The 1981 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Dijon-Prenois near Dijon, France on 5 July 1981. It was the eighth race of the 1981 Formula One World Championship.
The 80-lap race was won by Alain Prost, driving a Renault. On home soil, Prost scored the first of an eventual 51 Grand Prix victories, in a race that was stopped after 58 laps due to heavy rain and then restarted, with aggregate times determining the final positions. John Watson finished second in his McLaren-Ford, while Nelson Piquet, who had been leading in his Brabham-Ford when the race was stopped, finished third.
Prior to the race, Jean-Pierre Jabouille decided to retire from Formula One, having not fully recovered from the leg injuries he had sustained in Canada the previous year. His place at Ligier was taken for the rest of the season by Patrick Tambay, who moved from Theodore.
Classification Qualifying Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap 1 16 René Arnoux Renault 1:07.09 1:05.95 — 2 7 John Watson McLaren-Ford 1:07.05 1:06.36 +0.41 3 15 Alain Prost Renault 1:07.57 1:06.36 +0.41 4 5 Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford 1:09.21 1:06.91 +0.96 5 8 Andrea de Cesaris McLaren-Ford 1:08.83 1:07.03 +1.08 6 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 1:08.71 1:07.09 +1.14 7 2 Carlos Reutemann Williams-Ford 1:08.83 1:07.42 +1.47 8 11 Elio de Angelis Lotus-Ford 1:08.40 1:07.52 +1.57 9 1 Alan Jones Williams-Ford 1:09.28 1:07.53 +1.58 10 22 Mario Andretti Alfa Romeo 1:10.09 1:07.56 +1.61 11 27 Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 1:07.60 1:07.68 +1.65 12 23 Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo 1:09.81 1:07.63 +1.68 13 12 Nigel Mansell Lotus-Ford 1:09.06 1:07.72 +1.77 14 28 Didier Pironi Ferrari 1:08.09 1:08.27 +2.14 15 6 Héctor Rebaque Brabham-Ford 1:09.69 1:08.21 +2.26 16 25 Patrick Tambay Ligier-Matra 1:09.51 1:08.47 +2.52 17 20 Keke Rosberg Fittipaldi-Ford 1:10.13 1:09.35 +3.40 18 29 Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford 1:09.37 1:10.14 +3.42 19 3 Eddie Cheever Tyrrell-Ford 1:11.50 1:09.88 +3.93 20 17 Derek Daly March-Ford 1:12.10 1:09.94 +3.99 21 33 Marc Surer Theodore-Ford 1:19.46 1:10.12 +4.17 22 14 Eliseo Salazar Ensign-Ford 1:15.59 1:10.50 +4.55 23 4 Michele Alboreto Tyrrell-Ford 1:12.37 1:10.64 +4.69 24 21 Chico Serra Fittipaldi-Ford 1:13.60 1:10.86 +4.91 25 30 Siegfried Stohr Arrows-Ford 1:13.13 1:11.24 +5.29 26 35 Brian Henton Toleman-Hart 1:29.13 1:11.28 +5.33 27 9 Slim Borgudd ATS-Ford 1:14.62 1:12.20 +6.25 28 31 Beppe Gabbiani Osella-Ford 1:12.24 1:36.20 +6.29 29 36 Derek Warwick Toleman-Hart 1:13.65 no time +7.70Source:
Race Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 15 Alain Prost Renault 80 1:35:48.13 3 9 2 7 John Watson McLaren-Ford 80 + 2.29 2 6 3 5 Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford 80 + 24.22 4 4 4 16 René Arnoux Renault 80 + 42.30 1 3 5 28 Didier Pironi Ferrari 79 + 1 Lap 14 2 6 11 Elio de Angelis Lotus-Ford 79 + 1 Lap 8 1 7 12 Nigel Mansell Lotus-Ford 79 + 1 Lap 13 8 22 Mario Andretti Alfa Romeo 79 + 1 Lap 10 9 6 Héctor Rebaque Brabham-Ford 78 + 2 Laps 15 10 2 Carlos Reutemann Williams-Ford 78 + 2 Laps 7 11 8 Andrea de Cesaris McLaren-Ford 78 + 2 Laps 5 12 33 Marc Surer Theodore-Ford 78 + 2 Laps 21 13 3 Eddie Cheever Tyrrell-Ford 77 + 3 Laps 19 14 29 Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford 77 + 3 Laps 18 15 23 Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo 77 + 3 Laps 12 16 4 Michele Alboreto Tyrrell-Ford 77 + 3 Laps 23 17 1 Alan Jones Williams-Ford 76 Collision 9 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 57 Suspension 6 17 Derek Daly March-Ford 55 Engine 20 27 Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 41 Electrical 11 25 Patrick Tambay Ligier-Matra 30 Wheel Bearing 16 20 Keke Rosberg Fittipaldi-Ford 11 Suspension 17 14 Eliseo Salazar Ensign-Ford 6 Suspension 22 21 Chico Serra Fittipaldi-Ford 0 Non starter 24 30 Siegfried Stohr Arrows-Ford 35 Brian Henton Toleman-Hart 9 Slim Borgudd ATS-Ford 31 Beppe Gabbiani Osella-Ford 36 Derek Warwick Toleman-Hart Source:
Notes
This was the 25th pole position for a French driver. This was the 5th Grand Prix win and 10th podium finish for Renault and a Renault-powered car.
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Carlos Reutemann 37 2 Nelson Piquet 26 3 Alan Jones 24 4 Gilles Villeneuve 21 5 Jacques Laffite 17Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Williams-Ford 61 2 Brabham-Ford 29 3 Ferrari 28 4 Renault 18 5 Ligier-Matra 17Source:
References