1990 German Grand Prix

Last updated
1990 German Grand Prix
Race 9 of 16 in the 1990 Formula One World Championship
Circuit Hockenheimring-1982.svg
Race details
Date29 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 (4.227 miles)
Distance 45 laps, 306.090 km (190.195 miles)
Weather Hot, dry, sunny
Pole position
Driver McLaren-Honda
Time 1:40.198
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Thierry Boutsen Williams-Renault
Time 1:45.602 on lap 31
Podium
First McLaren-Honda
Second Benetton-Ford
Third McLaren-Honda
Lap leaders
  • 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.

Contents

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 Hockenheim circuit had been given all-new pits facilities with a wider pit lane, and a wider start-finish straight.

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
126 Flag of France.svg Philippe Alliot Ligier-Ford 1:45.513
225 Flag of Italy.svg Nicola Larini Ligier-Ford 1:46.186+0.673
314 Flag of France.svg Olivier Grouillard Osella-Ford 1:46.828+1.315
418 Flag of France.svg Yannick Dalmas AGS-Ford 1:47.125+1.612
517 Flag of Italy.svg Gabriele Tarquini AGS-Ford 1:48.127+2.614
633 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Roberto Moreno EuroBrun-Judd 1:48.983+3.470
731 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Bertrand Gachot Coloni-Ford 1:50.460+4.947
834 Flag of Italy.svg Claudio Langes EuroBrun-Judd 1:50.897+5.384
939 Flag of Italy.svg 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 McLaren had done some modifications to the MP4/5B chassis. Both parties 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, with both cars lapping at over 150 mph (240 km/h). 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
127 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 1:40.1981:46.843
228 Flag of Austria.svg Gerhard Berger McLaren-Honda 1:40.4341:46.628+0.236
31 Flag of France.svg Alain Prost Ferrari 1:41.7321:42.590+1.532
42 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Nigel Mansell Ferrari 1:42.3131:42.057+1.859
56 Flag of Italy.svg Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault 1:43.7361:42.195+1.997
65 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Thierry Boutsen Williams-Renault 1:43.6201:42.380+2.182
720 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Nelson Piquet Benetton-Ford 1:42.9261:42.872+2.674
84 Flag of France.svg Jean Alesi Tyrrell-Ford 1:43.2551:44.652+3.057
919 Flag of Italy.svg Alessandro Nannini Benetton-Ford 1:43.5941:44.559+3.396
1016 Flag of Italy.svg Ivan Capelli Leyton House-Judd 1:45.0251:44.349+4.151
1130 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Aguri Suzuki Lola-Lamborghini 1:45.3821:44.363+4.165
1229 Flag of France.svg Éric Bernard Lola-Lamborghini 1:44.9981:44.496+4.298
133 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Satoru Nakajima Tyrrell-Ford 1:44.8731:44.650+4.452
1415 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Maurício Gugelmin Leyton House-Judd no time1:45.193+4.995
1523 Flag of Italy.svg Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 1:45.7361:45.237+5.039
1611 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Derek Warwick Lotus-Lamborghini 1:45.3641:45.244+5.046
178 Flag of Italy.svg Stefano Modena Brabham-Judd 1:45.5471:47.269+5.349
1810 Flag of Italy.svg Alex Caffi Arrows-Ford 1:46.2011:45.604+5.406
199 Flag of Italy.svg Michele Alboreto Arrows-Ford 1:45.8711:45.755+5.557
2012 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Martin Donnelly Lotus-Lamborghini 1:47.7231:45.790+5.592
217 Flag of Australia (converted).svg David Brabham Brabham-Judd 1:46.1101:46.518+5.912
2225 Flag of Italy.svg Nicola Larini Ligier-Ford 1:47.0681:46.187+5.989
2321 Flag of Italy.svg Emanuele Pirro Dallara-Ford 1:46.9041:46.506+6.308
2426 Flag of France.svg Philippe Alliot Ligier-Ford 1:46.5961:57.287+6.398
2536 Flag of Finland.svg JJ Lehto Onyx-Ford 1:48.8561:46.867+6.669
2635 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Gregor Foitek Onyx-Ford 1:47.2091:47.726+7.011
2714 Flag of France.svg Olivier Grouillard Osella-Ford 1:47.4291:48.172+7.231
2824 Flag of Italy.svg Paolo Barilla Minardi-Ford 1:47.7471:47.958+7.549
2918 Flag of France.svg Yannick Dalmas AGS-Ford 1:47.7891:47.874+7.591
3022 Flag of Italy.svg Andrea de Cesaris Dallara-Ford 1:48.1181:48.032+7.834

Race

Race report

The circuit's fast nature resulted in several engine failures, although the four big teams of the era took five of the 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 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, Riccardo Patrese and Thierry Boutsen in the Williams.

Both Onyx Grand Prix teammates 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
127 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 451:20:47.16419
219 Flag of Italy.svg Alessandro Nannini Benetton-Ford 45+ 6.52096
328 Flag of Austria.svg Gerhard Berger McLaren-Honda 45+ 8.55324
41 Flag of France.svg Alain Prost Ferrari 45+ 45.27033
56 Flag of Italy.svg Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault 45+ 48.02852
65 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Thierry Boutsen Williams-Renault 45+ 1:21.49161
716 Flag of Italy.svg Ivan Capelli Leyton House-Judd 44+ 1 lap10
811 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Derek Warwick Lotus-Lamborghini 44+ 1 lap16
910 Flag of Italy.svg Alex Caffi Arrows-Ford 44+ 1 lap18
1025 Flag of Italy.svg Nicola Larini Ligier-Ford 43+ 2 laps22
114 Flag of France.svg Jean Alesi Tyrrell-Ford 40Transmission8
NC36 Flag of Finland.svg JJ Lehto Onyx-Ford 39+6 laps25
Ret29 Flag of France.svg Éric Bernard Lola-Lamborghini 35Fuel pump12
Ret30 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Aguri Suzuki Lola-Lamborghini 33Clutch11
Ret3 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Satoru Nakajima Tyrrell-Ford 24Engine13
Ret20 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Nelson Piquet Benetton-Ford 23Engine7
Ret23 Flag of Italy.svg Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 20Engine15
Ret35 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Gregor Foitek Onyx-Ford 19Spun off26
Ret2 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Nigel Mansell Ferrari 15Broken wing4
Ret15 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Maurício Gugelmin Leyton House-Judd 12Engine14
Ret7 Flag of Australia (converted).svg David Brabham Brabham-Judd 12Engine21
Ret9 Flag of Italy.svg Michele Alboreto Arrows-Ford 10Engine19
Ret12 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Martin Donnelly Lotus-Lamborghini 1Clutch20
Ret8 Flag of Italy.svg Stefano Modena Brabham-Judd 0Clutch17
Ret21 Flag of Italy.svg Emanuele Pirro Dallara-Ford 0Collision23
DSQ26 Flag of France.svg Philippe Alliot Ligier-Ford 0Outside assistance24
DNQ14 Flag of France.svg Olivier Grouillard Osella-Ford
DNQ24 Flag of Italy.svg Paolo Barilla Minardi-Ford
DNQ18 Flag of France.svg Yannick Dalmas AGS-Ford
DNQ22 Flag of Italy.svg Andrea de Cesaris Dallara-Ford
DNPQ17 Flag of Italy.svg Gabriele Tarquini AGS-Ford
DNPQ33 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Roberto Moreno EuroBrun-Judd
DNPQ31 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Bertrand Gachot Coloni-Ford
DNPQ34 Flag of Italy.svg Claudio Langes EuroBrun-Judd
DNPQ39 Flag of Italy.svg Bruno Giacomelli Life
Source: [4]

Championship standings after the race

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References

  1. 1 2 Walker, Murray (1990). Murray Walker's Grand Prix Year. Hazleton Publishing. pp. 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. 1 2 "Germany 1990 – Championship". StatsF1.com. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
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