1981 Argentine Grand Prix

The 1981 Argentine Grand Prix was the third round of the 1981 Formula One Season. The race was won by Nelson Piquet ahead of Carlos Reutemann and Alain Prost. The race notably being the first podium for future four time world champion, Alain Prost.
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==Background==
Following Brazil, there was tension in the camp, neither Alan Jones or Carlos Reutemann were on speaking terms following Reutemann's disobedience in team orders in allowing Jones to take the race victory. The two Williams driver's were now one win apiece and were equal on points for the lead of the championship. 
 had once again brought its new Lotus 88 chassis to the grand prix and once again the race stewards rejected its legality. Lotus team manager Colin Chapman stormed from the circuit in disgust before the beginning of practice and failed to return for the remainder of the weekend.
Jean-Pierre Jabouille had now felt he had sufficiently recovered from his leg injuries sustained at the 1980 Canadian Grand Prix and returned to his seat for Argentina.
===Entry List===
The full entry list for the is displayed below:
No.	Driver 	Entrant 	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Model 	Tyre
1 	Alan Jones 	Albilad Williams Racing Team 	 	FW07C 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
2 	Carlos Reutemann 	Albilad Williams Racing Team 	 	FW07C 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
3 	Eddie Cheever 	Tyrrell Racing Team 	 	010 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
4 	Ricardo Zunino 	Tyrrell Racing Team 	 	010 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
5 	Nelson Piquet 	Parmalat Racing Team 	 	BT49C 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
6 	Héctor Rebaque 	Parmalat Racing Team 	 	BT49C 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
7 	John Watson 	Marlboro McLaren International	 	M29F 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
8 	Andrea de Cesaris 	Marlboro McLaren International	 	M29F 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
9 	Jan Lammers 	Team ATS 	 	D4 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
11 	Elio de Angelis 	Team Essex Lotus 	 	81B 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
12 	Nigel Mansell 	Team Essex Lotus 	 	81B 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
14 	Ricardo Londoñor 	Ensign Racing 	 	N180B 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
15 	Alain Prost 	Equipe Renault Elf 	 	RE20B 	 	EF1 V6t 1.5 	
16 	René Arnoux 	Equipe Renault Elf 	 	RE20B 	 	EF1 V6t 1.5 	
17 	Derek Daly 	March Grand Prix Team 	 	811 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
18 	Eliseo Salazar 	March Grand Prix Team 	 	811 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
20 	Keke Rosberg 	Fittipaldi Automotive 	 	F8C 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
21 	Chico Serra 	Fittipaldi Automotive 	 	F8C 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
22 	Mario Andretti 	Marlboro Team Alfa Romeo 	 	179C 	 	1260 V12 3.0	
23 	Bruno Giacomelli 	Marlboro Team Alfa Romeo 	 	179C 	 	1260 V12 3.0	
25 	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Equipe Talbot Gitanes 	 	JS17 	 	MS81 V12 3.0	
26 	Jacques Laffite 	Equipe Talbot Gitanes 	 	JS17 	 	MS81 V12 3.0	
27 	Gilles Villeneuve 	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC 	 	126CK 	 	021 V6t 1.5 	
28 	Didier Pironi 	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC 	 	126CK 	 	021 V6t 1.5 	
29 	Riccardo Patrese 	Ragno Arrows Beta Racing Team 	 	A3 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
30 	Siegfried Stohr 	Ragno Arrows Beta Racing Team 	 	A3 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
31 	Miguel Ángel Guerra 	Osella Squadra Course 	 	FA1B 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
32 	Beppe Gabbiani 	Osella Squadra Course 	 	FA1B 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
33 	Patrick Tambay 	Theodore Racing Team 	 	TY01 	 	DFV V8 3.0 	
==Practice Overview==
 
==Qualifying==
Nelson Piquet's controversial Brabham BT49 with its hydro-pneumatic suspension took a convincing pole position at the Argentine circuit. As was typical on the fast circuits, the turbo charged 's were competitive with Alain Prost lining up in second with René Arnoux in fifth. Alan Jones qualified third whilst Williams teammate Carlos Reutemann started fourth for his home race. Completing the top ten was Gilles Villeneuve, Keke Rosberg, who had notably impressed again for , Riccardo Patrese and Elio de Angelis.
Jean-Pierre Jabouille's comeback to grand prix racing was not successful, evidently still suffering from his leg injuries he failed to qualify his Ligier, missing the cut with the two 's and 's.
===Qualifying Results===
Pos.	No.	Driver 	Constructor	Time 	Gap
1  	5 	Nelson Piquet 	 	1:42.665	
2 	15 	Alain Prost 	 	1:42.981	+ 0.316
3 	1 	 Alan Jones 	 	1:43.638	+ 0.973
4 	2 	Carlos Reutemann 	 	1:43.935	+ 1.270
5 	16 	René Arnoux 	 	1:43.977	+ 1.312
6 	6 	Héctor Rebaque 	 	1:44.100	+ 1.435
7 	27 	Gilles Villeneuve 	 	1:44.132	+ 1.467
8 	20 	Keke Rosberg 	 	1:44.191	+ 1.526
9 	29 	Riccardo Patrese 	 	1:45.008	+ 2.343
10 	11 	Elio de Angelis 	 	1:45.065	+ 2.400
11 	7 	John Watson 	 	1:45.073	+ 2.408
12 	28 	Didier Pironi 	 	1:45.108	+ 2.443
13 	3 	Eddie Cheever 	 	1:45.117	+ 2.452
14 	33 	Patrick Tambay 	 	1:45.297	+ 2.632
15 	12 	Nigel Mansell 	 	1:45.369	+ 2.704
16 	14 	Marc Surer 	 	1:45.734	+ 3.069
17 	22 	Mario Andretti 	 	1:46.059	+ 3.394
18 	8 	Andrea de Cesaris 	 	1:46.387	+ 3.722
19 	30 	Siegfried Stohr 	 	1:46.444	+ 3.779
20 	21 	Chico Serra 	 	1:46.706	+ 4.041
21 	26 	Jacques Laffite 	 	1:46.854	+ 4.189
22 	23 	Bruno Giacomelli 	 	1:46.918	+ 4.253
23 	9 	Jan Lammers 	 	1:47.174	+ 4.509
24 	4 	Ricardo Zunino 	 	1:47.464	+ 4.799
DNQ 	31 	Miguel Ángel Guerra 	 	1:47.609	+ 4.944
DNQ 	32 	Beppe Gabbiani 	 	1:48.121	+ 2.456
DNQ 	17 	Derek Daly 	 	1:48.191	+ 5.526
DNQ 	25 	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	 	1:49.581	+ 6.916
DNQ 	18 	Eliseo Salazar 	 	1:51.085	+ 8.421
==Race==
===Report===
Jones got a flyer of a start from third on the grid to take the initial lead of the race. However it was soon apparent that Jones's Williams was suffering for pace and before the end of the lap he had dropped behind Piquet and on lap two he fell behind teammate Reutemann. Jones who was down 500 horsepower on his Ford-Cosworth DFV was soon passed by Alain Prost and Héctor Rebaque as well.
Buenos Aires, a circuit with long sweeping straights held a reputation as being an engine breaker and on lap three both Didier Pironi and Nigel Mansell toured into the pits with engine troubles. Keke Rosberg could not replicate his strong qualifying performance and came into the pits to retire with fuel feed problems the following lap. Marc Surer would not repeat his Brazilian success and retired with engine problems on lap 14.
The competitiveness of the Brabham team was evident in Argentina, Nelson Piquet streaked away in the lead whilst his teammate Héctor Rebaque had overtaken Prost's Renault for third on lap 11. A few laps later on lap 15 Rebaque had overtaken Reutemann for second making it a Brabham 1-2. Rebaque who had never performed so well in his career had his Formula One dream cut short on lap 32 when he retired from the race with a broken distributor arm. 
From there the race was fairly processional, Piquet took a convincing win in his controversial Brabham chassis whilst behind him Reutemann finished second on home turf whilst Alain Prost took his first podium finish in Formula One. Taking the minor points was Alan Jones in fourth who had survived engine problems throughout the race with René Arnoux in the second Renault fifth whilst Elio de Angelis managed to gain a solitary point for Lotus. 
After the race Ricardo Zunino was penalized one minute for shortcutting the track after a spin, dropping him from 11th to 13th in the final results.
=== Results ===
Pos.	No.	Driver 	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired 	Grid	Points
1 	5 	Nelson Piquet 	 	53 	1:34:32.74 	1 	9
2 	2 	Carlos Reutemann 	 	53 	+26.61s 	4 	6
3 	15 	Alain Prost 	 	53 	+49.98s 	2 	4
4 	1 	Alan Jones 	 	53 	+ 1:07.88s 	3 	3
5 	16 	René Arnoux 	 	53 	+ 1:31.85s 	16 	2
6 	11 	Elio de Angelis 	 	52 	+ 1 lap 	10 	1
7 	29 	Riccardo Patrese 	 	52 	+ 1 lap 	9 	
8 	22 	Mario Andretti 	 	52 	+ 1 lap 	17 	
9 	30 	Siegfried Stohr 	 	52 	+ 1 lap 	19 	
10 	23 	Bruno Giacomelli 	 	51 	Out of fuel 	22 	
11 	8 	Andrea de Cesaris 	 	51 	+ 2 laps 	18 	
12 	9 	Jan Lammers 	 	51 	+ 2 laps 	23 	
13 	4 	Ricardo Zunino 	 	51 	+ 1 minute penalty 	24 	
Ret 	27 	Gilles Villeneuve 	 	40 	Driveshaft 	7 	
Ret 	33 	Patrick Tambay 	 	36 	Oil loss / Engine 	14 	
Ret 	7 	John Watson 	 	36 	Crown wheel & pinion 	11 	
Ret 	6 	Héctor Rebaque 	 	32 	Distributor rotor arm	6 	
Ret 	21 	Chico Serra 	 	28 	Gearbox 	20 	
Ret 	26 	Jacques Laffite 	 	19 	Vibration / Handling 	21 	
Ret 	14 	Marc Surer 	 	14 	Engine 	16 	
Ret 	20 	Keke Rosberg 	 	4 	Fuel pump belt 	8 	
Ret 	12 	Nigel Mansell 	 	3 	Engine 	15 	
Ret 	28 	Didier Pironi 	 	3 	Engine 	12 	
Ret 	3 	Eddie Cheever 	 	1 	Clutch 	13 	
DNQ 	31 	Miguel Ángel Guerra 	 	 	 	 	
DNQ 	32 	Beppe Gabbiani 	 	 	 	 	
DNQ 	17 	Derek Daly 	 	 	 	 	
DNQ 	25 	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	 	 	 	 	
DNQ 	18 	Eliseo Salazar 	 	 	 	 	
==Milestones==
==Standings after race==
==Notes==
Category:Grand Prix articles
Category:1981 Grands Prix
Category:Argentine Grand Prix