Silverstone Circuit · 18 July 1981
John Watson won the 1981 British Grand Prix for McLaren from 5th on the grid, 40.65s ahead of Carlos Reutemann. Eddie Cheever gained the most places, from 23rd on the grid to 4th.
| Pos | Team | Points Breakdown | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLaren Watson 9 + de Cesaris 0 | Watson 9 + de Cesaris 0 | 9 | |
| 2 | Williams Reutemann 6 + Jones 0 | Reutemann 6 + Jones 0 | 6 | |
| 3 | Ligier Laffite 4 + Tambay 0 | Laffite 4 + Tambay 0 | 4 | |
| 4 | Tyrrell Cheever 3 + Alboreto 0 | Cheever 3 + Alboreto 0 | 3 | |
| 5 | Brabham Rebaque 2 + Piquet 0 | Rebaque 2 + Piquet 0 | 2 | |
| 6 | ATS Borgudd 1 | Borgudd 1 | 1 | |
| 7 | March Daly 0 | Daly 0 | 0 | |
| 8 | Osella Jarier 0 | Jarier 0 | 0 | |
| 9 | Renault Arnoux 0 + Prost 0 | Arnoux 0 + Prost 0 | 0 | |
| 10 | Arrows Patrese 0 + Stohr 0 | Patrese 0 + Stohr 0 | 0 | |
| 11 | Theodore Surer 0 | Surer 0 | 0 | |
| 12 | Alfa Romeo Andretti 0 + Giacomelli 0 | Andretti 0 + Giacomelli 0 | 0 | |
| 13 | Fittipaldi Rosberg 0 | Rosberg 0 | 0 | |
| 14 | Team Lotus de Angelis 0 | de Angelis 0 | 0 | |
| 15 | Ferrari Pironi 0 + Villeneuve 0 | Pironi 0 + Villeneuve 0 | 0 |
| Pos | Driver | Team | Race time / Gap | Laps | Stops | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Watson McLaren | McLaren | 1:26:54.800 | 68 | — | 9 | |
| 2 | Carlos Reutemann Williams | Williams | +40.650s | 68 | — | 6 | |
| 3 | Jacques Laffite Ligier | Ligier | +1 Lap | 67 | — | 4 | |
| 4 | Eddie Cheever Tyrrell | Tyrrell | +1 Lap | 67 | — | 3 | |
| 5 | Hector Rebaque Brabham | Brabham | +1 Lap | 67 | — | 2 | |
| 6 | Slim Borgudd ATS | ATS | +1 Lap | 67 | — | 1 | |
| 7 | Derek Daly March | March | +2 Laps | 66 | — | — | |
| 8 | Jean-Pierre Jarier Osella | Osella | +3 Laps | 65 | — | — | |
| 9 | René Arnoux Renault | Renault | DNF Distributor | 64 | — | — | |
| 10 | Riccardo Patrese Arrows | Arrows | DNF Engine | 64 | — | — | |
| 11 | Marc Surer Theodore | Theodore | DNF Out of fuel | 61 | — | — | |
| DNF | Mario Andretti Alfa Romeo | Alfa Romeo | DNF Throttle | 59 | — | — | |
| DNF | Keke Rosberg Fittipaldi | Fittipaldi | DNF Suspension | 56 | — | — | |
| DSQ | Elio de Angelis Team Lotus | Team Lotus | DSQ | 25 | — | — | |
| DNF | Alain Prost Renault | Renault | DNF Distributor | 17 | — | — | |
| DNF | Patrick Tambay Ligier | Ligier | DNF Clutch | 15 | — | — | |
| DNF | Didier Pironi Ferrari | Ferrari | DNF Turbo | 13 | — | — | |
| DNF | Nelson Piquet Brabham | Brabham | DNF Tyre | 11 | — | — | |
| DNF | Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo | Alfa Romeo | DNF Transmission | 5 | — | — | |
| DNF | Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari | Ferrari | DNF Spun off | 4 | — | — | |
| DNF | Alan Jones Williams | Williams | DNF Collision | 3 | — | — | |
| DNF | Andrea de Cesaris McLaren | McLaren | DNF Spun off | 3 | — | — | |
| DNF | Michele Alboreto Tyrrell | Tyrrell | DNF Clutch | 1 | — | — | |
| DNF | Siegfried Stohr Arrows | Arrows | DNF Spun off | 0 | — | — |