1981 German F1 Grand Prix Race Report & Results

Event: German Grand Prix
Track: Hockenheimring

Weather: overcast, dry, light drizzle

Nelson Piquet won his 6th F1 World Championship race at the 1981 German Grand Prix. The Brabham-Ford Cosworth driver started from 6th on the grid and won on the Hockenheim circuit for the 1st time. It was also his 2nd win of the season and the 26th win for the Brabham F1 team.

Prost’s first pole, Piquet’s win

The 1981 German Grand Prix at Hockenheim was the race where Alain Prost claimed his first F1 pole position, and lost the win to a Renault rev-limiter failure that capped his engine 400rpm short of its usual peak. Jones harassed Prost for the lead and looked likely to win when his Williams developed the same fuel-pickup gremlin that had cost him at Monaco. Both cars dropped back simultaneously on lap 35.

The race

Piquet, who had been climbing patiently through traffic in the Brabham, swept past both and won by 11 seconds. Pironi’s Ferrari turbo blew on lap 2 from third; Reutemann led from Prost and Jones until his Cosworth engine fumed on lap 28, ending his ten-race points scoring streak. Tambay’s Ligier broke another rear wheel bearing.

Laffite third for Ligier, a lapped Rebaque fourth for Brabham, Cheever fifth for Tyrrell, Watson sixth on a thoroughly difficult day for McLaren. Goodyear took its first win since returning to F1; Piquet closed the championship gap on Reutemann to eight points. Gerard Ducarouge had been sacked by Ligier between the British and German GPs.

Classification 1981 German F1 GP

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Car & Engine	Grid	Laps	Led	Time	Pts
1	5	NelsonPiquet	Brabham	Brabham BT49CFord DFV	6	45	7	1:25:55.600	9
2	15	AlainProst	Renault	Renault RE30Renault EF1	1	45	20	1:26:07.120+11.520s	6
3	26	JacquesLaffite	Ligier	Ligier JS17Matra MS81	7	45		1:27:00.200+1:04.600	4
4	6	HectorRebaque	Brabham	Brabham BT49CFord DFV	16	45		1:27:35.290+1:39.690	3
5	3	EddieCheever	Tyrrell	Tyrrell 011Ford DFV	18	45		1:27:46.120+1:50.520	2
6	7	JohnWatson	McLaren	McLaren MP4/1Ford DFV	9	44		+1 lap	1
7	11	Eliode Angelis	Team Lotus	Lotus 87Ford DFV	14	44		+1 lap
8	32	Jean-PierreJarier	Osella	Osella FA1BFord DFV	17	44		+1 lap
9	22	MarioAndretti	Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 179CAlfa Romeo 1260	12	44		+1 lap
10	27	GillesVilleneuve	Ferrari	Ferrari 126CKFerrari 021	8	44		+1 lap
11	1	AlanJones	Williams	Williams FW07CFord DFV	4	44	18	+1 lap
12	30	SiegfriedStohr	Arrows	Arrows A3Ford DFV	26	44		+1 lap
13	16	RenéArnoux	Renault	Renault RE30Renault EF1	2	44		+1 lap
14	33	MarcSurer	Theodore	Theodore TY01Ford DFV	22	43		Suspension
15	23	BrunoGiacomelli	Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 179CAlfa Romeo 1260	17	43		+2 laps
NC	14	EliseoSalazar	Ensign	Ensign N180BFord DFV	23	39		Not Classified
DNF	9	SlimBorgudd	ATS	ATS HGS1Ford DFV	28	35		Engine
DNF	2	CarlosReutemann	Williams	Williams FW07CFord DFV	3	27		Engine
DNF	29	RiccardoPatrese	Arrows	Arrows A3Ford DFV	13	27		Engine
DNF	25	PatrickTambay	Ligier	Ligier JS17Matra MS81	11	27		Transmission
DNF	17	DerekDaly	March	March 811Ford DFV	21	15		Suspension
DNF	12	NigelMansell	Team Lotus	Lotus 87Ford DFV	15	12		Fuel Leak
DNF	8	Andreade Cesaris	McLaren	McLaren MP4/1Ford DFV	10	4		Collision
DNF	28	DidierPironi	Ferrari	Ferrari 126CKFerrari 021	5	1		Electrical
DNQ	20	KekeRosberg	Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi F8CFord DFV		0		No Time
DNQ	35	BrianHenton	Toleman	Toleman TG181Hart 415T		0		No Time
DNQ	31	BeppeGabbiani	Osella	Osella FA1BFord DFV		0		No Time
DNQ	36	DerekWarwick	Toleman	Toleman TG181Hart 415T		0		No Time
DNQ	4	MicheleAlboreto	Tyrrell	Tyrrell 010Ford DFV		0		No Time
DNQ	21	ChicoSerra	Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi F8CFord DFV		0		No Time

Fastest lap: 1:52.420 min by Alan Jones (Williams FW07D) in lap 4

✅ 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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