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
Flag of France svg.png Alain Prost Flag of Italy svg.png Ferrari

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.

Ferrari would win the Manufacturers Championship after being locked in a heated rivalry with Renault throughout the season with the reigning champions Fittipaldi Automotive finishing 3rd with pundits speculating that they will slowly go down to the order in future seasons.

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 Flag of the United States svg.png 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 Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png 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 Flag of France svg.png Alain Prost Flag of France svg.png Alain Prost Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Nigel Mansell Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Lotus-Ford
5 Flag of San Marino svg.png San Marino Grand Prix Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari Flag of the United States svg.png Mario Andretti Flag of France svg.png Rene Arnoux Flag of France svg.png Alain Prost Flag of France svg.png Renault
6 Flag of Belgium svg.png Belgian Grand Prix Circuit Zolder Flag of France svg.png Alain Prost Flag of Canada svg.png Gilles Vileneuve Flag of France svg.png Alain Prost Flag of France svg.png Renault
7 Flag of Monaco svg.png Monaco Grand Prix Circuit de Monaco Flag of Australia svg.png Alan Jones Flag of the United States svg.png Mario Andretti Flag of the United States svg.png Mario Andretti Flag of Italy svg.png Ferrari
8 Flag of France svg.png French Grand Prix Dijon-Prenois Flag of Australia svg.png Alan Jones Flag of Finland svg.png Keke Rosberg Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Nigel Mansell Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Lotus-Ford
9 Flag of Spain svg.png Spanish Grand Prix Circuito del Jarama Flag of the United States svg.png Mario Andretti Flag of France svg.png Alain Prost Flag of France svg.png Alain Prost Flag of France svg.png Renault
10 Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png 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 Flag of France svg.png Alain Prost Flag of Brazil svg.png Nelson Piquet Flag of the United States svg.png 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 Flag of France svg.png Didier Pironi Flag of Australia svg.png Alan Jones Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Williams-Ford
13 Flag of Austria svg.png Austrian Grand Prix Osterreichring Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Nigel Mansell Flag of Italy svg.png Andrea de Cesaris Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Nigel Mansell Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Lotus-Ford
14 Flag of Italy svg.png Italian Grand Prix Autodromo Nazionale Monza Flag of Australia svg.png Alan Jones Flag of France svg.png Alain Prost Flag of Australia svg.png Alan Jones Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Williams-Ford
15 Flag of Canada svg.png Canadian Grand Prix Ile Notre-Dame Circuit - Montreal Flag of Finland svg.png Keke Rosberg Flag of the United States svg.png Mario Andretti Flag of Finland svg.png Keke Rosberg Flag of Brazil svg.png Fittipaldi-Ford
16 Flag of the United States svg.png Caesars Palace Grand Prix Caesars Palace Flag of France svg.png Jacques Laffite Flag of Canada svg.png Gilles Vileneuve Flag of France svg.png Jacques Laffite Flag of France svg.png 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
Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Ragno Arrows Beta Racing Team Arrows-Ford Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Michelin Icon.png 1 Flag of Italy svg.png Riccardo Patrese All
2 Flag of Switzerland svg.png Marc Surer All
Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Parmalat Racing Team Brabham-Ford Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Michelin Icon.png 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 Michelin Icon.png 5 Flag of Canada svg.png Gilles Vileneuve All
6 Flag of the United States svg.png Mario Andretti All
Flag of Brazil svg.png Fittipaldi Automotive Fittipaldi-Ford Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Michelin Icon.png 7 Flag of Finland svg.png Keke Rosberg All
8 Flag of Brazil svg.png Chico Serra All
Flag of France svg.png Equipe Talbot Gitanes Talbot Ligier-Matra Matra MS81 3.0 V12 Michelin Icon.png 9 Flag of France svg.png Jacques Laffite All
10 Flag of France svg.png Didier Pironi All
Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Team Essex Lotus Lotus-Ford Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Michelin Icon.png 11 Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Nigel Mansell All
12 Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Derek Warwick All
Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Marlboro Team McLaren McLaren-Ford Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Michelin Icon.png 13 Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png John Watson All
14 Flag of Italy svg.png Andrea de Cesaris All
Flag of France svg.png Elf Equipe Renault Renault Renault-Gordini EF1 1.5 V6 t Michelin Icon.png 15 Flag of France svg.png Alain Prost All
16 Flag of France svg.png Rene Arnoux All
Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Candy Team Tyrrell Tyrrell-Ford Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Michelin Icon.png 17 Flag of the United States svg.png Eddie Cheever All
18 Flag of Ireland svg.png Derek Daly All
Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Albilad Williams Racing Team Williams-Ford Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 Michelin Icon.png 19 Flag of Australia svg.png Alan Jones All
20 Flag of Argentina svg.png Carlos Reutemann All

Drivers Championship

Pos. Driver Points
1 Flag of France svg.png Alain Prost 51
2 Flag of the United States svg.png Mario Andretti 43
3 Flag of Canada svg.png Gilles Vileneuve 43
4 Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Nigel Mansell 41
5 Flag of Finland svg.png Keke Rosberg 39
6 Flag of France svg.png Jacques Laffite 34
7 Flag of Australia svg.png Alan Jones 22
8 Flag of Brazil svg.png Chico Serra 20
9 Flag of France svg.png Rene Arnoux 17
10 Flag of Argentina svg.png Carlos Reutemann 15
11 Flag of France svg.png Didier Pironi 13
12 Flag of Mexico svg.png Hector Rebaque 13
13 Flag of Brazil svg.png Nelson Piquet 11
14 Flag of the United States svg.png Eddie Cheever 10
15 Flag of Italy svg.png Andrea de Cesaris 10
16 Flag of Ireland svg.png Derek Daly 6
17 Flag of Switzerland svg.png Marc Surer 6
18 Flag of Italy svg.png Riccardo Patrese 3
19 Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png John Watson 2
20 Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Derek Warwick 1

Teams Championship

Pos. Driver Points
1 Flag of Italy svg.png Ferrari 86
2 Flag of France svg.png Renault 68
3 Flag of Brazil svg.png Fittipaldi-Ford 59
4 Flag of France svg.png Talbot Ligier-Matra 47
5 Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Lotus-Ford 42
6 Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Williams-Ford 37
7 Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Brabham-Ford 24
8 Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Tyrrell-Ford 16
9 Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png McLaren-Ford 12
10 Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Arrows-Ford 9
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