Long Beach · 15 March 1981
Alan Jones won the 1981 United States Grand Prix West for Williams from 2nd on the grid, 9.19s ahead of Carlos Reutemann. René Arnoux gained the most places, from 20th on the grid to 8th.
| Pos | Team | Points Breakdown | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Williams Jones 9 + Reutemann 6 | Jones 9 + Reutemann 6 | 15 | |
| 2 | Brabham Piquet 4 + Rebaque 0 | Piquet 4 + Rebaque 0 | 4 | |
| 3 | Alfa Romeo Andretti 3 + Giacomelli 0 | Andretti 3 + Giacomelli 0 | 3 | |
| 4 | Tyrrell Cheever 2 | Cheever 2 | 2 | |
| 5 | Theodore Tambay 1 | Tambay 1 | 1 | |
| 6 | Fittipaldi Serra 0 + Rosberg 0 | Serra 0 + Rosberg 0 | 0 | |
| 7 | Renault Arnoux 0 + Prost 0 | Arnoux 0 + Prost 0 | 0 | |
| 8 | Ensign Surer 0 | Surer 0 | 0 | |
| 9 | Ferrari Pironi 0 + Villeneuve 0 | Pironi 0 + Villeneuve 0 | 0 | |
| 10 | Ligier Jarier 0 + Laffite 0 | Jarier 0 + Laffite 0 | 0 | |
| 11 | ATS Lammers 0 | Lammers 0 | 0 | |
| 12 | Arrows Patrese 0 | Patrese 0 | 0 | |
| 13 | Osella Gabbiani 0 | Gabbiani 0 | 0 | |
| 14 | Team Lotus Mansell 0 + de Angelis 0 | Mansell 0 + de Angelis 0 | 0 | |
| 15 | McLaren Watson 0 + de Cesaris 0 | Watson 0 + de Cesaris 0 | 0 |
| Pos | Driver | Team | Race time / Gap | Laps | Stops | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alan Jones Williams | Williams | 1:50:41.330 | 80 | — | 9 | |
| 2 | Carlos Reutemann Williams | Williams | +9.190s | 80 | — | 6 | |
| 3 | Nelson Piquet Brabham | Brabham | +34.920s | 80 | — | 4 | |
| 4 | Mario Andretti Alfa Romeo | Alfa Romeo | +49.310s | 80 | — | 3 | |
| 5 | Eddie Cheever Tyrrell | Tyrrell | +1:06.700 | 80 | — | 2 | |
| 6 | Patrick Tambay Theodore | Theodore | +1 Lap | 79 | — | 1 | |
| 7 | Chico Serra Fittipaldi | Fittipaldi | +2 Laps | 78 | — | — | |
| 8 | René Arnoux Renault | Renault | +3 Laps | 77 | — | — | |
| DNF | Marc Surer Ensign | Ensign | DNF Fuel system | 70 | — | — | |
| DNF | Didier Pironi Ferrari | Ferrari | DNF Fuel system | 67 | — | — | |
| DNF | Jean-Pierre Jarier Ligier | Ligier | DNF Fuel pump | 64 | — | — | |
| DNF | Hector Rebaque Brabham | Brabham | DNF Accident | 49 | — | — | |
| DNF | Bruno Giacomelli Alfa Romeo | Alfa Romeo | DNF Collision | 41 | — | — | |
| DNF | Jacques Laffite Ligier | Ligier | DNF Collision | 41 | — | — | |
| DNF | Keke Rosberg Fittipaldi | Fittipaldi | DNF Engine | 41 | — | — | |
| DNF | Jan Lammers ATS | ATS | DNF Collision | 41 | — | — | |
| DNF | Riccardo Patrese Arrows | Arrows | DNF Fuel system | 33 | — | — | |
| DNF | Beppe Gabbiani Osella | Osella | DNF Accident | 26 | — | — | |
| DNF | Nigel Mansell Team Lotus | Team Lotus | DNF Accident | 25 | — | — | |
| DNF | Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari | Ferrari | DNF Halfshaft | 17 | — | — | |
| DNF | John Watson McLaren | McLaren | DNF Brakes | 16 | — | — | |
| DNF | Elio de Angelis Team Lotus | Team Lotus | DNF Accident | 13 | — | — | |
| DNF | Alain Prost Renault | Renault | DNF Collision | 0 | — | — | |
| DNF | Andrea de Cesaris McLaren | McLaren | DNF Collision | 0 | — | — |