1981 Monaco F1 Grand Prix Race Report & Results

Event: Monaco Grand Prix
Track: Monaco Circuit

Weather: warm, dry, sunny

Gilles Villeneuve won his 5th F1 World Championship race at the 1981 Monaco Grand Prix. The Ferrari driver started from 2nd on the grid and won on the Monaco circuit for the 1st time. It was also his 1st win of the season and the 80th win for the Ferrari F1 team.

The first turbo win at Monaco

The 1981 Monaco Grand Prix gave Gilles Villeneuve a sensational win and the first F1 victory for the Ferrari 126CK turbo. Piquet took pole; Mansell qualified the new Lotus 87 a stunning third. The race was delayed an hour by a kitchen explosion at the Loews; water flooded the tunnel briefly.

The race

Piquet led the opening 53 laps before sliding into the barriers at Tabac while trying to lap Tambay. Jones inherited the lead but his Cosworth began misfiring on lap 60. On lap 67 he pitted for 10 litres of fuel and rejoined six seconds clear of Villeneuve.

Villeneuve attacked. Jones, fighting an engine that barely held together, was reeled in: 4.3 seconds, then under 1 second on lap 73, then passed at the line on the start-finish straight, the turbo Ferrari’s power doing what no naturally-aspirated car could do at Monaco. Villeneuve pulled away to win. Laffite third for Ligier-Matra, Pironi fourth for a Ferrari 1-4, Cheever and Surer fifth and sixth. Reutemann’s Williams retired with a gearbox failure, ending his year-long points-scoring streak.

Classification 1981 Monaco F1 GP

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Car & Engine	Grid	Laps	Led	Time	Pts
1	27	GillesVilleneuve	Ferrari	Ferrari 126CKFerrari 021	2	76	4	1:54:23.380	9
2	1	AlanJones	Williams	Williams FW07CFord DFV	7	76	19	1:55:03.290+39.910s	6
3	26	JacquesLaffite	Ligier	Ligier JS17Matra MS81	8	76		1:55:52.620+1:29.240	4
4	28	DidierPironi	Ferrari	Ferrari 126CKFerrari 021	17	75		+1 lap	3
5	3	EddieCheever	Tyrrell	Tyrrell 010Ford DFV	15	74		+2 laps	2
6	14	MarcSurer	Ensign	Ensign N180BFord DFV	19	74		+2 laps	1
7	33	PatrickTambay	Theodore	Theodore TY01Ford DFV	16	72		+4 laps
DNF	5	NelsonPiquet	Brabham	Brabham BT49CFord DFV	1	53	53	Spun Off
DNF	7	JohnWatson	McLaren	McLaren MP4/1Ford DFV	10	52		Engine
DNF	4	MicheleAlboreto	Tyrrell	Tyrrell 010Ford DFV	20	50		Collision
DNF	23	BrunoGiacomelli	Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 179CAlfa Romeo 1260	18	50		Collision
DNF	15	AlainProst	Renault	Renault RE30Renault EF1	9	45		Engine
DNF	2	CarlosReutemann	Williams	Williams FW07CFord DFV	4	33		Gearbox
DNF	11	Eliode Angelis	Team Lotus	Lotus 87Ford DFV	6	32		Engine
DNF	16	RenéArnoux	Renault	Renault RE30Renault EF1	13	32		Spun Off
DNF	29	RiccardoPatrese	Arrows	Arrows A3Ford DFV	5	29		Gearbox
DNF	12	NigelMansell	Team Lotus	Lotus 87Ford DFV	3	15		Suspension
DNF	30	SiegfriedStohr	Arrows	Arrows A3Ford DFV	14	14		Fuel System
DNF	8	Andreade Cesaris	McLaren	McLaren MP4/1Ford DFV	11	0		Collision
DNF	22	MarioAndretti	Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 179CAlfa Romeo 1260	12	0		Collision
DNQ	20	KekeRosberg	Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi F8CFord DFV		0		No Time
DNQ	25	Jean-PierreJabouille	Ligier	Ligier JS17Matra MS81		0		No Time
DNQ	6	HectorRebaque	Brabham	Brabham BT49CFord DFV		0		No Time
DNQ	21	ChicoSerra	Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi F8CFord DFV		0		No Time
DNQ	32	PiercarloGhinzani	Osella	Osella FA1BFord DFV		0		No Time
DNQ	31	BeppeGabbiani	Osella	Osella FA1BFord DFV		0		No Time
DNQ	10	SlimBorgudd	ATS	ATS HGS1Ford DFV		0		No Time
DNQ	18	DerekDaly	March	March 811Ford DFV		0		No Time
DNQ	17	EliseoSalazar	March	March 811Ford DFV		0		No Time
DNQ	35	BrianHenton	Toleman	Toleman TG181Hart 415T		0		No Time
DNQ	36	DerekWarwick	Toleman	Toleman TG181Hart 415T		0		No Time

Fastest lap: 1:27.470 min by Alan Jones (Williams FW07C) in lap 48

✅ Check out 1981 F1 Championship Standings
✅ Check out 1981 F1 Teams & Drivers

✅ Check out All Time F1 Drivers Rankings
✅ Check out All Time F1 Driver Records
✅ Check out All Time F1 Teams Rankings

About the author

Leopold

Leopold Pleijsier founded F1-Fansite.com in 2001 and has followed Formula 1 since the early 1980s. He writes about daily F1 news, race weekends, drivers and the sport’s history.

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