1981 Canadian Grand Prix

Pre-race

Prior to the race, Alan Jones announced that he was retiring from the sport after clinching the title the previous year. Rumors were also spreading around in paddock that Niki Lauda had tested for McLaren at Donington Park and that he was planning a comeback.

Qualifying

Nelson Piquet clinched pole with a time of 1:29.221, with rival Carlos Reutemann alongside him on the front row. The top ten were completed by: Jones, Prost, Mansell, Rebaque, de Angelis, Arnoux, Watson and Laffite respectively.

Race

The race start was marred with bad weather. Immediately after the start, Jones took the lead after a minor collision with Reutemann which left Reutemann behind. Toward the middle of the pack, Arnoux and Pironi had a collision which resulted in Arnoux spinning out of the race. On lap 7, Jones spun and Piquet had to take evasive action, resulting in both drivers dropping down the pecking order. Prost took the lead with Laffite, who had climbed from tenth, second. Prost's lead did not last long, as Laffite overtook him on lap 13, and kept the lead to the end of the race.

Villeneuve had a minor accident that damaged his front wing. The wing flew up only to be stuck up in the air, blocking Villeneuve's race-line vision. With his forward vision impaired, he used his peripheral vision to navigate using the yellow track markers as reference. After racing this way for minutes he used vibration on the ribbed curbing, to the point it flew off the car. This way he managed to keep control until the end of the race, without a front wing and under the rain.

Mansell pitted for slicks, convinced the weather would turn. It did not. Within minutes he spun, heavily damaging his rear wing, and was pushed by marshals back onto the circuit. Driving slowly toward the L'Epingle at the northern end, he placed his JPS Lotus in the middle of the track but slowly edging to his left onto the racing line, at the braking area. Prost, on the racing line and much faster, tried unsuccessfully to avoid colliding but could not, resulting in both drivers retiring from the race.

Watson was able to catch and pass Villeneuve a few laps later and the two finished second and third respectively, with Villeneuve clinching his third and last podium of the year on home soil. Bruno Giacomelli of Alfa Romeo, who had started fifteenth, came home fourth, with pole-man Piquet coming in behind him.

Classification

Qualifying

Race

Notes

• This was the Formula One World Championship debut for Canadian driver Jacques Villeneuve, sr.
• This was the 300th Grand Prix in which a Frenchman participated. In those 300 races, French driver had won 20 Grands Prix, achieved 115 podium finishes, 30 pole positions, 32 fastest laps and 2 Grand Slams.
• This was also the 100th Grand Prix in which a Mexican driver participated. In those 100 races, Mexican driver had won 2 Grands Prix, achieved 7 podium finishes, and 1 fastest lap.

Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings

;Constructors' Championship standings

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

References

| Previous_year's_race = 1980 Canadian Grand Prix | Next_year's_race = 1982 Canadian Grand Prix

References

1. "Weather information for the "1981 Canadian Grand Prix"". The Old Farmers' Almanac.
2. Jenkinson, Denis. (November 1981). "The Canadian Grand Prix: Heroes all".
3. "tJ13_TV presents 1981 Canadian GP - Gilles driving blind".
4. Lang, Mike. (1992). "Grand Prix!". Haynes.
5. (1981). "[[AUTOCOURSE]] 1981–82". Hazleton Publishing Ltd.
6. "1981 Canadian Grand Prix". formula1.com.
7. (27 September 1981). "1981 Canadian Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive".
8. "Canada 1981 - Championship • STATS F1".