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The 1981 German Grand Prix was the tenth round of the 1981 Formula One season. The race was won by Nelson Piquet ahead of Alain Prost and Jacques Laffite.

Background[]

Heading into Germany, Carlos Reutemann continued to hold a comfortable lead in the driver's championship. None of his main rivals had finished the previous race at Silverstone, but Reutemann took second, furthering his points tally to a total of 43. 17 points behind was Nelson Piquet, who was going through a lean spell in the season. Apart from a third in France, Piquet had received a string of retirements after his two wins early on in the season. In third place was the reigning champion Alan Jones who had likewise had little luck in the recent races. Jones sat two points behind Piquet. The outside contenders were Gilles Villeneuve and Jacques Laffite, both at 21 points. Villeneuve had taken two wins earlier on in the season and was leading a resurgence in form for Ferrari. Laffite meanwhile had been the most consistent driver in recent races, out of the past five races, Laffite had been on the podium four times for Ligier and while slowly creeping higher in the standings, a win still remained elusive.

The field remained the same as it did in Silverstone, Lotus had finally abandoned its Lotus 88 project after repeatedly seeing the car banned by the FISA. The team reverting back to the Lotus 87. The fast flowing straights of Hockenheim was expected to see a duel between the powerful turbo charged cars of Renault and Ferrari. Both teams had recently been very quick and were considered the fastest cars on the grid, albeit not the most reliable.

Tyrrell were debuting their new car the Tyrrell 011, the successor to the Tyrrell 010 chassis. The new chassis designed by Maurice Phillipe and newly signed designer Brian Lisles was in reality an updated a modified version of the 010 due to the Tyrrell team's lack of cash. Only Eddie Cheever would be racing the new car, second driver Michele Alboreto would have to wait until the Dutch Grand Prix to receive his 011 chassis.

Practice Overview[]

Qualifying[]

As was expected Renault continued to demonstrate their speed as they had done in the previous two races. Alain Prost and René Arnoux dominated qualifying with Prost taking his first pole position in Formula One. Arnoux was right behind him on the grid in second. Williams appeared to be the Renault's nearest competitor with championship leader Carlos Reutemann in third and reigning champion Alan Jones in fourth. Didier Pironi was fifth for Ferrari ahead of Nelson Piquet, Jacques Laffite, Gilles Villeneuve and the two McLaren's of John Watson and Andrea de Cesaris.

Those that failed to qualify for the race were the two Fittipaldi cars of Keke Rosberg and Chico Serra, the two Toleman's of Brian Henton and Derek Warwick as well as Beppe Gabbiani's Osella and Michele Alboreto's Tyrrell.

Qualifying Results[]

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Time Gap
15 France Alain Prost France Renault 1:47.50
2 16 France René Arnoux France Renault 1:47.96 + 0.46
3 2 Argentina Carlos Reutemann United Kingdom Williams-Ford 1:48.43 + 0.93
4 1 Australia Alan Jones United Kingdom Williams-Ford 1:48.49 + 0.99
5 28 France Didier Pironi Italy Ferrari 1:49.00 + 1.50
6 5 Brazil Nelson Piquet United Kingdom Brabham-Ford 1:49.03 + 1.53
7 26 France Jacques Laffite France Ligier-Matra 1:49.28 + 1.78
8 27 Canada Gilles Villeneuve Italy Ferrari 1:49.44 + 1.94
9 7 United Kingdom John Watson United Kingdom McLaren-Ford 1:49.52 + 2.02
10 8 Italy Andrea de Cesaris United Kingdom McLaren-Ford 1:49.58 + 2.08
11 25 France Patrick Tambay France Ligier-Matra 1:50.00 + 2.50
12 22 United States Mario Andretti Italy Alfa Romeo 1:50.64 + 3.14
13 29 Italy Riccardo Patrese United Kingdom Arrows-Ford 1:50.65 + 3.15
14 11 Italy Elio de Angelis United Kingdom Lotus-Ford 1:50.74 + 3.24
15 12 United Kingdom Nigel Mansell United Kingdom Lotus-Ford 1:50.86 + 3.36
16 6 Mexico Héctor Rebaque United Kingdom Brabham-Ford 1:51.17 + 3.67
17 32 France Jean-Pierre Jarier Italy Osella-Ford 1:52.19 + 4.69
18 3 United States Eddie Cheever United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford 1:52.19 + 4.69
19 23 Italy Bruno Giacomelli Italy Alfa Romeo 1:52.19 + 4.69
20 9 Sweden Slim Borgudd Germany ATS-Ford 1:52.54 + 5.04
21 17 Ireland Derek Daly United Kingdom March-Ford 1:52.65 + 5.15
22 33 Switzerland Marc Surer United Kingdom Theodore-Ford 1:52.85 + 5.35
23 14 Chile Eliseo Salazar United Kingdom Ensign-Ford 1:53.16 + 5.66
24 30 Italy Siegfried Stohr United Kingdom Arrows-Ford 1:53.19 + 5.69
DNQ 20 Finland Keke Rosberg Brazil Fittipaldi-Ford 1:53.28 + 5.78
DNQ 35 United Kingdom Brian Henton United Kingdom Toleman-Hart 1:53.31 + 5.81
DNQ 31 Italy Beppe Gabbiani Italy Osella-Ford 1:53.39 + 5.89
DNQ 36 United Kingdom Derek Warwick United Kingdom Toleman-Hart 1:53.58 + 6.08
DNQ 4 Italy Michele Alboreto United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford 1:53.69 + 6.19
DNQ 21 Brazil Chico Serra Brazil Fittipaldi-Ford 1:54.89 + 7.39

Grid[]

Race[]

Report[]

Alain Prost maintained his lead at the start, however teammate Arnoux quickly fell behind Carlos Reutemann and Didier Pironi. At the Ostkurve Nelson Piquet attempted to overtake Arnoux, however the two cars collided. Piquet lost a position to Alan Jones's Williams whilst Arnoux suffered a punctured left rear tyre and struggled round back to the pits for a replacement. On lap two, Pironi's Ferrari engine blew forcing his retirement leaving the leading order Prost, Reutemann, Jones, Piquet, Laffite, Villeneuve and Tambay.

Jones was the man on the move, he first disposed of Williams teammate Reutemann and immediately came upon the rear of race leader Prost. The turbo charged Renault of Prost had a clear power advantage on the long straights, however the Frenchman seemed unable to shake Jones's Williams who was all over Prost's rear in the corners. The two engaged in a thrilling dice for the lead for the spectators as Jones tried everything he could to get ahead of Prost. Meanwhile behind the pair, Piquet had overtaken Reutemann and had soon caught up to the leading pair of Prost and Jones, thereafter adding his Brabham to the three way battle for the lead. Piquet however would drop back with tyre troubles and soon lost third to Reutemann.

The duel between Prost and Jones came to an end on lap 21 when Prost came to lap his Renault teammate Arnoux at the Sachs-Kurve. Arnoux slowed on the inside to allow his teammate through, Prost moved to the outside to overtake but Jones's Williams snuck in between the pair of them and took the lead heading into the corner. Seven laps later, championship leader Reutemann retired with engine failure.

At about 2/3's distance, rain begin to afflict the circuit. Prost's Renault handled poorly in the wet conditions and soon dropped behind Piquet's Brabham. Jones who was enjoying a comfortable lead out front, then began to suffer from a misfiring engine. The reigning champion dropped behind Piquet and Prost before heading to the pits, ruining his chance for a good result. The order would remain the same until the finish, Piquet took a comfortable third win of the season ahead of Prost. Jacques Laffite continued to enjoy his consistent podium run by gaining third whilst Héctor Rebaque put in a strong showing to finish fourth ahead of Eddie Cheever and John Watson in the minor points places.

Results[]

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 5 Brazil Nelson Piquet United Kingdom Brabham-Ford 45 1:25:55.60 6 9
2 15 France Alain Prost France Renault 45 + 11.52 1 6
3 26 France Jacques Laffite France Ligier-Matra 45 + 1:04.60 7 4
4 6 Mexico Héctor Rebaque United Kingdom Brabham-Ford 45 + 1:39.69 16 3
5 3 United States Eddie Cheever United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford 45 + 1:50.52 18 2
6 7 United Kingdom John Watson United Kingdom McLaren-Ford 44 + 1 Lap 9 1
7 11 Italy Elio de Angelis United Kingdom Lotus-Ford 44 + 1 Lap 14
8 32 France Jean-Pierre Jarier Italy Osella-Ford 44 + 1 Lap 17
9 22 United States Mario Andretti Italy Alfa Romeo 44 + 1 Lap 12
10 27 Canada Gilles Villeneuve Italy Ferrari 44 + 1 Lap 8
11 1 Australia Alan Jones United Kingdom Williams-Ford 44 + 1 Lap 4
12 30 Italy Siegfried Stohr United Kingdom Arrows-Ford 44 + 1 Lap 24
13 16 France René Arnoux France Renault 44 + 1 Lap 2
14 33 Switzerland Marc Surer United Kingdom Theodore-Ford 43 Suspension / Accident 22
15 23 Italy Bruno Giacomelli Italy Alfa Romeo 43 + 2 Laps 19
NC 14 Chile Eliseo Salazar United Kingdom Ensign-Ford 39 + 6 Laps 23
Ret 9 Sweden Slim Borgudd Germany ATS-Ford 35 Engine 20
Ret 2 Argentina Carlos Reutemann United Kingdom Williams-Ford 27 Engine 3
Ret 29 Italy Riccardo Patrese United Kingdom Arrows-Ford 27 Engine 13
Ret 25 France Patrick Tambay France Ligier-Matra 27 Rear wheel bearing 11
Ret 17 Ireland Derek Daly United Kingdom March-Ford 15 Steering tie rod 21
Ret 12 United Kingdom Nigel Mansell United Kingdom Lotus-Ford 12 Fuel leak 15
Ret 8 Italy Andrea de Cesaris United Kingdom McLaren-Ford 4 Spin 10
Ret 28 France Didier Pironi Italy Ferrari 1 Engine 5
DNQ 20 Finland Keke Rosberg Brazil Fittipaldi-Ford
DNQ 35 United Kingdom Brian Henton United Kingdom Toleman-Hart
DNQ 31 Italy Beppe Gabbiani Italy Osella-Ford
DNQ 36 United Kingdom Derek Warwick United Kingdom Toleman-Hart
DNQ 4 Italy Michele Alboreto United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford
DNQ 21 Brazil Chico Serra Brazil Fittipaldi-Ford

Milestones[]

Standings after race[]

Notes[]

V T E Germany German Grand Prix
Circuits Nürburgring (1951–1954, 1956–1958, 1960–1969, 1971–1976, 1985, 2008–2013*), AVUS (1926, 1959), Hockenheimring (1970, 1977–1984, 1986–2006, 2008–2014*, 2016, 2018–2019)
Nurburgring2002
Hockenheimring2002
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European Championship Races 19321933–193419351936193719381939
Non-Championship Races 1926 • 192719281929193019311932–19331934
* Nürburgring and Hockenheimring alternated between each other during these years.
V T E 1981 Formula One Season
Teams Alfa Romeo • Arrows • ATS • Brabham • Ensign • Ferrari • Fittipaldi • Ligier • Lotus • March • McLaren • Osella • Renault • Theodore • Toleman • Tyrrell • Williams
Engines Alfa Romeo • Ferrari • Ford Cosworth • Hart • Matra • Renault
Drivers Alboreto • Andretti • de Angelis • Arnoux • Borgudd • de Cesaris • Cheever • Cogan • Daly • Francia • Gabbiani • Giacomelli • Ghinzani • Guerra • Henton • Jabouille • Jarier • Jones • Laffite • Lammers • Londoño • Mansell • Patrese • Piquet • Pironi • Prost • Rebaque • Reutemann • Rosberg • Salazar • Serra • Stohr • Surer • Tambay • G. Villeneuve • J. Villeneuve, Sr. • Warwick • Watson • Zunino
Cars Alfa Romeo 179B • Alfa Romeo 179C • Alfa Romeo 179D • Arrows A3 • ATS D4 • ATS HGS1 • Brabham BT49C • Ensign N180B • Ferrari 126CK • Fittipaldi F8C • Ligier JS17 • Lotus 81B • Lotus 87 • Lotus 88 • Lotus 88B • March 811 • McLaren M29F • McLaren MP4/1 • Osella FA1B • Osella FA1C • Renault RE20B • Renault RE30 • Theodore TY01 • Toleman TG181 • Tyrrell 010 • Tyrrell 011 • Williams FW07C
Tyres Avon • Goodyear • Michelin • Pirelli
Races United States West • Brazil • Argentina • San Marino • Belgium • Monaco • Spain • France • Britain • Germany • Austria • Netherlands • Italy • Canada • Caesars Palace
Non-championship Races South Africa
See also 1980 Formula One Season • 1982 Formula One Season • Category
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