| «1981-03» | Argentina Grand Prix - XVII Gran Premio de la Republica Argentina |
| 1981-04-12 | Buenos Aires - Autodromo Juan y Oscar Gálvez - 53 laps × 5.968 km : 316.304 km |
| Pos | Grid | Car | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time / Gap | Interval | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 5 | Nelson Piquet | Brabham • Ford Cosworth | 53 | 1:34:32.740 | 200.731 km/h | 9 |
| 2 | 4 | 2 | Carlos Reutemann | Williams • Ford Cosworth | 53 | +26.610 | +26.610 | 6 |
| 3 | 2 | 15 | Alain Prost | Renault | 53 | +49.980 | +23.370 | 4 |
| 4 | 3 | 1 | Alan Jones | Williams • Ford Cosworth | 53 | +01:07.880 | +17.900 | 3 |
| 5 | 5 | 16 | René Arnoux | Renault | 53 | +01:31.850 | +23.970 | 2 |
| 6 | 10 | 11 | Elio de Angelis | Lotus • Ford Cosworth | 52 | +1 lap | 1 | |
| 7 | 9 | 29 | Riccardo Patrese | Arrows • Ford Cosworth | 52 | +1 lap | ||
| 8 | 17 | 22 | Mario Andretti | Alfa Romeo | 52 | +1 lap | ||
| 9 | 19 | 30 | Siegfried Stohr | Arrows • Ford Cosworth | 52 | +1 lap | ||
| 10 | 22 | 23 | Bruno Giacomelli | Alfa Romeo | 51 | out of fuel | ||
| 11 | 18 | 8 | Andrea de Cesaris | McLaren • Ford Cosworth | 51 | +2 laps | ||
| 12 | 23 | 9 | Jan Lammers | ATS • Ford Cosworth | 51 | +2 laps | ||
| 13 | 24 | 4 | Ricardo Zunino | Tyrrell • Ford Cosworth | 51 | 1 penalty lap | ||
| 7 | 27 | Gilles Villeneuve | Ferrari | 40 | transmission | |||
| 14 | 33 | Patrick Tambay | Theodore • Ford Cosworth | 36 | engine | |||
| 11 | 7 | John Watson | McLaren • Ford Cosworth | 36 | crown wheel | |||
| 6 | 6 | Hector Rebaque | Brabham • Ford Cosworth | 32 | distributor | |||
| 20 | 21 | Chico Serra | Fittipaldi • Ford Cosworth | 28 | gearbox | |||
| 21 | 26 | Jacques Laffite | Ligier • Matra | 19 | handling | |||
| 16 | 14 | Marc Surer | Ensign • Ford Cosworth | 14 | overheating | |||
| 8 | 20 | Keke Rosberg | Fittipaldi • Ford Cosworth | 4 | fuel pump | |||
| 15 | 12 | Nigel Mansell | Lotus • Ford Cosworth | 3 | engine | |||
| 12 | 28 | Didier Pironi | Ferrari | 3 | engine | |||
| 13 | 3 | Eddie Cheever | Tyrrell • Ford Cosworth | 1 | clutch | |||
| DNQ | 31 | Miguel Angel Guerra | Osella • Ford Cosworth | |||||
| DNQ | 32 | Beppe Gabbiani | Osella • Ford Cosworth | |||||
| DNQ | 17 | Derek Daly | March • Ford Cosworth | |||||
| DNQ | 25 | Jean-Pierre Jabouille | Ligier • Matra | |||||
| DNQ | 18 | Eliseo Salazar | March • Ford Cosworth |
Fastest lap - 01:45.287 - 204.059 km/h - Nelson Piquet (lap 6)