1981 Brazilian Grand Prix

Brazil  1981 Brazilian Grand Prix
Race details
Race 2 of 15 in the 1981 Formula One season

Date March 29, 1981
Official name X Grande Prêmio do Brasil
Location Jacarepaguá Circuit
Jacarepaguá, Rio de Janeiro
Course Permanent racing facility
5.031 km (3.126 mi)
Distance 62 laps, 311.922 km (193.812 mi)
Weather Overcast, Fresh, Rain
Pole position
Driver Brazil Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford
Time 1:35.079
Fastest lap
Driver Switzerland Marc Surer Ensign-Ford
Time 1:54.302 on lap 26
Podium
First Argentina Carlos Reutemann Williams-Ford
Second Australia Alan Jones Williams-Ford
Third Italy Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford

The 1981 Brazilian Grand Prix was the second race of the 1981 Formula One season and was held on March 29, 1981 at Jacarepaguá in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Formula One moved to the Jacarepaguá circuit in Rio de Janeiro from the Interlagos circuit in São Paulo, after safety concerns with the long Interlagos circuit and the growing slums of São Paulo being at odds with the glamorous image of Formula One.

The Argentine driver Carlos Reutemann won the race in contentious circumstances; he ignored his pit signals to give up the lead to his teammate and team leader Alan Jones. Jones, who finished in 2nd, did not show up on the podium afterwards.

Classification

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 2 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Williams-Ford 62 2:00:23.66 2 9
2 1 Australia Alan Jones Williams-Ford 62 + 4.44 3 6
3 29 Italy Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford 62 + 1:03.08 4 4
4 14 Switzerland Marc Surer Ensign-Ford 62 + 1:17.03 18 3
5 11 Italy Elio de Angelis Lotus-Ford 62 + 1:26.42 10 2
6 26 France Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 62 + 1:26.83 16 1
7 25 France Jean-Pierre Jarier Ligier-Matra 62 + 1:30.25 23  
8 7 United Kingdom John Watson McLaren-Ford 61 + 1 Lap 15  
9 20 Finland Keke Rosberg Fittipaldi-Ford 61 + 1 Lap 12  
10 33 France Patrick Tambay Theodore-Ford 61 + 1 Lap 19  
11 12 United Kingdom Nigel Mansell Lotus-Ford 61 + 1 Lap 13  
12 5 Brazil Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford 60 + 2 Laps 1  
13 4 Argentina Ricardo Zunino Tyrrell-Ford 57 + 5 Laps 24  
NC 3 United States Eddie Cheever Tyrrell-Ford 49 Not Classified 14  
NC 23 Italy Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo 40 Not Classified 6  
Ret 27 Canada Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 25 Turbo 7  
Ret 6 Mexico Hector Rebaque Brabham-Ford 22 Spun Off 11  
Ret 15 France Alain Prost Renault 20 Collision 5  
Ret 30 Italy Siegfried Stohr Arrows-Ford 20 Accident 21  
Ret 28 France Didier Pironi Ferrari 19 Collision 17  
Ret 8 Italy Andrea de Cesaris McLaren-Ford 9 Engine 20  
Ret 16 France René Arnoux Renault 0 Collision 8  
Ret 22 United States Mario Andretti Alfa Romeo 0 Collision 9  
Ret 21 Brazil Chico Serra Fittipaldi-Ford 0 Collision 22  
DNQ 9 Netherlands Jan Lammers ATS-Ford    
DNQ 32 Italy Beppe Gabbiani Osella-Ford    
DNQ 31 Argentina Miguel Angel Guerra Osella-Ford    
DNQ 18 Chile Eliseo Salazar March-Ford    
DNQ 17 Republic of Ireland Derek Daly March-Ford        
DNP 14 Colombia Ricardo Londoño Ensign-Ford   Car raced by Surer  

Colombian driver Ricardo Londoño was denied a superlicense, was not allowed to participate in official practice, and unable to race.

Notes

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 Australia Alan Jones 15
2 Argentina Carlos Reutemann 15
3 Brazil Nelson Piquet 4
4 Italy Riccardo Patrese 4
5 United States Mario Andretti 3

Constructors' Championship standings
Pos Constructor Points
1 United Kingdom Williams-Ford 30
2 United Kingdom Brabham-Ford 4
3 United Kingdom Arrows-Ford 4
4 Italy Alfa Romeo 3
5 United Kingdom Ensign-Ford 3

References

    Previous race:
    1981 United States Grand Prix West
    FIA Formula One World Championship
    1981 season
    Next race:
    1981 Argentine Grand Prix
    Previous race:
    1980 Brazilian Grand Prix
    Brazilian Grand Prix Next race:
    1982 Brazilian Grand Prix