1981 Brazilian Grand Prix

  1981 Brazilian Grand Prix

Race details
Race 2 of 15 in the 1981 Formula One season
Date	March 29, 1981
Official name	X Grande Prêmio do Brasil
Location	Jacarepaguá Circuit Jacarepaguá, Rio de Janeiro
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	5.031 km (3.126 mi)
Distance	62 laps, 311.922 km (193.812 mi)
Weather	Overcast, Fresh, Rain
Pole position
Driver	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-Ford
Time	1:35.079
Fastest lap
Driver	Marc Surer	Ensign-Ford
Time	1:54.302 on lap 26
Podium
First	Carlos Reutemann	Williams-Ford
Second	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford
Third	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows-Ford

The 1981 Brazilian Grand Prix was the second race of the 1981 Formula One season and was held on March 29, 1981 at Jacarepaguá in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Formula One moved to the Jacarepaguá circuit in Rio de Janeiro from the Interlagos circuit in São Paulo, after safety concerns with the long Interlagos circuit and the growing slums of São Paulo being at odds with the glamorous image of Formula One.

The Argentine driver Carlos Reutemann won the race in contentious circumstances; he ignored his pit signals to give up the lead to his teammate and team leader Alan Jones. Jones, who finished in 2nd, did not show up on the podium afterwards.

Classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	2	Carlos Reutemann	Williams-Ford	62	2:00:23.66	2	9
2	1	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford	62	+ 4.44	3	6
3	29	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows-Ford	62	+ 1:03.08	4	4
4	14	Marc Surer	Ensign-Ford	62	+ 1:17.03	18	3
5	11	Elio de Angelis	Lotus-Ford	62	+ 1:26.42	10	2
6	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Matra	62	+ 1:26.83	16	1
7	25	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Ligier-Matra	62	+ 1:30.25	23
8	7	John Watson	McLaren-Ford	61	+ 1 Lap	15
9	20	Keke Rosberg	Fittipaldi-Ford	61	+ 1 Lap	12
10	33	Patrick Tambay	Theodore-Ford	61	+ 1 Lap	19
11	12	Nigel Mansell	Lotus-Ford	61	+ 1 Lap	13
12	5	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-Ford	60	+ 2 Laps	1
13	4	Ricardo Zunino	Tyrrell-Ford	57	+ 5 Laps	24
NC	3	Eddie Cheever	Tyrrell-Ford	49	Not Classified	14
NC	23	Bruno Giacomelli	Alfa Romeo	40	Not Classified	6
Ret	27	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	25	Turbo	7
Ret	6	Héctor Rebaque	Brabham-Ford	22	Spun Off	11
Ret	15	Alain Prost	Renault	20	Collision	5
Ret	30	Siegfried Stohr	Arrows-Ford	20	Accident	21
Ret	28	Didier Pironi	Ferrari	19	Collision	17
Ret	8	Andrea de Cesaris	McLaren-Ford	9	Engine	20
Ret	16	René Arnoux	Renault	0	Collision	8
Ret	22	Mario Andretti	Alfa Romeo	0	Collision	9
Ret	21	Chico Serra	Fittipaldi-Ford	0	Collision	22
DNQ	9	Jan Lammers	ATS-Ford
DNQ	32	Beppe Gabbiani	Osella-Ford
DNQ	31	Miguel Angel Guerra	Osella-Ford
DNQ	18	Eliseo Salazar	March-Ford
DNQ	17	Derek Daly	March-Ford
DNP	14	Ricardo Londoño	Ensign-Ford		Car raced by Surer
Source:

Colombian driver Ricardo Londoño was denied a superlicense, was not allowed to participate in official practice, and unable to race.

Notes

• First fastest lap: Marc Surer
• First entry: Ricardo Londoño
• First Points: Marc Surer

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Alan Jones	15
2	Carlos Reutemann	15
3	Nelson Piquet	4
4	Riccardo Patrese	4
5	Mario Andretti	3

Constructors' Championship standings

Pos	Constructor	Points
1	Williams-Ford	30
2	Brabham-Ford	4
3	Arrows-Ford	4
4	Alfa Romeo	3
5	Ensign-Ford	3

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

Further reading

Previous race: 1981 United States Grand Prix West	FIA Formula One World Championship 1981 season	Next race: 1981 Argentine Grand Prix
Previous race: 1980 Brazilian Grand Prix	Brazilian Grand Prix	Next race: 1982 Brazilian Grand Prix

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