1981 German Grand Prix

The 1981 German Grand Prix was the tenth round of the 1981 Formula One season. The race was won by Nelson Piquet ahead of Alain Prost and Jacques Laffite.
 
==Background==
Heading into Germany, Carlos Reutemann continued to hold a comfortable lead in the driver's championship. None of his main rivals had finished the previous race at Silverstone, but Reutemann took second, furthering his points tally to a total of 43. 17 points behind was Nelson Piquet, who was going through a lean spell in the season. Apart from a third in France, Piquet had received a string of retirements after his two wins early on in the season. In third place was the reigning champion Alan Jones who had likewise had little luck in the recent races. Jones sat two points behind Piquet. The outside contenders were Gilles Villeneuve and Jacques Laffite, both at 21 points. Villeneuve had taken two wins earlier on in the season and was leading a resurgence in form for . Laffite meanwhile had been the most consistent driver in recent races, out of the past five races, Laffite had been on the podium four times for and while slowly creeping higher in the standings, a win still remained elusive.
The field remained the same as it did in Silverstone, had finally abandoned its Lotus 88 project after repeatedly seeing the car banned by the FISA. The team reverting back to the Lotus 87. The fast flowing straights of Hockenheim was expected to see a duel between the powerful turbo charged cars of and Ferrari. Both teams had recently been very quick and were considered the fastest cars on the grid, albeit not the most reliable.
 were debuting their new car the Tyrrell 011, the successor to the Tyrrell 010 chassis. The new chassis designed by Maurice Phillipe and newly signed designer Brian Lisles was in reality an updated a modified version of the 010 due to the Tyrrell team's lack of cash. Only Eddie Cheever would be racing the new car, second driver Michele Alboreto would have to wait until the Dutch Grand Prix to receive his 011 chassis.
==Practice Overview==
==Qualifying==
As was expected Renault continued to demonstrate their speed as they had done in the previous two races. Alain Prost and René Arnoux dominated qualifying with Prost taking his first pole position in Formula One. Arnoux was right behind him on the grid in second. appeared to be the Renault's nearest competitor with championship leader Carlos Reutemann in third and reigning champion Alan Jones in fourth. Didier Pironi was fifth for Ferrari ahead of Nelson Piquet, Jacques Laffite, Gilles Villeneuve and the two 's of John Watson and Andrea de Cesaris. 
Those that failed to qualify for the race were the two cars of Keke Rosberg and Chico Serra, the two 's of Brian Henton and Derek Warwick as well as Beppe Gabbiani's and Michele Alboreto's .
===Qualifying Results===
Pos.	No.	Driver 	Constructor	Time 	Gap
1  	15 	Alain Prost 	 	1:47.50	
2 	16 	René Arnoux 	 	1:47.96	+ 0.46
3 	2 	 Carlos Reutemann 	 	1:48.43	+ 0.93
4 	1 	Alan Jones 	 	1:48.49	+ 0.99
5 	28 	Didier Pironi 	 	1:49.00	+ 1.50
6 	5 	Nelson Piquet 	 	1:49.03	+ 1.53
7 	26 	Jacques Laffite 	 	1:49.28	+ 1.78
8 	27 	Gilles Villeneuve 	 	1:49.44	+ 1.94
9 	7 	John Watson 	 	1:49.52	+ 2.02
10 	8 	Andrea de Cesaris 	 	1:49.58	+ 2.08
11 	25 	Patrick Tambay 	 	1:50.00	+ 2.50
12 	22 	Mario Andretti 	 	1:50.64	+ 3.14
13 	29 	Riccardo Patrese 	 	1:50.65	+ 3.15
14 	11 	Elio de Angelis 	 	1:50.74	+ 3.24
15 	12 	Nigel Mansell 	 	1:50.86	+ 3.36
16 	6 	Héctor Rebaque 	 	1:51.17	+ 3.67
17 	32 	Jean-Pierre Jarier	 	1:52.19	+ 4.69
18 	3 	Eddie Cheever 	 	1:52.19	+ 4.69
19 	23 	Bruno Giacomelli 	 	1:52.19	+ 4.69
20 	9 	Slim Borgudd 	 	1:52.54	+ 5.04
21 	17 	Derek Daly 	 	1:52.65	+ 5.15
22 	33 	Marc Surer 	 	1:52.85	+ 5.35
23 	14 	Eliseo Salazar 	 	1:53.16	+ 5.66
24 	30 	Siegfried Stohr 	 	1:53.19	+ 5.69
DNQ 	20 	Keke Rosberg 	 	1:53.28	+ 5.78
DNQ 	35 	Brian Henton 	 	1:53.31	+ 5.81
DNQ 	31 	Beppe Gabbiani 	 	1:53.39	+ 5.89
DNQ 	36 	Derek Warwick 	 	1:53.58	+ 6.08
DNQ 	4 	Michele Alboreto 	 	1:53.69	+ 6.19
DNQ 	21 	Chico Serra 	 	1:54.89	+ 7.39
===Grid===
==Race==
===Report===
Alain Prost maintained his lead at the start, however teammate Arnoux quickly fell behind Carlos Reutemann and Didier Pironi. At the Ostkurve Nelson Piquet attempted to overtake Arnoux, however the two cars collided. Piquet lost a position to Alan Jones's Williams whilst Arnoux suffered a punctured left rear tyre and struggled round back to the pits for a replacement. On lap two, Pironi's Ferrari engine blew forcing his retirement leaving the leading order Prost, Reutemann, Jones, Piquet, Laffite, Villeneuve and Tambay.
Jones was the man on the move, he first disposed of Williams teammate Reutemann and immediately came upon the rear of race leader Prost. The turbo charged Renault of Prost had a clear power advantage on the long straights, however the Frenchman seemed unable to shake Jones's Williams who was all over Prost's rear in the corners. The two engaged in a thrilling dice for the lead for the spectators as Jones tried everything he could to get ahead of Prost. Meanwhile behind the pair, Piquet had overtaken Reutemann and had soon caught up to the leading pair of Prost and Jones, thereafter adding his Brabham to the three way battle for the lead. Piquet however would drop back with tyre troubles and soon lost third to Reutemann.
The duel between Prost and Jones came to an end on lap 21 when Prost came to lap his Renault teammate Arnoux at the Sachs-Kurve. Arnoux slowed on the inside to allow his teammate through, Prost moved to the outside to overtake but Jones's Williams snuck in between the pair of them and took the lead heading into the corner. Seven laps later, championship leader Reutemann retired with engine failure.
At about 2/3's distance, rain begin to afflict the circuit. Prost's Renault handled poorly in the wet conditions and soon dropped behind Piquet's Brabham. Jones who was enjoying a comfortable lead out front, then began to suffer from a misfiring engine. The reigning champion dropped behind Piquet and Prost before heading to the pits, ruining his chance for a good result. The order would remain the same until the finish, Piquet took a comfortable third win of the season ahead of Prost. Jacques Laffite continued to enjoy his consistent podium run by gaining third whilst Héctor Rebaque put in a strong showing to finish fourth ahead of Eddie Cheever and John Watson in the minor points places.
===Results===
Pos.	No.	Driver 	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired 	Grid	Points
1 	5 	Nelson Piquet 	 	45 	1:25:55.60 	6 	9
2 	15 	Alain Prost 	 	45 	+ 11.52 	1 	6
3 	26 	Jacques Laffite 	 	45 	+ 1:04.60 	7 	4
4 	6 	Héctor Rebaque 	 	45 	+ 1:39.69 	16 	3
5 	3 	Eddie Cheever 	 	45 	+ 1:50.52 	18 	2
6 	7 	John Watson 	 	44 	+ 1 Lap 	9 	1
7 	11 	Elio de Angelis 	 	44 	+ 1 Lap 	14 	
8 	32 	Jean-Pierre Jarier	 	44 	+ 1 Lap 	17 	
9 	22 	Mario Andretti 	 	44 	+ 1 Lap 	12 	
10 	27 	Gilles Villeneuve 	 	44 	+ 1 Lap 	8 	
11 	1 	Alan Jones 	 	44 	+ 1 Lap 	4 	
12 	30 	Siegfried Stohr 	 	44 	+ 1 Lap 	24 	
13 	16 	René Arnoux 	 	44 	+ 1 Lap 	2 	
14 	33 	Marc Surer 	 	43 	Suspension / Accident	22 	
15 	23 	Bruno Giacomelli 	 	43 	+ 2 Laps 	19 	
NC 	14 	Eliseo Salazar 	 	39 	+ 6 Laps 	23 	
Ret 	9 	Slim Borgudd 	 	35 	Engine 	20 	
Ret 	2 	Carlos Reutemann 	 	27 	Engine 	3 	
Ret 	29 	Riccardo Patrese 	 	27 	Engine 	13 	
Ret 	25 	Patrick Tambay 	 	27 	Rear wheel bearing 	11 	
Ret 	17 	Derek Daly 	 	15 	Steering tie rod 	21 	
Ret 	12 	Nigel Mansell 	 	12 	Fuel leak 	15 	
Ret 	8 	Andrea de Cesaris 	 	4 	Spin 	10 	
Ret 	28 	Didier Pironi 	 	1 	Engine 	5 	
DNQ 	20 	Keke Rosberg 	 	 	 	 	
DNQ 	35 	Brian Henton 	 	 	 	 	
DNQ 	31 	Beppe Gabbiani 	 	 	 	 	
DNQ 	36 	Derek Warwick 	 	 	 	 	
DNQ 	4 	Michele Alboreto 	 	 	 	 	
DNQ 	21 	Chico Serra 	 	 	 	 	
==Milestones==
==Standings after race==
==Notes==
Category:Grand Prix articles
Category:1981 Grands Prix
Category:German Grand Prix
Category:Formula One races in Germany