Countdown to
000d 00h 00m 00s1981 season calendar
| Rd | Date | Grand Prix | Track | Track length | Laps | Race distance | Winner |
| 1 | 15 Mar | United States West | Long Beach | 3.251 | 80 | 261.705 | Alan Jones |
| 2 | 29 Mar | Brazil | Jacarepaguá | 5.031 | 62 | 311.922 | Carlos Reutemann |
| 3 | 12 Apr | Argentina | Buenos Aires | 5.968 | 53 | 316.304 | Nelson Piquet |
| 4 | 3 May | San Marino | Imola | 5.040 | 60 | 302.400 | Nelson Piquet |
| 5 | 17 May | Belgium | Zolder | 4.262 | 54 | 230.148 | Carlos Reutemann |
| 6 | 31 May | Monaco | Monte-Carlo | 3.312 | 76 | 251.712 | Gilles Villeneuve |
| 7 | 21 Jun | Spain | Jarama | 3.312 | 80 | 264.960 | Gilles Villeneuve |
| 8 | 5 Jul | France | Dijon | 3.800 | 80 | 304.000 | Alain Prost |
| 9 | 19 Jul | Great Britain | Silverstone | 4.719 | 68 | 320.892 | John Watson |
| 10 | 2 Aug | Germany | Hockenheim | 6.789 | 45 | 305.505 | Nelson Piquet |
| 11 | 16 Aug | Austria | Spielberg | 5.942 | 53 | 314.926 | Jacques Laffite |
| 12 | 30 Aug | Netherlands | Zandvoort | 4.252 | 72 | 306.144 | Alain Prost |
| 13 | 13 Sep | Italy | Monza | 5.800 | 52 | 301.600 | Alain Prost |
| 14 | 27 Sep | Canada | Montréal | 4.410 | 63 | 277.830 | Jacques Laffite |
| 15 | 17 Oct | Las Vegas | Las Vegas | 3.650 | 75 | 273.750 | Alan Jones |