1981 Formula One World Championship
The 1981 South African Grand Prix, as a non-championship race due to difficulties from the ongoing FISA–FOCA war, was open to Formula One entrants but was not part of the World Championship.
The ongoing FISA–FOCA war resulted in Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA) insisting on a date change which was not acceptable to the race organisers.
The downgraded race was supported by the Formula One Constructors Association (FOCA) aligned teams but not by Ferrari, Ligier, Osella, Renault, or Alfa Romeo, whose allegiances lay with FISA.
The order at the front remained unchanged until lap 29 when Jarier went wide and dropped behind Marc Surer (Ensign) and Jacques Laffite (Talbot Ligier).
The top 10 was completed by Gilles Villeneuve (Ferrari), Keke Rosberg (Fittipaldi), Riccardo Patrese (Arrows) and Elio de Angelis in the Lotus.
Otherwise the entry list was little changed, although Tyrrell had replaced Ricardo Zunino with a rising star called Michele Alboreto who brought much-needed backing for the team from a local ceramics company.
News had emerged on Friday that the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen had been cancelled, although this was seen as predictable, given the historic circuit's financial troubles.
Nelson Piquet was fifth and Ferrari's Didier Pironi sixth while the top 10 was completed by John Watson (in the new McLaren MP4/1 - being raced for the first time), Jones, Patrese, and Laffite.
At the back of the field there was a nasty accident when F1 debutante Miguel Angel Guerra had a moment in Tosa corner and was then hit by Eliseo Salazar's March.
While Guerra was being released from his car the two Ferraris ran away from the rest of the field with Reutemann third, having driven into his teammate Jones to stop the Australian taking third on the first lap.
Politics dominated this event; Gordon Murray's hydraulic suspension gave his Brabhams a considerable performance advantage, and the teams had been heavily protesting the system's legality within the revised rules for the season.
But the tragedy started with Carlos Reutemann accidentally running over an Osella mechanic, Giovanni Amadeo, who died of a fractured skull the Monday after the race.
A further six were lost in qualifying with Hector Rebaque (Brabham), Rosberg and Chico Serra (Fittipaldi), Jabouille, and the two Osellas (Piercarlo Ghinzani and Beppe Gabbiani) all going home early.
At the front of the grid Piquet was on pole in his Brabham with Villeneuve a remarkable second in this near downforce-absent Ferrari and an impressive Mansell third in the new Lotus 87, which made its first appearance.
The young Englishman disappeared early on with a suspension problem and Reutemann went out with gearbox trouble and Jones moved up ahead of Villeneuve and began to pressure Piquet for the lead.
Villeneuve, Jacques Laffite, John Watson, Reutemann and Elio de Angelis remained locked together right to the flag, crossing the line covered by just 1.24s to record the second closest race in the history of F1 at the time.
However, Jabouille had decided to retire as he was no longer competitive as a result of the leg injuries he had suffered in Canada in 1980 and so Tambay became the second Talbot Ligier driver.
The field was almost the same as at Dijon two weeks earlier except that Jean-Pierre Jarier had been hired to drive for Osella in place of Miguel Angel Guerra.
On the 17th lap Prost's engine blew but Arnoux remained firmly ahead with Watson second, Reutemann third, Andretti fourth, Patrese fifth and Hector Rebaque (Brabham) sixth.
This meant that the final order was Watson taking victory, with Reutemann, Laffite, Eddie Cheever (Tyrrell), Rebaque and Slim Borgudd (ATS) rounding out the points.
Pironi was fifth in his Ferrari, and Piquet was sixth in his Brabham (apparently without any problems from his Silverstone accident), while the top 10 was completed by Laffite, Villeneuve, and the two McLarens of Watson and de Cesaris.
Halfway around the second lap Pironi disappeared with a blown engine, with Prost leading over Reutemann, Jones, Piquet, Laffite, Villeneuve and Patrick Tambay (Talbot Ligier).
With Austria's extra altitude the turbocharged cars were at an advantage, so Arnoux and Prost put their Renaults on the front row with Villeneuve's Ferrari third.
Pironi's Ferrari was quicker in the straights but the car's severe lack of downforce compared to the others meant it was noticeably slower through the Österreichring's high-speed sweepers.
At the start Prost and Arnoux went into Tarzan ahead but behind them Gilles Villeneuve tried to make up for his poor qualifying and charged through a gap between Patrese and Bruno Giacomelli's Alfa Romeo.
Laffite was fourth in his Ligier and he was clear of Jones, who had arrived in Italy after being physically beaten up by 5 men in London; and Piquet while the top 10 was completed by Watson, Pironi and Villeneuve in the powerful but evil-handling Ferraris and Giacomelli's Alfa Romeo.
The event was significant in that it marked the first start for the Toleman team, Brian Henton having finally qualified one of the Toleman-Hart cars in 23rd position on the grid after a season of disappointment.
this put Piquet into third place behind Prost and Jones and it looked like staying that way until the last lap when his engine blew, which allowed Reutemann, de Angelis and Pironi to pass him.
[13] Third on the grid was Gilles Villeneuve in the Ferrari, with Reutemann's title rival Nelson Piquet fourth, Alain Prost fifth in his Renault and John Watson sixth in the McLaren.
Although not a part of the World Championship, the 1981 South African Grand Prix attracted high-calibre drivers and cars and was won by Carlos Reutemann in a Williams.
