1981 Argentine Grand Prix

The 1981 Argentine Grand Prix was the third motor race of the 1981 Formula One season and was held at the Buenos Aires circuit in Argentina on 12 April 1981. This was the last Argentine Grand Prix until 1995. Thanks to designer Gordon Murray's alternative solution to flexible side skirts, the Brabham cars of Nelson Piquet and Héctor Rebaque were dominant in this race, with Piquet (who took pole at an average speed of 130.029 mph (209.261 km/h)) taking the lead immediately from Alan Jones on the back straight and Rebaque climbing up from 5th to 2nd over 23 laps.[1]

1981 Argentine Grand Prix
Race 3 of 15 in the 1981 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date 12 April 1981
Official name XVII Gran Premio de la Republica Argentina
Location Autodromo Municipal Ciudad de Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.968 km (3.708 mi)
Distance 53 laps, 316.304 km (196.542 mi)
Weather Sunny, Hot, Dry
Pole position
Driver
Brabham-Ford
Time 1:42.665
Fastest lap
Driver Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford
Time 1:45.287 on lap 6
Podium
First
Brabham-Ford
Second
Williams-Ford
Third
Renault
Héctor Rebaque in front, retired in lap 32, and Carlos Reutemann, who finished 2nd, in front of his home crowd.
Alain Prost on his first F1 podium.

Classification

Qualifying
PosNoDriverConstructorQ1Q2Gap
1 5 Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford 1:42.665 1:44.364  —
2 15 Alain Prost Renault 1:42.981 1:43.748 +0.316
3 1 Alan Jones Williams-Ford 1:44.662 1:43.638 +0.973
4 2 Carlos Reutemann Williams-Ford 1:43.935 1:44.094 +1.270
5 16 René Arnoux Renault 1:43.997 1:44.080 +1.332
6 6 Héctor Rebaque Brabham-Ford 1:44.712 1:44.100 +1.435
7 27 Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 1:44.236 1:44.132 +1.467
8 20 Keke Rosberg Fittipaldi-Ford 1:45.273 1:44.191 +1.526
9 29 Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford 1:45.008 1:45.357 +2.343
10 11 Elio de Angelis Lotus-Ford 1:45.252 1:45.065 +2.400
11 7 John Watson McLaren-Ford 1:45.073 1:45.202 +2.408
12 28 Didier Pironi Ferrari 1:45.108 1:45.599 +2.443
13 3 Eddie Cheever Tyrrell-Ford 1:45.117 1:45.357 +2.452
14 33 Patrick Tambay Theodore-Ford 1:46.872 1:45.297 +2.632
15 12 Nigel Mansell Lotus-Ford 1:45.369 1:45.790 +2.704
16 14 Marc Surer Ensign-Ford 1:45.734 1:46.188 +3.069
17 22 Mario Andretti Alfa Romeo 1:46.329 1:46.059 +3.394
18 8 Andrea de Cesaris McLaren-Ford 1:46.387 1:46.663 +3.722
19 30 Siegfried Stohr Arrows-Ford 1:47.342 1:46.444 +3.779
20 21 Chico Serra Fittipaldi-Ford 1:46.743 1:46.706 +4.041
21 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 1:46.854 1:47.594 +4.189
22 23 Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo 1:47.109 1:46.918 +4.253
23 9 Jan Lammers ATS-Ford 1:47.174 1:47.576 +4.509
24 4 Ricardo Zunino Tyrrell-Ford 1:47.464 1:48.143 +4.799
25 31 Miguel Angel Guerra Osella-Ford 1:47.609 1:48.571 +4.944
26 32 Beppe Gabbiani Osella-Ford 1:48.121 1:48.203 +5.456
27 17 Derek Daly March-Ford 1:48.191 1:49.571 +5.526
28 25 Jean-Pierre Jabouille Ligier-Matra 1:49.581 1:50.226 +6.916
29 18 Eliseo Salazar March-Ford no time 1:51.086 +8.421
Source:[2]

Race
PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
1 5 Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford 53 1:34:32.74 1 9
2 2 Carlos Reutemann Williams-Ford 53 + 26.61 4 6
3 15 Alain Prost Renault 53 + 49.98 2 4
4 1 Alan Jones Williams-Ford 53 + 1:07.88 3 3
5 16 René Arnoux Renault 53 + 1:31.85 5 2
6 11 Elio de Angelis Lotus-Ford 52 + 1 Lap 10 1
7 29 Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford 52 + 1 Lap 9  
8 22 Mario Andretti Alfa Romeo 52 + 1 Lap 17  
9 30 Siegfried Stohr Arrows-Ford 52 + 1 Lap 19  
10 23 Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo 51 Out of Fuel 22  
11 8 Andrea de Cesaris McLaren-Ford 51 + 2 Laps 18  
12 9 Jan Lammers ATS-Ford 51 + 2 Laps 23  
13 4 Ricardo Zunino Tyrrell-Ford 51 + 2 Laps 24  
Ret 27 Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 40 Transmission 7  
Ret 33 Patrick Tambay Theodore-Ford 36 Oil Leak 14  
Ret 7 John Watson McLaren-Ford 36 Transmission 11  
Ret 6 Héctor Rebaque Brabham-Ford 32 Electrical 6  
Ret 21 Chico Serra Fittipaldi-Ford 28 Gearbox 20  
Ret 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 19 Handling 21  
Ret 14 Marc Surer Ensign-Ford 14 Engine 16  
Ret 20 Keke Rosberg Fittipaldi-Ford 4 Fuel System 8  
Ret 12 Nigel Mansell Lotus-Ford 3 Engine 15  
Ret 28 Didier Pironi Ferrari 3 Engine 12  
Ret 3 Eddie Cheever Tyrrell-Ford 1 Clutch 13  
DNQ 31 Miguel Ángel Guerra Osella-Ford    
DNQ 32 Beppe Gabbiani Osella-Ford    
DNQ 17 Derek Daly March-Ford    
DNQ 25 Jean-Pierre Jabouille Ligier-Matra    
DNQ 18 Eliseo Salazar March-Ford        
Source:[3]

Notes
  • 250th race entry for Michelin.
  • This was the first race for an F1 car with a chassis made from carbon fibre composites, John Watson's McLaren MP4.
  • During the podium ceremony, "Happy Birthday" was played through the PA for Carlos Reutemann, as it was Reutemann's 39th birthday.
  • First podium: Alain Prost

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

References
  1. "1981 FIA Review Argentina". YouTube. 17 July 2006. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
  2. Hamilton, Maurice, ed. (1981). AUTOCOURSE 1981–82. Hazleton Publishing Ltd. p. 108. ISBN 0-905138-17-1.
  3. "1981 Argentine Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 16 May 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  4. "Argentina 1981 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 6 March 2019.

Further reading
  • Lang, Mike (1992). Grand Prix! Vol 4. Haynes Publishing Group. pp. 26–28. ISBN 0-85429-733-2.
Previous race:
1981 Brazilian Grand Prix		 FIA Formula One World Championship
1981 season		 Next race:
1981 San Marino Grand Prix
Previous race:
1980 Argentine Grand Prix		 Argentine Grand Prix Next race:
1995 Argentine Grand Prix
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