1981 Spanish Grand Prix

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1981 Spanish Grand Prix
Race 7 of 15 in the 1981 Formula One World Championship
Circuito Permanente del Jarama 1980.svg
Race details
Date21 June 1981
Official name XXVII Gran Premio de España
Location Circuito Permanente Del Jarama, Jarama, Spain
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 3.312 km (2.06 miles)
Distance 80 laps, 264.96 km (164.70 miles)
Weather Sunny, hot
Pole position
Driver
 Ligier-Matra
Time 1:13.754 [1]
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alan Jones Williams-Ford
Time 1:17.818 on lap 5 [2]
Podium
First
 Ferrari
Second
 Ligier-Matra
Third
 McLaren-Ford
Lap leaders
  • 1981 Spanish Grand Prix

The 1981 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 21 June 1981 at the Circuito Permanente del Jarama, Jarama, Spain. It was the seventh race of the 1981 Formula One World Championship.

Contents

Summary

The 1981 Spanish Grand Prix featured the second closest finish ever of a Formula One race: after Gilles Villeneuve's Ferrari, the four following cars finished in just 1.24 seconds. This was Villeneuve's last victory, often regarded as his tactical masterpiece. [3]

There were some changes for this race: Eliseo Salazar had left March to join Ensign, replacing Marc Surer. Also, John Player Special sponsorship and livery returned to Team Lotus after a 2-year hiatus.

The pole went to Jacques Laffite on his Ligier-Matra with the two Williams-Cosworth of Alan Jones and Carlos Reutemann second and third ahead of John Watson's McLaren, Alain Prost's Renault and the Alfa Romeo of Bruno Giacomelli. Gilles Villeneuve was seventh.

Race day was unusually hot. At the beginning of the race Jones and Reutemann went into the lead, as Laffite made a poor start. Villeneuve jumped into third place at the first corner, damaging Prost's front wing as he took the position. At the end of the first lap Villeneuve pulled out of Reutemann's slipstream and took second place. Jones began to build a lead but on lap 14 he went off the track, when he was 10 seconds ahead of the Canadian.

This left Villeneuve with Reutemann on his tail. Behind them Watson, Laffite and Elio de Angelis began to close on the dueling leaders. Reutemann was having some trouble with his gearbox and when Laffite arrived behind him there was little the Argentine could do to stop him from overtaking. Reutemann would later drop behind Watson. The five front-runners became a train of cars, packed together for the remaining laps of the race.

Villeneuve used the power of his Ferrari engine on the straight to gain a little margin and not get overtaken by his rivals, but in the corners they were all over him. Many times Laffite pulled alongside the Canadian as they went out a corner but the Ferrari would stay ahead as the horsepower kicked in. The five remained locked together right to the flag, crossing the line covered by just 1.24 seconds to record the second-closest race in the history of Formula One.

This would be the last Spanish Grand Prix at Jarama, owing to criticism of the track being too narrow for modern Formula One, the unpleasant conditions and the small crowd (the small turn-out was probably due to the backlash of the previous year's race not being counted as a World Championship race, the announcement was made on the weekend itself)[ citation needed ]; and the last Spanish Grand Prix until the 1986 season, when it would be held at the newly built Jerez circuit in the south of the country. At this Grand Prix the Equipe Banco Occidental team became the last privateer team to have entered a car for a race alongside a works team when they entered a Williams car alongside the Williams works team, but eventually withdrew before the practice and qualifying. [4]

Classification

Qualifying

PosNoDriverConstructorQ1Q2Gap
126 Flag of France.svg Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 1:14.8221:13.754 —
21 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alan Jones Williams-Ford 1:14.4241:14.024+0.270
32 Flag of Argentina.svg Carlos Reutemann Williams-Ford 1:14.8081:14.342+0.588
47 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John Watson McLaren-Ford 1:15.0941:14.657+0.903
515 Flag of France.svg Alain Prost Renault 1:14.9801:14.669+0.915
623 Flag of Italy.svg Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo 1:16.8071:14.897+1.143
727 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 1:16.5481:14.987+1.233
822 Flag of the United States.svg Mario Andretti Alfa Romeo 1:15.5761:15.159+1.405
95 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford 1:16.8611:15.355+1.601
1011 Flag of Italy.svg Elio de Angelis Lotus-Ford 1:15.3991:15.449+1.645
1112 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Nigel Mansell Lotus-Ford 1:16.2261:15.562+1.808
1229 Flag of Italy.svg Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford 1:16.0381:15.627+1.873
1328 Flag of France.svg Didier Pironi Ferrari 1:16.5221:15.715+1.961
148 Flag of Italy.svg Andrea de Cesaris McLaren-Ford 1:16.1191:15.850+2.096
1520 Flag of Finland.svg Keke Rosberg Fittipaldi-Ford 1:16.0401:15.924+2.170
1633 Flag of France.svg Patrick Tambay Theodore-Ford 1:17.3471:16.355+2.601
1716 Flag of France.svg René Arnoux Renault 1:17.1321:16.406+2.652
186 Flag of Mexico.svg Héctor Rebaque Brabham-Ford 1:16.7221:16.527+2.773
1925 Flag of France.svg Jean-Pierre Jabouille Ligier-Matra 1:16.5591:16.794+2.805
203 Flag of the United States.svg Eddie Cheever Tyrrell-Ford 1:17.4591:16.641+2.887
2121 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Chico Serra Fittipaldi-Ford 1:18.7051:16.782+3.028
2217 Flag of Ireland.svg Derek Daly March-Ford 1:17.4161:16.979+3.225
2330 Flag of Italy.svg Siegfried Stohr Arrows-Ford 1:18.3311:17.294+3.540
2414 Flag of Chile.svg Eliseo Salazar Ensign-Ford 1:18.7691:17.822+4.068
254 Flag of Italy.svg Michele Alboreto Tyrrell-Ford 1:18.8591:17.943+4.189
2631 Flag of Italy.svg Beppe Gabbiani Osella-Ford no time1:18.169+4.415
279 Flag of Sweden.svg Slim Borgudd ATS-Ford 1:20.0281:18.263+4.509
2835 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Brian Henton Toleman-Hart 1:19.8151:18.340+4.586
2936 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Derek Warwick Toleman-Hart 1:20.3421:18.872+5.118
3032 Flag of Italy.svg Giorgio Francia Osella-Ford 1:19.5868:22.382+5.832
WD37 Flag of Spain (1977-1981).svg Emilio de Villota Williams-Ford  — — —
Source: [5]

Race

PosNoDriverConstructorTyreLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
127 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari M 801:46:35.0179
226 Flag of France.svg Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra M 80+ 0.2216
37 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John Watson McLaren-Ford M 80+ 0.5844
42 Flag of Argentina.svg Carlos Reutemann Williams-Ford M 80+ 1.0133
511 Flag of Italy.svg Elio de Angelis Lotus-Ford M 80+ 1.24102
612 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Nigel Mansell Lotus-Ford M 80+ 28.58111
71 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alan Jones Williams-Ford M 80+ 56.582 
822 Flag of the United States.svg Mario Andretti Alfa Romeo M 80+ 1:00.808 
916 Flag of France.svg René Arnoux Renault M 80+ 1:07.0817 
1023 Flag of Italy.svg Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo M 80+ 1:13.656 
1121 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Chico Serra Fittipaldi-Ford M 79+ 1 Lap21 
1220 Flag of Finland.svg Keke Rosberg Fittipaldi-Ford M 78+ 2 Laps15 
1333 Flag of France.svg Patrick Tambay Theodore-Ford M 78+ 2 Laps16 
1414 Flag of Chile.svg Eliseo Salazar Ensign-Ford M 77+ 3 Laps24 
1528 Flag of France.svg Didier Pironi Ferrari M 76+ 4 Laps13 
1617 Flag of Ireland.svg Derek Daly March-Ford M 75+ 5 Laps22 
NC3 Flag of the United States.svg Eddie Cheever Tyrrell-Ford M 62Not Classified20 
Ret25 Flag of France.svg Jean-Pierre Jabouille Ligier-Matra M 51Brakes19 
Ret6 Flag of Mexico.svg Héctor Rebaque Brabham-Ford M 46Gearbox18 
Ret30 Flag of Italy.svg Siegfried Stohr Arrows-Ford M 43Ignition23 
Ret5 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford M 43Accident9 
Ret15 Flag of France.svg Alain Prost Renault M 28Spun Off5 
Ret29 Flag of Italy.svg Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford M 21Brakes12 
Ret8 Flag of Italy.svg Andrea de Cesaris McLaren-Ford M 9Accident14 
DNQ4 Flag of Italy.svg Michele Alboreto Tyrrell-Ford M   
DNQ31 Flag of Italy.svg Beppe Gabbiani Osella-Ford M   
DNQ9 Flag of Sweden.svg Slim Borgudd ATS-Ford M   
DNQ35 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Brian Henton Toleman-Hart P   
DNQ36 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Derek Warwick Toleman-Hart P   
DNQ32 Flag of Italy.svg Giorgio Francia Osella-Ford M     
Source: [6] [7]

Championship standings after the race

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References

  1. ↑ Lang, Mike (1992). Grand Prix! Vol 4. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 40. ISBN   0-85429-733-2.
  2. ↑ Lang, Mike (1992). Grand Prix! Vol 4. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 43. ISBN   0-85429-733-2.
  3. ↑ Gerald Donaldson. Gilles Villeneuve: The Life of the Legendary Racing Driver (London: Motor Racing Publications, 1996) ISBN   978-0-947981-44-0
  4. ↑ "1981 Spanish Grand Prix Entry list".
  5. ↑ Hamilton, Maurice, ed. (1981). AUTOCOURSE 1981–82. Hazleton Publishing Ltd. p. 146. ISBN   0-905138-17-1.
  6. ↑ "1981 Spanish Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 24 August 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  7. ↑ "1981 Spanish Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive". GPArchive.com. 21 June 1981. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
  8. 1 2 "Spain 1981 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
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