Fittipaldi:
It's been a sad day for the team, the mechanics have are all a bit shocked by the reliability. We will try to improve the reliability for the next few races but money is getting spare, so we might have to postpone our research.
Toleman
Tiff could have been a bit faster today but it was only his debut. Derek did a good job as always but the Engines seem to be letting us down a lot.
Ligier
Mega effort for Andrea and Ligier. Starting from 7th with his teammate 9th, he did a truly well effort not to crash out, and drove flawlessly to finish 4th. Meanwhile, Cogan was disappointed with the gearbox issue, so we will fix it for him.
Theodore We finally made it, incredible result. Luck played the part but anyway we are happy. We are alos happy since Londono was just .2 seconds of Rupert.
Two to go and the battle for championship is still wide open. Following Tyrrell's excellent double podium in Italy, the British team is now leading both championships. In the constructors' the gap to McLaren is nine points, still a very much plausible one to catch, while the drivers' standings is even more tight. Didier Pironi took the lead with second place at Monza and now leads McLaren's Nigel Mansell only by one point. Scheckter is lurking six points behind his teammate while fourth-placed Keke Rosberg is 14 points behind the Frenchman. He and Ferrari's Nelson Piquet still have a mathematical chance for the title.
Another key point for the weekend is Williams. Like last year, they have completed work on their 1982 chassis earlier than expected and are unveiling the all-new FW09 this weekend. Williams started the season with high hopes but have so far failed to score a win with rookie driver Michele Alboreto's second place finish in the Netherlands the best result of the season.
Battle for qualifying places for 1982 is also heating up following Theodore's Rupert Keegan's point finish in Italy. This means that the bottom five (four because Renault is retiring) will have to score points in the last races in order to avoid pre-qualifying next season.
Pre-qualifying
Alfa Romeo was strong as usual in pre-qualifying, this time however Siegfried Stohr as their faster driver. Giacomelli wasn't too bad in 4th but the gap was surprisingly big. Rupert Keegan continued his fine form with third fastest time but in second was a true surprise as Osella's Beppe Gabbiani had an excellent run to put his team on a strong position to qualify.
It all came down to their teammate to perform and as Ricardo Londoño struggled badly in the second Theodore, Osella would advance for the first time since British Grand Prix. Word out fro Rebaques too who showed glimpses of improvement in 7th and 8th.
Qualifying
Everyone expected either Tyrrell or McLaren, perhaps Ferrari and why not Williams to take the pole but absolutely no one saw Arrows taking the pole position! Jacques Laffite of course has one pole to his name already this season from Monaco but the team's recent form was of no indication towards a result like this. Next places were mostly filled by usual names. Pironi lead the pack of very promising Williamses, McLarens and Tyrrells, making it all-Michelin top-8. Andrea de Cesaris in fifith was the only slightly odd one.
Fittipaldi's Patrick Depailler in ninth was the fastest Goodyear user ahead of disappointing Ferraris who were split by Alain Prost. Mike Thackwell was 13th fastest and alongside him in 7th row was polesitter Laffite's teammate Hoffmann who was stuggling badly. Another driver struggling with his car was home favourite Jacques Villeneuve who lost over a second to teammate Thackwell in 20th. Tiff Needel and Gabbiani failed to qualify for the race.
Race
Laffite got a good start but wasn't able to hold on to his lead as de Angelis got an even better start from P3 and shot in to the lead. Laffite was struggling even more on first lap after Pironi and Alboreto passed him too. Mansell, de Cesaris, Depailler, Piquet and Rosberg followed with championship contender Scheckter only in 10th after lap 1.
Mansell looked eager to regain his championship lead after disappointing Monza weekend. He passed Laffite and Alboreto and was right on Pironi's heels on lap 9. De Cesaris was already out by then with Piquet now on course for points in 6th.
Mansell overtook Pironi on lap 11 and following de Angelis' pit stop on lap 17, lead the race briefly. Cosworth was again facing serious reliability issues with Scheckter being the next victim, making it largely a two-horse race for the championship. Mansell stopped on lap 19, dropping to 8th behind Rosberg and Reutemann but began his ascend through the pack quickly. By lap 24 he was already fouth, only behind Pironi, de Angelis and Laffite (two of which were yet to pit).
Pironi was still yet to pit as the race came closer to the halfway point. Just as the Tyrrell pit crew started preparing for a pit stop, the TV cameras caught the race leader climbing out of his car. One of the tyres had blown up forcing the championship leader out of the race.
Both Tyrrells out of the race was of course a huge relief for Mansell who was now second after Laffite pitted. On lap 40 of 63 de Angelis was leading comfortably from Mansell who had an eqully comfortable gap to the trio of Alboreto, Laffite and Piquet behind him. Depailler, Rosberg and Reutemann were fighting for 6th with Jarier and Thackwell roundung out the top-10.
Depailler retired on lap 50 but he was already down in 8th by that moment. Other than that the top-10 was largely unchanged. Until... Until three laps to go when the red&white McLaren of Nigel Mansell slowed dramatically after letting out a cloud of smoke. He was looking certain for second and to put himself back in to the championship lead but unfortunately it wasn't meant to be.
With all the championship contenders out, Williams was the team who benefited most. A brilliant 1-3 finish is a huge proof of the competitiveness of their new car. Ferrari had both cars on points too while McLaren got some consolation from Rosberg's 6th place finish.
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The development market for the last race is open! You have until Wednesday 15:00 EEST to make/modify your investments.
Shadow
Another disappointing result for the team. We need to find a solution to the mechanical issues. But we also lack the pace. Our engineering team are working on bringing more performance to the car. This season is a mostly lost cause though.
With 14 races behind us and it has come to this – a three-way battle for the title in the final race of the season here at Las Vegas. Tyrrell’s Didier Pironi comes here as the championship leader with a one point cushion to McLaren’s Nigel Mansell. The two are the clear favourites but Pironi’s third-placed teammate Jody Scheckter also has a shot on the title. The South African however must win the race AND have both Mansell and Pironi out of the points to claim the title.
In the constructors’ standings, Tyrrell is leading the championship with 86 points with McLaren sitting comfortably in second with 78 points. The two have already guaranteed to finish 1st and 2nd in the championship but the battle for third is still very much on with Arrows and Williams within one point. Ferrari has been in fine form of late but would require a perfect weekend to close the 8-point gap to Arrows.
The circuit, built on Caesars Palace casino’s parking lot is by far not the most inspiring but the tight nature of the title battles should prove a great weekend. Which one will it be – Pironi or Mansell? Or can Scheckter pull off some heroics and lift the trophy? In any case, we are about to get a new World champion.
Pre-qualifying
The last pre-qualifying of the season and the last chance to improve one's position in the championship standings. Alfa Romeo was strong as usual despite Siegfried Stohr ill-handling car. Giacomelli was fast but not fast enough to take the top position. Instead, March's Hans-Joachim Stuck, who was in good form especially in the first half of the season, returned to top and advanced March for the first time in three races. Bobby Rahal, who struggled too, must have been glad to be able to take part in the qualifying fro his home grand prix.
Qualifying
All eyes were on the championship contending teams McLaren and Tyrrell. To the surprise of all, the two teams were well out of sorts. Keke Rosberg, who is the only one of the four without a chance at the title, was the strongest only in sixth. Pironi and Scheckter were 7th and 10th while Nigel Mansell could only manage 13th fastest time! Was the pressure too much for the young Englishman?
Pole position, for the second time in a row, went to Arrows' Jacques Laffite. Fight for third in the contructors' has really seemed to get the Frenchman going while teammate Hoffmann was probably already planning his off-season holiday... Williamses were also in good form, as was Fittipaldi's Patrick Depailler who was ecstatic following his third position in the grid. Ligiers, de Cesaris in paricular were also quite strong.
March's Stuck and Alfa Romeo's Stohr just missed the cut-off and would have spare time to spend on casino on Sunday.
Race
Being a tight and compact street circuit, the first corner was expected to be cruel – especially for those starting in the middle of the pack. Top drivers got away cleanly with Laffite leading de Angelis and Depailler off the grid. Unfortunately two drivers were claimed by the first corner – one of them a red and white McLaren. Mansell had been desperate to make up some ground early on and made an overly opportunistic move on Piquet. The Brazilian didn’t see the charging McLaren resulting in a collision and a retirement for both. With Mansell out of the race, a Tyrrell driver would win the World championship for the first time since Jackie Stewart won the title in 1971!
With effectively both championships decided (although McLaren could still win constructors if Rosberg won and neither Tyrrell scored points), the race turned out quite dull. Laffite extended his lead over everyone else and the only overtaking moves were done on Rosberg who was slipping backwards. On lap 10 the running order was: Laffite, de Angelis, Depailler, de Cesaris, Alboreto, Rosberg, Scheckter, Pironi, Reutemann and Cogan in 10th. Tambay and Giacomelli were also in the train behind Rosberg.
De Cesaris was first to pit from P4 and dropped to 14th following his stop. Laffite and de Angelis followed soon while everyone else was on a much longer stint. Laffite was able to rejoin the track in fourth behind Alboreto, Depailler and Rosberg. De Angelis was sixth, splitting the Tyrrell duo.
Laffite and de Angelis were quick to rise through with their fresh tyres but unfortunately the Williams driver’s day ended on lap 27 due to transmission problems. Pit stops cycled through and on lap 33 when everyone had pitted once, Laffite was in a comfortable lead of over 20 seconds. Ligier duo de Cesaris and Cogan were having a blast in 2nd and 4th with Alboreto between them in third. Depailler, Scheckter, Rosberg and Pironi were fighting over the last two points scoring positions.
More-than-likely to-be-World champion Didier Pironi encountered similar problems to de Angelis on lap 40 which ended his day. Scheckter, who was now running in 4th after both Ligiers had pitted for the second time, was now the only remaining championship contender. He must however win the race. Next high profile retiree was Alboreto who had a puncture before slamming hard into wall on lap 45. Scheckter was already up to 3rd and only 5 seconds behind Depailler…
Laffite was still extending his lead but the disaster struck his Arrows next! On lap 48 the the Frenchman was seen climbing out of his car and smashing his helmet on the ground. His untouchable lead was thrown away and now second-placed Scheckter really had a chance at the title!
A few cars were out of pit sequence which saw Jarier hold third for a brief moment, also holding Scheckter up behind him. With Scheckter losing valuable time, Depailler, with clear track ahead of him was able to get away. Even Ferrari’s Reutemann, who had been nowhere to be seen since, was suddenly ahead of Scheckter in seconds. Ligiers of de Cesaris and Cogan were in 4th & 5th while Tambay in 6th was adding to Fittipaldi’s wonderful day. Rosberg in seventh would have a lot to do in the last 15 laps.
Scheckter passed Reutemann for second on lap 65 of 75 but the gap to Depailler was 7 seconds. Could he catch the Fittipaldi and make the move to win the title? No he didn’t. He gave it all but the speed of Depailler was just too much as the Frenchman strolled to only the second win of his career! Scheckter was second but didn’t celebrate a lot on the podium, unlike third-placed Carlos Reutemann who was able to end his miserable season with a podium. The 1979 World champion also announced his plans to retire after struggling for results this year. Ligier ended their season on a high too after de Cesaris and Cogan finished fourth and sixth. Rosberg was fifth, summarizing his season; great speed at times, but in the end just not enough.
FINAL CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
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The season has now ended! Big congrats for the World champions!
Ligier's 1981 Season Summary
1981 was a great season for the French Ligier team. With a switch to a fairly reliable Ford engine, and having a completely different driver lineup with Italian Andrea de Cesaris and American Kevin Cogan, 6th and 22 points this season is a big success for us. Only 3 points in the first half didn't show much improvement, but it actually did in the second half with 19 points.
Despite Andrea having a retirement streak of 5 races in the first half, he got unlucky sometimes at the second half. He did his best at the Austrian Grand Prix, finishing 2nd, plus a flawless drive at his home race at Monza which he avoided retiring or crashing out.
Cogan has done a good season for the team. With points finishes and a podium finish, he impressed us at his home race in USA despite finishing behind his teammate.
Congrats to @kedy89 for being the 1981 CGPM champion!
well.. at least neither Williams finished in the points too, so we got the 3rd place. But disappointing to lose a definite win 2nd season in a row
PS: If you told me I would finish this season in a higher championship position than the last one, ahead of Ferrari, with my main driver winless, I wouldn't believe you.
PPS: I love those "XXX"s in the race coverage