United Kingdom Lotus-Ford 1:15.971 + 4.971
23 3 United States Eddie Cheever United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford 1:16.099 + 5.099
24 33 Switzerland Marc Surer Hong Kong Theodore-Ford 1:16.155 + 5.155
DNQ 21 Brazil Chico Serra Brazil Fittipaldi-Ford 1:16.360 + 5.360
DNQ 35 United Kingdom Brian Henton United Kingdom Toleman-Hart 1:16.388 + 5.388
DNQ 12 United Kingdom Nigel Mansell United Kingdom Lotus-Ford 1:16.432 + 5.432
DNQ 14 Chile Eliseo Salazar United Kingdom Ensign-Ford 1:16.694 + 5.694
DNQ 36 United Kingdom Derek Warwick United Kingdom Toleman-Hart 1:16.891 + 5.891
DNQ 31 Italy Beppe Gabbiani Italy Osella-Ford 1:17.784 + 6.784

Grid[]

Race[]

Report[]

Pole sitter René Arnoux made a poor getaway and dropped to fourth behind Renault teammate Alain Prost and the two Ferrari's of Didier Pironi and Gilles Villeneuve. Villeneuve having made another phenomenal start from eighth on the grid. However the Renault was far superior and Arnoux moved past the Ferrari's by lap three and began to chase after teammate Prost.

Villeneuve's strong start was all for naught when at the end of lap three he spun at Woodcote corner. The Ferrari spun right into the path of the Williams of Alan Jones causing Jones to slam into Villeneuve whilst Andrea de Cesaris's McLaren spun off the circuit and into the catchfencing whilst taking avoiding action of the pair. Jones and De Cesaris were out on the spot whilst Ferrari attempted to limp his battered Ferrari around the circuit for half a lap before pulling off and retiring.

With Villeneuve's Ferrari out, Nelson Piquet was now in fourth and began to pressure the sole Ferrari of Pironi ahead of him. On lap five, Piquet's Brabham took third where he began to settle comfortably into the position, however remained significantly behind the Renault's of Prost and Arnoux who were dominating out front.

On lap eleven Piquet's tyre blew spectacularly, sending him into the barriers at high speed. Piquet received minor injuries to his ankle and was required to be lifted out of the car by the marshalls.

John Watson who had had a slow start to the race was beginning to make a comeback in his McLaren. After overtaking both Carlos Reutemann and Mario Andretti, Watson moved into fourth and began to challenge Didier Pironi for third. On lap 13 Pironi suffered an engine failure leaving Watson in third place, some distance behind the Renault's.

Prost and Arnoux were comfortably leading out front, however it was not to be two consecutive wins for Prost, his turbo Renault engine breaking down on lap 17 leaving Arnoux to inherit the lead of the race.

Elio de Angelis was disqualified on lap 25 for ignoring yellow flags, Lotus manager Colin Chapman was furious, believing it to be a deliberate slight against him from the FISA surrounding the controversy of the Lotus 88.

Reutemann moved past Andretti whilst behind the Alfa Romeo came Riccardo Patrese's Arrows and Héctor Rebaque's Brabham. Rebaque dropped back when he had to stop for tyres, leaving Jacques Laffite in the Ligier in sixth place.

There would be a number of retirements in the top six however, first to go out was Mario Andretti's Alfa Romeo on lap 59. Five laps later Riccardo Patrese was also out, however more significantly René Arnoux who had been dominating the race fell like Prost to Renault's poor reliability record, retiring with engine problems.

This left John Watson in the lead where he would go on to win with Carlos Reutemann and Jacques Laffite a long way behind him in the final podium places. Eddie Cheever took fourth, a strong drive for the young Tyrrell driver who started twenty third on the grid. Rebaque claimed two points for Brabham whilst Slim Borgudd surprisingly took the final points position. After failing to qualify for the past four events, Borgudd took some much needed points for his ATS team who took their first points of the season.

John Watson took a highly popular home win at Silverstone, the first for a British driver to do so on home turf since James Hunt in 1976. Watson also finally got his second win, five years after his last at the 1976 Austrian Grand Prix. The race also confirmed McLaren's return as a front winning team taking their first win since the 1977 Japanese Grand Prix and their first win under the Ron Dennis era of the team.

Results[]

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 7 United Kingdom John Watson United Kingdom McLaren-Ford 68 1:26:54.80 5 9
2 2 Argentina Carlos Reutemann United Kingdom Williams-Ford 68 + 40.65 9 6
3 26 France Jacques Laffite France Ligier-Matra 67 + 1 Lap 14 4
4 3 United States Eddie Cheever United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford 67 + 1 Lap 23 3
5 6 Mexico Héctor Rebaque United Kingdom Brabham-Ford 68 + 1 Lap 13 2
6 9 Sweden Slim Borgudd Germany ATS-Ford 67 + 1 Lap 21 1
7 17 Ireland Derek Daly United Kingdom March-Ford 76 + 2 Laps 17
8 32 France Jean-Pierre Jarier Italy Osella-Ford 65 + 3 Laps 20
9 16 France René Arnoux France Renault 64 Engine 1
10 29 Italy Riccardo Patrese United Kingdom Arrows-Ford 64 Engine 10
11 33 Switzerland Marc Surer Hong Kong Theodore-Ford 61 Out of fuel 24
Ret 22 United States Mario Andretti Italy Alfa Romeo 59 Throttle linkage 11
Ret 20 Finland Keke Rosberg Brazil Fittipaldi-Ford 56 Rear suspension 15
DSQ 11 Italy Elio de Angelis United Kingdom Lotus-Ford 25 Black flagged 22
Ret 15 France Alain Prost France Renault 17 Engine 2
Ret 25 France Patrick Tambay France Ligier-Matra 15 Ignition 15
Ret 28 France Didier Pironi Italy Ferrari 13 Engine 4
Ret 5 Brazil Nelson Piquet United Kingdom Brabham-Ford 11 Tyre burst / Accident 3
Ret 23 Italy Bruno Giacomelli Italy Alfa Romeo 5 Gearbox 12
Ret 27 Canada Gilles Villeneuve Italy Ferrari 4 Accident 8
Ret 1 Australia Alan Jones United Kingdom Williams-Ford 3 Accident 7
Ret 8 Italy Andrea de Cesaris United Kingdom McLaren-Ford 3 Accident 6
Ret 4 Italy Michele Alboreto United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford 0 Clutch 19
Ret 30 Italy Siegfried Stohr United Kingdom Arrows-Ford 0 Accident 18
DNQ 21 Brazil Chico Serra Brazil Fittipaldi-Ford
DNQ 35 United Kingdom Brian Henton United Kingdom Toleman-Hart
DNQ 12 United Kingdom Nigel Mansell United Kingdom Lotus-Ford
DNQ 14 Chile Eliseo Salazar United Kingdom Ensign-Ford
DNQ 36 United Kingdom Derek Warwick United Kingdom Toleman-Hart
DNQ 31 Italy Beppe Gabbiani Italy Osella-Ford

Milestones[]

  • First victory for a carbon fiber monocoque chassis.

Standings after race[]

Notes[]

V T E United Kingdom British Grand Prix
Circuits Brooklands (1926 - 1927), Silverstone (1948 - Present), Aintree (1955 - 1962), Brands Hatch (1963 - 1986)
SilverstoneArena2010
Races 19501951195219531954195519561957195819591960196119621963196419651966196719681969197019711972197319741975197619771978197919801981198219831984198519861987198819891990199119921993199419951996199719981999200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023
Non-Championship Races 1926192719481949
V T E 1981 Formula One Season
Teams Alfa Romeo • Arrows • ATS • Brabham • Ensign • Ferrari • Fittipaldi • Ligier • Lotus • March • McLaren • Osella • Renault • Theodore • Toleman • Tyrrell • Williams
Engines Alfa Romeo • Ferrari • Ford Cosworth • Hart • Matra • Renault
Drivers Alboreto • Andretti • de Angelis • Arnoux • Borgudd • de Cesaris • Cheever • Cogan • Daly • Francia • Gabbiani • Giacomelli • Ghinzani • Guerra • Henton • Jabouille • Jarier • Jones • Laffite • Lammers • Londoño • Mansell • Patrese • Piquet • Pironi • Prost • Rebaque • Reutemann • Rosberg • Salazar • Serra • Stohr • Surer • Tambay • G. Villeneuve • J. Villeneuve, Sr. • Warwick • Watson • Zunino
Cars Alfa Romeo 179B • Alfa Romeo 179C • Alfa Romeo 179D • Arrows A3 • ATS D4 • ATS HGS1 • Brabham BT49C • Ensign N180B • Ferrari 126CK • Fittipaldi F8C • Ligier JS17 • Lotus 81B • Lotus 87 • Lotus 88 • Lotus 88B • March 811 • McLaren M29F • McLaren MP4/1 • Osella FA1B • Osella FA1C • Renault RE20B • Renault RE30 • Theodore TY01 • Toleman TG181 • Tyrrell 010 • Tyrrell 011 • Williams FW07C
Tyres Avon • Goodyear • Michelin • Pirelli
Races United States West • Brazil • Argentina • San Marino • Belgium • Monaco • Spain • France • Britain • Germany • Austria • Netherlands • Italy • Canada • Caesars Palace
Non-championship Races South Africa
See also 1980 Formula One Season • 1982 Formula One Season • Category
v·d·e Nominate this page for Featured Article
Advertisement