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{{Infobox Grand Prix race report
|Type = F1
|Country = United States
|Grand Prix = United States
|GP_Suffix = Grand Prix West
|Official name = Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
|Fulldate = March 15, 1981
|Year = 1981
|Image = Long Beach 1978-1981.png
|Race_No = 1
|Season_No = 15
|Location = [[Long Beach, California]]
|Course = Temporary street course
|Course_mi = 2.02
|Course_km = 3.251
|Distance_laps = 80
|Distance_mi = 161.60
|Distance_km = 260.08
|Weather = Sunny and warm with temperatures reaching up to {{convert|71.1|F|C}}; wind speeds approaching {{convert|10.9|mph|km/h}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://m.almanac.com/weather/history/CA/Long%20Beach/1981-03-15|title=Weather information for the "1981 United States Grand Prix West"|publisher=The Old Farmers' Almanac|access-date=September 9, 2014|archive-date=May 30, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200530101140/https://www.almanac.com/weather/history/CA/Long%20Beach/1981-03-15|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|Pole_Driver = {{flagicon|Italy}} [[Riccardo Patrese]]
|Pole_Team = [[Arrows Grand Prix International|Arrows]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
|Pole_Time = 1:19.399
|Fast_Driver = {{flagicon|Australia}} [[Alan Jones (racing driver)|Alan Jones]]
|Fast_Team = [[WilliamsF1|Williams]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
|Fast_Time = 1:20.901
|Fast_Lap = 31
|First_Driver = {{flagicon|Australia}} [[Alan Jones (racing driver)|Alan Jones]]
|First_Team = [[WilliamsF1|Williams]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
|Second_Driver = {{flagicon|Argentina}} [[Carlos Reutemann]]
|Second_Team = [[WilliamsF1|Williams]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
|Third_Driver = {{flagicon|Brazil|1968}} [[Nelson Piquet]]
|Third_Team = [[Brabham]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
|Lapchart = {{F1Laps1981|USW}}
}}

The '''1981 United States Grand Prix West''' (officially the '''Toyota [[Grand Prix of Long Beach]]'''<ref>{{cite web |title=1981 Formula 1 World Championship Programmes |url=http://www.progcovers.com/motor/f11981.html |website=The Programme Covers Project}}</ref>) was a [[Formula One]] motor race held on March 15, 1981, at [[Long Beach, California]]. It was the opening race of the [[1981 Formula One World Championship]].

==Summary==
Defending World Champion [[Alan Jones (racing driver)|Alan Jones]] finished nine seconds ahead of teammate [[Carlos Reutemann]], and won his first Long Beach Grand Prix, as the 1981 season finally began after a winter of controversy and legal battles. It was the third consecutive Grand Prix win for Jones, and his second consecutive in the United States, after seizing the 1980 Drivers' title with season-ending wins in [[1980 Canadian Grand Prix|Montreal, Canada]] and [[1980 United States Grand Prix|Watkins Glen, New York]].

The off-season had seen FISA (La Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile) and FOCA (the [[Formula One Constructors' Association]]) in conflict, ostensibly over FISA's scheduled ban of aerodynamic skirts on the cars, but also over financial control of the sport. After threatening to institute their own championship, FOCA agreed to the skirt ban on assurance of their continued control of the sport's finances and FISA's commitment to a four-year period of stability in the rules. Just 10 days prior to the season-opening race in Long Beach, the Concorde Agreement was signed in Paris, allowing all of the teams to appear.

In the meantime, the South African race, run in February under FOCA's pre-agreement version of the rules, had been deprived of its World Championship status by the dispute, and the Argentine race, originally scheduled in January, was moved to April.

In addition to the new rules, [[Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company|Goodyear]] announced in December that it intended to withdraw immediately from all involvement in European racing. So, when the teams arrived in Long Beach for the first Championship race of the season, the Friday morning practice sessions were filled with frantic activity. Larger wings, softer springs and revised sidepods were in evidence for nearly everyone, trying to make up for the absence of the banned skirts. With all teams also using [[Michelin]] tires as well, many drivers were struggling to come to grips with a totally new set of challenges.

When the teams arrived in the [[Los Angeles]] area town of Long Beach, the demanding and tight street circuit had been slightly modified from the year before- the second left-hander on Pine Avenue had been made a single-apex corner instead of a double-apex.

On Saturday, yet another legal issue arose over the new twin-chassis [[Lotus 88]], designed by [[Colin Chapman]] and Martin Ogilvie. A protest was lodged by a majority of the teams, although they did not specify what rules it was breaking. The car was initially approved by the FISA technical staff and passed by the scrutineers, allowing it to take part in Friday practice. Ultimately, however, the teams' appeal was allowed, the car was banned from the rest of the weekend and [[Team Lotus|Lotus]] had to qualify and race the more conventional Lotus 81.

On the track, in final qualifying, [[Riccardo Patrese]] and Alan Jones traded the top spot back and forth several times during the session. Patrese finally managed to take the pole, clinching his first ever and the first (and only) for his Arrows team, by .01 seconds. Jones's [[WilliamsF1|Williams]] teammate Reutemann was third, followed by [[Nelson Piquet]]'s [[Brabham]], the [[Scuderia Ferrari|Ferrari]] of [[Gilles Villeneuve]] and [[Mario Andretti]] in his first race for [[Alfa Romeo (Formula One)|Alfa Romeo]]. The all-American [[Tyrrell Racing|Tyrrell]] driver team had [[Eddie Cheever]] in eighth place, but [[Kevin Cogan]] missed the final qualifying spot by .07 seconds. It was the first time a Tyrrell had ever failed to make the grid.

Sunday's weather, typical of Long Beach was perfect, but the first lap was not. Villeneuve made a wild charge down the outside off the grid and briefly took the lead, but he left his braking for the Queens Hairpin far too late. As he went wide, Patrese and the Williams pair of Reutemann and Jones all went through. Villeneuve was able to gather it in and rejoin in fourth, but [[Andrea de Cesaris]] did not, as he ran his [[McLaren (racing)|McLaren]] into the back of both [[Alain Prost]] and [[Héctor Rebaque]] approaching the hairpin. After being hit, Prost's [[Renault F1|Renault]] slid across the track and shoved the Brabham of Rebaque into the wall. Prost and de Cesaris were out on the spot, but Rebaque was able to continue after pitting for four new tires. After one lap, the order was Patrese, Reutemann, Jones, Villeneuve, Piquet, [[Didier Pironi]], Cheever and Andretti.

For the first part of the race, Patrese led Reutemann by around one second with Jones another three seconds behind. Then, almost the length of the pit straight back, was Pironi, who had traded places with Villeneuve (fifth and third) but was now holding up a line of cars as Piquet desperately tried to get by.

Lap 17 was a bad one for Ferrari as Piquet finally passed Pironi for fourth, and Villeneuve retired with a broken driveshaft. On lap 25, Reutemann took the lead from Patrese just a lap before Patrese pitted with a misfiring engine. He rejoined the race with a new spark box, but after two more stops for the same problem, finally retired with a broken fuel pickup.

Patrese's retirement left Reutemann with a three-second lead over teammate Jones, who immediately began closing the gap by half a second per lap. Any questions about team orders letting the number one driver through were soon answered. On lap 32, while lapping [[Marc Surer]]'s [[Ensign (racing team)|Ensign]], Reutemann slid wide in the esses on Pine Avenue, and Jones went through for the lead. Within 12 laps, the defending World Champion had stretched out a lead of ten seconds. At the same time, Reutemann was extending his lead over Piquet to 36 seconds.

On lap 41, [[Jacques Laffite]] tried to go by Cheever as they entered the right-hander after the pits. Instead, he ran into the back of the Tyrrell, bending the nose of his Ligier and damaging Cheever's gearbox. Laffite had to limp around the entire course, and as he was finally about to enter the pits, [[Bruno Giacomelli]] approached, with [[Jan Lammers]] between the two of them. Giacomelli started to pass both cars on the inside, but realized he couldn't when Laffite turned to enter the pit lane. Giacomelli tried to go around Lammers on the other side, but it was too late. He ran over Lammers's [[ATS (wheels)|ATS]], pushing him into the wall.

Laffite's retirement interrupted an extended battle with Pironi, Cheever and Andretti for fourth place. Andretti passed Cheever for fifth on lap 43, then traded fourth several times with Pironi, before finally taking the position for good on lap 54. Pironi's Ferrari had developed a fuel feed problem and Cheever was also able to go by to take fifth. In making the pass, however, he lost his damaged second gear, by far the one most used on the tight street circuit.

The positions remained the same for the last quarter of the race with Jones and Reutemann easing up to take the third consecutive one-two for Williams. Piquet, having lost his shot at the leaders while bottled up behind Pironi, finished third, 35 seconds back. Mario Andretti thrilled the American crowd with his fourth place, just ahead of compatriot Eddie Cheever's Tyrrell in fifth. It was the first time for two Americans to finish in the points since Andretti and [[Mark Donohue]] at the [[1975 Swedish Grand Prix]].

==Classification==
===Qualifying===
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 95%;"
|-
! Pos !! No !! Driver !! Constructor !! Q1 !! Q2 !! Gap
|-
! 1
| 29
| {{flagicon|Italy}} [[Riccardo Patrese]]
| [[Arrows Grand Prix International|Arrows]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
| 1:21.983
| '''1:19.399'''
| style="text-align: center" | —
|-
! 2
| 1
| {{flagicon|Australia}} [[Alan Jones (racing driver)|Alan Jones]]
| [[WilliamsF1|Williams]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
| 1:20.911
| '''1:19.408'''
| +0.009
|-
! 3
| 2
| {{flagicon|Argentina}} [[Carlos Reutemann]]
| [[WilliamsF1|Williams]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
| 1:21.739
| '''1:20.149'''
| +0.750
|-
! 4
| 5
| {{flagicon|Brazil|1968}} [[Nelson Piquet]]
| [[Brabham]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
| 1:22.675
| '''1:20.289'''
| +0.890
|-
! 5
| 27
| {{flagicon|Canada}} [[Gilles Villeneuve]]
| [[Scuderia Ferrari|Ferrari]]
| 1:21.723
| '''1:20.462'''
| +1.063
|-
! 6
| 22
| {{flagicon|USA}} [[Mario Andretti]]
| [[Alfa Romeo (Formula One)|Alfa Romeo]]
| 1:22.020
| '''1:20.476'''
| +1.077
|-
! 7
| 12
| {{flagicon|UK}} [[Nigel Mansell]]
| [[Team Lotus|Lotus]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
| 1:22.461
| '''1:20.573'''
| +1.174
|-
! 8
| 3
| {{flagicon|USA}} [[Eddie Cheever]]
| [[Tyrrell Racing|Tyrrell]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
| 1:22.992
| '''1:20.643'''
| +1.244
|-
! 9
| 23
| {{flagicon|Italy}} [[Bruno Giacomelli]]
| [[Alfa Romeo (Formula One)|Alfa Romeo]]
| 1:22.592
| '''1:20.664'''
| +1.265
|-
! 10
| 25
| {{flagicon|France}} [[Jean-Pierre Jarier]]
| [[Equipe Ligier|Ligier]]-[[Equipe Matra Sports|Matra]]
| 1:21.722
| '''1:20.787'''
| +1.388
|-
! 11
| 28
| {{flagicon|France}} [[Didier Pironi]]
| [[Scuderia Ferrari|Ferrari]]
| 1:21.828
| '''1:20.909'''
| +1.510
|-
! 12
| 26
| {{flagicon|France}} [[Jacques Laffite]]
| [[Equipe Ligier|Ligier]]-[[Equipe Matra Sports|Matra]]
| 1:23.140
| '''1:20.925'''
| +1.526
|-
! 13
| 11
| {{flagicon|Italy}} [[Elio de Angelis]]
| [[Team Lotus|Lotus]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
| 1:22.380
| '''1:20.928'''
| +1.529
|-
! 14
| 15
| {{flagicon|France}} [[Alain Prost]]
| [[Renault F1|Renault]]
| 1:23.049
| '''1:20.980'''
| +1.581
|-
! 15
| 6
| {{flagicon|Mexico}} [[Héctor Rebaque]]
| [[Brabham]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
| 1:23.298
| '''1:21.000'''
| +1.601
|-
! 16
| 20
| {{flagicon|Finland}} [[Keke Rosberg]]
| [[Fittipaldi Automotive|Fittipaldi]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
| 1:23.356
| '''1:21.001'''
| +1.602
|-
! 17
| 33
| {{flagicon|France}} [[Patrick Tambay]]
| [[Theodore (Formula One)|Theodore]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
| 1:23.373
| '''1:21.298'''
| +1.899
|-
! 18
| 21
| {{flagicon|Brazil|1968}} [[Chico Serra]]
| [[Fittipaldi Automotive|Fittipaldi]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
| 1:26.730
| '''1:21.409'''
| +2.010
|-
! 19
| 14
| {{flagicon|Switzerland}} [[Marc Surer]]
| [[Ensign (racing team)|Ensign]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
| 1:28.045
| '''1:21.522'''
| +2.123
|-
! 20
| 16
| {{flagicon|France}} [[René Arnoux]]
| [[Renault F1|Renault]]
| 1:23.363
| '''1:21.540'''
| +2.141
|-
! 21
| 9
| {{flagicon|Netherlands}} [[Jan Lammers]]
| [[ATS (wheels)|ATS]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
| 1:23.802
| '''1:21.758'''
| +2.359
|-
! 22
| 8
| {{flagicon|Italy}} [[Andrea de Cesaris]]
| [[McLaren (racing)|McLaren]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
| 1:23.728
| '''1:22.028'''
| +2.629
|-
! 23
| 7
| {{flagicon|UK}} [[John Watson (racing driver)|John Watson]]
| [[McLaren (racing)|McLaren]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
| 1:26.419
| '''1:22.183'''
| +2.784
|-
! 24
| 32
| {{flagicon|Italy}} [[Beppe Gabbiani]]
| [[Osella]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
| 1:24.032
| '''1:22.213'''
| +2.814
|-
! 25
| 4
| {{flagicon|USA}} [[Kevin Cogan]]
| [[Tyrrell Racing|Tyrrell]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
| 1:25.164
| '''1:22.284'''
| +2.885
|-
! 26
| 17
| {{flagicon|Ireland}} [[Derek Daly]]
| [[March Engineering|March]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
| 1:25.017
| '''1:22.356'''
| +2.957
|-
! 27
| 31
| {{flagicon|Argentina}} [[Miguel Angel Guerra]]
| [[Osella]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
| 1:25.190
| '''1:22.673'''
| +3.274
|-
! 28
| 30
| {{flagicon|Italy}} [[Siegfried Stohr]]
| [[Arrows Grand Prix International|Arrows]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
| '''1:23.504'''
| no time
| +4.105
|-
! 29
| 18
| {{flagicon|Chile}} [[Eliseo Salazar]]
| [[March Engineering|March]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
| 1:26.074
| '''1:24.383'''
| +4.984
|-
!colspan="7" style="text-align: center"|Source: <ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Hamilton |editor-first=Maurice |title=[[AUTOCOURSE]] 1981–82 |publisher=Hazleton Publishing Ltd |year=1981 |pages=90 |isbn=0-905138-17-1}}</ref>
|}

=== Race ===
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
|-
! Pos !! No !! Driver !! Constructor !! Laps !! Time/Retired !! Grid !! Points
|-
! 1
| 1
| {{flagicon|Australia}} '''[[Alan Jones (racing driver)|Alan Jones]]'''
| '''[[WilliamsF1|Williams]]'''-'''[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]'''
| 80
| 1:50:41.33
| 2
| '''9'''
|-
! 2
| 2
| {{flagicon|Argentina}} '''[[Carlos Reutemann]]'''
| '''[[WilliamsF1|Williams]]'''-'''[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]'''
| 80
| + 9.19
| 3
| '''6'''
|-
! 3
| 5
| {{flagicon|Brazil|1968}} '''[[Nelson Piquet]]'''
| '''[[Brabham]]'''-'''[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]'''
| 80
| + 34.92
| 4
| '''4'''
|-
! 4
| 22
| {{flagicon|USA}} '''[[Mario Andretti]]'''
| '''[[Alfa Romeo (Formula One)|Alfa Romeo]]'''
| 80
| + 49.31
| 6
| '''3'''
|-
! 5
| 3
| {{flagicon|USA}} '''[[Eddie Cheever]]'''
| '''[[Tyrrell Racing|Tyrrell]]'''-'''[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]'''
| 80
| + 1:06.70
| 8
| '''2'''
|-
! 6
| 33
| {{flagicon|France}} '''[[Patrick Tambay]]'''
| '''[[Theodore (Formula One)|Theodore]]'''-'''[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]'''
| 79
| + 1 Lap
| 17
| '''1'''
|-
! 7
| 21
| {{flagicon|Brazil|1968}} [[Chico Serra]]
| [[Fittipaldi Automotive|Fittipaldi]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
| 78
| + 2 Laps
| 18
|  
|-
! 8
| 16
| {{flagicon|France}} [[René Arnoux]]
| [[Renault F1|Renault]]
| 77
| + 3 Laps
| 20
|  
|-
! Ret
| 14
| {{flagicon|Switzerland}} [[Marc Surer]]
| [[Ensign (racing team)|Ensign]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
| 70
| Fuel System
| 19
|  
|-
! Ret
| 28
| {{flagicon|France}} [[Didier Pironi]]
| [[Scuderia Ferrari|Ferrari]]
| 67
| Fuel System
| 11
|  
|-
! Ret
| 25
| {{flagicon|France}} [[Jean-Pierre Jarier]]
| [[Equipe Ligier|Ligier]]-[[Equipe Matra Sports|Matra]]
| 64
| Fuel Pump
| 10
|  
|-
! Ret
| 6
| {{flagicon|Mexico}} [[Héctor Rebaque]]
| [[Brabham]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
| 49
| Accident
| 15
|  
|-
! Ret
| 23
| {{flagicon|Italy}} [[Bruno Giacomelli]]
| [[Alfa Romeo (Formula One)|Alfa Romeo]]
| 41
| Collision
| 9
|  
|-
! Ret
| 26
| {{flagicon|France}} [[Jacques Laffite]]
| [[Equipe Ligier|Ligier]]-[[Equipe Matra Sports|Matra]]
| 41
| Collision
| 12
|  
|-
! Ret
| 20
| {{flagicon|Finland}} [[Keke Rosberg]]
| [[Fittipaldi Automotive|Fittipaldi]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
| 41
| Engine
| 16
|  
|-
! Ret
| 9
| {{flagicon|Netherlands}} [[Jan Lammers]]
| [[ATS (wheels)|ATS]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
| 41
| Collision
| 21
|  
|-
! Ret
| 29
| {{flagicon|Italy}} [[Riccardo Patrese]]
| [[Arrows Grand Prix International|Arrows]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
| 33
| Fuel System
| 1
|  
|-
! Ret
| 32
| {{flagicon|Italy}} [[Beppe Gabbiani]]
| [[Osella]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
| 26
| Accident
| 24
|  
|-
! Ret
| 12
| {{flagicon|UK}} [[Nigel Mansell]]
| [[Team Lotus|Lotus]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
| 25
| Accident
| 7
|  
|-
! Ret
| 27
| {{flagicon|Canada}} [[Gilles Villeneuve]]
| [[Scuderia Ferrari|Ferrari]]
| 17
| Halfshaft
| 5
|  
|-
! Ret
| 7
| {{flagicon|UK}} [[John Watson (racing driver)|John Watson]]
| [[McLaren (racing)|McLaren]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
| 16
| Brakes
| 23
|  
|-
! Ret
| 11
| {{flagicon|Italy}} [[Elio de Angelis]]
| [[Team Lotus|Lotus]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
| 13
| Accident
| 13
|  
|-
! Ret
| 15
| {{flagicon|France}} [[Alain Prost]]
| [[Renault F1|Renault]]
| 0
| Collision
| 14
|  
|-
! Ret
| 8
| {{flagicon|Italy}} [[Andrea de Cesaris]]
| [[McLaren (racing)|McLaren]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
| 0
| Collision
| 22
|  
|-
! DNQ
| 4
| {{flagicon|USA}} [[Kevin Cogan]]
| [[Tyrrell Racing|Tyrrell]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
|  
|  
|
|  
|-
! DNQ
| 17
| {{flagicon|Ireland}} [[Derek Daly]]
| [[March Engineering|March]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
|  
|  
|
|  
|-
! DNQ
| 31
| {{flagicon|Argentina}} [[Miguel Angel Guerra]]
| [[Osella]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
|  
|  
|
|  
|-
! DNQ
| 30
| {{flagicon|Italy}} [[Siegfried Stohr]]
| [[Arrows Grand Prix International|Arrows]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
|  
|  
|
|  
|-
! DNQ
| 18
| {{flagicon|Chile}} [[Eliseo Salazar]]
| [[March Engineering|March]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
|  
|  
|
|  
|-
!colspan="8"|{{center|Source: <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1981/358/ |title=1981 USA West Grand Prix |publisher=formula1.com |access-date=December 23, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140516114654/http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1981/358/ |archive-date=May 16, 2014}}</ref><ref>Note: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGzxcQAHBJQ&t=12m18s the contemporary TV broadcast] clearly shows that time-keeping was done up to one-thousandth of a second, but this info has not been properly transcribed into formula1.com results</ref>}}
|}

==Notes==

* This was the Formula One World Championship debut for Brazilian driver [[Chico Serra]], Italian driver [[Siegfried Stohr]], Argentinian driver [[Miguel Ángel Guerra]] and Chilean driver [[Eliseo Salazar]] - the first [[Chile|Chilean]] to drive in Formula One.
* This race marked the 25th Grand Prix win for an [[Australia|Australian]] driver.
* This was the 1st pole position for [[Arrows Grand Prix International|Arrows]].

==Championship standings after the race==
{{col-start}}
{{col-2}}
;Drivers' Championship standings
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
|-
! Pos
! Driver
! Points
|-
| 1
| {{flagicon|AUS}} [[Alan Jones (racing driver)|Alan Jones]]
| style="text-align: right" | 9
|-
| 2
| {{flagicon|ARG}} [[Carlos Reutemann]]
| style="text-align: right" | 6
|-
| 3
| {{flagicon|BRA|1968}} [[Nelson Piquet]]
| style="text-align: right" | 4
|-
| 4
| {{flagicon|USA}} [[Mario Andretti]]
| style="text-align: right" | 3
|-
| 5
| {{flagicon|USA}} [[Eddie Cheever]]
| style="text-align: right" | 2
|-
!colspan=4|Source: <ref name="Championship">{{Cite web|url=https://www.statsf1.com/en/1981/etats-unis-ouest/championnat.aspx|title=United States West 1981 - Championship • STATS F1|website=www.statsf1.com|access-date=March 21, 2019}}</ref>
|}
{{col-2}}
;Constructors' Championship standings
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
|-
! Pos
! Constructor
! Points
|-
| 1
| {{flagicon|UK}} [[WilliamsF1|Williams]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
| style="text-align: right" | 15
|-
| 2
| {{flagicon|UK}} [[Brabham]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
| style="text-align: right" | 4
|-
| 3
| {{flagicon|ITA}} [[Alfa Romeo (Formula One)|Alfa Romeo]]
| style="text-align: right" | 3
|-
| 4
| {{flagicon|UK}} [[Tyrrell Racing|Tyrrell]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
| style="text-align: right" | 2
|-
| 5
| {{flagicon|Hong Kong|1959}} [[Theodore Racing|Theodore]]-[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]
| style="text-align: right" | 1
|-
!colspan=4|Source: <ref name="Championship"/>
|}
{{col-end}}

*<small>'''Note''': Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.</small>

==References==
{{reflist | 30em}}

==Further reading==
* Rob Walker (June 1981). "6th United States Grand Prix West: Harmony Restored". ''Road & Track'', 160–165.
* Mike S. Lang (1992). ''Grand Prix!: Race-by-race account of Formula 1 World Championship motor racing. Volume 4: 1981 to 1984''. Haynes Publishing Group. {{ISBN|0-85429-733-2}}

{{s-start}}
{{succession box
|before = [[1980 United States Grand Prix]]
|after = [[1981 Brazilian Grand Prix]]
|title = [[Formula One|FIA Formula One World Championship]] <br/> [[1981 Formula One World Championship|1981 season]]
}}
{{succession box
|before = [[1980 United States Grand Prix West]]
|after = [[1982 United States Grand Prix West]]
|title = [[United States Grand Prix West]]
}}
{{succession box
|before = [[1980 United States Grand Prix West]]
|after = [[1982 United States Grand Prix West]]
|title = [[Grand Prix of Long Beach]]
|years =
}}
{{s-end}}

{{F1GP 80-89}}

[[Category:1981 in sports in California|United States Grand Prix West]]
[[Category:1981 Formula One races|United States Grand Prix West]]
[[Category:United States Grand Prix West]]
[[Category:1981 in American motorsport|United States Grand Prix West]]

1981 United States Grand Prix West - Revision history

imported>DAADB at 09:59, 2 September 2024