1981 Classic GP Manager

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Toleman
Well, that wasn't particularly good, however, as I forgot to mention previously, the contract with larry Perkins was only a temporary contract to get some time off for Derek to get a new sponsor.
 
1981 Spanish Grand Prix

Circuito del Jarama will host the Spanish Grand Prix for the ninth and perhaps for the last time as it has already been confirmed that the narrow circuit will not be returning to calendar next year. Last year's grand prix was a Jacques Laffite show, having taken his third consecutive win. The Arrows ace is a hot favourite this time around too following a great performance in Monaco which unfortunately ended in retirement from the lead. Teammate Ingo Hoffmann was the man benefiting the most from it and comes here full of confidence.

Toleman Motorsport's has shuffled their driver line-up again and have re-signed Derek Warwick. Australian Larry Perkins had a disappointing debut in Monaco and the British team made the decision to replace him after just one race. It is still unclear whether Warwick, who was reportedly out of money after just five races, has found new sponsors or if Toleman are actually paying him salary now. After all, Warwick is the main reason Toleman are currently in a position to avoid pre-qualifying for the last eight races.

Pre-qualifying
Toleman's Derek Warwick made a return after missing the Monaco race and what a comeback it was! Fastest of the pre-qualifying session is a clear statement of his talent. March's Hans-Joachim Stuck was second fastest today but that wasn't enough since his teammate Bobby Rahal couldn't follow the pace. Instead it was Osella duo of Serra and Gabbiani that progressed after a solid team effort in 3rd and 4th. Theodore and Rebaque were never really challenging.

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Qualifying
No one was surprised to see the first three rows occupied by McLarens, Arrows's and Tyrrells. Two hot drivers, Nigel Mansell and Ingo Hoffmann were on the front row, followed by Rosberg and Pironi in the second. More experienced Laffite and Scheckter had to settle for fifth and sixth positions.

Patrick Depailler was once again fastest behind the top-3 teams, narrowly edging Ferrari's Carlos Reutemann who has began to find some speed lately. Teammate Piquet however was down the ranks on a more familiar 15th place. Williamses completed the top-11 with Wolf's young Mike Thackwell splitting them. Ligiers and Shadows had average speed and were in the midfield while Lotuses, Renaults, Alfas and Osellas were in the back. Last two teams even had one driver each failing to qualify for the race. Toleman on the other hand returned to the grid with both cars as returning Derek Warwick and Hans Binder were 24th adn 26th fastest. It was also the first time this season that Binder made the grid!

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Race

Order was largely unchanged after the start. Reutemann got away nicely and climbed up to fifth while Scheckter and Depailler were slipping backwards. There was a logical explanation for the South African's problems as he suffered yet another engine failure on lap 2. The same lap saw a lot of other action too as Nelson Piquet drove into Mike Thackwell at Farina corner and the two crashed out violently. Luckily both walked away unharmed.

Mansell looked to be driving away from Hoffmann early on as the Brazilian was holding Laffite, Rosberg, Reutemann, Pironi, Alboreto and Depailler back. Ninth placed Prost however was already almost four seconds back after getting caught in Scheckter's smoke cloud. De Angelis, Arnoux, Zunino, Tambay, de Cesaris and Cheever were following him closely.

Narrow circuit made overtaking very difficult but de Angelis was one of the few to make one stick with his move on Prost. Another major change was after Arnoux spun and dropped to last on 10. Toleman duo Warwick-Binder saw the end of their race around lap 12 and retired. They must now hope for Alfas or Osella's Serra to not finish in the top-9.

Mansell, Laffite and Reutemann were the first to pit on lap 17 of 80. Mansell had a good stop and rejoined the track in seventh behind de Angelis but Laffite and Reutemann had it much worse after rejoining to the middle of the pack behind Prost. Laffite however was able to make hiw way through quickly and was able to caught Mansell, who was stuck behind de Angelis, in no time. Reutemann's rise up the ranks came to an end on lap 20 when his engine blew up too. Three laps later Rosberg joined the list of retirements with another Cosworth engine oil leak.

By lap 27 everyone but de Angelis had made their first pit stop. Mansell and Laffite were still stuck behind the Williams driver who was suddenly leading the race! Hoffmann and Pironi were now right in the mix too as the top five drivers were all within two seconds! Thirteen seconds behind them was Ligier's Andrea de Cesaris who had quietly climbed up to after Prost and Alboreto and Depailler had retired too. His closest challenger was teammate Cogan who was five seconds behind. Jarier, Zunino, Cheever and Giacomelli were fighting over positions 8-11.

Mansell crashed out on lap 31 gifting the second place brifely to Laffite before the Frenchman dived into pits for his second stop. De Angelis and the Ligiers were the drivers to stop around lap 35. Pironi was now leading the race after passing Hoffmann. Zunino was third while Cheever and Villeneuve were between him and Laffite. De Angelis was eight behind Tambay after making a long stop, apparently trying to drive to the end.

By lap 55 everyone had made their second stops and Hoffmann had retaken the lead. Pironi was 18 seconds behind and wouldn't probably be a threat if nothing extraordinary happened. De Angelis, De Cesaris, Zunino and Cheever were the other four running for the points. Giacomelli in seventh was on his way to earn Alfa Romeo their best result of the season which would be enough for them to climb to 12th in the costructors. Right behind him was Laffite who had already done three stops and got stuck in traffic. Jarier and Villeneuve completed the top-10.

Laffite was not giving up though and charged through the pack on a track where overtaking is very difficult. By lap 70 he was third but Pironi was unreachable distance away. De Cesaris was also fading a bit and was under a huge pressure from Zunino, Cheever and Villeneuve. These would be the finishing positions too as the chasing drivers were unable to pass de Cesaris. De Angelis cruised to fourth, Laffite to third but the battle for lead was intensifying towards the end. Unfortunately there wasn't enough laps for Pironi and so it was two in a row for Arrows' Ingo Hoffmann! Nobody expected Hoffmann to pull any kind of results prior the season but the Brazilian has shown why he was chosen as Arrows' second driver and is actually right in the world championship battle now! Further back the main focus was on Alfa Romeo's Bruno Giacomelli who wasn't able to hold on to that vital top-10 finish. He finished 11th after Renault's René Arnoux passed him on lap 63 which means Toleman will not have to take part in pre-qualifying anymore this season!

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The development market for the second race is open! You have until Sunday 12:00 EEST to make/modify your investments.
 
Arrows
I still can't believe the sudden rise of form of Ingo :thumbsup: Great to see Lafitte in 3rd too after his screwed up 3 stop strategy. I feel like a 1-2 was on the cards again but this time we got both cars to the finish and on the podium which is nothing to complain about.
 
Tyrrell
Gutted that Jody suffered another failure. Didier did good to secure second, an important result considering that both McLarens retired today, also handing him the championship lead. We have to keep an eye out for Arrows though, they've improved a lot these last races.
 
  • Deleted member 161052

Ligier
We're pleased to have a double finish at this race. Andrea did his best not to have another retirement, and Cogan was well for us with an 8th place. We can surely be much better with these Ford engines.
We will be prepared for the next race!
 
Shadow
We are happy for Ricardo's first point. A solid effort to climb-up there. However, we are getting further back in terms of raw speed. And engine problems are becoming a serious problem for the team. Alain's chances are killed with this. I hope that Ford will find a solution soon.
 
1981 French Grand Prix

One of the major talking points prior the French Grand Prix was the new pre-qualifying order following the mid-season cut-off. Thanks to Derek Warwick's 10th place at Zolder, Toleman was now guaranteed a place in the main qualifying. Alfa Romeo, despite Bruno Giacomelli's best efforts in Spain, was the team taking taking Toleman's place in pre-qualifying.

The previous wasn't the main story however. Renault announced that they would hold a press conference on Thursday evening to discuss their future in Formula One. The French team has had a massively unsuccesful season that hasn't so far yielded any points. In fact, their last points finish is Gilles Villeneuve's 5th place at the 1980 season opener! It was clear that the people at Renault HQ were not happy with the race team's performance.

In the press conference it was announced that Renault will not be continuing in Formula One as a factory team after this season. The results had not been what they had expected after a promising 1979 season and they felt that the money invested wasn't paying off. Despite retiring as a factory team, Renault will continue as an engine manufacturer, still firmly believing in their V6 turbo engine.

Pre-qualifying
With Toleman's pre-qualifying ace Derek Warwick not taking part, there was room for new guys at the top of the charts. Alfa Romeo were of course the favourites but surprisingly were unable to match the pace of the pre-qualifying regulars as Giacomelli and Stohr finished only 5th and 6th. Osella was the strongest with Chico Serra and Beppe Gabbiani's good efforts but neither of them could put in the fastest lap. Instead it was March's Bobby Rahal who has struggled badly at times this season to clock the fastest time.

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Qualifying
Can a Ferrari pole position be regarded as a surprise? That was the question many were wondering after Nelson Piquet literally flew around the circuit and took the pole position. The Brazilian had only qualified in the top-10 twice this season but was now suddenly the fastest of all while his teammate was on a more usual 13th position.

After Piquet it was almost business as usual as McLaren, Arrowses and Tyrrells filled the next grids. Alain Prost was the odd one standing out in fourth as the Shadow driver was again finding his early season form. Wolf's Mike Thackwell and Fittipaldi's Patrick Tambay completed the first five rows.

René Arnoux was determined to show Renault's speed on his home circuit and put in one of his best qualifying efforts of the season in 11th. Alongside him would start the best Williams of the day, Elio de Angelis. The British team had been struggling with finding the right setup and would have a lot to do from P12 and P15 in the race. Lotuses, Ligiers and Tolemans filled the grid while Osella was unable to get either driver to the race as Serra and Gabbiani finished with 27th adn 28th fastest times.

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Race

Piquet and Rosberg shot in to the lead as row two got stuck at start. Mansell dropped to 4th as Scheckter came past while Prost was as far down as 12th after turn 1. Terrible start for his home grand prix! On next lap his descend continued untilit ended altogether. Water leak the cause of retirement.

At the head of the field Piquet and Rosberg were getting away from battling Scheckter and Mansell. The pack behind them was running very close too as Hoffmann, de Angelis, Laffite, Thackwell, Pironi and Villeneuve were looking for overtaking opportunities.

The opportunities were plenty thanks to the fast nature of the track and so positions were constantly switching. Driver errors weren't extraordinary either as Reutemann, Cheever and Rosberg took trips outside the white lines. They were however able to continue unscathed. Andrea de Cesaris wasn't as lucky as his Cosworth engine blew up on lap 10. Three laps later was de Angelis' turn and by lap 16 both Reutemann and Mansell had cooked their engines too.

On lap 20 of 80 when the pit stops were about to begin, Piquet lead the race with a 20s cushion to Scheckter. Thackwell, Pironi and Hoffmann were fighting for third, Villeneuve and Jarier for sixth while Cogan, Laffite and Alboreto completed the top-10. Rosberg was 16th behind Hans Binder at the time.

Piquet was the first to pit on lap 21 but only dropped to 7th behind Jarier's Lotus. Wolf drivers were the next to pit and by lap 30 everyone except second placed Laffite had made their stops. The Frenchman was definitely not making three stops today. Wolf drivers Thackwell and Villeneuve were 3rd and 4th, Pironi 5th, Jarier 6th while Hoffmann, Cogan, Alboreto and Cheever were the ones looking for points.

Thackwell however made a costly mistake on lap 32 when he spun out at Gauche de la Bretelle like Rosberg, Reutemann and Tambay before him. He dropped to ninth but was able to make up a position soon as Scheckter punctured his left rear Michelin tyre and retired. A few laps earlier a number of Goodyear users had retired due to punctures so there had to be sme debris on track damaging the tyres.

Hoffmann was the next one out from the points on lap 35. Soon afterwards his teammate Laffite made apparently his first and only pit stop of the race which dropped him to 8th between de Angelis and resurging Rosberg. Piquet and Villeneuve stopped too and the Brazilian had built such a gap that he didn't even have to give his lead away during the stop.

Another Cosworth engine blew up on lap 45 and Surer retired the only remaining Renault on lap 55 but it wasn't until lap 59 that the leading drivers were involved. Didier Pironi's transmission gave up from P2 and the championship leader was out! By lap 62 everyone had made their last stops and Piquet was leading with 50 seconds over Jarier. Rosberg, Cogan and Alboreto were 9-14 seconds behind. Villeneuve, Laffite, Thackwell, Zunino, Cheever and Warwick were the other cars remaining in the race but all had considerable gaps between them.

The only battle on track wouldn't last long either as Alboreto tried to pass Cogan for fourth on lap 64 but the American rookie was having none of it and tried to divebomb the Williams driver back into turn 1. Both went off and were able to continue but out of the points in 7th and 8th. Last lap retirements for Laffite, Thackwell and Jarier helped the two back into points however as only seven cars saw the chequered flag.

In a race dominated by reliability and consistency, Nelson Piquet was the strongest and took a deserved victory over McLaren's Keke Rosberg who is now a joint leader in the championship. A great day for Jacques Villeneuve too who took his first points and a podium finish! By doing so the Villeneuve brothers Gilles & Jacques became the first brother pair to achieve a podium in F1.

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The development market for the ninth race is open! You have until Wednesday 12:00 EEST to make/modify your investments.
 
Arrows
Not much pace, nor much luck. Meh, not like I expected much different from a French Grand Prix, one that I hadn't mastered in the past and it continued onto now.
 
  • Deleted member 161052

Ligier
We are very happy to get a points finish at our home race. Again, it happened like in 1979.
We're pleased with Cogan with his performance he had for the team, but we aren't much pleased with de Cesaris retiring again. We'll give de Cesaris an advice to avoid a string of retirements again.

With this points finish, we expect ourselves a big boost later in the season.
 
Shadow
Very disappointing day for Alain after the superb qualifying performance. But scoring a point with Ricardo is a small compensation for us. We are sure that Alain will have a good day in this season and fight for podium with his solid pace.
 
Fittipaldi
It was such a shame that Patrick retired........... We will be hoping to bring Patrick into the points in the next couple of races.
 
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