Formula 1 historical archive

Nelson Piquet won the 1981 German Grand Prix

Nelson Piquet won the 1981 German Grand Prix for Brabham, ahead of Alain Prost and Jacques Laffite at Hockenheimring.

Browse the full classification, related season, driver, team, circuit, and championship history.

Race recap

Winner
Nelson Piquet
Team
Brabham
Top listed
Nelson Piquet, Alain Prost, and Jacques Laffite
Race date
August 2, 1981
Pole
Alain Prost
Fastest lap
Alan Jones
Classified drivers
30
Circuit
Hockenheimring

The decisive result

Nelson Piquet finished first for Brabham. Alain Prost is listed 2 for Renault, with Jacques Laffite 3 for Ligier.

Grid to finish

Eddie Cheever from P18 to P5 (+13), Héctor Rebaque from P16 to P4 (+12), and Siegfried Stohr from P24 to P12 (+12) recorded the largest positive grid-to-finish changes in the classification. Alain Prost started from the listed P1 grid position.

Status and fastest lap

The classification lists 8 +1 lap, 6 DNQ, 5 Finished, 3 Engine, and 2 Suspension. Alan Jones holds the fastest-lap entry at 1:52.420 on lap 4. It records the result without speculating about incidents or strategy.

This summary sticks to the classification and does not speculate about incidents, strategy, weather, or causes. Source: F1DB (CC BY 4.0) · updated Jul 26, 2026.

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Race classification
PosDriverConstructorTime / statusPoints
1Nelson PiquetBrabham1:25:55.6009
2Alain ProstRenault1:26:07.1206
3Jacques LaffiteLigier1:27:00.2004
4Héctor RebaqueBrabham1:27:35.2903
5Eddie CheeverTyrrell1:27:46.1202
6John WatsonMcLaren+1 lap1
7Elio de AngelisTeam Lotus+1 lap0
8Jean-Pierre JarierOsella+1 lap0
9Mario AndrettiAlfa Romeo+1 lap0
10Gilles VilleneuveFerrari+1 lap0
11Alan JonesWilliams+1 lap0
12Siegfried StohrArrows+1 lap0
13René ArnouxRenault+1 lap0
14Marc SurerTheodoreSuspension0
15Bruno GiacomelliAlfa Romeo+2 laps0
NCEliseo SalazarEnsign+6 laps0
DNFSlim BorguddATS WheelsEngine0
DNFCarlos ReutemannWilliamsEngine0
DNFRiccardo PatreseArrowsEngine0
DNFPatrick TambayLigierTransmission0