1981 Elite Racing League season

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Non-canon.png All information on this page is not part of canon.

1981 Elite Racing League season
Previous: 1980 Next: 1982
Drivers Champion Manufacturers Champion
Template:FRA Alain Prost TBD

The 1981 Elite Racing League season was the 22nd season of the FIA's Formula One motor racing support series (the series would remain a support series until 1997.) The Drivers Championship would be won by future F1 legend Alain Prost who won the title at the Canadian Grand Prix after rivals Gilles Vileneuve retired on the first lap through reliability issues and Nigel Mansell only finishing 6th in the race.

This year would be the second of the F1/ERL merge.


Season Review

  • The Belgian Grand Prix debuted at Circuit Zolder
  • The Brazilian Grand Prix moved to the Autódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet for the first time.
  • The British Grand Prix returned to Silverstone after a year's absence.
  • The Caesars Palace Grand Prix was added as a replacement for the cancelled United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, the race was held at the Caesars Palace parking lot in Las Vegas. It was the first time that a race was held at Caesars Palace and was a joint F1-ERL contract.
  • The French Grand Prix moved from Circuit to Paul Ricard to Dijon-Prenois for a year in a move to see if the ERL could also strike an F1-esque deal with the track.
  • The Italian Grand Prix moved back to Monza
  • The San Marino Grand Prix was run for the first time in 1981.

South African Grand Prix controversy

Despite the ongoing dispute between the FIA and FOCA, the ERL still ran it's South Africa round as a championship event despite protests not to by team members in a politically inspired stunt to tell people that they were different to F1 - they did this by having the race two weeks after the California round.

Rnd Race Circuit Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Constructor
1 Template:USA California Grand Prix Long Beach Street Circuit Flag of Canada svg.png Gilles Vileneuve Flag of Finland svg.png Keke Rosberg Flag of Finland svg.png Keke Rosberg Flag of Brazil svg.png Fittipaldi-Ford
2 Flag of South Africa svg.png South African Grand Prix Kyalami Circuit Flag of Canada svg.png Gilles Vileneuve Flag of Brazil svg.png Nelson Piquet Flag of Canada svg.png Gilles Vileneuve Flag of Italy svg.png Ferrari
3 Flag of Argentina svg.png Argentine Grand Prix Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez Template:GBR Nigel Mansell Flag of Canada svg.png Gilles Vileneuve Flag of Finland svg.png Keke Rosberg Flag of Brazil svg.png Fittipaldi-Ford
4 Flag of Brazil svg.png Brazilian Grand Prix Autódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet Template:FRA Alain Prost Template:FRA Alain Prost Template:GBR Nigel Mansell Template:GBR Lotus-Ford
5 Flag of San Marino svg.png San Marino Grand Prix Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari Template:USA Mario Andretti Template:FRA Rene Arnoux Template:FRA Alain Prost Template:FRA Renault
6 Template:BEL Belgian Grand Prix Circuit Zolder Template:FRA Alain Prost Flag of Canada svg.png Gilles Vileneuve Template:FRA Alain Prost Template:FRA Renault
7 Flag of Monaco svg.png Monaco Grand Prix Circuit de Monaco Template:AUS Alan Jones Template:USA Mario Andretti Template:USA Mario Andretti Flag of Italy svg.png Ferrari
8 Template:FRA French Grand Prix Dijon-Prenois Template:AUS Alan Jones Flag of Finland svg.png Keke Rosberg Template:GBR Nigel Mansell Template:GBR Lotus-Ford
9 Flag of Spain svg.png Spanish Grand Prix Circuito del Jarama Template:USA Mario Andretti Template:FRA Alain Prost Template:FRA Alain Prost Template:FRA Renault
10 Template:GBR British Grand Prix Silverstone Circuit Flag of Canada svg.png Gilles Vileneuve Flag of Canada svg.png Gilles Vileneuve Flag of Canada svg.png Gilles Vileneuve Flag of Italy svg.png Ferrari
11 Flag of the Netherlands svg.png Dutch Grand Prix Circuit Zandvoort Template:FRA Alain Prost Flag of Brazil svg.png Nelson Piquet Template:USA Mario Andretti Flag of Italy svg.png Ferrari
12 Flag of Germany svg.png German Grand Prix Hockenheimring Flag of Finland svg.png Keke Rosberg Template:FRA Didier Pironi Template:AUS Alan Jones Template:GBR Williams-Ford
13 Template:AUT Austrian Grand Prix Osterreichring Template:GBR Nigel Mansell Flag of Italy svg.png Andrea de Cesaris Template:GBR Nigel Mansell Template:GBR Lotus-Ford
14 Flag of Italy svg.png Italian Grand Prix Autodromo Nazionale Monza Template:AUS Alan Jones Template:FRA Alain Prost Template:AUS Alan Jones Template:GBR Williams-Ford
15 Flag of Canada svg.png Canadian Grand Prix Ile Notre-Dame Circuit - Montreal Flag of Finland svg.png Keke Rosberg Template:USA Mario Andretti Flag of Finland svg.png Keke Rosberg Flag of Brazil svg.png Fittipaldi-Ford
16 Template:USA Caesars Palace Grand Prix Caesars Palace Template:FRA Jacques Laffite Flag of Canada svg.png Gilles Vileneuve Template:FRA Jacques Laffite Template:FRA Talbot Ligier-Matra

Teams and Drivers

  • Matra made its constructor debut supplying the Talbot Ligier team with engines.
  • Due to the joint F1 contract system - future world champions Alain Prost, Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell appeared on the grid this season
  • Ensign and Osella withdrew their one car entries from this season due to money issues.
  • Michelin became the only tyre supplier for the series.
Team Constructor Engine Tyres # Driver Rounds
Template:GBR Ragno Arrows Beta Racing Team Arrows-Ford Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Template:Michelin 1 Flag of Italy svg.png Riccardo Patrese All
2 Template:SUI Marc Surer All
Template:GBR Parmalat Racing Team Brabham-Ford Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Template:Michelin 3 Flag of Brazil svg.png Nelson Piquet All
4 Flag of Mexico svg.png Hector Rebaque All
Flag of Italy svg.png Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari Ferrari 015 3.0 F12 Template:Michelin 5 Flag of Canada svg.png Gilles Vileneuve All
6 Template:USA Mario Andretti All
Flag of Brazil svg.png Fittipaldi Automotive Fittipaldi-Ford Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Template:Michelin 7 Flag of Finland svg.png Keke Rosberg All
8 Flag of Brazil svg.png Chico Serra All
Template:FRA Equipe Talbot Gitanes Talbot Ligier-Matra Matra MS81 3.0 V12 Template:Michelin 9 Template:FRA Jacques Laffite All
10 Template:FRA Didier Pironi All
Template:GBR Team Essex Lotus Lotus-Ford Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Template:Michelin 11 Template:GBR 90 MANSELL All
12 Template:GBR Derek Warwick All
Template:GBR Marlboro Team McLaren McLaren-Ford Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Template:Michelin 13 Template:GBR John Watson All
14 Flag of Italy svg.png Andrea de Cesaris All
Template:FRA Elf Equipe Renault Renault Renault-Gordini EF1 1.5 V6 t Template:Michelin 15 Template:FRA Alain Prost All
16 Template:FRA Rene Arnoux All
Template:GBR Candy Team Tyrrell Tyrrell-Ford Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Template:Michelin 17 Template:USA Eddie Cheever All
18 Flag of Ireland svg.png Derek Daly All
Template:GBR Albilad Williams Racing Team Williams-Ford Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Template:Michelin 19 Template:AUS Alan Jones All
20 Flag of Argentina svg.png Carlos Reutemann All

Drivers Championship

  • Following the 1981 Canadian Grand Prix Flag of Canada svg.png
Pos. Driver Points
1 Template:FRA Alain Prost 51
2 Template:GBR Nigel Mansell 41
3 Flag of Finland svg.png Keke Rosberg 39
4 Template:USA Mario Andretti 39
5 Flag of Canada svg.png Gilles Vileneuve 37
6 Template:FRA Jacques Laffite 25
7 Template:AUS Alan Jones 22
8 Flag of Brazil svg.png Chico Serra 20
9 Template:FRA Rene Arnoux 17
10 Flag of Argentina svg.png Carlos Reutemann 15
11 Flag of Mexico svg.png Hector Rebaque 13
12 Flag of Brazil svg.png Nelson Piquet 11
13 Flag of Italy svg.png Andrea de Cesaris 10
14 Template:FRA Didier Pironi 10
15 Template:USA Eddie Cheever 8
16 Flag of Ireland svg.png Derek Daly 6
17 Template:SUI Marc Surer 5
18 Flag of Italy svg.png Riccardo Patrese 3
19 Template:GBR John Watson 2
20 Template:GBR Derek Warwick 1

Teams Championship

  • Following the 1981 Canadian Grand Prix Flag of Canada svg.png
Pos. Driver Points
1 Flag of Italy svg.png Ferrari 76
2 Template:FRA Renault 68
3 Flag of Brazil svg.png Fittipaldi-Ford 59
4 Template:GBR Lotus-Ford 42
5 Template:GBR Williams-Ford 37
6 Template:FRA Talbot Ligier-Matra 35
7 Template:GBR Brabham-Ford 24
8 Template:GBR Tyrrell-Ford 14
9 Template:GBR McLaren-Ford 12
10 Template:GBR Arrows-Ford 8