Stohr joined Arrows for the 1981 Formula One season, as teammate to Riccardo Patrese. Patrese proved considerably faster than Stohr, who struggled in his first few races. Just as Stohr began to improve, he was involved in a start-line accident at the 1981 Belgian Grand Prix; after Patrese had stalled his engine, his mechanic Dave Luckett ran onto the grid to try to restart it, expecting the start to be aborted. But it went ahead, and Stohr crashed into the back of Patrese's car, seriously injuring Luckett. Stohr's confidence was badly affected by the accident and his performance throughout the rest of the season deteriorated, along with that of his team, relative to their rivals. Stohr retired before the end of the season after crashing out of qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix.