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1981 British Grand Prix
Race 9 of 15 in the 1981 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date	18 July 1981
Official name	XXXIV Marlboro British Grand Prix
Location	Silverstone Circuit, Northamptonshire, Great Britain
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	4.718 km (2.932 miles)
Distance	68 laps, 320.824 km (199.351 miles)
Weather	Dry
Pole position
Driver	René Arnoux	Renault
Time	1:11.000
Fastest lap
Driver	René Arnoux	Renault
Time	1:15.067 on lap 50
Podium
First	John Watson	McLaren-Ford
Second	Carlos Reutemann	Williams-Ford
Third	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Matra
Lap leaders

The 1981 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Silverstone on 18 July 1981. It was the ninth race of the 1981 Formula One World Championship. John Watson won his first race for five years, and McLaren's first since James Hunt's victory at the 1977 Japanese Grand Prix. The race also marked the first victory for a carbon fibre composite monocoque F1 car, the McLaren MP4/1.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Q1	Q2	Gap
1	16	René Arnoux	Renault	1:12.158	1:11.000	—
2	15	Alain Prost	Renault	1:12.237	1:11.046	+0.046
3	5	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-Ford	1:12.328	1:11.952	+0.952
4	28	Didier Pironi	Ferrari	1:14.070	1:12.644	+1.644
5	7	John Watson	McLaren-Ford	1:13.370	1:12.712	+1.712
6	8	Andrea de Cesaris	McLaren-Ford	1:13.976	1:12.728	+1.728
7	1	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford	1:12.998	1:13.250	+1.998
8	27	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	1:14.182	1:13.311	+2.311
9	2	Carlos Reutemann	Williams-Ford	1:13.467	1:13.371	+2.371
10	29	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows-Ford	1:15.217	1:13.762	+2.762
11	22	Mario Andretti	Alfa Romeo	1:14.440	1:13.928	+2.928
12	23	Bruno Giacomelli	Alfa Romeo	1:14.119	1:14.442	+3.119
13	6	Héctor Rebaque	Brabham-Ford	1:14.594	1:14.542	+3.542
14	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Matra	1:15.313	1:14.798	+3.798
15	25	Patrick Tambay	Ligier-Matra	1:15.656	1:14.976	+3.976
16	20	Keke Rosberg	Fittipaldi-Ford	1:16.695	1:15.165	+4.165
17	17	Derek Daly	March-Ford	1:15.189	1:15.303	+4.189
18	30	Siegfried Stohr	Arrows-Ford	1:17.229	1:15.304	+4.304
19	4	Michele Alboreto	Tyrrell-Ford	1:16.446	1:15.850	+4.850
20	32	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Osella-Ford	1:15.943	1:15.898	+4.898
21	9	Slim Borgudd	ATS-Ford	1:16.758	1:15.959	+4.959
22	11	Elio de Angelis	Lotus-Ford	1:16.029†	1:15.971	+4.971
23	3	Eddie Cheever	Tyrrell-Ford	1:16.381	1:16.099	+5.099
24	33	Marc Surer	Theodore-Ford	1:17.124	1:16.155	+5.155
25	21	Chico Serra	Fittipaldi-Ford	1:18.173	1:16.360	+5.360
26	35	Brian Henton	Toleman-Hart	1:16.388	1:19.602	+5.388
27	12	Nigel Mansell	Lotus-Ford	1:15.992†	1:16.432	+5.432
28	14	Eliseo Salazar	Ensign-Ford	1:17.053	1:16.694	+5.694
29	36	Derek Warwick	Toleman-Hart	1:17.998	1:16.891	+5.891
30	31	Beppe Gabbiani	Osella-Ford	1:20.377	1:17.784	+6.784
Source:

• †-time disallowed.

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Tyre	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	7	John Watson	McLaren-Ford	M	68	1:26:54.80	5	9
2	2	Carlos Reutemann	Williams-Ford	G	68	+40.65	9	6
3	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Matra	M	67	+1 lap	14	4
4	3	Eddie Cheever	Tyrrell-Ford	M	67	+1 lap	23	3
5	6	Héctor Rebaque	Brabham-Ford	G	67	+1 lap	13	2
6	9	Slim Borgudd	ATS-Ford	A	67	+1 lap	21	1
7	17	Derek Daly	March-Ford	A	66	+2 laps	17
8	32	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Osella-Ford	M	65	+3 laps	20
9	16	René Arnoux	Renault	M	64	Distributor	1
10	29	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows-Ford	P	64	Engine	10
11	33	Marc Surer	Theodore-Ford	A	61	Out of fuel	24
Ret	22	Mario Andretti	Alfa Romeo	M	59	Throttle	11
Ret	20	Keke Rosberg	Fittipaldi-Ford	M	56	Suspension	16
DSQ	11	Elio de Angelis	Lotus-Ford	G	25	Ignoring yellow flags	22
Ret	15	Alain Prost	Renault	M	17	Distributor	2
Ret	25	Patrick Tambay	Ligier-Matra	M	15	Clutch	15
Ret	28	Didier Pironi	Ferrari	M	13	Turbo	4
Ret	5	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-Ford	G	11	Tyre	3
Ret	23	Bruno Giacomelli	Alfa Romeo	M	5	Transmission	12
Ret	27	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	M	4	Spun off	8
Ret	1	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford	G	3	Collision	7
Ret	8	Andrea de Cesaris	McLaren-Ford	M	3	Spun off	6
Ret	4	Michele Alboreto	Tyrrell-Ford	M	1	Clutch	19
Ret	30	Siegfried Stohr	Arrows-Ford	P	0	Spun off	18
DNQ	21	Chico Serra	Fittipaldi-Ford	M
DNQ	35	Brian Henton	Toleman-Hart	P
DNQ	12	Nigel Mansell	Lotus-Ford	G
DNQ	14	Eliseo Salazar	Ensign-Ford	A
DNQ	36	Derek Warwick	Toleman-Hart	P
DNQ	31	Beppe Gabbiani	Osella-Ford	M
Source:

Notes

• This was the 200th Grand Prix start for McLaren. In those 200 races, McLaren had won 25 Grands Prix, achieved 78 podium finishes, 18 pole positions, 14 fastest laps, 2 Grand Slams, and had won 2 Driver's and 1 Constructor's Championship.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Carlos Reutemann 43 2 Nelson Piquet 26 3 Alan Jones 24 4 Gilles Villeneuve 21 5 Jacques Laffite 21 Source:

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Williams-Ford 67 2 Brabham-Ford 31 3 Ferrari 28 4 Ligier-Matra 21 5 McLaren-Ford 20 Source:

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

References

1. ^ Jenkinson, Denis (August 1981). "The British Grand Prix: A very popular win". Motor Sport magazine archive. p. 1048. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
2. Hamilton, Maurice, ed. (1981). AUTOCOURSE 1981–82. Hazleton Publishing Ltd. p. 166. ISBN 0-905138-17-1.
3. "1981 British Grand Prix". Formula1.com. Archived from the original on 16 May 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
4. "1981 British Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive". GPArchive.com. 18 July 1981. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
5. ^ "Britain 1981 - Championship". StatsF1.com. Retrieved 13 March 2019.

• 1981 Formula One races
• British Grand Prix
• 1981 in British motorsport
• July 1981 sports events in the United Kingdom