1981 Formula One Season Trivia Quiz

Answer: Alan Jones

Alan Jones was the 1980 Formula One World Champion, driving for the Williams-Ford team. Jones had joined Williams in 1978, and three years with other teams, including a fortuitous win in the 1977 Austrian Grand Prix for Shadow. Jones started winning regularly in 1979, when the team introduced the ground-effect Williams FW07, though it was Clay Regazzoni who actually won the first race for Williams at the 1979 British Grand Prix. For 1980, Jones was joined by Carlos Reutemann. Jones eventually won five races in 1980 and with a number of other strong finishes, and won the World Championship on 67 points.

Answer: True

Held on February 7th at Kyalami, the South African Grand Prix would eventually not be counted towards the 1981 World Championship due to the politics that were causing numerous problems within the sport. The race in South Africa was run by only the FOCA (Formula One Constructors Association - Williams, McLaren and other non-manufacturer backed) teams as the teams affiliated to FISA (Federation Internationale du Sport Automobile - manufacturers such as Ferrari, Renault etc) remained loyal to them.

The race was run as the 'World Federation of Motorsport' as the FOCA teams tried to establish a separate championship. However, the event was poorly attended and the media was not interested. This caused FOCA and FISA to quickly thrash out their differences for the first race in March.

Answer: Riccardo Patrese

Patrese stunned the field by taking pole by just .01 seconds from Alan Jones. It was the first pole position of his career and the only one Arrows would ever take in over 20 years in Formula One. Patrese also led for the first 25 laps and performed admirably in front of the two Williams-Fords, but an engine misfire caused his retirement on lap 33.

However, Patrese's disappointment in Long Beach was somewhat made better by two tremendous podiums in Brazil and Imola.

Answer: Toleman

Missing the first three Grand Prix to develop the car, the Toleman team, powered by a Hart turbocharged engine and with Derek Warwich and Brian Henton driving, arrived at the 1981 San Marino Grand Prix having swept all before them in the 1980 European Formula Two season.

However, the new Toleman TG181 was overweight and the Hart 415T was underpowered and both drivers struggled all year. Henton only qualified once, at the Italian Grand Prix, where he finished 10th, while Warwick would only qualify at the season ending Las Vegas Grand Prix, where he retired.

Answer: Nigel Mansell

Mansell had made his debut for Lotus in the 1980 Austrian Grand Prix, and Colin Chapman hired the Briton for the 1981 season. Four races in and with no points, Mansell arrived at the Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder needing a result. He eventually finished third in a race stopped at 75% distance due to heavy rain.

But the weekend proved tragic for organisers and drivers alike. A mechanic from the small Osella squad was killed after being struck by the Williams of Carlos Reutemann after he had stumbled off the pitwall. But, it was the incident in front of the TV camera's on Sunday which caused furore. Mechanics staged a protest over safety, causing the race to be delayed.

The organisation turned into a shambles, with some drivers stalling or vacating their seats. Caught up in this was Patrese, who waved his arms frantically when the lights went on. Mechanic Dave Luckett jumped over to restart his engine, the race was started and Patrese's team-mate Siegfried Stohr ran into the mechanic, breaking his leg. Stohr was tremendoulsy upset by this, thinking he had killed the mechanic, and was so badly affected he retied at season's end.

Answer: Monaco and Spanish Grand Prix

Ferrari had been struggling since their dominant 1979 Championship victory, with 1980 being bereft of success and the beginnings of 1981 were not much better for the Canadian driver. After getting his first points at the Belgian Grand prix, Villeneuve would not have expected much in either Monaco or Spain, with the Ferrari 126C characteristics preferring fast tracks rather than the short, twisty tracks in Monaco and Jarama.

But Villeneuve man-handled his Ferrari into places it should simply not have been.

He qualified second in Monaco, just behind Piquet, and pressured the Brazilian into spinning off and leaving everyone dumbfounded by winning by well over half a minute from the Williams-Ford of Alan Jones, lapping his teammate Didier Pironi in the process.

But it's his victory in Jarama that stands out. Qualifying 7th, Villeneuve made up places at the start and was eventually lying 2nd when the race leader Jones went off the track on lap 14. This left Villeneuve with Jacques Laffite, Carlos Reutemann, John Watson and Elio de Angelis on his tail. On the straights, the Ferrari could use the turbo to pull away, but in the corners the others were all over the Ferrari.

But Villeneuve used all his racing nous to hold them all off to lead home 'the train' and take his second victory of the season.

Answer: Dijon - Prenois

Renault had won their very first Formula One Grand Prix when Jean-Pierre Jabouille won the 1979 French Grand Prix, the first for the turbocharged engine. Prost had joined Renault for 1981 after a semi-successful debut in 1980 at McLaren. The turbocharged engines were still tremedously unreliable during these early years, and the season until the French Grand Prix had not been particularly successful.

But Renault had a habit of getting everything right in France, and although Rene Arnoux took pole in the sister car, Prost took the lead early on and was never headed to take his first (of 51) victories.

Answer: John Watson

John Watson, a veteran of Formula One by 1981, was in his third year with the McLaren Formula One team, who had been in the doldrums since James Hunt's Championship success in 1976. Things began to turn around for the team when Ron Dennis and his Project Four squad acquired the McLaren team with what was a fored takeover, primarily thanks to backers Marlboro, in 1980.

The innovative new chassis, designed by John Barnard, was constructed by Hercules Aerospace and was the first chassis to be constructed totally of carbon fibre, a constructive soon to become synonymous with Formula One construction.

The new car would help Watson survive a tremendous accident at the 1981 Italian Grand Prix, the new carbon fibre chassis proving much more resilient and helpful at saving a driver than the traditional methods of construction.

Answer: Matra

Matra had been an engine supplier and chassis constructor in their own right in the late 1960s, and had also supplied V12 engine to Ligier from 1976-78, with limited success. Matra returned for another crack at Formula One, once again linking with Ligier in 1981.

The V12 engine proved to be tremendously powerful, and surprisingly successful, attached to the Ligier chassis. Laffite took two victories in Austria and Canada, and a string of other great results helped the French driver and the French team to 4th overall in both Championships.

Answer: 4th

Elio de Angelis proved to be one of the most consistent drivers in 1981, often bringing his Lotus home in the points, with few retirements, a disqualification in Britain and a withdrawal at the San Marino Grand Prix (due to chassis legality issues). His highest position was fourth at the Italian Grand Prix, but de Angelis also finished fifth in Brazil, Belgium, Spain and Holland, with sixth place finishes in Argentina, France, and Canada, and also finished just out of the points in seventh in Germany and Austria.

Answer: 5

Osella had made their Formula One debut in 1980 but had proven to be fairly uncompetitive, the new Osella FA1 overweight and aerodynamically poor. The 1981 car was simply an update of the 1980 car and proved equally as useless. Beppe Gabbiani, with pockets full of cash, was hired to drive one car and competed in all 16 races, qualifying for only three.

The other car saw a merry-go-round of drivers. Miguel Angel Guerra was in the second car for the first four races, but a crash at the San Marino Grand Prix brought his short career to an end. Piercarlo Ghinzani was in for the next two races, primarily thanks to sponsorship, while Giorgio Francia raced for the team in Spain. Jean-Pierre Jarier came in from the British Grand Prix onwards, and although he managed to put the car on the grid every race, he failed to trouble the points positions.

Answer: Nelson Piquet

Nelson Piquet won the 1981 Formula One World Championship by 1 point from Carlos Reutemann after finishing fifth at the season ending Las Vegas Grand Prix, while Reutemann lost his head, finished eighth, and lost his best chance at a world title. Piquet had made his Formula One debut in 1978, and moved to Brabham in 1979, partnering Niki Lauda who soon retired. 1980 was a success for Piquet, winning three races and challenging Alan Jones for the Championship, falling short after two end of season retirements. 1981 was his first Championship success.

He won three races (Argentina, San Marino and Germany) but seven other points scoring finishes ensured Nelson finished on 50 points to Reutemanns 49. The 50 points Piquet won the title with was the least since Jochen Rindt posthumously won the 1970 World Championship with 45 (but that would be broken by Keke Rosberg's 44 points in 1982).

Answer: Williams

Williams, with Ford engines, won their second successive Constructor's Championship, after taking their first in 1980. The team finished on 95 points, thanks to four victories and a total of 13 podiums. Both drivers finished in the top three in the Drivers Championship, but both were beaten by Nelson Piquet. Alan Jones left Williams at the end of the 1981, initially into retirement before a short-lived return for Arrows in 1983. Reutemann was retained by Williams for 1982, and finished second at the season opening South African Grand Prix.

But a bust up with Frank Williams after the Brazilian Grand Prix led to Reutemann retiring from Formula One as well.

Answer: 21

21 drivers in 1981 managed to score at least one point, from World Champion Nelson Piquet on 50 points to the one point scored by Andrea de Cesaris (McLaren - first point in Formula One), Patrick Tambay (Theodore), Slim Borgudd (ATS - first and only point) and Eliseo Salazar (Ensign - first point).
Eddie Cheever (for Tyrrell) and Marc Surer (for Ensign) also scored their first points during the 1981 season.

Answer: Alan Jones

Consistency is key to winning a Formula One World Championship. Piquet, Reutemann and Laffite all managed to score seven podium finishes in 15 races, while Jones managed only six podiums - who knows, another win or podium could have won him the World Title as he only finished four points behind Piquet on 46 points. Prost would also score six podiums, like Jones, but early season unreliability cost him any realistic possibility of a Championship victory, although Prost eventually finished on 43 points.