350

67e Grand Prix de France

05 Jul 1981Dijon-Prenois304.000 km (3800 m x 80 Laps)

 Pole Position: René Arnoux, Renault RE30, 1:05.95 (207.43 km/h) Fastest Lap: Alain Prost, Renault RE30, 1:09.14 (197.86 km/h lap 64) Race Results: Pos Car# Driver Car Time Speed 1 15 Alain Prost Renault RE30 1:35:48.13 190.39 km/h 2 7 John Watson McLaren MP4/1-Ford 1:35:50.42 190.32 km/h 3 5 Nelson Piquet Brabham BT49C-Ford 1:36:12.35 189.59 km/h 4 16 René Arnoux Renault RE30 1:36:30.43 189.00 km/h 5 28 Didier Pironi Ferrari 126CK -1 Lap 6 11 Elio de Angelis Lotus 87-Ford -1 Lap 7 12 Nigel Mansell Lotus 87-Ford -1 Lap 8 22 Mario Andretti Alfa Romeo N179C -1 Lap 9 6 Héctor Rebaque Brabham BT49C-Ford -2 Laps 10 2 Carlos Reutemann Williams FW07C-Ford -2 Laps 11 8 Andrea de Cesaris McLaren MP4/1-Ford -2 Laps 12 33 Marc Surer Theodore TY01-Ford -2 Laps 13 3 Eddie Cheever Tyrrell 010-Ford -3 Laps 14 29 Riccardo Patrese Arrows A3-Ford -3 Laps 15 23 Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo N179C -3 Laps 16 4 Michele Alboreto Tyrrell 010-Ford -3 Laps 17 1 Alan Jones Williams FW07C-Ford -4 Laps Did Not Finish: 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier JS17-Matra 57 Front suspension/Spun off 17 Derek Daly March 811-Ford 55 Engine 27 Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 126CK 41 Electrical 25 Patrick Tambay Ligier JS17-Matra 30 Wheel bearing 20 Keke Rosberg Fittipaldi F8C-Ford 11 Rear suspension 14 Eliseo Salazar Ensign N180B-Ford 6 Rear suspension Did Not Start: 21 Chico Serra Fittipaldi F8C-Ford 0 Accident in warm-up Did Not Qualify: 30 Siegfried Stohr Arrows A3-Ford 35 Brian Henton Toleman TG181-Hart 9 Slim Borgudd ATS D5-Ford 31 Beppe Gabbiani Osella FA1B-Ford 36 Derek Warwick Toleman TG181-Hart Lap Leaders: Car# Driver Car Laps Total 5 Nelson Piquet Brabham BT49C-Ford 1-58 58 15 Alain Prost Renault RE30 59-80 22 Fastest Laps: Pos Car# Driver Car Time Speed Lap 1 15 Alain Prost Renault RE30 1:09.14 197.86 64 2 5 Nelson Piquet Brabham BT49C-Ford 1:09.29 197.43 66 3 7 John Watson McLaren MP4/1-Ford 1:09.30 197.40 66 4 16 René Arnoux Renault RE30 1:09.32 197.36 67 5 1 Alan Jones Williams FW07C-Ford 1:09.85 195.85 69 6 22 Mario Andretti Alfa Romeo N179C 1:09.97 195.51 69 6 8 Andrea de Cesaris McLaren MP4/1-Ford 1:09.97 195.51 67 8 28 Didier Pironi Ferrari 126CK 1:10.30 194.60 65 9 6 Héctor Rebaque Brabham BT49C-Ford 1:10.75 193.36 74 10 2 Carlos Reutemann Williams FW07C-Ford 1:10.76 193.33 6 11 11 Elio de Angelis Lotus 87-Ford 1:10.99 192.70 68 12 12 Nigel Mansell Lotus 87-Ford 1:11.13 192.32 74 13 3 Eddie Cheever Tyrrell 010-Ford 1:12.21 189.45 71 14 33 Marc Surer Theodore TY01-Ford 1:12.24 189.37 72 15 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier JS17-Matra 1:12.39 188.98 44 16 27 Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 126CK 1:12.58 188.48 4 17 29 Riccardo Patrese Arrows A3-Ford 1:13.19 186.91 8 18 25 Patrick Tambay Ligier JS17-Matra 1:13.37 186.45 28 19 23 Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo N179C 1:13.55 186.00 10 20 17 Derek Daly March 811-Ford 1:13.93 185.04 28 21 4 Michele Alboreto Tyrrell 010-Ford 1:14.15 184.49 68 22 14 Eliseo Salazar Ensign N180B-Ford 1:14.30 184.12 6 23 20 Keke Rosberg Fittipaldi F8C-Ford 1:15.01 182.38 5 Qualifying Times: Pos Car# Driver Car Time Speed Entrant 1 16 René Arnoux Renault RE30 1:05.95 207.43 Equipe Renault Elf 2 7 John Watson McLaren MP4/1-Ford 1:06.36 206.15 Marlboro McLaren International 3 15 Alain Prost Renault RE30 1:06.36 206.15 Equipe Renault Elf 4 5 Nelson Piquet Brabham BT49C-Ford 1:06.91 204.45 Parmalat Racing Team 5 8 Andrea de Cesaris McLaren MP4/1-Ford 1:07.03 204.09 Marlboro McLaren International 6 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier JS17-Matra 1:07.09 203.91 Equipe Talbot Gitanes 7 2 Carlos Reutemann Williams FW07C-Ford 1:07.42 202.91 TAG Williams Racing Team 8 11 Elio de Angelis Lotus 87-Ford 1:07.52 202.61 John Player Team Lotus 9 1 Alan Jones Williams FW07C-Ford 1:07.53 202.58 TAG Williams Racing Team 10 22 Mario Andretti Alfa Romeo N179C 1:07.56 202.49 Marlboro Team Alfa Romeo 11 27 Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 126CK 1:07.60 202.37 Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC 12 23 Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo N179C 1:07.63 202.28 Marlboro Team Alfa Romeo 13 12 Nigel Mansell Lotus 87-Ford 1:07.72 202.01 John Player Team Lotus 14 28 Didier Pironi Ferrari 126CK 1:08.09 200.91 Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC 15 6 Héctor Rebaque Brabham BT49C-Ford 1:08.21 200.56 Parmalat Racing Team 16 25 Patrick Tambay Ligier JS17-Matra 1:08.47 199.80 Equipe Talbot Gitanes 17 20 Keke Rosberg Fittipaldi F8C-Ford 1:09.35 197.26 Fittipaldi Automotive 18 29 Riccardo Patrese Arrows A3-Ford 1:09.37 197.20 Ragno Arrows Beta Racing Team 19 3 Eddie Cheever Tyrrell 010-Ford 1:09.88 195.76 Tyrrell Racing Team 20 17 Derek Daly March 811-Ford 1:09.94 195.60 March Grand Prix Team 21 33 Marc Surer Theodore TY01-Ford 1:10.21 194.84 Theodore Racing Team 22 14 Eliseo Salazar Ensign N180B-Ford 1:10.50 194.04 Ensign Racing Team 23 4 Michele Alboreto Tyrrell 010-Ford 1:10.64 193.66 Tyrrell Racing Team 24 21 Chico Serra Fittipaldi F8C-Ford 1:10.86 193.06 Fittipaldi Automotive Did Not Qualify: 25 30 Siegfried Stohr Arrows A3-Ford 1:11.24 192.03 Ragno Arrows Beta Racing Team 26 35 Brian Henton Toleman TG181-Hart 1:11.28 191.92 Candy Toleman Motorsport 27 9 Slim Borgudd ATS D5-Ford 1:12.20 189.47 Team ATS 28 31 Beppe Gabbiani Osella FA1B-Ford 1:12.24 189.37 Osella Squadra Corse 29 36 Derek Warwick Toleman TG181-Hart 1:13.65 185.74 Candy Toleman Motorsport 1st Friday Practice: Pos Car# Driver Car Time Speed 1 12 Nigel Mansell Lotus 87-Ford 1:18.81 173.58 2 15 Alain Prost Renault RE30 1:20.24 170.49 3 5 Nelson Piquet Brabham BT49C-Ford 1:20.29 170.38 4 27 Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 126CK 1:20.54 169.85 5 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier JS17-Matra 1:20.64 169.64 6 1 Alan Jones Williams FW07C-Ford 1:20.70 169.52 7 8 Andrea de Cesaris McLaren MP4/1-Ford 1:20.82 169.27 8 6 Héctor Rebaque Brabham BT49C-Ford 1:20.88 169.14 9 33 Marc Surer Theodore TY01-Ford 1:20.88 169.14 10 11 Elio de Angelis Lotus 87-Ford 1:21.24 168.39 11 29 Riccardo Patrese Arrows A3-Ford 1:21.57 167.71 12 28 Didier Pironi Ferrari 126CK 1:21.94 166.95 13 7 John Watson McLaren MP4/1-Ford 1:21.99 166.85 14 3 Eddie Cheever Tyrrell 010-Ford 1:22.23 166.36 15 23 Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo N179C 1:22.28 166.26 16 25 Patrick Tambay Ligier JS17-Matra 1:22.54 165.74 17 2 Carlos Reutemann Williams FW07C-Ford 1:22.80 165.22 18 31 Beppe Gabbiani Osella FA1B-Ford 1:22.90 165.02 19 22 Mario Andretti Alfa Romeo N179C 1:22.91 165.00 20 20 Keke Rosberg Fittipaldi F8C-Ford 1:23.23 164.36 21 16 René Arnoux Renault RE30 1:23.58 163.68 22 17 Derek Daly March 811-Ford 1:24.20 162.47 23 4 Michele Alboreto Tyrrell 010-Ford 1:25.47 160.06 24 21 Chico Serra Fittipaldi F8C-Ford 1:27.57 156.22 25 30 Siegfried Stohr Arrows A3-Ford 1:28.85 153.97 26 14 Eliseo Salazar Ensign N180B-Ford 1:34.87 144.20 27 36 Derek Warwick Toleman TG181-Hart 1:40.79 135.73 2nd Friday Practice: Pos Car# Driver Car Time Speed 1 7 John Watson McLaren MP4/1-Ford 1:07.05 204.03 2 16 René Arnoux Renault RE30 1:07.09 203.91 3 15 Alain Prost Renault RE30 1:07.57 202.46 4 27 Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 126CK 1:07.60 202.37 5 28 Didier Pironi Ferrari 126CK 1:08.09 200.91 6 11 Elio de Angelis Lotus 87-Ford 1:08.40 200.00 7 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier JS17-Matra 1:08.71 199.10 8 8 Andrea de Cesaris McLaren MP4/1-Ford 1:08.83 198.75 9 2 Carlos Reutemann Williams FW07C-Ford 1:08.83 198.75 10 12 Nigel Mansell Lotus 87-Ford 1:09.06 198.09 11 5 Nelson Piquet Brabham BT49C-Ford 1:09.21 197.66 12 1 Alan Jones Williams FW07C-Ford 1:09.28 197.46 13 29 Riccardo Patrese Arrows A3-Ford 1:09.37 197.20 14 25 Patrick Tambay Ligier JS17-Matra 1:09.51 196.81 15 6 Héctor Rebaque Brabham BT49C-Ford 1:09.69 196.30 16 23 Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo N179C 1:09.81 195.96 17 22 Mario Andretti Alfa Romeo N179C 1:10.09 195.18 18 20 Keke Rosberg Fittipaldi F8C-Ford 1:10.13 195.07 19 3 Eddie Cheever Tyrrell 010-Ford 1:11.50 191.33 20 17 Derek Daly March 811-Ford 1:12.10 189.74 21 31 Beppe Gabbiani Osella FA1B-Ford 1:12.24 189.37 22 4 Michele Alboreto Tyrrell 010-Ford 1:12.37 189.03 23 30 Siegfried Stohr Arrows A3-Ford 1:13.13 187.06 24 21 Chico Serra Fittipaldi F8C-Ford 1:13.60 185.87 25 36 Derek Warwick Toleman TG181-Hart 1:13.65 185.74 26 9 Slim Borgudd ATS D5-Ford 1:14.62 183.33 27 14 Eliseo Salazar Ensign N180B-Ford 1:15.59 180.98 28 33 Marc Surer Theodore TY01-Ford 1:19.46 172.16 29 35 Brian Henton Toleman TG181-Hart 1:29.13 153.48 1st Saturday Practice: Pos Car# Driver Car Time Speed 1 5 Nelson Piquet Brabham BT49C-Ford 1:06.95 204.33 2 1 Alan Jones Williams FW07C-Ford 1:07.57 202.46 3 7 John Watson McLaren MP4/1-Ford 1:07.66 202.19 4 2 Carlos Reutemann Williams FW07C-Ford 1:07.94 201.35 5 11 Elio de Angelis Lotus 87-Ford 1:08.08 200.94 6 22 Mario Andretti Alfa Romeo N179C 1:08.22 200.53 7 6 Héctor Rebaque Brabham BT49C-Ford 1:08.36 200.12 8 28 Didier Pironi Ferrari 126CK 1:08.37 200.09 9 15 Alain Prost Renault RE30 1:08.37 200.09 10 16 René Arnoux Renault RE30 1:08.40 200.00 11 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier JS17-Matra 1:08.99 198.29 12 8 Andrea de Cesaris McLaren MP4/1-Ford 1:09.23 197.60 13 23 Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo N179C 1:09.98 195.48 14 25 Patrick Tambay Ligier JS17-Matra 1:10.04 195.32 15 3 Eddie Cheever Tyrrell 010-Ford 1:10.19 194.90 16 27 Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 126CK 1:10.20 194.87 17 29 Riccardo Patrese Arrows A3-Ford 1:10.67 193.58 18 12 Nigel Mansell Lotus 87-Ford 1:10.77 193.30 19 17 Derek Daly March 811-Ford 1:10.80 193.22 20 14 Eliseo Salazar Ensign N180B-Ford 1:11.11 192.38 21 21 Chico Serra Fittipaldi F8C-Ford 1:11.40 191.60 22 33 Marc Surer Theodore TY01-Ford 1:11.44 191.49 23 9 Slim Borgudd ATS D5-Ford 1:11.90 190.26 24 4 Michele Alboreto Tyrrell 010-Ford 1:11.99 190.03 25 31 Beppe Gabbiani Osella FA1B-Ford 1:12.19 189.50 26 30 Siegfried Stohr Arrows A3-Ford 1:12.20 189.47 27 36 Derek Warwick Toleman TG181-Hart 1:12.37 189.03 28 35 Brian Henton Toleman TG181-Hart 1:12.63 188.35 2nd Saturday Practice: Pos Car# Driver Car Time Speed 1 16 René Arnoux Renault RE30 1:05.95 207.43 2 7 John Watson McLaren MP4/1-Ford 1:06.36 206.15 3 15 Alain Prost Renault RE30 1:06.36 206.15 4 5 Nelson Piquet Brabham BT49C-Ford 1:06.91 204.45 5 8 Andrea de Cesaris McLaren MP4/1-Ford 1:07.03 204.09 6 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier JS17-Matra 1:07.09 203.91 7 2 Carlos Reutemann Williams FW07C-Ford 1:07.42 202.91 8 11 Elio de Angelis Lotus 87-Ford 1:07.52 202.61 9 1 Alan Jones Williams FW07C-Ford 1:07.53 202.58 10 22 Mario Andretti Alfa Romeo N179C 1:07.56 202.49 11 23 Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo N179C 1:07.63 202.28 12 27 Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 126CK 1:07.68 202.13 13 12 Nigel Mansell Lotus 87-Ford 1:07.72 202.01 14 6 Héctor Rebaque Brabham BT49C-Ford 1:08.21 200.56 15 28 Didier Pironi Ferrari 126CK 1:08.27 200.38 16 25 Patrick Tambay Ligier JS17-Matra 1:08.47 199.80 17 20 Keke Rosberg Fittipaldi F8C-Ford 1:09.35 197.26 18 3 Eddie Cheever Tyrrell 010-Ford 1:09.88 195.76 19 17 Derek Daly March 811-Ford 1:09.94 195.60 20 29 Riccardo Patrese Arrows A3-Ford 1:10.14 195.04 21 33 Marc Surer Theodore TY01-Ford 1:10.21 194.84 22 14 Eliseo Salazar Ensign N180B-Ford 1:10.50 194.04 23 4 Michele Alboreto Tyrrell 010-Ford 1:10.64 193.66 24 21 Chico Serra Fittipaldi F8C-Ford 1:10.86 193.06 25 30 Siegfried Stohr Arrows A3-Ford 1:11.24 192.03 26 35 Brian Henton Toleman TG181-Hart 1:11.28 191.92 27 9 Slim Borgudd ATS D5-Ford 1:12.20 189.47 28 31 Beppe Gabbiani Osella FA1B-Ford 1:36.20 142.20 Warm Up: Pos Car# Driver Car Time Speed 1 2 Carlos Reutemann Williams FW07C-Ford 1:09.48 196.89 2 5 Nelson Piquet Brabham BT49C-Ford 1:09.70 196.27 3 1 Alan Jones Williams FW07C-Ford 1:09.92 195.65 4 6 Héctor Rebaque Brabham BT49C-Ford 1:10.87 193.03 5 16 René Arnoux Renault RE30 1:10.89 192.98 6 11 Elio de Angelis Lotus 87-Ford 1:10.91 192.92 7 7 John Watson McLaren MP4/1-Ford 1:10.96 192.79 8 12 Nigel Mansell Lotus 87-Ford 1:11.33 191.79 9 26 Jacques Laffite Ligier JS17-Matra 1:11.35 191.73 10 15 Alain Prost Renault RE30 1:11.35 191.73 11 8 Andrea de Cesaris McLaren MP4/1-Ford 1:11.40 191.60 12 27 Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 126CK 1:11.44 191.49 13 28 Didier Pironi Ferrari 126CK 1:11.86 190.37 14 25 Patrick Tambay Ligier JS17-Matra 1:11.98 190.05 15 22 Mario Andretti Alfa Romeo N179C 1:12.39 188.98 16 23 Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo N179C 1:12.54 188.59 17 29 Riccardo Patrese Arrows A3-Ford 1:12.96 187.50 18 20 Keke Rosberg Fittipaldi F8C-Ford 1:13.49 186.15 19 33 Marc Surer Theodore TY01-Ford 1:13.58 185.92 20 3 Eddie Cheever Tyrrell 010-Ford 1:13.65 185.74 21 17 Derek Daly March 811-Ford 1:13.69 185.64 22 14 Eliseo Salazar Ensign N180B-Ford 1:13.77 185.44 23 21 Chico Serra Fittipaldi F8C-Ford 1:14.19 184.39 24 4 Michele Alboreto Tyrrell 010-Ford 1:14.43 183.80 Notes: 1) 1st friday and 1st saturday practice sessions were not officially recorded. 2) Race was interrupted after 58 laps due to heavy rain. Restarted for 22 laps with results aggregated. 3) Weather: Cloudy, Fresh, Showers.
Race Review:

Two weeks after Gilles Villeneuve's extraordinary victory in Spain, the F1 circus gathered in Dijon for the French Grand Prix with Carlos Reutemann well ahead of Nelson Piquet in the World Championship. Marc Surer (displaced from Ensign by Eliseo Salazar) had taken over the Theodore drive, leaving Patrick Tambay out of work. However Jean-Pierre Jabouille had decided to retire as he was no longer competitive as a result of the leg injuries he had suffered in Canada in 1980 and so Tambay became the second Talbot Ligier driver. This was perfect as it reduced the field to 30 cars and meant that there was no need for pre-qualifying. The other news was that Goodyear had returned to F1 and so Williams and Brabham appeared on Goodyear tyres. Ensign and March used Avon.

Qualifying resulted in pole position for René Arnoux's Renault. This was not a surprise but second place for John Watson's McLaren MP4/1 was rather startling, particularly as the Marlboro car was ahead of the second Renault driven by Alain Prost. Fourth place went to Nelson Piquet (Brabham) with Andrea de Cesaris (McLaren), Jacques Laffite (Talbot Ligier), Carlos Reutemann (Williams), Elio de Angelis (Lotus), Alan Jones (Williams) and Mario Andretti (Alfa Romeo) completing the top 10.

On the first lap Piquet took the lead from Watson, Prost, de Cesaris and Villeneuve (who had been 11th on the grid in his Ferrari) while Arnoux dropped back to ninth. Prost soon moved ahead of Watson while further back de Cesaris was pushed behind Villeneuve, although both men were then overtaken by Reutemann. Arnoux recovered to run fifth and he moved up to fourth ahead of Reutemann on lap 33 only to run into trouble and drop back behind the Argentine driver.

On lap 58 there was a torrential downpour and the race was stopped.

The weather cleared up quickly and so it was decided that the second part of the race would be run with the grid based on the finishing order of the first part. This time Piquet was engulfed by Prost's Renault and he was followed ahead by Watson and Arnoux. Piquet faded quickly behind Pironi and any advantage he had had in the first part of the race disappeared.

Prost stayed ahead all the way to the flag to win his first F1 victory and he was followed home by Watson. Piquet was given third place (although he was fifth on the road) while the remaining points went to Arnoux, Pironi and de Angelis.