1981 San Marino Grand Prix

 1981 San Marino Grand Prix

Racing data
4th of 15 races in the 1981 Formula 1 World Championship
Surname:	I Gran Premio di San Marino
Date:	May 3, 1981
Place:	Imola
Course:	Autodromo Dino Ferrari
Length:	302.4 km in 60 laps of 5.04 km
Weather:	rainy and cool
Spectator:	~ 60,000
Pole position
Driver:	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari
Time:	1: 34.523 min
Fastest lap
Driver:	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari
Time:	1: 48.064 min
Podium
First:	Nelson Piquet	Brabham
Second:	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows
Third:	Carlos Reutemann	Williams

The 1981 San Marino Grand Prix took place on May 3rd at the Autodromo Dino Ferrari and was the fourth race of the 1981 Formula 1 World Championship .

Reports

background

The 1981 Italian Grand Prix was to take place in Monza again as usual and the move to Imola in the previous year was a one-time exception, which is still the case today. Nevertheless, there was still a contract with the operators of the Autodromo Dino Ferrari to host a world championship run. To be recognized as a Grand Prix, the race had to be held under a different flag. It was decided to host the World Championship as the San Marino Grand Prix . The dwarf state is only around 75 kilometers from the racetrack.

In protest against the rejection of the Lotus 88 , which was developed to circumvent the rule of at least six centimeters from the ground, the Lotus team refrained from taking part in the Grand Prix weekend for the first time since the 1970 Canadian Grand Prix . At the same time, the Type 87 , available as an alternative, was tested and further developed in Great Britain .

The discussion about hydraulic systems, which the Brabham team had developed and used to lower the racing cars while they were driving, ceased because the competing teams were now using similar systems and Brabham no longer had a competitive advantage.

At Tyrrell , Ricardo Zunino was replaced by the Italian Grand Prix debutant Michele Alboreto . The ATS Racing Team briefly expanded its commitment to two cars. The Formula 1 newcomer Slim Borgudd was hired as a pilot .

The new Toleman team was represented for the first time this weekend. The British Brian Henton and Derek Warwick were signed as regular drivers. After Renault and Ferrari , Toleman became the third team to use a turbo engine in Formula 1. It was a four-cylinder engine made by Hart .

Toleman made it possible for Pirelli tires to be used again in Formula 1 for the first time since the 1958 Grand Prix of Morocco . Avon also returned to the Grand Prix scene this weekend as the tire supplier for the Fittipaldi Automotive team. Previously, no tires from this manufacturer had been used since the 1959 Italian Grand Prix .

training

To the delight of most spectators , Gilles Villeneuve secured pole position around 80 kilometers from Ferrari's main plant in Maranello with a lap time of around seven tenths of a second shorter than that of Carlos Reutemann . The two Renault drivers René Arnoux and Alain Prost formed the second row from Nelson Piquet and Didier Pironi .

run

Since the track was still damp at the start due to previous rainfalls, all drivers started the race on rain tires.

Villeneuve and Pironi initially formed a Ferrari one-two lead in front of Reutemann and the reigning world champion Alan Jones . Further down the field, meanwhile, occurred in a serious accident by Osella -Pilot Miguel Ángel Guerra with the March of Eliseo Salazar crashed and was thrown into the barriers. The Argentine had to be cut out of his destroyed vehicle and suffered leg injuries.

When Jones tried to overtake Reutemann, he defended himself with a tough maneuver, damaging Jones' front wing. The resulting pit stop for the Australian brought Riccardo Patrese to fourth place. A little later he overtook Reutemann. As a result of a collision between Jacques Laffite and René Arnoux, the two Brabham drivers Nelson Piquet and Héctor Rebaque took fifth and sixth place respectively.

Due to the drying track, Villeneuve stopped on lap 14 to have slicks fitted. Shortly after he left the box, however, it started raining again. On lap 16 he had to head for the pits again to switch back to rain tires. As a result, Pironi took the lead ahead of Patrese, Piquet and Reutemann.

By the 47th lap, Piquet fought his way past Patrese and Pironi to the top. Due to damage, Pironi dropped to fifth behind Rebaque by the end of the race. Andrea de Cesaris took sixth place.

Registration list

team	No.	driver	chassis	engine	tires
Albilad-Williams Racing Team	1	Alan Jones	Williams FW07C	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	M.
	2	Carlos Reutemann
Tyrrell Racing Team	3	Eddie Cheever	Tyrrell 010		M.
	4th	Michele Alboreto
Parmalat Racing Team	5	Nelson Piquet	Brabham BT49C		M.
	6th	Hector Rebaque
Marlboro McLaren International	7th	John Watson	McLaren MP4 / 1		M.
	8th	Andrea de Cesaris	McLaren M29F
Team ATS	9	Jan Lammers	ATS D4		M.
	10	Slim Borgudd
Ensign Racing	14th	Marc Surer	Ensign N180B		M.
Equipe Renault Elf	15th	Alain Prost	Renault RE20B	Renault EF1 1.5 V6 t	M.
	16	René Arnoux
March Grand Prix Team	17th	Eliseo Salazar	March 811	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	M.
	18th	Derek Daly
Fittipaldi Automotive	20th	Keke Rosberg	Fittipaldi F8C		A.
	21st	Chico Serra
Marlboro Team Alfa Romeo	22nd	Mario Andretti	Alfa Romeo 179C	Alfa Romeo 1260 3.0 V12	M.
	23	Bruno Giacomelli
Equipe Talbot Gitanes	25th	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Ligier JS17	Matra MS81 3.0 V12	M.
	26th	Jacques Laffite
Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC	27	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari 126CK	Ferrari 021 1.5 V6 t	M.
	28	Didier Pironi
Ragno Arrows Beta Racing Team	29	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows A3B	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	M.
	30th	Siegfried Stohr
Osella Squadra Corse	31	Miguel Ángel Guerra	Osella FA1B		M.
	32	Beppe Gabbiani
Theodore Racing Team	33	Patrick Tambay	Theodore TY01		M.
Candy Toleman Motorsport	35	Brian Henton	Toleman TG181	Hart 415T 1.5 L4 t	P
	36	Derek Warwick

Classifications

Qualifying

Item	driver	constructor	Qualification training 1		Qualification training 2		begin
			time	Ø speed	time	Ø speed
01	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	1: 35.576	189.838 km / h	1: 34.523	191.953 km / h	01
02	Carlos Reutemann	Williams-Ford	1: 35.844	189.308 km / h	1: 35.229	190.530 km / h	02
03	René Arnoux	Renault	1: 35.281	190.426 km / h	1: 35.292	190.404 km / h	03
04th	Alain Prost	Renault	1: 35.579	189.832 km / h	3: 58.89	76.207 km / h	04th
05	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-Ford	1: 37.417	186.251 km / h	1: 35.733	189.527 km / h	05
06th	Didier Pironi	Ferrari	1: 36.168	188.670 km / h	1: 35.868	189.260 km / h	06th
07th	John Watson	McLaren-Ford	1: 37.639	185.827 km / h	1: 36.241	188.527 km / h	07th
08th	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford	1: 36.280	188.450 km / h	1: 36.317	188.378 km / h	08th
09	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows Ford	1: 37.061	186.934 km / h	1: 36.390	188.235 km / h	09
10	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Matra	1: 38.908	183.443 km / h	1: 36.477	188.066 km / h	10
11	Bruno Giacomelli	Alfa Romeo	1: 39.372	182.587 km / h	1: 36.776	187.485 km / h	11
12	Mario Andretti	Alfa Romeo	1: 37.586	185.928 km / h	1: 36.919	187.208 km / h	12
13	Hector Rebaque	Brabham-Ford	1: 38.823	183.601 km / h	1: 37.264	186.544 km / h	13
14th	Andrea de Cesaris	McLaren-Ford	1: 38.019	185.107 km / h	1: 37.382	186.318 km / h	14th
15th	Keke Rosberg	Fittipaldi-Ford	1: 37.459	186.171 km / h	1: 37.906	185.321 km / h	15th
16	Patrick Tambay	Theodore Ford	1: 39.215	182.876 km / h	1: 37.545	186.006 km / h	16
17th	Michele Alboreto	Tyrrell-Ford	1: 39.341	182.644 km / h	1: 37.771	185.577 km / h	17th
18th	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Ligier-Matra	1: 38.140	184.879 km / h	1: 38.702	183.826 km / h	18th
19th	Eddie Cheever	Tyrrell-Ford	1: 38.363	184.460 km / h	1: 38.266	184.642 km / h	19th
20th	Beppe Gabbiani	Osella-Ford	1: 39.245	182.820 km / h	1: 38.302	184.574 km / h	20th
21st	Marc Surer	Ensign-Ford	1: 38.340	184.503 km / h	1: 38.488	184.225 km / h	21st
22nd	Miguel Ángel Guerra	Osella-Ford	1: 39.799	181.805 km / h	1: 38.773	183.694 km / h	22nd
23	Eliseo Salazar	March-Ford	1: 39.161	182.975 km / h	1: 38.827	183.594 km / h	23
24	Slim Borgudd	ATS Ford	1: 41.196	179.296 km / h	1: 39.079	183.127 km / h	24
DNQ	Siegfried Stohr	Arrows Ford	1: 39.112	183.066 km / h	1: 39.553	182.255 km / h	-
DNQ	Derek Daly	March-Ford	1: 39.453	182.438 km / h	1: 39.157	182.983 km / h	-
DNQ	Jan Lammers	ATS Ford	1: 40.872	179.872 km / h	1: 39.419	182.500 km / h	-
DNQ	Chico Serra	Fittipaldi-Ford	1: 51.454	162.794 km / h	1: 41.114	179.441 km / h	-
DNQ	Derek Warwick	Toleman-Hart	1: 54.020	159.130 km / h	1: 43.187	175.836 km / h	-
DNQ	Brian Henton	Toleman-Hart	1: 49.951	165.019 km / h	no time	-	-

run

Item	driver	constructor	Round	Stops	time	begin	Fastest lap	Failure reason
01	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-Ford	60	0	1: 51: 23.97	05	1: 48.83
02	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows Ford	60	0	+ 4.58	09	1: 49.41
03	Carlos Reutemann	Williams-Ford	60	0	+ 6.60	02	1: 49.75
04th	Hector Rebaque	Brabham-Ford	60	0	+ 22.88	13	1: 49.18
05	Didier Pironi	Ferrari	60	0	+ 25.92	06th	1: 49.17
06th	Andrea de Cesaris	McLaren-Ford	60	0	+1: 06.60	14th	1: 50.26
07th	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	60	2	+1: 41.97	01	1: 48.064
08th	René Arnoux	Renault	59	0	+ 1 lap	03	1: 50.10
09	Marc Surer	Ensign-Ford	59	1	+ 1 lap	21st	1: 50.11
10	John Watson	McLaren-Ford	58	1	+ 2 rounds	07th	1: 48.37
11	Patrick Tambay	Theodore Ford	58	1	+ 2 rounds	16	1: 49.56
12	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford	58	2	+ 2 rounds	08th	1: 49.75
13	Slim Borgudd	ATS Ford	57	2	+ 3 rounds	24	1: 50.88
-	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Ligier-Matra	45	7th	NC	18th	1: 51.49	Unrated
-	Eliseo Salazar	March-Ford	38	0	DNF	23	1: 51.83	Engine failure
-	Michele Alboreto	Tyrrell-Ford	31	0	DNF	17th	1: 50.95	collision
-	Beppe Gabbiani	Osella-Ford	31	0	DNF	20th	1: 50.98	collision
-	Bruno Giacomelli	Alfa Romeo	28	0	DNF	11	1: 51.23	collision
-	Eddie Cheever	Tyrrell-Ford	28	0	DNF	19th	1: 50.59	collision
-	Mario Andretti	Alfa Romeo	27	1	DNF	12	1: 51.11	Gearbox damage
-	Keke Rosberg	Fittipaldi-Ford	14th	0	DNF	15th	1: 53.86	Engine failure
-	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Matra	07th	0	DNF	10	1: 50.34	collision
-	Alain Prost	Renault	02	0	DNF	04th	1: 57.39	Gearbox damage
-	Miguel Ángel Guerra	Osella-Ford	00	0	DNF	22nd	-	accident

World Cup stands after the race

The first six of the race got 9, 6, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point (s) respectively.

Driver ranking

Item driver constructor Points 01  Carlos Reutemann Williams 25th 02  Nelson Piquet Brabham 22nd 03  Alan Jones Williams 18th 04th  Riccardo Patrese Arrows 10 05  Alain Prost Renault 4th 06th  Hector Rebaque Brabham 3 07th  Marc Surer Ensign 3 08th  Elio de Angelis lotus 3

Item driver constructor Points 09  Mario Andretti Alfa Romeo 3 10  Didier Pironi Ferrari 2 11  René Arnoux Renault 2 12  Eddie Cheever Tyrrell 2 13  Patrick Tambay Theodore 1 14th  Jacques Laffite Ligier 1 15th  Andrea de Cesaris McLaren 1

Constructors' championship

Item constructor Points 01  Williams 43 02  Brabham 25th 03  Arrows 10 04th  Renault 6th 05  Ensign 3 06th  lotus 3

Item constructor Points 07th  Alfa Romeo 3 08th  Tyrrell 2 09  Ferrari 2 10  Theodore 1 11  Ligier 1 12  McLaren 1

Individual evidence

1. ^ "Training" ( Memento from May 20, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (Motorsportarchiv.de; accessed on October 14, 2012)
2. ^ "Report" (accessed on October 14, 2012)
3. ^ "World Cup stands" ( Memento from July 20, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (Motorsportarchiv.de; accessed on October 14, 2012)

Web links

• Race result on the official Formula 1 website