Prost wins, Jabouille stops

The 1981 French Formula One Grand Prix was held at Dijon. The 80-lap race was won by Alain Prost in a Renault. On home soil, Prost scored the first of an eventual 51 Grand Prix victories, in a race that was stopped after 58 laps due to heavy rain, and then restarted, with aggregate times determining the final positions.

Picture above: Alain Prost on the grid at Dijon-Prenois in 1981 with the Renault-Turbo RE30, is about to win the first Grand Prix of his career.

Prior to the race, fellow French driver Jean-Pierre Jabouille, winner of two F1 Grand Prix, decided to retire from Formula One, having not fully recovered from the leg injuries he had sustained in Canada the previous year. His place at Ligier was taken for the rest of the season by Patrick Tambay (picture below), who moved from Theodore Racing.