1981-05-31 126 CK (27) Gilles Villeneuve MON - Montecarlo 1
Giles Villeneuve with this Ferrari 126 CK wins the 1981 Monaco GP. The Canadian driver and his Ferrari 126 CK were in fact to engage in a new chapter in Formula 1 history on this circuit: the first win at Monte Carlo with a turbo engine; the first Ferrari win with a turbo engine; the first win after a year and a half. In short, a spell was definitively broken, making Gilles and Ferrari key players once more. Villeneuve’s renewed collaboration with Ferrari, for another two seasons, was announced just ahead of the weekend.
The race started an hour late due to a fire which started in the kitchens of the Loews hotel. Firefighters quickly brought it under control, but it flooded the tunnel. Nelson Piquet immediately made headway with respect to his pursuers. The race was effectively decided by elimination, but later crashed out trying to lap Cheever and Tambay. Reigning world champion Alan Jones took charge of the race and seemed set to win, given his more than thirty-second lead on his closest pursuer, Villeneuve himself. The Williams driver had to fill up on fuel seven laps from the end. Despite re-entering in the lead, now he had to take on an aggressive Villeneuve who, sensing a kill, began to notch up a series of fast laps. Corner after corner, his Ferrari’s controls came ever nearer to the limit and the guard rails got closer and closer. He played around with Monaco’s ups and downs, took advantage of his engine’s power under the tunnel and as far as Tabac corner, leading his Ferrari on a merry dance and tracing breathtaking lines between Mirabeau and the Loews hairpin. Four laps from the finish, Gilles began to trail the Australian, who had already come out from Anthony Noghes, the last turn, leading to the start straight. It was here that Jones saw the outline of Gilles’s car in his right rear view mirror. By the time he showed a sign of defensive manoeuvring, it was too late. The number 27 blazoned on the rear of the Ferrari’s side panel was the last image that the world champion managed too catch before he saw the Canadian sail into the distance for good. Villeneuve was now a winner, even earning a place on the cover of Time. This was the second occasion on which the American weekly dedicated its cover to Formula 1, after Jim Clark in 1965.
