Complete calendar with 15 races
The 1981 Formula 1 season delivered one of the most dramatic and controversial championship finales in the sport's history, as Nelson Piquet snatched his first World Championship from Carlos Reutemann by a single point in the bizarre surroundings of a parking lot in Las Vegas. The season was defined by internal Williams team tensions, Alan Jones's disillusionment with the sport, and the growing threat of turbocharged engines that would soon revolutionize Formula 1.
Williams entered the season as defending champions with the formidable pairing of Alan Jones and Carlos Reutemann, but their relationship deteriorated into barely concealed animosity. The flashpoint came at the Brazilian Grand Prix when Reutemann defied team orders to let Jones past, instead winning the race and establishing himself as a championship contender. When asked who he'd prefer to win the title between his teammate and rival Piquet, Jones's response was brutal: "It's take your pick between TB and cancer. I couldn't give a damn." The Australian's disillusionment with political infighting would lead him to announce his retirement mid-season.
Reutemann emerged as the season's most consistent performer, winning in Brazil and Belgium while leading the championship for much of the year. His smooth, cerebral driving style proved perfectly suited to the ground-effect Williams FW07C, and he arrived at the final round with a slender one-point advantage over Piquet. However, the Argentinian's enigmatic nature would prove his undoing at the most crucial moment. At the surreal Caesars Palace Grand Prix, held on a temporary circuit carved from a hotel parking lot, Reutemann qualified on pole but delivered a strangely lacklustre performance, braking inexplicably early to allow Piquet through before finishing a dismal eighth with gearbox troubles.
Piquet's championship triumph was built on three victories - Argentina, San Marino, and Germany - and remarkable consistency in Gordon Murray's nimble Brabham BT49C. The Brazilian suffered physical sickness from the extreme heat and counter-clockwise layout of the Las Vegas circuit, requiring a 90-minute massage from Sugar Ray Leonard's trainer to recover from terrible back pain. His fifth-place finish in the finale, while far from heroic, was enough to secure the title by one point. At just 28 years old, Piquet became Brazil's second World Champion after Emerson Fittipaldi.
Alan Jones provided the season's most bittersweet subplot, winning twice in his final season but growing increasingly frustrated with Formula 1's politics. His dominant victory in the Las Vegas finale - where he led from lights to flag while his teammate and rival fought for the championship behind him - served as a fitting farewell for one of the sport's toughest competitors. The defending champion finished third in the standings with 46 points, his two victories a reminder of what might have been had he maintained motivation for another title challenge.
The turbocharged revolution gathered momentum throughout 1981, with Renault, Ferrari, and briefly Toleman deploying turbo power. Renault's Alain Prost and René Arnoux won three races between them, showcasing the raw speed of forced induction even as reliability issues prevented a sustained championship challenge. Ferrari's switch to the turbocharged 126CK initially proved problematic, with the powerful but unwieldy car requiring Gilles Villeneuve's exceptional car control to extract results. The Canadian's heroic defensive driving, particularly at Monaco where he held off faster cars for 78 laps, demonstrated that racecraft could still triumph over raw power.
Ligier's Jacques Laffite remained a championship outsider throughout the season with two victories, while McLaren showed signs of recovery with John Watson winning from 17th on the grid at Silverstone in one of the great comeback drives. Lotus struggled to adapt to the era's aerodynamic demands, though Elio de Angelis's victory in Austria proved the team's fighting spirit remained intact.
The championship finale at Caesars Palace proved a fitting if bizarre conclusion to a fractious season. Drivers endured extreme heat, a counter-clockwise layout that strained their necks, and a bumpy parking lot surface that tested both machinery and endurance. The temporary venue would host one more Grand Prix in 1982 before being abandoned, its brief existence serving as a symbol of Formula 1's sometimes misguided attempts at American expansion.
Williams secured their second consecutive Constructors' Championship with 95 points, but the triumph was hollow given the civil war between their drivers and Jones's departure. The season established several lasting legacies: Piquet's emergence as a calculating, consistent champion; the terminal rift between Williams and their departing champion; and the clear signal that turbocharged engines represented Formula 1's future. Reutemann would never have another chance at the championship, retiring at season's end in one of racing's great what-if stories.