Formula 1 historical archive

Carlos Reutemann won the 1981 Brazilian Grand Prix

Carlos Reutemann won the 1981 Brazilian Grand Prix for Williams, ahead of Alan Jones and Riccardo Patrese at Autódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet.

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

Race recap

Winner
Carlos Reutemann
Team
Williams
Top listed
Carlos Reutemann, Alan Jones, and Riccardo Patrese
Race date
March 29, 1981
Pole
Nelson Piquet
Fastest lap
Marc Surer
Classified drivers
31
Circuit
Autódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet

The decisive result

Carlos Reutemann finished first for Williams. Alan Jones is listed 2 for Williams, with Riccardo Patrese 3 for Arrows.

Grid to finish

Jean-Pierre Jarier from P23 to P7 (+16), Marc Surer from P18 to P4 (+14), and Ricardo Zunino from P24 to P13 (+11) recorded the largest positive grid-to-finish changes in the classification. Nelson Piquet started from the listed P1 grid position.

Status and fastest lap

The classification lists 7 Finished, 5 Collision, 5 DNQ, 4 +1 lap, and 2 NC. Marc Surer holds the fastest-lap entry at 1:54.302 on lap 36. 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
1Carlos ReutemannWilliams2:00:23.6609
2Alan JonesWilliams2:00:28.1006
3Riccardo PatreseArrows2:01:26.7404
4Marc SurerEnsign2:01:40.6903
5Elio de AngelisTeam Lotus2:01:50.0802
6Jacques LaffiteLigier2:01:50.4901
7Jean-Pierre JarierLigier2:01:53.9100
8John WatsonMcLaren+1 lap0
9Keke RosbergFittipaldi+1 lap0
10Patrick TambayTheodore+1 lap0
11Nigel MansellTeam Lotus+1 lap0
12Nelson PiquetBrabham+2 laps0
13Ricardo ZuninoTyrrell+5 laps0
NCEddie CheeverTyrrell+13 laps0
NCBruno GiacomelliAlfa Romeo+22 laps0
DNFGilles VilleneuveFerrariTurbo0
DNFHéctor RebaqueBrabhamSpun off0
DNFAlain ProstRenaultCollision0
DNFSiegfried StohrArrowsAccident0
DNFDidier PironiFerrariCollision0