Alain Prost won from third on the grid while championship leader Nelson Piquet's last-lap engine failure shifted the Drivers' Championship standings.
Key Facts
- Race distance
- 52 laps
- Winner
- Alain Prost (Renault)
- Winning margin
- ~22 seconds over Alan Jones
- Championship round
- 13th of the 1981 season
- Championship shift
- Reutemann gained 3-point lead over Piquet
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Formula One returned to the Autodromo Nazionale Monza in 1981 after the previous year's Italian Grand Prix had been held at Imola. Carlos Reutemann and Nelson Piquet arrived level on points at the top of the Drivers' Championship, setting up a decisive confrontation with only two races remaining after Monza.
Alain Prost dominated the 52-lap race in his Renault, leading every lap from third on the grid to take victory. Alan Jones finished second in a Williams-Ford some 22 seconds back, with Reutemann third. Piquet, who had been running third late in the race, suffered an engine failure on the final lap and dropped to sixth.
Piquet's mechanical failure handed Reutemann a three-point lead in the Drivers' Championship with two races remaining, dramatically altering the title battle. The result elevated Reutemann's prospects for the 1981 world title while significantly damaging Piquet's position heading into the final rounds.