1981 French Grand Prix
Going Into This Race
Pre-Race Report
Championship standings
Reutemann is well ahead of Piquet in the World Championship after the first seven rounds.
Previous race
At Jarama, Villeneuve held off four faster cars for the final 18 laps to win. Watson, Laffite, Reutemann, and de Angelis — all in better-handling cars — could not pass the Ferrari on the straights. The five cars crossed the line covered by just 1.24 seconds, the second-closest finish in Formula One history at the time.
Between-race developments
Jean-Pierre Jabouille has retired from Formula One, having concluded that his legs — injured in Canada in 1980 — will not recover sufficiently for him to be competitive. Patrick Tambay joins Ligier for the remainder of the season. Marc Surer takes over Tambay’s old Theodore drive. With the field now at 30 cars, pre-qualifying is no longer required.
Goodyear returns to Formula One after their winter withdrawal; Williams and Brabham switch to Goodyear tyres. Ensign and March switch to Avon.
Adapted by AI summarisation from “1981 French Grand Prix” on Wikipedia . This adapted text is licensed under CC-BY-SA-4.0 . Modifications: summarised and spoiler-trimmed.
Last 5 Races
Full season →| # | Date | Grand Prix | Pole | P1 | P2 | P3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 12 Apr | 🇦🇷 Argentine Grand Prix | Piquet | Piquet | Reutemann | Prost |
| 4 | 3 May | 🇸🇲 San Marino Grand Prix | Villeneuve | Piquet | Patrese | Reutemann |
| 5 | 17 May | 🇧🇪 Belgian Grand Prix | Reutemann | Reutemann | Laffite | Mansell |
| 6 | 31 May | 🇲🇨 Monaco Grand Prix | Piquet | Villeneuve | Jones | Laffite |
| 7 | 21 Jun | 🇪🇸 Spanish Grand Prix | Laffite | Villeneuve | Laffite | Watson |
Drivers' Championship
Full standings →| Pos | Driver | Team | Pts | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carlos Reutemann | Williams | 37 | 2 |
| 2 | Alan Jones | Williams | 24 | 1 |
| 3 | Nelson Piquet | Brabham | 22 | 2 |
| 4 | Gilles Villeneuve | Ferrari | 21 | 2 |
| 5 | Jacques Laffite | Ligier | 17 | 0 |
| 6 | Riccardo Patrese | Arrows | 10 | 0 |
| 7 | Elio de Angelis | Team Lotus | 7 | 0 |
| 8 | Nigel Mansell | Team Lotus | 5 | 0 |
| 9 | Didier Pironi | Ferrari | 5 | 0 |
| 10 | Eddie Cheever | Tyrrell | 5 | 0 |
Constructors' Championship
Full standings →| Pos | Team | Pts | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Williams | 61 | 3 |
| 2 | Ferrari | 26 | 2 |
| 3 | Brabham | 25 | 2 |
| 4 | Ligier | 17 | 0 |
| 5 | Team Lotus | 12 | 0 |