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The 1981 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 35th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1981 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1981 Formula One World Championship for Manufacturers, which were contested over a fifteen-race series that commenced on 15 March and ended on 17 October. 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.[1]
The 1981 championship was the first to be run under the FIA Formula One World Championship name,[2] replacing both the original World Championship of Drivers and International Cup for Constructors. Under the influence of Brabham team owner Bernie Ecclestone and the FOCA organisation, teams were asked to sign the first Concorde Agreement, which would set Formula One on course to become a profitable business.[3] The agreement required teams to lodge entries for the entire championship rather than individual races, while the FIA would also set the prize money.[2] A standardised set of rules would be in place at every race and, from 1982 on, the entrants had to own the intellectual rights to the chassis that they entered, as such the distinction between the terms "entrant" and "constructor", and hence also "team", have become less pronounced.[a]
Nelson Piquet won the Drivers' Championship, claiming the first of his three drivers' titles, while Williams won the Constructors' Championship for the second consecutive year.
Drivers and constructors
Avon and Pirelli entered the sport as tyre manufacturers.
The following teams and drivers contested the 1981 FIA Formula One World Championship:
