1990 German Grand Prix

The 1990 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Hockenheimring on 29 July 1990. It was the ninth race of the 1990 Formula One World Championship. The race was the 52nd German Grand Prix and the 14th to be held at the Hockenheimring. It was the 39th and last Formula One Grand Prix to be held in West Germany prior to its re-unification with East Germany. The race was held over 45 laps of the seven kilometre circuit for a race distance of 306 kilometres.

1990 German Grand Prix
Race 9 of 16 in the 1990 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date 29 July 1990
Official name Grosser Mobil 1 Preis von Deutschland
Location Hockenheimring
near Heidelberg, West Germany
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 6.802 km (4.2265 mi)
Distance 45 laps, 306.090 km (190.195 mi)
Weather Hot, dry, sunny
Pole position
Driver McLaren-Honda
Time 1:40.198
Fastest lap
Driver Thierry Boutsen Williams-Renault
Time 1:45.602 on lap 31
Podium
First McLaren-Honda
Second Benetton-Ford
Third McLaren-Honda

The race was won by 1988 World Champion, Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna driving a McLaren MP4/5B. He took a six-second victory over Italian driver Alessandro Nannini driving a Benetton B190 who was just two seconds in front of Senna's Austrian teammate Gerhard Berger.

Senna's win put him back into the championship points lead, four ahead of Ferrari driver Alain Prost.

Qualifying

Pre-qualifying report

The participants in the Friday morning pre-qualifying sessions were slightly reshuffled prior to this event, the season having reached its mid-point. Larrousse had scored enough points during the previous two half-seasons to be relieved of the requirement to pre-qualify, and could automatically join the rest of the field in the main qualifying sessions from here on. A failure to score any points so far this season meant that Ligier were forced to join the pre-qualifying pool. Osella, AGS, EuroBrun, Coloni and Life were all still required to pre-qualify.[1]

Here at Hockenheim, Ligier were comfortably first and second in the one-hour session, with Philippe Alliot outpacing team-mate Nicola Larini in their Ford-powered JS33Bs. Third fastest was Olivier Grouillard in the Osella, and Yannick Dalmas was fourth in his AGS. It was Grouillard's eighth pre-qualification from nine events, and Dalmas' third.

Those missing out on pre-qualification included fifth-placed Gabriele Tarquini in the other AGS, a second slower than his team-mate, and Roberto Moreno, sixth in the EuroBrun. Coloni, having parted ways with Subaru and their uncompetitive flat 12 engine, appeared with the modified but untested C3C, powered by a customer Cosworth DFR V8 engine. Bertrand Gachot spun the car during the session and damaged it, failing to pre-qualify for the ninth consecutive time this season. Also ending his involvement at this early stage for the ninth Grand Prix in a row was Claudio Langes in the other EuroBrun, ahead only of Bruno Giacomelli, who was again a far distant last in the Life.[1]

Pre-qualifying classification

PosNoDriverConstructorTimeGap
1 26 Philippe Alliot Ligier-Ford 1:45.513
2 25 Nicola Larini Ligier-Ford 1:46.186 +0.673
3 14 Olivier Grouillard Osella-Ford 1:46.828 +1.315
4 18 Yannick Dalmas AGS-Ford 1:47.125 +1.612
5 17 Gabriele Tarquini AGS-Ford 1:48.127 +2.614
6 33 Roberto Moreno EuroBrun-Judd 1:48.983 +3.470
7 31 Bertrand Gachot Coloni-Ford 1:50.460 +4.947
8 34 Claudio Langes EuroBrun-Judd 1:50.897 +5.384
9 39 Bruno Giacomelli Life 2:10.786 +25.273

Qualifying report

After three straight wins by Ferraris Alain Prost, McLaren-Honda showed that they were back on top in qualifying. Honda promised McLaren a more powerful V10 engine at Hockenheim and they delivered with pole man Senna and second placed Berger (only 0.2 seconds slower) the only drivers to lap in the 1:40's and they did this during the first qualifying session- an indication of the McLaren-Honda car's superior pace at one of the fastest Grand Prix circuits of the year. The Ferraris of Prost and Nigel Mansell were over 1.5 seconds slower (with the Englishman complaining of a down on power engine compared to his team mate), and the Williams-Renaults of Riccardo Patrese and Thierry Boutsen occupying the 3rd row. So confident were McLaren that their times would not be beaten that both Senna and Berger did over 20 laps each and spent the entire second qualifying session working on their race set up without actually setting anything like a qualifying time, their fastest times over 6 seconds slower than the previous day.[2] McLaren also introduced a new aerodynamic cowling cover for the MP4/5B at Hockenheim designed to lessen the buffeting effect on the drivers heads by diverting air to the sides of the car. This would remain on the car for the rest of the season.

Rounding out the top 10 were Nelson Piquet (Benetton-Ford), Jean Alesi (Tyrrell-Ford), Alessandro Nannini (Benetton-Ford) who had a fiery crash during Friday qualifying at the Bremsschikane 2 after riding a curb and hitting the barrier hard enough to throw the car into the air and back onto the track causing the session to be stopped. Nannini survived the crash with little more than bruised pride. The 10th fastest qualifier was Ivan Capelli in the Leyton House-Judd. Such was the spread in times that Capelli was some 4.151 seconds slower than Senna.[3]

Qualifying classification

PosNoDriverConstructorQ1Q2Gap
1 27 Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 1:40.198 1:46.843
2 28 Gerhard Berger McLaren-Honda 1:40.434 1:46.628 +0.236
3 1 Alain Prost Ferrari 1:41.732 1:42.590 +1.532
4 2 Nigel Mansell Ferrari 1:42.313 1:42.057 +1.859
5 6 Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault 1:43.736 1:42.195 +1.997
6 5 Thierry Boutsen Williams-Renault 1:43.620 1:42.380 +2.182
7 20 Nelson Piquet Benetton-Ford 1:42.926 1:42.872 +2.674
8 4 Jean Alesi Tyrrell-Ford 1:43.255 1:44.652 +3.057
9 19 Alessandro Nannini Benetton-Ford 1:43.594 1:44.559 +3.396
10 16 Ivan Capelli Leyton House-Judd 1:45.025 1:44.349 +4.151
11 30 Aguri Suzuki Lola-Lamborghini 1:45.382 1:44.363 +4.165
12 29 Éric Bernard Lola-Lamborghini 1:44.998 1:44.496 +4.298
13 3 Satoru Nakajima Tyrrell-Ford 1:44.873 1:44.650 +4.452
14 15 Maurício Gugelmin Leyton House-Judd no time 1:45.193 +4.995
15 23 Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 1:45.736 1:45.237 +5.039
16 11 Derek Warwick Lotus-Lamborghini 1:45.364 1:45.244 +5.046
17 8 Stefano Modena Brabham-Judd 1:45.547 1:47.269 +5.349
18 10 Alex Caffi Arrows-Ford 1:46.201 1:45.604 +5.406
19 9 Michele Alboreto Arrows-Ford 1:45.871 1:45.755 +5.557
20 12 Martin Donnelly Lotus-Lamborghini 1:47.723 1:45.790 +5.592
21 7 David Brabham Brabham-Judd 1:46.110 1:46.518 +5.912
22 25 Nicola Larini Ligier-Ford 1:47.068 1:46.187 +5.989
23 21 Emanuele Pirro Dallara-Ford 1:46.904 1:46.506 +6.308
24 26 Philippe Alliot Ligier-Ford 1:46.596 1:57.287 +6.398
25 36 JJ Lehto Onyx-Ford 1:48.856 1:46.867 +6.669
26 35 Gregor Foitek Onyx-Ford 1:47.209 1:47.726 +7.011
27 14 Olivier Grouillard Osella-Ford 1:47.429 1:48.172 +7.231
28 24 Paolo Barilla Minardi-Ford 1:47.747 1:47.958 +7.549
29 18 Yannick Dalmas AGS-Ford 1:47.789 1:47.874 +7.591
30 22 Andrea de Cesaris Dallara-Ford 1:48.118 1:48.032 +7.834

Race

Race report

The circuit's fast nature resulted in several engine failures, although the four big teams of the era took all six points-paying positions. The first driver to retire with an engine failure was Michele Alboreto on lap 11, he was then followed out by Mauricio Gugelmin and David Brabham 2 laps later along with Pierluigi Martini in the only Minardi by lap 21. Also involved with the engine failures were Nelson Piquet in the Benetton on lap 24 (it was his first DNF of the season) and Satoru Nakajima in the Tyrrell one lap later.

Berger got a stronger start off the line than Senna did but the Brazilian was able to hold on to the lead through the first corner. Senna lead the first lap ahead of Berger, Prost, Mansell, Patrese and Piquet. The order of the top 6 remained the same until the 11th lap when Piquet made an attempt to pass Patrese in the Williams, but had to take an escape road and was overtaken for 6th by teammate Nannini as a result. Meanwhile Mansell in the second Ferrari missed his braking point at the Ostkurve chicane on lap 14 and broke his front wing which also damaged his car, his fourth position was not lost but he was forced to retire in the pits 2 laps later due to the damage being too great. Back upfront Nannini overtook Patrese for the lead as the Williams and Benetton teams had planned to go the race distance with no pit-stops. However, the gamble for Williams had failed since Patrese's tires were badly damaged in the closing stages and was forced to eventually pit. While Boutsen in the other Williams was eventually overtaken by Prost for fourth position and by teammate Patrese for 5th, but managed to hold on to 6th for the closing laps. Senna eventually passed Nannini on lap 34 whilst overlapping JJ Lehto and eventually took the victory. Ayrton Senna won the race by 6 seconds ahead of Alessandro Nannini in the remaining Benetton, Gerhard Berger in the second McLaren, Alain Prost in the remaining Ferrari, Ricardo Patrese and Thierry Boutsen in the Williams.

Both Onyx Grand Prix team mates JJ Lehto and Gregor Foitek both got their renamed Monteverdi ORE-1Bs into the race, the last time either car would qualify for a race prior to the team's dissolution in August.

Philippe Alliot was disqualified because marshals helped his Ligier JS33B rejoin the race after being blocked by the spinning Dallara 190 of Emanuele Pirro. Fastest lap of the race was set by Thierry Boutsen in his Williams, his first such achievement.

Race classification

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
1 27 Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 45 1:20:47.164 1 9
2 19 Alessandro Nannini Benetton-Ford 45 + 6.520 9 6
3 28 Gerhard Berger McLaren-Honda 45 + 8.553 2 4
4 1 Alain Prost Ferrari 45 + 45.270 3 3
5 6 Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault 45 + 48.028 5 2
6 5 Thierry Boutsen Williams-Renault 45 + 1:21.491 6 1
7 16 Ivan Capelli Leyton House-Judd 44 + 1 lap 10
8 11 Derek Warwick Lotus-Lamborghini 44 + 1 lap 16
9 10 Alex Caffi Arrows-Ford 44 + 1 lap 18
10 25 Nicola Larini Ligier-Ford 43 + 2 laps 22
11 4 Jean Alesi Tyrrell-Ford 40 Transmission 8
NC 36 JJ Lehto Onyx-Ford 39 +6 laps 25
Ret 29 Éric Bernard Lola-Lamborghini 35 Fuel pump 12
Ret 30 Aguri Suzuki Lola-Lamborghini 33 Clutch 11
Ret 3 Satoru Nakajima Tyrrell-Ford 24 Engine 13
Ret 20 Nelson Piquet Benetton-Ford 23 Engine 7
Ret 23 Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 20 Engine 15
Ret 35 Gregor Foitek Onyx-Ford 19 Spun off 26
Ret 2 Nigel Mansell Ferrari 15 Broken wing 4
Ret 15 Maurício Gugelmin Leyton House-Judd 12 Engine 14
Ret 7 David Brabham Brabham-Judd 12 Engine 21
Ret 9 Michele Alboreto Arrows-Ford 10 Engine 19
Ret 12 Martin Donnelly Lotus-Lamborghini 1 Clutch 20
Ret 8 Stefano Modena Brabham-Judd 0 Clutch 17
Ret 21 Emanuele Pirro Dallara-Ford 0 Collision 23
DSQ 26 Philippe Alliot Ligier-Ford 0 Outside assistance 24
DNQ 14 Olivier Grouillard Osella-Ford
DNQ 24 Paolo Barilla Minardi-Ford
DNQ 18 Yannick Dalmas AGS-Ford
DNQ 22 Andrea de Cesaris Dallara-Ford
DNPQ 17 Gabriele Tarquini AGS-Ford
DNPQ 33 Roberto Moreno EuroBrun-Judd
DNPQ 31 Bertrand Gachot Coloni-Ford
DNPQ 34 Claudio Langes EuroBrun-Judd
DNPQ 39 Bruno Giacomelli Life
Source:[4]

Championship standings after the race

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

  1. Walker, Murray (1990). Murray Walker's Grand Prix Year. Hazleton Publishing. p. 79–86. ISBN 0 905138 82 1.
  2. 1990 German Grand Prix 1st Qualifying Session
  3. 1990 German Grand Prix 2nd Qualifying Session
  4. "1990 German Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 21 December 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  5. "Germany 1990 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
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1990 British Grand Prix
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1990 Hungarian Grand Prix
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1989 German Grand Prix
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1991 German Grand Prix
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