1981 Brazilian Grand Prix
Race 2 of 15 in the 1981 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date	March 29, 1981
Official name	X Grande Prêmio do Brasil
Location	Jacarepaguá Circuit Jacarepaguá, Rio de Janeiro
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	5.031 km (3.126 miles)
Distance	62 laps, 311.922 km (193.819 miles)
Scheduled distance	63 laps, 316.953 km (196.945 miles)
Weather	Overcast, Fresh, Rain
Pole position
Driver	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-Ford
Time	1:35.079
Fastest lap
Driver	Marc Surer	Ensign-Ford
Time	1:54.302 on lap 26
Podium
First	Carlos Reutemann	Williams-Ford
Second	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford
Third	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows-Ford
Lap leaders

The 1981 Brazilian Grand Prix was the second race of the 1981 Formula One World Championship and was held on 29 March 1981 at Jacarepaguá in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Formula One moved to the Jacarepaguá circuit in Rio de Janeiro from the Interlagos circuit in São Paulo, after safety concerns with the long Interlagos circuit and the growing slums of São Paulo being at odds with the glamorous image of Formula One.

The Argentine driver Carlos Reutemann won the race in contentious circumstances; he ignored his pit signals to give up the lead to his teammate and team leader Alan Jones. Jones, who finished second, did not show up on the podium afterwards.

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Q1	Q2	Gap
1	5	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-Ford	1:35.786	1:35.079	—
2	2	Carlos Reutemann	Williams-Ford	1:35.390	1:36.000	+0.311
3	1	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford	1:36.337	1:36.690	+1.258
4	29	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows-Ford	1:37.231	1:36.667	+1.588
5	15	Alain Prost	Renault	1:37.147	1:36.670	+1.591
6	23	Bruno Giacomelli	Alfa Romeo	1:38.682	1:37.283	+2.204
7	27	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	1:37.975	1:37.497	+2.418
8	16	René Arnoux	Renault	1:38.985	1:37.561	+2.482
9	22	Mario Andretti	Alfa Romeo	1:37.933	1:37.597	+2.518
10	11	Elio de Angelis	Lotus-Ford	1:38.352	1:37.734	+2.655
11	6	Héctor Rebaque	Brabham-Ford	1:38.225	1:37.777	+2.698
12	20	Keke Rosberg	Fittipaldi-Ford	1:37.981	1:39.371	+2.902
13	12	Nigel Mansell	Lotus-Ford	1:38.861	1:38.003	+2.924
14	3	Eddie Cheever	Tyrrell-Ford	1:38.160	1:38.521	+3.081
15	7	John Watson	McLaren-Ford	1:40.057	1:38.263	+3.184
16	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Matra	1:38.273	1:38.713	+3.194
17	28	Didier Pironi	Ferrari	1:39.229	1:38.565	+3.486
18	14	Marc Surer	Ensign-Ford	1:39.296	1:38.570	+3.491
19	33	Patrick Tambay	Theodore-Ford	1:38.726	1:39.668	+3.647
20	8	Andrea de Cesaris	McLaren-Ford	1:39.409	1:38.780	+3.701
21	30	Siegfried Stohr	Arrows-Ford	1:40.297	1:39.190	+4.111
22	21	Chico Serra	Fittipaldi-Ford	1:39.326	1:39.396	+4.247
23	25	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Ligier-Matra	—	1:39.398	+4.319
24	4	Ricardo Zunino	Tyrrell-Ford	1:41.036	1:39.798	+4.719
25	9	Jan Lammers	ATS-Ford	1:40.339	1:39.844	+4.765
26	25	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Ligier-Matra	1:40.306	withdrew	+5.227
27	32	Beppe Gabbiani	Osella-Ford	1:41.954	1:40.709	+5.630
28	31	Miguel Angel Guerra	Osella-Ford	1:40.984	1:44.482	+5.905
29	18	Eliseo Salazar	March-Ford	1:44.730	1:43.267	+8.188
30	17	Derek Daly	March-Ford	no time	no time	—
Source:[1]

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	2	Carlos Reutemann	Williams-Ford	62	2:00:23.66	2	9
2	1	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford	62	+ 4.44	3	6
3	29	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows-Ford	62	+ 1:03.08	4	4
4	14	Marc Surer	Ensign-Ford	62	+ 1:17.03	18	3
5	11	Elio de Angelis	Lotus-Ford	62	+ 1:26.42	10	2
6	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Matra	62	+ 1:26.83	16	1
7	25	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Ligier-Matra	62	+ 1:30.25	23
8	7	John Watson	McLaren-Ford	61	+ 1 Lap	15
9	20	Keke Rosberg	Fittipaldi-Ford	61	+ 1 Lap	12
10	33	Patrick Tambay	Theodore-Ford	61	+ 1 Lap	19
11	12	Nigel Mansell	Lotus-Ford	61	+ 1 Lap	13
12	5	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-Ford	60	+ 2 Laps	1
13	4	Ricardo Zunino	Tyrrell-Ford	57	+ 5 Laps	24
NC	3	Eddie Cheever	Tyrrell-Ford	49	Not Classified	14
NC	23	Bruno Giacomelli	Alfa Romeo	40	Not Classified	6
Ret	27	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	25	Turbo	7
Ret	6	Héctor Rebaque	Brabham-Ford	22	Spun Off	11
Ret	15	Alain Prost	Renault	20	Collision	5
Ret	30	Siegfried Stohr	Arrows-Ford	20	Accident	21
Ret	28	Didier Pironi	Ferrari	19	Collision	17
Ret	8	Andrea de Cesaris	McLaren-Ford	9	Engine	20
Ret	16	René Arnoux	Renault	0	Collision	8
Ret	22	Mario Andretti	Alfa Romeo	0	Collision	9
Ret	21	Chico Serra	Fittipaldi-Ford	0	Collision	22
DNQ	9	Jan Lammers	ATS-Ford
DNQ	32	Beppe Gabbiani	Osella-Ford
DNQ	31	Miguel Angel Guerra	Osella-Ford
DNQ	18	Eliseo Salazar	March-Ford
DNQ	17	Derek Daly	March-Ford
DNP	14	Ricardo Londoño	Ensign-Ford		Car raced by Surer
Source:[2]

Colombian driver Ricardo Londoño was denied a superlicense, was not allowed to participate in official practice, and unable to race.

• This was the Formula One World Championship debut for Colombian driver Ricardo Londoño - the first Colombian to drive in Formula One.
• This was the 10th pole position for a Brazilian driver.
• This was the 3rd Brazilian Grand Prix win for Carlos Reutemann, breaking the previous record set by Emerson Fittipaldi at the 1974 Brazilian Grand Prix.
• This race marked the 1st fastest lap set by Ensign.
• This was the 200th Grand Prix start for a Ford-powered car. In those 200 races, Ford-powered cars had won 138 Grands Prix, achieved 399 podium finishes, 124 pole positions, 122 fastest laps, 19 Grand Slams and had won 10 Driver's and 9 Constructor's Championships.
• This was the 5th Brazilian Grand Prix win for a Ford-powered car.

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Alan Jones 15 2 Carlos Reutemann 15 3 Nelson Piquet 4 4 Riccardo Patrese 4 5 Mario Andretti 3 Source:[3]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Williams-Ford 30 2 Brabham-Ford 4 3 Arrows-Ford 4 4 Alfa Romeo 3 5 Ensign-Ford 3 Source:[3]

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

• Lang, Mike (1992). Grand Prix! Vol 4. Haynes Publishing Group. pp. 23–25. ISBN 0-85429-733-2.