Template:Infobox Grand Prix race report

The 1981 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monza on 13 September 1981.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It was the thirteenth race of the 1981 Formula One World Championship.

Formula One returned to Monza after the previous year's Italian Grand Prix had been held at Imola. The 52-lap race was won by Frenchman Alain Prost, who led every lap in his Renault after starting from third position. Australian Alan Jones finished second in a Williams-Ford, some 22 seconds behind, with Argentine teammate Carlos Reutemann third.

Reutemann came into the race tied on points at the top of the Drivers' Championship with Brazilian Nelson Piquet, driving a Brabham-Ford. Piquet suffered a last-lap engine failure which dropped him from third to sixth, giving Reutemann a three-point lead in the championship with two races remaining.

Qualifying reportEdit

Qualifying saw René Arnoux take pole position in his Renault by 0.67 seconds from Carlos Reutemann's Williams. It was Arnoux's fourth pole position of the season and the sixth in succession for the Renault team. Alain Prost was third in the other Renault, with Jacques Laffite in the Ligier alongside him on the second row of the grid. Alan Jones in the other Williams and Nelson Piquet in the Brabham made up the third row, and the top ten was completed by John Watson in the McLaren, Didier Pironi and Gilles Villeneuve in the two Ferraris, and Bruno Giacomelli in the Alfa Romeo.

For the first time, the Toleman team qualified for a race, with Brian Henton taking 23rd. Teammate Derek Warwick failed to qualify along with Marc Surer in the Theodore, Beppe Gabbiani in the Osella, Siegfried Stohr in the Arrows, and Keke Rosberg and Chico Serra in the two Fittipaldis. Stohr crashed heavily during the qualifying session; already haunted by the trauma of nearly killing mechanic Dave Luckett in Belgium earlier in the season, he ultimately decided to stop racing and start a successful motor racing academy.

Qualifying classificationEdit

Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap
1 16 Template:Flagicon René Arnoux Renault 1:34.042 1:33.467
2 2 Template:Flagicon Carlos Reutemann Williams-Ford 1:35.153 1:34.140 +0.673
3 15 Template:Flagicon Alain Prost Renault 1:34.492 1:34.374 +0.907
4 26 Template:Flagicon Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 1:36.529 1:35.062 +1.575
5 1 Template:Flagicon Alan Jones Williams-Ford 1:35.983 1:35.359 +1.892
6 5 Template:Flagicon Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford 1:35.449 1:35.484 +1.982
7 7 Template:Flagicon John Watson McLaren-Ford 1:35.795 1:35.557 +2.090
8 28 Template:Flagicon Didier Pironi Ferrari 1:35.977 1:35.596 +2.129
9 27 Template:Flagicon Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 1:35.627 1:55.012 +2.160
10 23 Template:Flagicon Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo 1:38.617 1:35.946 +2.479
11 11 Template:Flagicon Elio de Angelis Lotus-Ford 1:36.158 1:36.309 +2.691
12 12 Template:Flagicon Nigel Mansell Lotus-Ford 1:38.100 1:36.210 +2.743
13 22 Template:Flagicon Mario Andretti Alfa Romeo 1:37.166 1:36.296 +2.829
14 6 Template:Flagicon Héctor Rebaque Brabham-Ford 1:37.131 1:36.472 +3.005
15 25 Template:Flagicon Patrick Tambay Ligier-Matra 1:36.515 1:36.545 +3.048
16 8 Template:Flagicon Andrea de Cesaris McLaren-Ford no time 1:37.019 +3.552
17 3 Template:Flagicon Eddie Cheever Tyrrell-Ford 1:38.736 1:37.160 +3.693
18 32 Template:Flagicon Jean-Pierre Jarier Osella-Ford 1:38.167 1:37.264 +3.797
19 17 Template:Flagicon Derek Daly March-Ford 1:38.852 1:37.303 +3.836
20 29 Template:Flagicon Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford 1:37.355 1:37.552 +3.888
21 9 Template:Flagicon Slim Borgudd ATS-Ford 1:39.106 1:37.807 +4.340
22 4 Template:Flagicon Michele Alboreto Tyrrell-Ford 1:38.411 1:37.912 +4.445
23 35 Template:Flagicon Brian Henton Toleman-Hart 1:41.369 1:38.012 +4.545
24 14 Template:Flagicon Eliseo Salazar Ensign-Ford 1:39.033 1:38.053 +4.586
DNQ 33 Template:Flagicon Marc Surer Theodore-Ford 1:38.778 1:38.114 +4.647
DNQ 31 Template:Flagicon Beppe Gabbiani Osella-Ford 1:40.930 1:38.474 +5.007
DNQ 36 Template:Flagicon Derek Warwick Toleman-Hart 1:39.936 1:39.279 +5.812
DNQ 30 Template:Flagicon Siegfried Stohr Arrows-Ford 1:39.713 1:39.776 +6.246
DNQ 20 Template:Flagicon Keke Rosberg Fittipaldi-Ford 1:42.229 1:40.345 +6.878
DNQ 21 Template:Flagicon Chico Serra Fittipaldi-Ford 1:41.185 1:40.437 +6.970
Source: <ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Race reportEdit

On the run-up to the first chicane, Prost passed both Reutemann and teammate Arnoux to take the lead, while Pironi jumped from eighth to fourth. Reutemann then overtook Arnoux at the Curva Grande, before Pironi overtook both to run second by the end of the lap. As Prost opened up a lead, Arnoux re-passed Reutemann on lap 2 and Pironi on lap 5. Laffite, having already passed Reutemann, then overtook Pironi for third on lap 6, as Villeneuve retired with an engine failure.

On lap 12, Laffite dropped out with a puncture, by which point Pironi had dropped back behind Reutemann and Jones. As rain started to fall, Jones passed teammate Reutemann for third. At the end of the lap, Eddie Cheever spun his Tyrrell out at the Parabolica; on the next lap, Arnoux himself spun out after swerving to avoid Cheever's abandoned car, leaving Prost comfortably clear of Jones. Reutemann, struggling as the track started to dry again, soon fell to eighth behind Giacomelli, Patrick Tambay in the second Ligier (who had only started 15th), Piquet, Pironi and Watson.

On lap 20, Watson lost control exiting the second Lesmo bend and smashed into the barriers at high speed. The McLaren was torn in two, with the gearbox and rear wheels going across the track and clipping the second Tyrrell of Michele Alboreto, who also retired. Watson escaped unharmed.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Cbignore</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

On lap 23 Tambay, like teammate Laffite, retired with a puncture, before Giacomelli pulled into the pits with a jammed gearbox on lap 26. Piquet was thus promoted to third with Pironi fourth and Reutemann fifth, followed by Mario Andretti in the second Alfa Romeo, Elio de Angelis in the Lotus and Andrea de Cesaris in the second McLaren. Reutemann soon passed Pironi again, before Andretti suffered an engine failure on lap 41.

As Prost cruised to victory, ultimately finishing some 22 seconds ahead of Jones, Piquet looked set to hold off championship rival Reutemann for third, until his engine blew on the last lap. Reutemann duly went past, as did de Angelis and Pironi. Piquet was classified sixth ahead of de Cesaris, who himself suffered a puncture on the last lap. The only other finishers were Giacomelli, Jean-Pierre Jarier in the second Osella, and Henton.

Reutemann thus led the Drivers' Championship by three points from Piquet with two races remaining, with Prost, Jones and Laffite all retaining outside chances of the title. The Williams team, meanwhile, needed just two more points to secure their second consecutive Constructors' Championship.

Race classificationEdit

Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 15 Template:Flagicon Alain Prost Renault Template:Michelin 52 1:26:36.897 3 9
2 1 Template:Flagicon Alan Jones Williams-Ford Template:Goodyear 52 + 22.175 5 6
3 2 Template:Flagicon Carlos Reutemann Williams-Ford Template:Goodyear 52 + 50.587 2 4
4 11 Template:Flagicon Elio de Angelis Lotus-Ford Template:Goodyear 52 + 1:32.902 11 3
5 28 Template:Flagicon Didier Pironi Ferrari Template:Michelin 52 + 1:34.522 8 2
6 5 Template:Flagicon Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford Template:Goodyear 51 Engine 6 1
7 8 Template:Flagicon Andrea de Cesaris McLaren-Ford Template:Michelin 51 Puncture 16  
8 23 Template:Flagicon Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo Template:Michelin 50 + 2 laps 10  
9 32 Template:Flagicon Jean-Pierre Jarier Osella-Ford Template:Michelin 50 + 2 laps 18  
10 35 Template:Flagicon Brian Henton Toleman-Hart Template:Pirelli 49 + 3 laps 23  
Ret 22 Template:Flagicon Mario Andretti Alfa Romeo Template:Michelin 40 Engine 13  
Ret 17 Template:Flagicon Derek Daly March-Ford Template:Avon 36 Gearbox 19  
Ret 25 Template:Flagicon Patrick Tambay Ligier-Matra Template:Michelin 22 Puncture 15  
Ret 12 Template:Flagicon Nigel Mansell Lotus-Ford Template:Goodyear 21 Suspension 12  
Ret 7 Template:Flagicon John Watson McLaren-Ford Template:Michelin 19 Accident 7  
Ret 29 Template:Flagicon Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford Template:Pirelli 18 Gearbox 20  
Ret 4 Template:Flagicon Michele Alboreto Tyrrell-Ford Template:Goodyear 17 Accident 22  
Ret 14 Template:Flagicon Eliseo Salazar Ensign-Ford Template:Avon 13 Spun off 24  
Ret 16 Template:Flagicon René Arnoux Renault Template:Michelin 12 Spun off 1  
Ret 26 Template:Flagicon Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra Template:Michelin 11 Puncture 4  
Ret 3 Template:Flagicon Eddie Cheever Tyrrell-Ford Template:Goodyear 11 Spun off 17  
Ret 9 Template:Flagicon Slim Borgudd ATS-Ford Template:Avon 10 Spun off 21  
Ret 27 Template:Flagicon Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari Template:Michelin 5 Engine 9  
Ret 6 Template:Flagicon Héctor Rebaque Brabham-Ford Template:Goodyear 1 Electrical 14  
DNQ 33 Template:Flagicon Marc Surer Theodore-Ford Template:Avon    
DNQ 31 Template:Flagicon Beppe Gabbiani Osella-Ford Template:Michelin    
DNQ 36 Template:Flagicon Derek Warwick Toleman-Hart Template:Pirelli    
DNQ 30 Template:Flagicon Siegfried Stohr Arrows-Ford Template:Pirelli    
DNQ 20 Template:Flagicon Keke Rosberg Fittipaldi-Ford Template:Pirelli    
DNQ 21 Template:Flagicon Chico Serra Fittipaldi-Ford Template:Pirelli        
Source:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
CitationClass=web

}}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

CitationClass=web }}</ref>{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}

NotesEdit

Championship standings after the raceEdit

Template:Col-start Template:Col-2

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 Template:Flagicon Carlos Reutemann 49
2 Template:Flagicon Nelson Piquet 46
3 Template:Flagicon Alain Prost 37
4 Template:Flagicon Alan Jones 37
5 Template:Flagicon Jacques Laffite 34
Source: <ref name="Championship">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation CitationClass=web

}}</ref>

Template:Col-2

Constructors' Championship standings
Pos Constructor Points
1 Template:Flagicon Williams-Ford 86
2 Template:Flagicon Brabham-Ford 57
3 Template:Flagicon Renault 48
4 Template:Flagicon Ligier-Matra 34
5 Template:Flagicon Ferrari 30
Source: <ref name="Championship"/>

Template:Col-end

ReferencesEdit

Template:Reflist

Template:S-start |- style="text-align:center" |width="35%"|Previous race:
1981 Dutch Grand Prix |width="30%"|Template:Nowrap
Template:Ifnumber
|width="35%"|Next race:
1981 Canadian Grand Prix |- style="text-align:center" |width="35%"|Previous race:
1980 Italian Grand Prix |width="30%"|Italian Grand Prix |width="35%"|Next race:
1982 Italian Grand Prix |- style="text-align:center" {{#if: | Template:Succession box }} |- style="text-align:center" {{#if: | Template:Designated European Grand Prix }} |- style="text-align:center" {{#if: | Template:S-ach }} |- style="text-align:center" {{#if: | Template:F1 Promotional Trophy }} |- style="text-align:center" {{#if: | | {{ #if: | Template:S-ach }} }} |- style="text-align:center" {{#if: | Template:Succession box }} Template:S-end Template:F1GP 80-89