Formula 1 historical archive

Nelson Piquet won the 1981 San Marino Grand Prix

Nelson Piquet won the 1981 San Marino Grand Prix for Brabham, ahead of Riccardo Patrese and Carlos Reutemann at Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari.

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

Race recap

Winner
Nelson Piquet
Team
Brabham
Top listed
Nelson Piquet, Riccardo Patrese, and Carlos Reutemann
Race date
May 3, 1981
Pole
Gilles Villeneuve
Fastest lap
Gilles Villeneuve
Classified drivers
30
Circuit
Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari

The decisive result

Nelson Piquet finished first for Brabham. Riccardo Patrese is listed 2 for Arrows, with Carlos Reutemann 3 for Williams.

Grid to finish

Marc Surer from P21 to P9 (+12), Slim Borgudd from P24 to P13 (+11), and Héctor Rebaque from P13 to P4 (+9) recorded the largest positive grid-to-finish changes in the classification. Gilles Villeneuve started from the listed P1 grid position.

Status and fastest lap

The classification lists 7 Finished, 6 DNQ, 4 Collision, 3 +2 laps, and 2 +1 lap. Gilles Villeneuve holds the fastest-lap entry at 1:48.064 on lap 46. 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 PiquetBrabham1:51:23.9709
2Riccardo PatreseArrows1:51:28.5506
3Carlos ReutemannWilliams1:51:30.3104
4Héctor RebaqueBrabham1:51:46.8603
5Didier PironiFerrari1:51:49.8402
6Andrea de CesarisMcLaren1:52:30.5801
7Gilles VilleneuveFerrari1:53:05.9400
8René ArnouxRenault+1 lap0
9Marc SurerEnsign+1 lap0
10John WatsonMcLaren+2 laps0
11Patrick TambayTheodore+2 laps0
12Alan JonesWilliams+2 laps0
13Slim BorguddATS Wheels+3 laps0
NCJean-Pierre JabouilleLigier+15 laps0
DNFEliseo SalazarMarchSpun off0
DNFMichele AlboretoTyrrellCollision0
DNFBeppe GabbianiOsellaCollision0
DNFBruno GiacomelliAlfa RomeoCollision0
DNFEddie CheeverTyrrellCollision0
DNFMario AndrettiAlfa RomeoGearbox0