1981 Caesars Palace Grand Prix

August 2023 F1 United States Caesars Palace 1st Caesars Palace Grand Prix October 17 1981 Circuit Caesars Palace.png 15 15 Paradise, Nevada, United States Temporary street course 2.268 3.650 75 170.137 273.750 Sunny and 75 F C; wind speeds of 11.1 mph km/hhttp://www.almanac.com/weather/history/NV/Las%20Vegas/1981-10-17 Weather information for the "1981 Caesars Palace Grand Prix" The Old Farmers' Almanac November 22, 2013 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Williams-Ford 1:17.821 France Didier Pironi Ferrari 1:20.156 49 Australia Alan Jones Williams-Ford France Alain Prost Renault Italy Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo CPL The 1981 Caesars Palace Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on October 17, 1981, in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. It was the fifteenth and final race of the 1981 Formula One World Championship. The 75-lap race was won by Australian driver Alan Jones, driving a Williams-Ford, with Frenchman Alain Prost second in a Renault and Italian Bruno Giacomelli third in an Alfa Romeo. Brazilian Nelson Piquet finished fifth in his Brabham-Ford to take the Drivers' Championship by one point from Jones's Argentine teammate, Carlos Reutemann, who finished eighth having started from pole position. This was the last F1 race to be won by an Australian driver for 28 years, until Mark Webber won the 2009 German Grand Prix.Henry Alan 12 July 2009 Mark Webber takes first win as Red Bulls leave Brawns trailing https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2009/jul/12/mark-webber-wins-german-grand-prix The Guardian London 17 February 2026 Summary Championship permutations Going into this race, three drivers were in contention for the World Championship. Argentine Carlos Reutemann, driving a Williams-Ford, had 49 points having won two races, while Brazilian Nelson Piquet, driving a Brabham-Ford, had 48 having won three. Frenchman Jacques Laffite, driving a Ligier-Matra, had an outside chance on 43, having won two races including the previous race in Canada. After being outscored by both Laffite and Piquet at the preceding Canadian Grand Prix, championship leader Reutemann was unable to secure the drivers' title prematurely. Thus, the Drivers' Championship was decided at the final round, marking the second consecutive year that the championship battle went down to the wire. All three title contenders had the opportunity to become Formula One World Champion for the first time in their respective careers. While Reutemann would have become the first Argentinian driver since Juan Manuel Fangio in 1957 to clinch the drivers' title, Laffite had the chance to become the first French Drivers' Champion. If Piquet won, he would have become the second Formula One World Drivers' Champion from Brazil after two-time world champion Emerson Fittipaldi, who clinched his last title in 1974. Reigning champion Alan Jones was mathematically eliminated from championship contention after failing to finish at the previous round in Canada. The championship would have been won by either of the top three drivers in the following manner: Reutemann would have won if: ARG Carlos Reutemann BRA Nelson Piquet FRA Jacques LaffitePos. Position1stEliminated Eliminated2nd3rd or lower3rd4th or lower4th5th or lower 2nd or lower5th or 6th lower than 6th Piquet would have won if: BRA Nelson Piquet ARG Carlos Reutemann FRA Jacques LaffitePos. Position1st Eliminated Eliminated2nd3rd4th or lower 2nd or lower4th5th or lower5th6th or lower6thlower than 6th3rd or lower Laffite would have won if: FRA Jacques Laffite ARG Carlos Reutemann BRA Nelson PiquetPos. Position1st4th or lower3rd or lower2ndlower than 6th6th or lower The setting This was the third year in succession that the United States hosted the final round of the World Championship. This time, however, it took place in Las Vegas, instead of Watkins Glen in upstate New York: after twenty years on the Grand Prix schedule, the organizers at Watkins Glen were unable to fulfill financial obligations for 1981. The track, created on the parking lot of the Caesars Palace hotel, had a smooth surface and provided speeds averaging over 160 km/h or 100 mph, as well as plenty of overtaking opportunities. Unusually, however, its direction was counter-clockwise, which strained the drivers' necks, which were accustomed to the more common clockwise circuits. This, together with the desert heat, meant that the drivers' endurance would be tested in the extreme all weekend. Even in practice, Piquet suffered noticeably and became physically sick; he later got a 90-minute massage from Sugar Ray Leonard's masseur to help sort out his troubled back and "Las Vegas neck". Qualifying The Williams drivers, Alan Jones and Reutemann, were fastest from the start of the first practice with points leader Reutemann the faster of the two. Later, Jones became the only other driver to break 1:18 in qualifying, and the starting front row was all Williams. Reutemann was not expecting any help winning the Championship from teammate Jones, who explained, "I don't see how I can help him; I would not go holding up people as I am a member of the British Commonwealth (Australia, specifically) and I would consider that unsporting." Jones may have held animosity toward Reutemann from earlier in the season, when Reutemann (whom team principal Frank Williams insisted was hired with knowledge that he was a firm #2 driver to Jones) ignored team orders to let Jones pass and won races for himself. Race In the race on Saturday, Jones jumped off the line into the lead, but Reutemann was quickly passed by Gilles Villeneuve, Alain Prost and Bruno Giacomelli, and finished the first lap in fifth. By the end of lap two, Jones had a five-second lead. Further down the field Patrick Tambay lost control of his Ligier, hitting a tyre wall positioned ahead of a concrete barrier with a force high enough to tear off the front of his car. Luckily, Tambay escaped with only minor injuries. Prost passed Villeneuve on lap three, but could not get close enough to challenge Jones for the lead. Villeneuve, meanwhile, kept a line of cars behind him as he fought off the advances of Giacomelli. This allowed Mario Andretti to move right on to Piquet's tail, as he desperately tried to overtake Reutemann. The Brazilian was nearly touching the back of the Williams as they approached the last left-hander before the pits on lap 17. Piquet got around Reutemann on the inside when Reutemann, fighting for the Championship, inexplicably braked early. Piquet said, "I saw his car getting worse oversteer, then he braked very early, I think in the hope I would run into him, but I saw it and passed easily." On the next lap, Andretti also went by. Piquet passed John Watson on lap 22, and put himself in a position to score points when he took over sixth place. Reutemann continued to slip backwards with gearbox trouble, having lost fourth gear as early as lap two. The Ferrari team was trying to decide whether to call Villeneuve in on lap 23 after he had been disqualified for lining up on the grid improperly, but when he pulled off the track with an engine fire, the point was moot. On lap 30, crowd favorite Andretti retired from fourth place with broken suspension. With 15 laps still to go, but a 40-second lead over Prost, Jones began pacing himself to the finish. Giacomelli was third, having worked his way back after spinning from fourth to tenth, and Nigel Mansell had passed Piquet for fourth. Piquet, in fact, was on the verge of physical exhaustion with his head visibly rolling around in the cockpit, but he still held fifth place and the two points he needed for the Championship. Piquet's condition was the only question left about how the Championship would turn out, for Reutemann, driving without fourth gear, was passed by Watson and Laffite, dropping to eighth place on lap 69. Laffite took sixth place and the final point from Watson on the last corner of the last lap, while Giacomelli missed taking second from Prost, on failing tires, by a few car lengths, thus finishing third and achieving his only career podium in Formula One (and the first podium for Alfa Romeo since the 1–3 of Juan Manuel Fangio and Giuseppe Farina in the 1951 Spanish Grand Prix). Piquet took fifteen minutes to recover from heat exhaustion after making it to the finish, but he had collected the two points for fifth place, and was the new World Champion. Classification Qualifying Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap 1 2 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Williams-Ford 1:17.821 1:18.343 — 2 1 Australia Alan Jones Williams-Ford 1:18.236 1:17.995 +0.174 3 27 Canada Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari 1:18.457 1:18.060 +0.239 4 5 Brazil 1968 Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford 1:18.954 1:18.161 +0.340 5 15 France Alain Prost Renault 1:18.433 1:18.760 +0.612 6 7 UK John Watson McLaren-Ford 1:19.975 1:18.617 +0.796 7 25 France Patrick Tambay Ligier-Matra 1:19.874 1:18.681 +0.860 8 23 Italy Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo 1:20.570 1:18.792 +0.971 9 12 UK Nigel Mansell Lotus-Ford 1:19.044 1:19.623 +1.223 10 22 USA Mario Andretti Alfa Romeo 1:19.594 1:19.068 +1.247 11 29 Italy Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford 1:20.132 1:19.152 +1.331 12 26 France Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra 1:19.878 1:19.167 +1.346 13 16 France René Arnoux Renault 1:19.966 1:19.197 +1.376 14 8 Italy Andrea de Cesaris McLaren-Ford 1:19.338 1:19.217 +1.396 15 11 Italy Elio de Angelis Lotus-Ford 1:20.337 1:19.562 +1.741 16 6 Mexico Héctor Rebaque Brabham-Ford 1:20.555 1:19.571 +1.750 17 4 Italy Michele Alboreto Tyrrell-Ford 1:21.964 1:19.774 +1.953 18 28 France Didier Pironi Ferrari 1:19.899 1:21.347 +2.078 19 3 USA Eddie Cheever Tyrrell-Ford 1:21.116 1:20.475 +2.654 20 20 Finland Keke Rosberg Fittipaldi-Ford 1:21.299 1:20.729 +2.908 21 32 France Jean-Pierre Jarier Osella-Ford 22:19.563 1:20.781 +2.960 22 36 UK Derek Warwick Toleman-Hart 1:22.491 1:21.294 +3.473 23 33 Switzerland Marc Surer Theodore-Ford 1:21.889 1:21.430 +3.609 24 14 Chile Eliseo Salazar Ensign-Ford 1:22.616 1:21.629 +3.808 DNQ Did not qualify 9 Sweden Slim Borgudd ATS-Ford 1:21.665 1:21.731 +3.844 DNQ Did not qualify 21 Brazil 1968 Chico Serra Fittipaldi-Ford 1:22.612 1:21.672 +3.851 DNQ Did not qualify 17 Ireland Derek Daly March-Ford 1:21.846 1:21.824 +4.003 DNQ Did not qualify 30 Canada Jacques Villeneuve Arrows-Ford 1:22.977 1:22.822 +5.001 DNQ Did not qualify 35 UK Brian Henton Toleman-Hart 1:23.857 1:22.960 +5.139 DNQ Did not qualify 31 Italy Beppe Gabbiani Osella-Ford 1:26.634 no time +8.813Source:Hamilton Maurice AUTOCOURSE 1981–82 Hazleton Publishing Ltd 1981 222 0-905138-17-1 Race Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 1 Australia Alan Jones Williams-Ford Goodyear 75 1:44:09.077 2 9 2 15 France Alain Prost Renault Michelin 75 + 20.048 5 6 3 23 Italy Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo Michelin 75 + 20.428 8 4 4 12 UK Nigel Mansell Lotus-Ford Goodyear 75 + 47.473 9 3 5 5 Brazil 1968 Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford Goodyear 75 + 1:16.438 4 2 6 26 France Jacques Laffite Ligier-Matra Michelin 75 + 1:18.175 12 1 7 7 UK John Watson McLaren-Ford Michelin 75 + 1:18.497 6   8 2 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Williams-Ford Goodyear 74 + 1 Lap 1   9 28 France Didier Pironi Ferrari Michelin 73 + 2 Laps 18   10 20 Finland Keke Rosberg Fittipaldi-Ford Pirelli 73 + 2 Laps 20   11 29 Italy Riccardo Patrese Arrows-Ford Pirelli 71 + 4 Laps 11   12 8 Italy Andrea de Cesaris McLaren-Ford Michelin 69 + 6 Laps 14   13 4 Italy Michele Alboreto Tyrrell-Ford Avon 67 Engine 17   NC Not classified 14 Chile Eliseo Salazar Ensign-Ford Avon 61 + 14 Laps 24   Ret Retired 36 UK Derek Warwick Toleman-Hart Pirelli 43 Gearbox 22   Ret Retired 22 USA Mario Andretti Alfa Romeo Michelin 29 Suspension 10   DSQ Disqualified 27 Canada Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari Michelin 22 Improper Grid Formation 3   Ret Retired 6 Mexico Héctor Rebaque Brabham-Ford Goodyear 20 Throttle 16   Ret Retired 33 Switzerland Marc Surer Theodore-Ford Avon 19 Suspension 23   Ret Retired 3 USA Eddie Cheever Tyrrell-Ford Goodyear 10 Engine 19   Ret Retired 16 France René Arnoux Renault Michelin 10 Electrical 13   Ret Retired 25 France Patrick Tambay Ligier-Matra Michelin 2 Accident 7   Ret Retired 11 Italy Elio de Angelis Lotus-Ford Goodyear 2 Water Leak 15   Ret Retired 32 France Jean-Pierre Jarier Osella-Ford Michelin 0 Transmission 21   DNQ Did not qualify 9 Sweden Slim Borgudd ATS-Ford Avon     DNQ Did not qualify 21 Brazil 1968 Chico Serra Fittipaldi-Ford Pirelli     DNQ Did not qualify 17 Ireland Derek Daly March-Ford Avon     DNQ Did not qualify 30 Canada Jacques Villeneuve Arrows-Ford Pirelli     DNQ Did not qualify 35 UK Brian Henton Toleman-Hart Pirelli     DNQ Did not qualify 31 Italy Beppe Gabbiani Osella-Ford Michelin        Source:http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1981/372/ 1981 Las Vegas Grand Prix formula1.com 23 December 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20140516113921/http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1981/372/ 16 May 2014https://gparchive.com/formula-1/1981-las-vegas-grand-prix/ 1981 Las Vegas Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive GPArchive.com 17 October 1981 7 November 2021 Championship standings after the race Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 BRA 1968 Nelson Piquet 50 2 ARG Carlos Reutemann 49 3 AUS Alan Jones 46 4 FRA Jacques Laffite 44 5 FRA Alain Prost 43Source:https://www.statsf1.com/en/1981/las-vegas/championnat.aspx Las Vegas 1981 - Championship • STATS F1 www.statsf1.com 14 March 2019 Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 UK Williams-Ford 95 2 UK Brabham-Ford 61 3 FRA Renault 54 4 FRA Ligier-Matra 44 5 ITA Ferrari 34Source: Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. References 30em Further reading Walker, Rob (February, 1982). "1st Las Vegas Grand Prix: The Chips Are Down". Road & Track, 136–140. Lang, Mike S. (1992). Grand Prix!: Race-by-race account of Formula 1 World Championship motor racing. Volume 4: 1981 to 1984. Haynes Publishing Group. 0-85429-733-2 Spinelli Mike The Original Las Vegas F1 Race Was a Complete Mess Road & Track 10 November 2023 https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a45345449/original-las-vegas-f1-race-was-a-complete-mess/ 16 November 2024 Caesars Palace Grand Prix 1981 1981 Canadian Grand Prix 1982 South African Grand Prix None 1982 Caesars Palace Grand Prix 1980 Italian Grand Prix 1982 British Grand Prix Caesars Palace Grand Prix Category:Caesars Palace Grand Prix Caesars Palace Grand Prix Caesars Palace Category:Organized events in Paradise, Nevada Category:Organized events in Nevada