| Race details | ||
|---|---|---|
| Race 2 of 16 in the 1991 Formula One season | ||
 | ||
| Date | March 24, 1991 | |
| Location | Autódromo José Carlos Pace São Paulo, Brazil | |
| Course | Permanent racing facility 4.325 km (2.687 mi) | |
| Distance | 71 laps, 307.075 km (190.807 mi) | |
| Weather | Hot, dry, sunny | |
| Pole position | ||
| Driver |  Ayrton Senna
|
McLaren-Honda |
| Time | 1:16.392 | |
| Fastest lap | ||
| Driver |  Nigel Mansell
|
Williams-Renault |
| Time | 1:20.436 on lap 35 | |
| Podium | ||
| First | Ayrton Senna
|
McLaren-Honda |
| Second |  Riccardo Patrese
|
Williams-Renault |
| Third |  Gerhard Berger
|
McLaren-Honda |
The 1991 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at Interlagos on March 24, 1991.
Race summary[]
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 some 3 seconds by lap 8. 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 some 7 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 ironically it was Mansell's gearbox that gave way first, 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. As the weather deteriorated Senna began gesturing to stewards to stop the race, an act he repeated in Adelaide later in the season.
Senna won by a mere 2.9 seconds from Patrese, having 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.
Classification[]
Pre Qualifying[]
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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[]
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Q1 | Q2 | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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[]
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 14 | Olivier Grouillard
|
Fondmetal-Ford | ||||
| DNPQ | 35 | Eric van de Poele
|
Lambo-Lamborghini | ||||
| DNPQ | 34 | Nicola Larini
|
Lambo-Lamborghini | ||||
| DNPQ | 31 | Pedro Chaves
|
Coloni-Ford |
Notes[]
- This staging of the Brazilian GP was the first won by a Brazilian driver since the 1986 Brazilian Grand Prix.
Standings after the race[]
|
|
- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References[]
- Unless otherwise indicated, all race results are taken from "The Official Formula 1 website". http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1991/200/. Retrieved 2007-08-08.
| 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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This page uses some content from Wikipedia. The original article was at 1991 Brazilian Grand Prix. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Autopedia, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License. |