1981 Belgian Grand Prix

  1981 Belgian Grand Prix

Race details
Race 5 of 15 in the 1981 Formula One season
Date	May 17, 1981
Location	Zolder, Belgium
Course	4.011 km (2.492 mi)
Distance	54 laps, 216.594 km (134.585 mi)
Scheduled Distance	70 laps, 288.792 km (179.424 mi)
Weather	Wet/Dry
Pole position
Driver	Carlos Reutemann	Williams-Ford
Time	1:22.28
Fastest lap
Driver	Carlos Reutemann	Williams-Ford
Time	1:23.30 on lap 37
Podium
First	Carlos Reutemann	Williams-Ford
Second	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Matra
Third	Nigel Mansell	Lotus-Ford

The 1981 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Zolder on May 17, 1981.

Mechanic safety and chaotic first race

The Belgian Grand Prix of 1981 was marred by two serious incidents involving mechanics, one fatal. In Friday practice a mechanic from the Osella team, Giovanni Amadeo, stumbled off the pitwall into the path of the Williams of Carlos Reutemann. Reutemann was unable to avoid the mechanic, who suffered a fractured skull. He died from his injuries on the Monday after the race. Before the start of the race the mechanics of all the teams staged a protest over the safety measures protecting them, which was soon joined by several drivers who left their cars. The race organisers nevertheless flagged the warm-up lap at the normal time, leaving several cars delayed on the grid, either stalled or with their cockpits vacant. The resulting chaos when the grid formed up again at the end of this lap was exacerbated when Nelson Piquet missed his starting position and was sent round on another lap, with the other cars being held in position. As the cars began to overheat, several drivers turned off their engines, among them Arrows driver Riccardo Patrese, expecting another formation lap due to Piquet's error. However, the organisers began the start sequence as usual once Piquet had regained his position. Patrese was unable to restart his car and waved his arms to signal that he could not take the start. His mechanic, Dave Luckett, instantly came onto the track to restart the car from behind. But after he got onto the track, the lighting sequence to start the race had already begun, and the start went ahead despite the presence of Luckett and Patrese's gesticulations. In the confusion and likely unable to see Patrese's stalled car, the other Arrows driver, Siegfried Stohr, ploughed into the back of his team-mate's car, hitting Luckett. Luckett suffered a broken leg and lacerations but survived the incident. But even after this incident, the race continued, and as the field was about to start the second lap, with marshals and Stohr's disabled car still on the circuit, cars passed by with very little space, and the marshals frantically waved at the drivers to stop and the confused drivers waved back at the marshals, who were still on the circuit as the cars passed by. The drivers stopped themselves rather than being directed to stop. As a result of these events, a new rule was introduced forbidding mechanics from being on the grid within fifteen seconds of the formation lap, and the race starter would use greater caution.

Race report

The race was fairly uneventful – Reutemann was passed by Didier Pironi going into the first corner. Then Alan Jones nudged off Nelson Piquet at the early stages of the race and Piquet crashed into some catch fencing at the chicane; and a furious Piquet stormed to the Williams garage in an altercation with Jones and the Williams personnel after Jones's gearbox failed, ploughed into the barriers and badly burned his left thigh after the gearbox oil leaked into Jones's cockpit. Pironi had fallen back and after Jones's accident, Reutemann took the lead, and kept the lead until the race was called off early because of rain starting to fall on the track. A somber Reutemann took his 2nd victory of the season and his 12th and what was to be the final victory of his enigmatic career after a weekend that was marked by frustration, politics and tragedy.

Classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	2	Carlos Reutemann	Williams-Ford	54	1:16:31.61	1	9
2	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Matra	54	+ 36.06 s	9	6
3	12	Nigel Mansell	Lotus-Ford	54	+ 43.69 s	10	4
4	27	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	54	+ 47.64 s	7	3
5	11	Elio de Angelis	Lotus-Ford	54	+ 49.20 s	14	2
6	3	Eddie Cheever	Tyrrell-Ford	54	+ 52.51 s	8	1
7	7	John Watson	McLaren-Ford	54	+ 1:01.66	5
8	28	Didier Pironi	Ferrari	54	+ 1:32.04	3
9	23	Bruno Giacomelli	Alfa Romeo	54	+ 1:35.58	17
10	22	Mario Andretti	Alfa Romeo	53	+ 1 lap	18
11	14	Marc Surer	Ensign-Ford	52	+ 2 laps	15
12	4	Michele Alboreto	Tyrrell-Ford	52	+ 2 laps	19
13	31	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Osella-Ford	50	+ 4 laps	24
Ret	6	Hector Rebaque	Brabham-Ford	39	Accident	21
Ret	25	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Ligier-Matra	35	Transmission	16
Ret	21	Chico Serra	Fittipaldi-Ford	29	Engine	20
Ret	32	Beppe Gabbiani	Osella-Ford	22	Engine	22
Ret	1	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford	19	Accident	6
Ret	8	Andrea de Cesaris	McLaren-Ford	11	Gearbox	23
Ret	5	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-Ford	10	Accident	2
Ret	20	Keke Rosberg	Fittipaldi-Ford	10	Gearbox	11
Ret	15	Alain Prost	Renault	2	Clutch	12
Ret	29	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows-Ford	0	Collision	4
Ret	30	Siegfried Stohr	Arrows-Ford	0	Collision	13
DNQ	18	Derek Daly	March-Ford
DNQ	16	René Arnoux	Renault
DNQ	17	Eliseo Salazar	March-Ford
DNQ	9	Slim Borgudd	ATS-Ford
DNQ	33	Patrick Tambay	Theodore-Ford
DNQ	36	Derek Warwick	Toleman-Hart
DNQ	35	Brian Henton	Toleman-Hart

Notes

• First podium: Nigel Mansell
• Last win: Carlos Reutemann
• Race scheduled for 70 laps, but stopped after 54 because of rain. As more than 3/4 of the scheduled laps were run, the points were assigned entirely.
• To date, this was the last race victory for an Argentine driver.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Carlos Reutemann 34 2 Nelson Piquet 22 3 Alan Jones 18 4 Riccardo Patrese 10 5 Jacques Laffite 7

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Williams-Ford 52 2 Brabham-Ford 25 3 Arrows-Ford 10 4 Lotus-Ford 9 5 Ligier-Matra 7

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

Unless otherwise indicated, all race results are taken from "The Official Formula 1 website". http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1981/362/. Retrieved 2007-06-16. 

Previous race: 1981 San Marino Grand Prix	FIA Formula One World Championship 1981 season	Next race: 1981 Monaco Grand Prix
Previous race: 1980 Belgian Grand Prix	Belgian Grand Prix	Next race: 1982 Belgian Grand Prix

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