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.
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 Delay The race was due to start at 3:30pm Central European Time (UTC+1) but 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. The race got started at 4:30pm, 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 Pre-qualifying Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap 1 33 Patrick Tambay Theodore-Ford 1:30.492 2 14 Marc Surer Ensign-Ford 1:31.249 +0.757 3 31 Beppe Gabbiani Osella-Ford 1:32.704 +2.212 4 32 Piercarlo Ghinzani Osella-Ford 1:33.189 +2.697 5 10 Slim Borgudd ATS-Ford 1:33.285 +2.793 6 18 Derek Daly March-Ford 1:33.800 +3.308 7 17 Eliseo Salazar March-Ford 1:35.249 +4.757 8 35 Brian Henton Toleman-Hart 1:37.528 +7.036 9 36 Derek Warwick Toleman-Hart 1:41.966 +11.474
Qualifying Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap 1 5 Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford 1:25.710 1:28.667 2 27 Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 1:26.891 1:25.788 +0.078 3 12 Nigel Mansell Lotus-Ford 1:27.174 1:25.815 +0.105 4 2 Carlos Reutemann Williams-Ford 1:27.643 1:26.010 +0.300 5 29 Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford 1:27.447 1:26.040 +0.330 6 11 Elio de Angelis Lotus-Ford 1:28.381 1:26.259 +0.549 7 1 Alan Jones Williams-Ford 1:26.938 1:26.538 +0.828 8 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 1:27.468 1:26.704 +0.994 9 15 Alain Prost Renault 1:27.623 1:26.953 +1.243 10 7 John Watson McLaren-Ford 1:28.137 1:27.058 +1.348 11 8 Andrea de Cesaris McLaren-Ford 1:28.966 1:27.122 +1.412 12 22 Mario Andretti Alfa Romeo 1:27.512 1:28.162 +1.802 13 16 René Arnoux Renault 1:28.613 1:27.513 +1.803 14 30 Siegfried Stohr Arrows-Ford 1:29.789 1:27.564 +1.854 15 3 Eddie Cheever Tyrrell-Ford 1:29.282 1:27.594 +1.884 16 33 Patrick Tambay Theodore-Ford 1:28.897 1:27.939 +2.229 17 28 Didier Pironi Ferrari 1:29.150 1:28.266 +2.556 18 23 Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo 1:28.335 1:28.323 +2.613 19 14 Marc Surer Ensign-Ford 1:29.611 1:28.339 +2.629 20 4 Michele Alboreto Tyrrell-Ford 1:30.699 1:28.358 +2.648 21 20 Keke Rosberg Fittipaldi-Ford 1:29.924 1:28.436 +2.726 22 25 Jean-Pierre Jabouille Ligier-Matra 1:29.752 1:28.841 +3.131 23 6 Héctor Rebaque Brabham-Ford 1:29.188 1:29.256 +3.478 24 21 Chico Serra Fittipaldi-Ford 1:32.109 1:29.434 +3.724 25 32 Piercarlo Ghinzani Osella-Ford no time 1:29.694 +3.984 26 31 Beppe Gabbiani Osella-Ford 1:30.963 1:29.795 +4.085Source:
Race Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 27 Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 76 1:54:23.38 2 9 2 1 Alan Jones Williams-Ford 76 + 39.91 7 6 3 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 76 + 1:29.24 8 4 4 28 Didier Pironi Ferrari 75 + 1 Lap 17 3 5 3 Eddie Cheever Tyrrell-Ford 74 + 2 Laps 15 2 6 14 Marc Surer Ensign-Ford 74 + 2 Laps 19 1 7 33 Patrick Tambay Theodore-Ford 72 + 4 Laps 16 5 Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford 53 Spun off 1 7 John Watson McLaren-Ford 52 Engine 10 4 Michele Alboreto Tyrrell-Ford 50 Collision 20 23 Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo 50 Collision 18 15 Alain Prost Renault 45 Engine 9 2 Carlos Reutemann Williams-Ford 33 Gearbox 4 11 Elio de Angelis Lotus-Ford 32 Engine 6 16 René Arnoux Renault 32 Spun off 13 29 Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford 29 Gearbox 5 12 Nigel Mansell Lotus-Ford 15 Suspension 3 30 Siegfried Stohr Arrows-Ford 14 Fuel system 14 8 Andrea de Cesaris McLaren-Ford 0 Collision 11 22 Mario Andretti Alfa Romeo 0 Collision 12 20 Keke Rosberg Fittipaldi-Ford 25 Jean-Pierre Jabouille Ligier-Matra 6 Héctor Rebaque Brabham-Ford 21 Chico Serra Fittipaldi-Ford 32 Piercarlo Ghinzani Osella-Ford 31 Beppe Gabbiani Osella-Ford 10 Slim Borgudd ATS-Ford 18 Derek Daly March-Ford 17 Eliseo Salazar March-Ford 35 Brian Henton Toleman-Hart 36 Derek Warwick Toleman-Hart Source:
Notes
This was the 5th Grand Prix win and the 10th podium finish for a Canadian driver. This was the 50th Grand Prix start for Arrows. This was the 25th pole position for Brabham.
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Carlos Reutemann 34 2 Alan Jones 24 3 Nelson Piquet 22 4 Gilles Villeneuve 12 5 Jacques Laffite 11Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Williams-Ford 58 2 Brabham-Ford 25 3 Ferrari 17 4 Ligier-Matra 11 5 Arrows-Ford 10Source:
References