The 1981 Dutch Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Zandvoort on 30 August 1981. It was the twelfth race of the 1981 Formula One World Championship.

1981 Dutch Grand Prix
Race 12 of 15 in the 1981 Formula One World Championship
The Zandvoort Circuit (1980–1989)
The Zandvoort Circuit (1980–1989)
Race details
Date 30 August 1981
Official name XXVIII Grote Prijs van Nederland
Location Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort, Netherlands
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.252 km (2.642 miles)
Distance 72 laps, 306.144 km (190.229 miles)
Weather Sunny, dry
Pole position
Driver Renault
Time 1:18.176
Fastest lap
Driver Australia Alan Jones Williams-Ford
Time 1:21.83 on lap 15
Podium
First Renault
Second Brabham-Ford
Third Williams-Ford
Lap leaders

The 72-lap race was won from pole position by Alain Prost, driving a Renault. Nelson Piquet finished second in a Brabham-Ford, with Alan Jones third in a Williams-Ford. With Carlos Reutemann failing to finish in the other Williams-Ford after colliding with Jacques Laffite's Ligier-Matra, Piquet moved into the lead of the Drivers' Championship, with the same number of points as Reutemann but more wins.

Qualifying report

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Williams team principal Frank Williams (right) talks with Carlos Reutemann (centre) during the practice session.

The Fittipaldi team returned after missing the previous race in Austria due to a lack of engines. However both their drivers, Keke Rosberg and Chico Serra, failed to qualify.

For the fourth consecutive race, the Renaults filled the front row, with Alain Prost 0.079 seconds ahead of René Arnoux. Nelson Piquet was third in his Brabham, followed by the two Williams of Alan Jones and Carlos Reutemann and the Ligier of Jacques Laffite. The top ten was completed by Mario Andretti in the Alfa Romeo, John Watson in the McLaren, Elio de Angelis in the Lotus and Riccardo Patrese in the Arrows.

Qualifying classification

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Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap
1 15   Alain Prost Renault 1:18.279 1:18.176
2 16   René Arnoux Renault 1:18.255 1:18.301 +0.079
3 5   Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford 1:19.236 1:18.652 +0.476
4 1   Alan Jones Williams-Ford 1:18.672 1:19.133 +0.496
5 2   Carlos Reutemann Williams-Ford 1:19.067 1:18.844 +0.668
6 26   Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 1:19.386 1:19.018 +0.842
7 22   Mario Andretti Alfa Romeo 1:19.896 1:19.040 +0.864
8 7   John Watson McLaren-Ford 1:19.312 1:19.651 +1.136
9 11   Elio de Angelis Lotus-Ford 1:21.662 1:19.738 +1.562
10 29   Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford 1:21.010 1:19.864 +1.688
11 25   Patrick Tambay Ligier-Matra 1:20.802 1:19.979 +1.803
12 28   Didier Pironi Ferrari 1:21.293 1:20.248 +2.072
13 8   Andrea de Cesaris McLaren-Ford 1:20.651 1:20.377 +2.201
14 23   Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo 1:20.384 1:20.495 +2.208
15 6   Héctor Rebaque Brabham-Ford 1:20.547 1:20.872 +2.371
16 27   Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 1:21.049 1:20.595 +2.419
17 12   Nigel Mansell Lotus-Ford 1:21.106 1:20.663 +2.487
18 32   Jean-Pierre Jarier Osella-Ford 1:21.086 1:21.294 +2.910
19 17   Derek Daly March-Ford 1:22.274 1:21.391 +3.215
20 33   Marc Surer Theodore-Ford 1:22.389 1:21.454 +3.278
21 30   Siegfried Stohr Arrows-Ford 1:21.568 1:21.713 +3.392
22 3   Eddie Cheever Tyrrell-Ford 1:21.849 1:21.698 +3.522
23 9   Slim Borgudd ATS-Ford 1:21.760 1:22.302 +3.584
24 14   Eliseo Salazar Ensign-Ford 1:22.382 1:22.024 +3.848
25 4   Michele Alboreto Tyrrell-Ford 1:25.976 1:22.030 +3.854
DNQ 35   Brian Henton Toleman-Hart 1:22.226 1:24.167 +4.050
DNQ 20   Keke Rosberg Fittipaldi-Ford 1:23.518 6:09.795 +5.342
DNQ 21   Chico Serra Fittipaldi-Ford 1:23.677 1:23.613 +5.437
DNQ 31   Beppe Gabbiani Osella-Ford no time 1:23.898 +5.722
DNQ 36   Derek Warwick Toleman-Hart 1:25.104 1:24.028 +5.852
Source: [1]

Race report

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Arnoux runs second ahead of Jones, Piquet, Laffite and Reutemann in the early stages of the race.

At the start, Prost led the field into Tarzan, with teammate Arnoux following closely behind. Further back in the midfield, Gilles Villeneuve crashed his Ferrari into the back of Bruno Giacomelli's Alfa Romeo, vaulting over the Alfa before spinning out of the race.

As the field wound toward the second corner, Andretti and Reutemann collided, leaving Andretti's car with a broken nose. Before the end of the first lap, another incident occurred when Patrick Tambay in the second Ligier and Didier Pironi in the second Ferrari came together. Tambay retired instantly, whilst Pironi carried on for three more laps before also pulling out of the race.

At the front of the field, Arnoux was unable to keep up with the pace and dropped four places, behind Jones, Piquet, Laffite and Reutemann. With Arnoux out of the way, Jones hunted down Prost and challenged for the lead until his tyres wore out and Jones had to slow down. Reutemann and Laffite, in the meantime, battled fiercely for fourth, ending with both cars crashing out of the race on the 18th lap.

Toward the end of the race, a slowing Jones was overtaken by Piquet. This would prove to be crucial in the World Championship standings, for if Jones had kept second, Piquet would have missed out on the title at the final race of the season.

Race classification

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Alain Prost took his second Formula One win after leading all but one of the 72 laps.
 
Reutemann retires after colliding with Laffite at the Tarzan corner.
Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 15   Alain Prost Renault M 72 1:40:22.43 1 9
2 5   Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford G 72 + 8.24 3 6
3 1   Alan Jones Williams-Ford G 72 + 35.50 4 4
4 6   Héctor Rebaque Brabham-Ford G 71 + 1 lap 15 3
5 11   Elio de Angelis Lotus-Ford G 71 + 1 lap 9 2
6 14   Eliseo Salazar Ensign-Ford A 70 + 2 laps 24 1
7 30   Siegfried Stohr Arrows-Ford P 69 + 3 laps 21  
8 33   Marc Surer Theodore-Ford A 69 + 3 laps 20  
9 4   Michele Alboreto Tyrrell-Ford A 68 Engine 25  
10 9   Slim Borgudd ATS-Ford A 68 + 4 laps 23  
Ret 22   Mario Andretti Alfa Romeo M 62 Accident 7  
Ret 7   John Watson McLaren-Ford M 50 Ignition 8  
Ret 3   Eddie Cheever Tyrrell-Ford G 46 Suspension 22  
Ret 32   Jean-Pierre Jarier Osella-Ford M 29 Transmission 18  
Ret 16   René Arnoux Renault M 21 Engine 2  
Ret 23   Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo M 19 Tyre 14  
Ret 26   Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra M 18 Collision 6  
Ret 2   Carlos Reutemann Williams-Ford G 18 Collision 5  
Ret 29   Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford P 16 Suspension 10  
Ret 17   Derek Daly March-Ford A 5 Suspension 19  
Ret 28   Didier Pironi Ferrari M 4 Collision 12  
Ret 12   Nigel Mansell Lotus-Ford G 1 Engine 17  
Ret 25   Patrick Tambay Ligier-Matra M 1 Collision 11  
Ret 27   Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari M 0 Collision 16  
DNS 8   Andrea de Cesaris McLaren-Ford M   Non starter  
DNQ 35   Brian Henton Toleman-Hart P    
DNQ 20   Keke Rosberg Fittipaldi-Ford P    
DNQ 21   Chico Serra Fittipaldi-Ford P    
DNQ 31   Beppe Gabbiani Osella-Ford M    
DNQ 36   Derek Warwick Toleman-Hart P    
Source:[2][3]

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. ^ Hamilton, Maurice, ed. (1981). AUTOCOURSE 1981–82. Hazleton Publishing Ltd. p. 196. ISBN 0-905138-17-1.
  2. ^ "1981 Dutch Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 16 May 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  3. ^ "1981 Dutch Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive". GPArchive.com. 30 August 1981. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Netherlands 1981 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 15 March 2019.


Previous race:
1981 Austrian Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1981 season
Next race:
1981 Italian Grand Prix
Previous race:
1980 Dutch Grand Prix
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1982 Dutch Grand Prix