The 1981 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 35th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1981 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1981 Formula One World Championship for Manufacturers, which were contested over a fifteen-race series that commenced on 15 March and ended on 17 October. The 1981 South African Grand Prix, as a non-championship race due to difficulties from the ongoing FISA–FOCA war, was open to Formula One entrants but was not part of the World Championship.
The 1981 championship was the first to be run under the FIA Formula One World Championship name,Mattijs Diepraam, Poachers turned gamekeepers - How the FOCA became the new FIA, 8w.forix.com, as archived at web.archive.org replacing both the original World Championship of Drivers and International Cup for Constructors. Under the influence of Brabham team owner Bernie Ecclestone and the FOCA organisation, teams were asked to sign the first Concorde Agreement, which would set Formula One on course to become a profitable business. The agreement required teams to lodge entries for the entire championship rather than individual races, while the FIA would also set the prize money. A standardised set of rules would be in place at every race and, from on, the entrants had to own the intellectual rights to the chassis that they entered, as such the distinction between the terms "entrant" and "constructor", and hence also "team", have become less pronounced.
Nelson Piquet won the Drivers' Championship, claiming the first of his three drivers' titles, while Williams won the Constructors' Championship for the second consecutive year.
Drivers and constructors Avon and Pirelli entered the sport as tyre manufacturers.
The following teams and drivers contested the 1981 FIA Formula One World Championship: Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine Tyres No Driver Rounds Albilad Williams Racing Team TAG Williams Team Williams-Ford FW07C Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 1 Alan Jones All 2 Carlos Reutemann All Tyrrell Racing Team Tyrrell-Ford 010011 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 3 Eddie Cheever All 4 Kevin Cogan 1 Ricardo Zunino 2–3 Michele Alboreto 4–15 Parmalat Racing Brabham-Ford BT49C Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 5 Nelson Piquet All 6 Héctor Rebaque All Marlboro McLaren International McLaren-Ford M29FMP4/1 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 7 John Watson All 8 Andrea de Cesaris All Team ATS ATS-Ford D4 HGS1 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 9 Jan Lammers 1–4 Slim Borgudd 5, 7–15 10 4, 6 Team Essex Lotus John Player Team Lotus Lotus-Ford 81B878888B Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 11 Elio de Angelis 1–3, 5–15 12 Nigel Mansell 1–3, 5–15 Ensign Racing Ensign-Ford N180B Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 14 Marc Surer 1–6 Ricardo Londoño 2 Eliseo Salazar 7–15 Équipe Renault Elf Renault RE20BRE30 Renault-Gordini EF1 1.5 V6t 15 Alain Prost All 16 René Arnoux All March Grand Prix Team Guinness RIzla+. March March-Ford 811 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 17 Derek Daly 1–3, 7–15 Eliseo Salazar 4–6 18 1–3 Derek Daly 4–6 Fittipaldi Automotive Fittipaldi-Ford F8C Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 20 Keke Rosberg 1–10, 12–15 21 Chico Serra 1–10, 12–15 Marlboro Team Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 179B179C179D Alfa Romeo 1260 3.0 V12 22 Mario Andretti All 23 Bruno Giacomelli All Équipe Talbot Gitanes Talbot Ligier-Matra JS17 Matra MS81 3.0 V12 25 Jean-Pierre Jarier 1–2 Jean-Pierre Jabouille 2–7 Patrick Tambay 8–15 26 Jacques Laffite All Ferrari Ferrari 126CK Ferrari 021 1.5 V6t 27 Gilles Villeneuve All 28 Didier Pironi All Ragno Arrows Beta Racing Team Arrows-Ford A3 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 29 Riccardo Patrese All 30 Siegfried Stohr 1–13 Jacques Villeneuve Sr. 14–15 Denim Osella Osella-Ford FA1BFA1C Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 31 Miguel Ángel Guerra 1–4 Piercarlo Ghinzani 5 Beppe Gabbiani 6–15 32 1–5 Piercarlo Ghinzani 6 Giorgio Francia 7 Jean-Pierre Jarier 9–15 Theodore Racing Team Theodore-Ford TY01 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 33 Patrick Tambay 1–7 Marc Surer 8–15 Candy Toleman Motorsport Toleman-Hart TG181 Hart 415T 1.5 L4t 35 Brian Henton 4–15 36 Derek Warwick 4–15 Equipe Banco Occidental Williams-Ford FW07 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 37 Emilio de Villota 7
Team changes
After the Shadow team had been absorbed into Theodore Racing halfway through the season. Theodore entered this season with their own chassis and the Shadow name disappeared. In 1980, RAM Racing had raced with a customer Williams chassis, but they did not enter the 1981 season. March Engineering, however, used that chassis to make a return to Formula 1. (In , RAM would return to take over from March.) After finishing 1–2 in the 1980 European Formula Two Championship, Toleman entered Formula 1. Discussions took place with Lancia as possible engine supplier, the team decided to use a turbocharged version of the Hart F2 engine. It made them one of the early adopters on the trend towards turbocharged cars, but their first chassis was overweight and underpowered. Ligier had acquired substantial sponsorship from Talbot and other public French companies. Talbot supplied Matra V12 engines.
Driver changes
There had been a lot of change over the winter: Ligier had lost Didier Pironi to Ferrari, where World Champion Jody Scheckter had retired. They hired Jean-Pierre Jabouille from Renault, but when the season started, he was still recovering from his leg injuries sustained in the 1980 Canadian Grand Prix. Jean-Pierre Jarier had left the team, but acted as his stand-in for the first two races of the 1981 season. Renault managed to sign Alain Prost, despite his two-year contract with McLaren, so the British team had to scramble for a new driver. Main sponsor Marlboro suggested Andrea de Cesaris from Alfa Romeo when he had to move for World Champion Mario Andretti. The American had spent five years with Lotus. Nigel Mansell was promoted to a full-season drive with the Lotus team. Tyrrell had lost both of its 1980 drivers and so hired Eddie Cheever from Osella and an inexperienced Kevin Cogan. Another ten driver changes happened in the lower-ranking teams.
Mid-season changes
Kevin Cogan did not manage to qualify for the opening race and was sacked by the Tyrrell team. It was Cogan's last F1 outing. He was replaced by Ricardo Zunino, who had spent the first half of driving for Brabham. After two races, however, Zunino was moved aside for sportscar driver Michele Alboreto. During the first lap of the San Marino Grand Prix, Osella driver Miguel Ángel Guerra was hit by Eliseo Salazar, crashed into a wall and suffered a broken wrist and ankle. Piercarlo Ghinzani made his debut to replace the Argentinian. Later, Giorgio Francia took over for one race, and Jean-Pierre Jarier finished the season, looking forward to a full-season drive in . From the Belgian Grand Prix on, Jan Lammers had to give up his seat for Slim Borgudd, the drummer for ABBA. There was no cash sponsorship, but the world famous band's logo on the car's sidepods was a hopeful move by the ATS team to attract other investors. Before the Spanish Grand Prix, Eliseo Salazar moved from March to Ensign, replacing Marc Surer. The Swiss driver moved to Theodore, from where Patrick Tambay moved to Ligier. Their driver Jean-Pierre Jabouille retired from F1, concluding he could not fully recover from last year's leg injuries. For the last two races of the season, Jacques Villeneuve Sr. (brother of Gilles and uncle to Jacques Jr.) made his F1 debut with Arrows. Their driver Siegfried Stohr was traumatised by the start-line accident at the Belgian Grand Prix and decided to retire to start a racing school and safe driving academy.
Calendar The championship was contested over the following fifteen races: Round Grand Prix Circuit Date 1 United States Grand Prix West Long Beach Street Circuit, California 15 March 2 Brazilian Grand Prix Autódromo de Jacarepaguá, Rio de Janeiro 29 March 3 Argentine Grand Prix Autodromo de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires 12 April 4 San Marino Grand Prix Autodromo Dino Ferrari, Imola 3 May 5 Belgian Grand Prix Circuit Zolder, Heusden-Zolder 17 May 6 Monaco Grand Prix Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo 31 May 7 Spanish Grand Prix Circuito Permanente del Jarama, Madrid 21 June 8 French Grand Prix Dijon-Prenois, Prenois 5 July 9 British Grand Prix Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone 18 July 10 German Grand Prix Hockenheimring, Hockenheim 2 August 11 Austrian Grand Prix Österreichring, Spielberg 16 August 12 Dutch Grand Prix Circuit Park Zandvoort, Zandvoort 30 August 13 Italian Grand Prix Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza 13 September 14 Canadian Grand Prix Île Notre-Dame Circuit, Montréal 27 September 15 Caesars Palace Grand Prix Caesars Palace Grand Prix Circuit, Las Vegas 17 October
The following races were included on the original calendar but were cancelled:
Grand Prix Circuit Scheduled date South African Grand Prix Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit, Midrand 7 February United States Grand Prix Watkins Glen Grand Prix Course, New York 4 October
Calendar changes The South African Grand Prix at Kyalami was going to be the season opener on 7 February, but difficulties from the ongoing FISA–FOCA war led to the event being run as a non-championship race. It was contested only by the Ford-Cosworth powered teams, all running cars with aerodynamic devices which were banned for the 1981 championship season. The race at Long Beach was the official championship opener after the Argentine and Brazilian Grand Prix had been moved back to March/April. The Brazilian race was also moved from the Interlagos to Jacarepaguá due to a long list of safety issues. The Italian Grand Prix was back at Autodromo Nazionale di Monza after a year's absence. The circuit underwent major upgrades including a new pit building. The Autodromo Dino Ferrari also hosted a race, which would be dubbed the San Marino Grand Prix. The Spanish Grand Prix returned as a championship round after the 1980 edition had been excluded. In keeping with the event-sharing arrangement between the two circuits, the French Grand Prix was moved from Paul Ricard Circuit to Dijon-Prenois. Likewise, the British Grand Prix was moved from Brands Hatch to Silverstone. The United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen was originally scheduled for 4 October, but was cancelled due to the hosts' financial difficulties. It was replaced by the Caesars Palace Grand Prix, held in the Caesars Palace car park.
Regulation changes Technical regulations For the first time, the survival cell was treated as an entity and an integral part of an F1 car. It had to extend in front of the driver's feet and wholly reinforced. The minimum weight of the car was raised from to .
Sporting and event regulations Tyre barriers were installed at certain tracks for the first time. All pit lanes had to have a minimum width of . At the start of the race, drivers were placed on the grid in a 1x1x1 fashion, instead of a staggered 2x2 pattern.
Season report
Non-championship race: South Africa The South African Grand Prix, held on 7 February at the Kyalami Circuit near Johannesburg, was originally supposed to be the first round of the 1981 Formula One World Championship – but it was eventually stripped of its championship status. The ongoing FISA–FOCA war resulted in Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA) insisting on a date change which was not acceptable to the race organisers. Approval was ultimately given for the race to go ahead on its original date but as a Formula Libre race rather than as a round of the Formula One World Championship. The downgraded race was supported by the Formula One Constructors Association (FOCA) aligned teams but not by Ferrari, Ligier, Osella, Renault, or Alfa Romeo, whose allegiances lay with FISA. This race was run with the cars running in 1980-specification trim, with the ground-effect wing cars of the time, equipped with sliding skirts that increased their downforce by ensuring the air under the car did not escape from under the car, where the most important airflow was.