Hockenheimring · 2 August 1981
Nelson Piquet won the 1981 German Grand Prix for Brabham from 6th on the grid, 11.52s ahead of Alain Prost. Eddie Cheever gained the most places, from 18th on the grid to 5th.
| Pos | Team | Points Breakdown | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brabham Piquet 9 + Rebaque 3 | Piquet 9 + Rebaque 3 | 12 | |
| 2 | Renault Prost 6 + Arnoux 0 | Prost 6 + Arnoux 0 | 6 | |
| 3 | Ligier Laffite 4 + Tambay 0 | Laffite 4 + Tambay 0 | 4 | |
| 4 | Tyrrell Cheever 2 | Cheever 2 | 2 | |
| 5 | McLaren Watson 1 + de Cesaris 0 | Watson 1 + de Cesaris 0 | 1 | |
| 6 | Team Lotus de Angelis 0 + Mansell 0 | de Angelis 0 + Mansell 0 | 0 | |
| 7 | Osella Jarier 0 | Jarier 0 | 0 | |
| 8 | Alfa Romeo Andretti 0 + Giacomelli 0 | Andretti 0 + Giacomelli 0 | 0 | |
| 9 | Ferrari Villeneuve 0 + Pironi 0 | Villeneuve 0 + Pironi 0 | 0 | |
| 10 | Williams Jones 0 + Reutemann 0 | Jones 0 + Reutemann 0 | 0 | |
| 11 | Arrows Stohr 0 + Patrese 0 | Stohr 0 + Patrese 0 | 0 | |
| 12 | Theodore Surer 0 | Surer 0 | 0 | |
| 13 | Ensign Salazar 0 | Salazar 0 | 0 | |
| 14 | ATS Borgudd 0 | Borgudd 0 | 0 | |
| 15 | March Daly 0 | Daly 0 | 0 |
| Pos | Driver | Team | Race time / Gap | Laps | Stops | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nelson Piquet Brabham | Brabham | 1:25:55.600 | 45 | — | 9 | |
| 2 | Alain Prost Renault | Renault | +11.520s | 45 | — | 6 | |
| 3 | Jacques Laffite Ligier | Ligier | +1:04.600 | 45 | — | 4 | |
| 4 | Hector Rebaque Brabham | Brabham | +1:39.690 | 45 | — | 3 | |
| 5 | Eddie Cheever Tyrrell | Tyrrell | +1:50.520 | 45 | — | 2 | |
| 6 | John Watson McLaren | McLaren | +1 Lap | 44 | — | 1 | |
| 7 | Elio de Angelis Team Lotus | Team Lotus | +1 Lap | 44 | — | — | |
| 8 | Jean-Pierre Jarier Osella | Osella | +1 Lap | 44 | — | — | |
| 9 | Mario Andretti Alfa Romeo | Alfa Romeo | +1 Lap | 44 | — | — | |
| 10 | Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari | Ferrari | +1 Lap | 44 | — | — | |
| 11 | Alan Jones Williams | Williams | +1 Lap | 44 | — | — | |
| 12 | Siegfried Stohr Arrows | Arrows | +1 Lap | 44 | — | — | |
| 13 | René Arnoux Renault | Renault | +1 Lap | 44 | — | — | |
| 14 | Marc Surer Theodore | Theodore | DNF Suspension | 43 | — | — | |
| 15 | Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo | Alfa Romeo | +2 Laps | 43 | — | — | |
| NC | Eliseo Salazar Ensign | Ensign | NC | 39 | — | — | |
| DNF | Slim Borgudd ATS | ATS | DNF Engine | 35 | — | — | |
| DNF | Carlos Reutemann Williams | Williams | DNF Engine | 27 | — | — | |
| DNF | Riccardo Patrese Arrows | Arrows | DNF Engine | 27 | — | — | |
| DNF | Patrick Tambay Ligier | Ligier | DNF Transmission | 27 | — | — | |
| DNF | Derek Daly March | March | DNF Suspension | 15 | — | — | |
| DNF | Nigel Mansell Team Lotus | Team Lotus | DNF Fuel leak | 12 | — | — | |
| DNF | Andrea de Cesaris McLaren | McLaren | DNF Collision | 4 | — | — | |
| DNF | Didier Pironi Ferrari | Ferrari | DNF Electrical | 1 | — | — |