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1981 Austrian Grand Prix
Race 11 of 15 in the 1981 Formula One World Championship
The Österreichring Circuit (1977-1987)
Race details
Date	16 August 1981
Official name	XIX Großer Preis von Osterreich
Location	Österreichring Spielberg, Styria, Austria
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	5.942 km (3.692 miles)
Distance	53 laps, 314.926 km (195.686 miles)
Weather	Mild, Dry
Pole position
Driver	René Arnoux	Renault
Time	1:32.018
Fastest lap
Driver	Jacques Laffite	Talbot Ligier-Matra
Time	1:37.62 on lap 47
Podium
First	Jacques Laffite	Talbot Ligier-Matra
Second	René Arnoux	Renault
Third	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-Ford
Lap leaders

The 1981 Austrian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Österreichring on 16 August 1981. It was the eleventh race of the 1981 Formula One World Championship.

The 53-lap race was won by Frenchman Jacques Laffite, driving a Talbot Ligier-Matra. Compatriot René Arnoux finished second in a Renault, having started from pole position, with Brazilian Nelson Piquet third in a Brabham-Ford. Piquet moved to within six points of Drivers' Championship leader, Argentine Carlos Reutemann, who finished fifth in his Williams-Ford.

Report

Qualifying

In qualifying, just like the previous year, it was an all-French front row; René Arnoux planted his turbocharged Renault on pole, alongside his teammate Alain Prost. Next was Gilles Villeneuve in his turbocharged Ferrari, Jacques Laffite in the Talbot Ligier, Carlos Reutemann and Alan Jones in the Williams cars were 5th and 6th, then Nelson Piquet in a Brabham and then Didier Pironi in the other turbocharged Ferrari.

The Fittipaldi team was not present because they did not have enough engines.

Race

At the start, Villeneuve got the jump on the two Renaults and led into the Hella-Licht chicane. On the next lap, Prost passed Villeneuve into the Hella-Licht; Villeneuve tried to outbrake Prost but he locked up solid and went into some runoff area; as did Reutemann. Both the Canadian and Argentine drivers were able to rejoin, but with time lost.

At the high-speed Österreichring, a power advantage paid dividends. Prost and Arnoux were able to pull away from the rest of the field. Around lap 4, Pironi (who had made a lightning start from 8th on the grid) was running 3rd, and Laffite, Piquet, Jones and eventually Reutemann had caught up to Pironi. None of them could find a way past, and were held up by Pironi for a number of laps. In a similar situation to the Spanish Grand Prix earlier in the year, the Ferrari had more power than any of the cars behind it did, but its handling was way worse; so they were able to stay with the Ferrari. The 5 drivers battled it out, with Piquet, Laffite, Jones and Reutemann keeping with and desperately trying to find a way past Pironi, but not being able to because of the Ferrari's power pulling away on the straights; made more difficult by the fact that the scenic Österreichring was made up almost entirely of long corners and straights.

Villeneuve crashed heavily at the Bosch-Kurve on lap 12, and finally, Laffite, having already passed Piquet, managed to outbrake Pironi into the first of the Texaco bends, and then the rest of the three drivers got by as well. Prost retired from the lead with damaged suspension, and Laffite then charged after Arnoux, passing him at the second of the 2 Texaco Bends. Laffite was to hold the lead until the end, and the poor performance of the Ferrari in relation to other cars meant that Pironi managed to hold up more cars.

Laffite crossed the line, followed by Arnoux, Piquet, Jones, Reutemann (who coasted over the finish line with a dead engine) and John Watson in the carbon-fibre McLaren.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Q1	Q2	Gap
1	16	René Arnoux	Renault	1:32.682	1:32.018	—
2	15	Alain Prost	Renault	1:32.798	1:32.321	+0.303
3	27	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	1:33.334	1:35.150	+1.316
4	26	Jacques Laffite	Talbot Ligier-Matra	1:35.002	1:34.398	+2.380
5	2	Carlos Reutemann	Williams-Ford	1:34.531	1:35.633	+2.513
6	1	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford	1:34.654	1:34.999	+2.636
7	5	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-Ford	1:34.871	1:35.519	+2.853
8	28	Didier Pironi	Ferrari	1:35.346	1:35.037	+3.019
9	11	Elio de Angelis	Lotus-Ford	1:35.294	1:35.858	+3.276
10	29	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows-Ford	1:35.912	1:35.442	+3.424
11	12	Nigel Mansell	Lotus-Ford	1:36.688	1:35.569	+3.551
12	7	John Watson	McLaren-Ford	1:36.007	1:35.977	+3.959
13	22	Mario Andretti	Alfa Romeo	1:36.560	1:36.079	+4.061
14	32	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Osella-Ford	1:38.004	1:36.117	+4.099
15	6	Héctor Rebaque	Brabham-Ford	1:36.511	1:36.150	+4.132
16	23	Bruno Giacomelli	Alfa Romeo	1:37.637	1:36.216	+4.198
17	25	Patrick Tambay	Talbot Ligier-Matra	1:36.233	1:36.443	+4.215
18	8	Andrea de Cesaris	McLaren-Ford	1:36.657	no time	+4.639
19	17	Derek Daly	March-Ford	1:37.777	1:37.230	+5.212
20	14	Eliseo Salazar	Ensign-Ford	1:38.273	1:37.631	+5.613
21	9	Slim Borgudd	ATS-Ford	1:38.529	1:37.709	+5.691
22	4	Michele Alboreto	Tyrrell-Ford	1:39.674	1:38.084	+6.066
23	33	Marc Surer	Theodore-Ford	1:38.522	1:44.262	+6.504
24	30	Siegfried Stohr	Arrows-Ford	1:38.616	1:38.546	+6.528
25	3	Eddie Cheever	Tyrrell-Ford	1:38.583	1:39.351	+6.565
26	36	Derek Warwick	Toleman-Hart	1:40.391	1:38.593	+6.575
27	35	Brian Henton	Toleman-Hart	1:39.987	1:38.691	+6.673
28	31	Beppe Gabbiani	Osella-Ford	1:41.198	1:46.079	+9.180
WD	20	Keke Rosberg	Fittipaldi-Ford	—	—	—
WD	21	Chico Serra	Fittipaldi-Ford	—	—	—
Source:

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Tyre	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	26	Jacques Laffite	Talbot Ligier-Matra	M	53	1:27:36.47	4	9
2	16	René Arnoux	Renault	M	53	+ 5.17	1	6
3	5	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-Ford	G	53	+ 7.34	7	4
4	1	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford	G	53	+ 12.04	6	3
5	2	Carlos Reutemann	Williams-Ford	G	53	+ 31.85	5	2
6	7	John Watson	McLaren-Ford	M	53	+ 1:31.14	12	1
7	11	Elio de Angelis	Lotus-Ford	G	52	+ 1 Lap	9
8	8	Andrea de Cesaris	McLaren-Ford	M	52	+ 1 Lap	18
9	28	Didier Pironi	Ferrari	M	52	+ 1 Lap	8
10	32	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Osella-Ford	M	51	+ 2 Laps	14
11	17	Derek Daly	March-Ford	A	47	+ 6 Laps	19
Ret	22	Mario Andretti	Alfa Romeo	M	46	Engine	13
Ret	9	Slim Borgudd	ATS-Ford	A	44	Brakes	21
Ret	29	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows-Ford	P	43	Engine	10
Ret	14	Eliseo Salazar	Ensign-Ford	A	43	Oil Pressure	20
Ret	4	Michele Alboreto	Tyrrell-Ford	A	40	Gearbox	22
Ret	23	Bruno Giacomelli	Alfa Romeo	M	35	Fire	16
Ret	6	Héctor Rebaque	Brabham-Ford	G	32	Clutch	15
Ret	30	Siegfried Stohr	Arrows-Ford	P	27	Overheating	24
Ret	15	Alain Prost	Renault	M	26	Suspension	2
Ret	25	Patrick Tambay	Talbot Ligier-Matra	M	26	Engine	17
Ret	12	Nigel Mansell	Lotus-Ford	G	23	Engine	11
Ret	27	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	M	11	Accident	3
Ret	33	Marc Surer	Theodore-Ford	M	0	Distributor	23
DNQ	3	Eddie Cheever	Tyrrell-Ford	G
DNQ	36	Derek Warwick	Toleman-Hart	P
DNQ	35	Brian Henton	Toleman-Hart	P
DNQ	31	Beppe Gabbiani	Osella-Ford	M
Source:

Notes

• This was the 5th Grand Prix start for a Chilean driver.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Carlos Reutemann 45 2 Nelson Piquet 39 3 Jacques Laffite 34 4 Alan Jones 27 5 Gilles Villeneuve 21 Source:

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Williams-Ford 72 2 Brabham-Ford 47 3 Talbot Ligier-Matra 34 4 Renault 30 5 Ferrari 28 Source:

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

1. "1981 Austrian Grand Prix Entry list".
2. "Grand Prix Results: Austrian GP, 1981". GrandPrix.com. Retrieved 2 September 2011.
3. Hamilton, Maurice, ed. (1981). AUTOCOURSE 1981–82. Hazleton Publishing Ltd. p. 186. ISBN 0-905138-17-1.
4. "1981 Austrian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 16 May 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
5. "1981 Austrian Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive". GPArchive.com. 16 August 1981. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
6. ^ "Austria 1981 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 7 March 2019.

• 1981 Formula One races
• 1981 in Austrian motorsport
• Austrian Grand Prix
• August 1981 sports events in Europe