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1981 Austrian Grand Prix

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1981 Austrian Grand Prix
Race 11 of 15 in the 1981 Formula One World Championship
The Österreichring Circuit (1977-1987)
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 Renault
Time 1:32.018
Fastest lap
Driver France Jacques Laffite Talbot Ligier-Matra
Time 1:37.62 on lap 47
Podium
First Talbot Ligier-Matra
Second Renault
Third 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.[1]

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

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Qualifying

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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.[2]

Race

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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

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Qualifying

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

Race

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

Notes

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

Championship standings after the race

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

References

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  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. ^ a b "Austria 1981 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 7 March 2019.


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1981 German Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1981 season
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1981 Dutch Grand Prix
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