1991 Brazilian Grand Prix

The 1991 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Interlagos on 24 March 1991. It was the second race of the 1991 Formula One World Championship.

1991 Brazilian Grand Prix
Race 2 of 16 in the 1991 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date 24 March 1991
Location Autódromo José Carlos Pace
São Paulo, Brazil
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.325 km (2.687 mi)
Distance 71 laps, 307.075 km (190.808 mi)
Weather Cloudy at start, rainy later. Ambient temperature: 29.4°C (85°F).
Humidity: 95%.
Wind speed: 33.7 km/h (21 mph).
Pole position
Driver McLaren-Honda
Time 1:16.392
Fastest lap
Driver Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault
Time 1:20.436 on lap 35
Podium
First McLaren-Honda
Second Williams-Renault
Third McLaren-Honda

The 71-lap race was won from pole position by local driver Ayrton Senna, driving a McLaren-Honda. It was the first time Senna had won his home Grand Prix, in his eighth season of F1. Riccardo Patrese finished second in a Williams-Renault, with Senna's teammate Gerhard Berger third.

Qualifying

Pre-qualifying report

In the Friday morning pre-qualifying session, a Dallara was again the fastest car, but this time it was JJ Lehto who topped the time sheets. He was six tenths of a second ahead of the Jordan of Andrea de Cesaris, who was a fraction faster than his team-mate Bertrand Gachot in third. The fourth pre-qualifier was the other Scuderia Italia Dallara, driven by Emanuele Pirro.

The two Modena Lambos missed out in fifth and sixth, with Eric van de Poele over a second slower than Pirro, with Nicola Larini another second further back. Seventh was Pedro Chaves in the Coloni, followed by Olivier Grouillard in the Fondmetal. Grouillard had initially used an interim chassis, with an eye to the team's new car which was still being completed, and was running well until the suspension broke. He was forced to revert to an older chassis, and was unable to match the times of his opponents.[1]

Pre-qualifying classification

PosNoDriverConstructorTimeGap
1 22 JJ Lehto Dallara-Judd 1:19.540
2 33 Andrea de Cesaris Jordan-Ford 1:20.150 +0.610
3 32 Bertrand Gachot Jordan-Ford 1:20.184 +0.644
4 21 Emanuele Pirro Dallara-Judd 1:20.567 +1.027
5 35 Eric van de Poele Lambo-Lamborghini 1:21.919 +2.379
6 34 Nicola Larini Lambo-Lamborghini 1:22.944 +3.404
7 31 Pedro Chaves Coloni-Ford 1:23.231 +3.691
8 14 Olivier Grouillard Fondmetal-Ford 1:23.951 +4.411

Qualifying classification

PosNoDriverConstructorQ1Q2Gap
1 1 Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 1:18.711 1:16.392
2 6 Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault 1:22.069 1:16.775 +0.383
3 5 Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault 1:20.056 1:16.843 +0.451
4 2 Gerhard Berger McLaren-Honda 1:19.557 1:17.471 +1.079
5 28 Jean Alesi Ferrari 1:19.350 1:17.601 +1.209
6 27 Alain Prost Ferrari 1:20.079 1:17.739 +1.347
7 20 Nelson Piquet Benetton-Ford 1:20.105 1:18.577 +2.185
8 15 Maurício Gugelmin Leyton House-Ilmor 1:22.196 1:18.664 +2.272
9 4 Stefano Modena Tyrrell-Honda 1:21.709 1:18.847 +2.455
10 32 Bertrand Gachot Jordan-Ford 1:21.493 1:18.882 +2.490
11 29 Éric Bernard Lola-Ford 1:22.127 1:19.291 +2.899
12 21 Emanuele Pirro Dallara-Judd 1:21.286 1:19.305 +2.913
13 33 Andrea de Cesaris Jordan-Ford 1:21.710 1:19.339 +2.947
14 19 Roberto Moreno Benetton-Ford 1:21.266 1:19.360 +2.968
15 16 Ivan Capelli Leyton House-Ilmor 1:21.171 1:19.517 +3.125
16 3 Satoru Nakajima Tyrrell-Honda 1:21.825 1:19.546 +3.154
17 30 Aguri Suzuki Lola-Ford 1:22.281 1:19.832 +3.440
18 25 Thierry Boutsen Ligier-Lamborghini 1:23.197 1:19.868 +3.476
19 22 JJ Lehto Dallara-Judd 1:22.243 1:19.954 +3.562
20 23 Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ferrari 1:22.852 1:20.175 +3.783
21 24 Gianni Morbidelli Minardi-Ferrari 1:26.147 1:20.502 +4.110
22 11 Mika Häkkinen Lotus-Judd 1:25.587 1:20.611 +4.219
23 26 Érik Comas Ligier-Lamborghini 1:22.682 1:21.168 +4.776
24 17 Gabriele Tarquini AGS-Ford 1:23.618 1:21.219 +4.827
25 8 Mark Blundell Brabham-Yamaha 1:23.547 1:21.230 +4.838
26 7 Martin Brundle Brabham-Yamaha 1:23.271 1:21.280 +4.888
27 10 Alex Caffi Footwork-Porsche 1:25.555 1:22.190 +5.798
28 18 Stefan Johansson AGS-Ford 1:24.698 1:22.432 +6.040
29 9 Michele Alboreto Footwork-Porsche 1:25.795 1:22.739 +6.347
30 12 Julian Bailey Lotus-Judd 1:24.947 1:23.590 +7.198

Race

Race report

Ayrton Senna made a perfect start to lead from Nigel Mansell, Riccardo Patrese, Jean Alesi, Gerhard Berger and Alain Prost, building up a lead of three seconds by lap eight. However Mansell was closing and by lap 20 the gap was down to 0.7s. On lap 17 Prost pitted for new tires, keen to avoid being stuck behind Nelson Piquet's Benetton. Mansell pitted on lap 26, but the stop was terrible - lasting over 14 seconds. This returned him to the race in 4th place behind Patrese and Alesi. After Senna and Patrese had made their stops, Mansell was seven seconds behind the lead McLaren. There seemed no doubt that Senna would be caught but the chance never arose as on lap 50 Mansell had to stop for a new set of tires after a puncture caused by debris on the track. Unknown to observers, Senna's gearbox was failing, having lost fourth gear and by lap 60 the lead was halved and Mansell had set fastest lap. Yet it was Mansell's gearbox that gave way first, forcing the Williams into a spin and causing him to retire on lap 61. With just a couple of laps left, Senna had also lost fifth and third gears. Having to maintain sixth gear in slow and medium corners meant that several times he nearly stalled. Patrese was catching him rapidly, but with gearbox problems of his own he was unable to pass.

Senna won by 2.9 seconds from Patrese. When he crossed the finish line, he started to scream in celebration of achieving his dream of winning at home. The tremendous struggle of trying to keep the car under control, caused him to have muscle cramps and fever. After stopping his car, Senna was almost unable to move on his own. He had to be lifted bodily from the car due to exhaustion and driven to the podium in the medical car. Despite a small fire on the grid and a sticking throttle, Berger claimed the final podium place from Prost, Piquet and Alesi. On the podium, after all that effort, Senna barely managed to lift the trophy.

Race classification

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
1 1 Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 71 1:38:28.128 1 10
2 6 Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault 71 + 2.991 2 6
3 2 Gerhard Berger McLaren-Honda 71 + 5.416 4 4
4 27 Alain Prost Ferrari 71 + 18.369 6 3
5 20 Nelson Piquet Benetton-Ford 71 + 21.960 7 2
6 28 Jean Alesi Ferrari 71 + 23.641 5 1
7 19 Roberto Moreno Benetton-Ford 70 + 1 lap 14
8 24 Gianni Morbidelli Minardi-Ferrari 69 + 2 laps 21
9 11 Mika Häkkinen Lotus-Judd 68 + 3 laps 22
10 25 Thierry Boutsen Ligier-Lamborghini 68 + 3 laps 18
11 21 Emanuele Pirro Dallara-Judd 68 + 3 laps 12
12 7 Martin Brundle Brabham-Yamaha 67 + 4 laps 26
13 32 Bertrand Gachot Jordan-Ford 63 Fuel system 10
Ret 5 Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault 59 Gearbox 3
Ret 26 Érik Comas Ligier-Lamborghini 50 Engine 23
Ret 23 Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ferrari 47 Spun off 20
Ret 8 Mark Blundell Brabham-Yamaha 34 Engine 25
Ret 29 Éric Bernard Lola-Ford 33 Radiator 11
Ret 22 JJ Lehto Dallara-Judd 22 Electrical 19
Ret 33 Andrea de Cesaris Jordan-Ford 20 Engine 13
Ret 4 Stefano Modena Tyrrell-Honda 19 Gearbox 9
Ret 16 Ivan Capelli Leyton House-Ilmor 16 Transmission 15
Ret 3 Satoru Nakajima Tyrrell-Honda 12 Spun off 16
Ret 15 Maurício Gugelmin Leyton House-Ilmor 9 Physical 8
Ret 17 Gabriele Tarquini AGS-Ford 0 Suspension 24
Ret 30 Aguri Suzuki Lola-Ford 0 Fuel pump 17
DNQ 10 Alex Caffi Footwork-Porsche
DNQ 18 Stefan Johansson AGS-Ford
DNQ 9 Michele Alboreto Footwork-Porsche
DNQ 12 Julian Bailey Lotus-Judd
DNPQ 35 Eric van de Poele Lambo-Lamborghini
DNPQ 34 Nicola Larini Lambo-Lamborghini
DNPQ 31 Pedro Chaves Coloni-Ford
DNPQ 14 Olivier Grouillard Fondmetal-Ford
Source:[2]

Championship standings after the race

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

References

  1. Walker, Murray (1991). Murray Walker's Grand Prix Year. Hazleton Publishing. p. 21–28. ISBN 0 905138 90 2.
  2. "1991 Brazilian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 3 November 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  3. "Brazil 1991 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
Previous race:
1991 United States Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1991 season
Next race:
1991 San Marino Grand Prix
Previous race:
1990 Brazilian Grand Prix
Brazilian Grand Prix Next race:
1992 Brazilian Grand Prix
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