1981 Canadian Grand Prix
The 1981 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Circuit Île Notre-Dame, Montreal on 27 September 1981. It was the fourteenth race of the 1981 Formula One World Championship.
| 1981 Canadian Grand Prix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 14 of 15 in the 1981 Formula One World Championship | |||
| Race details | |||
| Date | 27 September 1981 | ||
| Official name | XX Grand Prix du Canada | ||
| Location |
Circuit Île Notre-Dame Montreal, Quebec, Canada | ||
| Course | Temporary street circuit | ||
| Course length | 4.410 km (2.740 miles) | ||
| Distance | 63 laps, 277.830 km (172.636 miles) | ||
| Scheduled distance | 70 laps, 308.700 km (191.817 miles) | ||
| Weather | Wet and cold with temperatures up to 20 °C (68 °F); wind speeds up to 15 kilometres per hour (9.3 mph) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Brabham-Ford | ||
| Time | 1:29.211 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver | John Watson | McLaren-Ford | |
| Time | 1:49.475 on lap 43 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Talbot Ligier-Matra | ||
| Second | McLaren-Ford | ||
| Third | Ferrari | ||
|
Lap leaders | |||
The race was run in wet conditions, and ended after 63 of the scheduled 70 laps due to the two-hour time limit. Frenchman Jacques Laffite won in a Talbot Ligier-Matra, with Northern Ireland's John Watson second in a McLaren-Ford and local hero Gilles Villeneuve third in a Ferrari. Brazilian Nelson Piquet finished fifth in his Brabham-Ford, having started from pole position, while Drivers' Championship rival, Argentine Carlos Reutemann, could only manage tenth in his Williams-Ford. Piquet thus moved within one point of Reutemann with one race to go, while the win gave Laffite an outside chance of the title. Despite both Reutemann and Australian teammate Alan Jones failing to score, Williams clinched the Constructors' Championship.
This would turn out to be Laffite's final F1 victory, as well as the last for the Ligier team for fifteen years, until the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix. It was also the last time the Canadian Grand Prix was held in the fall, as the race would move to June the following year.