1990 San Marino Grand Prix

1990 San Marino Grand Prix
Race 3 of 16 in the 1990 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date	13 May 1990
Official name	10o Gran Premio di San Marino
Location	Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari Imola, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	5.040 km (3.132 miles)
Distance	61 laps, 307.44 km (191.034 miles)
Weather	Warm, dry, sunny
Pole position
Driver	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Honda
Time	1:23.220
Fastest lap
Driver	Alessandro Nannini	Benetton-Ford
Time	1:27.156 on lap 60
Podium
First	Riccardo Patrese	Williams-Renault
Second	Gerhard Berger	McLaren-Honda
Third	Alessandro Nannini	Benetton-Ford
Lap leaders

The 1990 San Marino Grand Prix (formally the 10^o Gran Premio di San Marino ^[1] ) was a Formula One motor race held on 13 May 1990 at Imola. It was the third race of the 1990 Formula One World Championship and the first race in the European continent. The race was held over 61 laps of the 5.04-kilometre (3.13 mi) circuit for a race distance of 307.44 kilometres (191.03 mi).

The race was won by Italian driver Riccardo Patrese, driving a Williams-Renault. It was Patrese's third Grand Prix victory, and his first since the 1983 South African Grand Prix. As of May 2022 ^[update] Patrese holds the record for the longest waiting period between two Grand Prix wins, at 6 years, 6 months and 28 days. The record of most Grands Prix between wins was also broken and would be retained by Patrese until the 2018 United States Grand Prix when Kimi Räikkönen took the record. ^[2] Austrian driver Gerhard Berger finished second in a McLaren-Honda, with Patrese's compatriot Alessandro Nannini third in a Benetton-Ford.

Background

In the run-up to the first European race of the 1990 World Championship, there were a few changes to the grid. Brabham replaced Swiss driver Gregor Foitek with Australian driver David Brabham, the youngest son of team founder Sir Jack Brabham. Foitek moved over to the troubled Onyx team (part-run by his father Karl), replacing Stefan Johansson, who was unhappy at the way the team was being run. David Brabham's older brother Gary had quit the Life team, describing it as "totally disorganised and unprofessional", ^[3] and had been replaced by Italian veteran Bruno Giacomelli, who had last raced in F1 in 1983. Meanwhile, Emanuele Pirro returned to the Dallara team, having missed the first two races of the season due to hepatitis. Several teams unveiled new cars, with the Tyrrell 019 – designed by Harvey Postlethwaite – drawing much attention as the first F1 car to sport a "high-nose" design with downward-extending supports for the front wing.

Qualifying

Pre-qualifying report

The Friday morning pre-qualifying session took shape very soon into the one-hour session, after both AGS cars dropped out almost immediately. The team had brought their new JH25 car to this race, but Yannick Dalmas was withdrawn due to a hand injury he suffered in a testing accident, and Gabriele Tarquini's car failed on its first lap with a fuel pressure issue. This left seven cars in the session, three of which were uncompetitive.

The Larrousse-Lola team also brought a new car to the Grand Prix, the LC90. As at the previous race in Brazil, they finished first and second, with Éric Bernard nearly a second faster than his team-mate Aguri Suzuki. The updated Osella FA1ME of Olivier Grouillard was third fastest, a fraction ahead of Roberto Moreno in the EuroBrun.

Apart from the AGS cars, the other runners who failed to pre-qualify included Bertrand Gachot in the Coloni, which, despite revised aerodynamics and a 23kg weight reduction, was still seven seconds away from Bernard's time. ^[3] Even slower was Claudio Langes in the other EuroBrun, down in sixth place. At the Life team, Bruno Giacomelli drove the L190 for the first time, having replaced Gary Brabham. A drivebelt failed on the Italian's very slow first lap, and the car did not reappear for the rest of the session. ^[3]

Pre-qualifying classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	29	Éric Bernard	Lola-Lamborghini	1:26.475	—
2	30	Aguri Suzuki	Lola-Lamborghini	1:27.344	+0.869
3	14	Olivier Grouillard	Osella-Ford	1:28.155	+1.680
4	33	Roberto Moreno	EuroBrun-Judd	1:28.178	+1.703
5	31	Bertrand Gachot	Coloni-Subaru	1:33.554	+7.079
6	34	Claudio Langes	EuroBrun-Judd	1:34.272	+7.797
7	39	Bruno Giacomelli	Life	7:16.212	+5:49.737
8	17	Gabriele Tarquini	AGS-Ford	no time	—
9	18	Yannick Dalmas	AGS-Ford	no time	—

Qualifying report

In practice, Benetton's Alessandro Nannini and Minardi's Pierluigi Martini both crashed heavily, Martini cracking his heel and withdrawing from the race as a result.

In the qualifying sessions, the McLarens filled the front row, with Ayrton Senna on pole and team-mate Gerhard Berger alongside him. The two Williams were on the second row with Riccardo Patrese ahead of Thierry Boutsen, while the two Ferraris made up the third row, Nigel Mansell ahead of Alain Prost. The top ten was completed by the Tyrrell of Jean Alesi, the Benettons of Nelson Piquet and Nannini, and the Lotus of Derek Warwick.

Qualifying classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Q1	Q2	Gap
1	27	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Honda	1:24.079	1:23.220	—
2	28	Gerhard Berger	McLaren-Honda	1:24.027	1:23.781	+0.561
3	6	Riccardo Patrese	Williams-Renault	1:24.486	1:24.444	+1.224
4	5	Thierry Boutsen	Williams-Renault	1:25.832	1:25.039	+1.819
5	2	Nigel Mansell	Ferrari	1:25.539	1:25.095	+1.875
6	1	Alain Prost	Ferrari	1:26.080	1:25.179	+1.959
7	4	Jean Alesi	Tyrrell-Ford	1:26.138	1:25.230	+2.010
8	20	Nelson Piquet	Benetton-Ford	1:26.316	1:25.761	+2.541
9	19	Alessandro Nannini	Benetton-Ford	1:26.889	1:26.042	+2.822
10	11	Derek Warwick	Lotus-Lamborghini	1:28.055	1:26.682	+3.462
11	12	Martin Donnelly	Lotus-Lamborghini	1:27.151	1:26.714	+3.494
12	15	Maurício Gugelmin	Leyton House-Judd	1:29.339	1:26.836	+3.616
13	29	Éric Bernard	Lola-Lamborghini	1:26.988	1:26.838	+3.618
14	8	Stefano Modena	Brabham-Judd	1:28.763	1:27.008	+3.788
15	30	Aguri Suzuki	Lola-Lamborghini	1:27.211	1:27.068	+3.848
16	26	Philippe Alliot	Ligier-Ford	1:27.533	1:27.214	+3.994
17	22	Andrea de Cesaris	Dallara-Ford	1:27.570	1:27.217	+3.997
18	16	Ivan Capelli	Leyton House-Judd	1:29.904	1:27.521	+4.301
19	3	Satoru Nakajima	Tyrrell-Ford	1:27.746	1:27.532	+4.312
20	25	Nicola Larini	Ligier-Ford	1:27.642	1:27.564	+4.344
21	21	Emanuele Pirro	Dallara-Ford	1:27.849	1:27.613	+4.393
22	14	Olivier Grouillard	Osella-Ford	1:28.590	1:28.009	+4.789
23	35	Gregor Foitek	Onyx-Ford	1:28.111	1:28.435	+4.891
24	33	Roberto Moreno	EuroBrun-Judd	1:28.603	1:31.653	+5.383
25	36	JJ Lehto	Onyx-Ford	1:28.625	no time	+5.405
26	24	Paolo Barilla	Minardi-Ford	1:29.566	1:28.667	+5.447
27	10	Alex Caffi	Arrows-Ford	1:29.242	1:28.699	+5.479
28	9	Michele Alboreto	Arrows-Ford	1:29.615	1:28.797	+5.577
29	7	David Brabham	Brabham-Judd	1:31.282	1:28.927	+5.707
WD	23	Pierluigi Martini	Minardi-Ford	1:26.466	no time	+3.246

Race

Race report

Pirro, who had qualified 21st, started from the back of the grid after his Dallara stalled at the start of the formation lap. At the start, Senna led away from Berger while Boutsen got ahead of Patrese. At Tamburello, Mansell ran wide and kicked up dust, which caused the Leyton House of Ivan Capelli and the second Tyrrell of Satoru Nakajima to collide with each other, while at Tosa Martin Donnelly spun his Lotus, narrowly avoiding other drivers. Meanwhile, Boutsen got past Berger but was unable to close on Senna. The order remained the same until lap 3 when Senna pulled off with a broken wheel rim, allowing Boutsen to take the lead with Berger close behind. Further back, Alesi collided with Piquet at Tosa; both drivers continued.

Boutsen led until his Renault engine blew on lap 17, which left Berger ahead of Patrese and Mansell. The Englishman passed Patrese going into Tosa, much to the delight of the Italian fans. Mansell continued to charge, despite being hit by Andrea de Cesaris while trying to lap him and challenged Berger for the lead. On the run up to Villeneuve, Mansell tried to go around the outside, but Berger pushed Mansell onto the grass, causing Mansell to spin dramatically. The Englishman avoided hitting anything and ended up pointing in the right direction, he continued in second place, however, dirt and debris had entered Mansell's engine, causing it to overheat and blow-up a few laps later.

Mansell's demise left Berger ahead of Patrese, who went through into the lead on lap 51. Nannini and Prost battled over third place, with Nannini winning out. Patrese duly won his first race since the 1983 South African Grand Prix, leading home Berger, Nannini, Prost, Piquet, and Alesi. With 98 races between victories, Patrese claimed the record for most starts between wins - a record that would be taken 28 years later by Kimi Räikkönen, who started 113 races between winning the 2013 Australian Grand Prix and the 2018 United States Grand Prix.

Race classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	6	Riccardo Patrese	Williams-Renault	61	1:30:55.478	3	9
2	28	Gerhard Berger	McLaren-Honda	61	+ 5.117	2	6
3	19	Alessandro Nannini	Benetton-Ford	61	+ 6.240	9	4
4	1	Alain Prost	Ferrari	61	+ 6.843	6	3
5	20	Nelson Piquet	Benetton-Ford	61	+ 53.112	8	2
6	4	Jean Alesi	Tyrrell-Ford	60	+ 1 lap	7	1
7	11	Derek Warwick	Lotus-Lamborghini	60	+ 1 lap	10
8	12	Martin Donnelly	Lotus-Lamborghini	60	+ 1 lap	11
9	26	Philippe Alliot	Ligier-Ford	60	+ 1 lap	16
10	25	Nicola Larini	Ligier-Ford	59	+ 2 laps	20
11	24	Paolo Barilla	Minardi-Ford	59	+ 2 laps	26
12	36	JJ Lehto	Onyx-Ford	59	+ 2 laps	25
13	29	Éric Bernard	Lola-Lamborghini	56	Clutch	13
Ret	14	Olivier Grouillard	Osella-Ford	52	Wheel	22
Ret	2	Nigel Mansell	Ferrari	38	Engine	5
Ret	35	Gregor Foitek	Onyx-Ford	35	Engine	23
Ret	8	Stefano Modena	Brabham-Judd	31	Brakes	14
Ret	22	Andrea de Cesaris	Dallara-Ford	29	Wheel	17
Ret	15	Maurício Gugelmin	Leyton House-Judd	24	Electrical	12
Ret	5	Thierry Boutsen	Williams-Renault	17	Engine	4
Ret	30	Aguri Suzuki	Lola-Lamborghini	17	Clutch	15
Ret	27	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Honda	3	Wheel	1
Ret	21	Emanuele Pirro	Dallara-Ford	2	Spun off	21
Ret	16	Ivan Capelli	Leyton House-Judd	0	Collision	18
Ret	3	Satoru Nakajima	Tyrrell-Ford	0	Collision	19
Ret	33	Roberto Moreno	EuroBrun-Judd	0	Throttle	24
DNS	23	Pierluigi Martini	Minardi-Ford		Practice accident
DNQ	10	Alex Caffi	Arrows-Ford
DNQ	9	Michele Alboreto	Arrows-Ford
DNQ	7	David Brabham	Brabham-Judd
DNPQ	31	Bertrand Gachot	Coloni-Subaru
DNPQ	34	Claudio Langes	EuroBrun-Judd
DNPQ	39	Bruno Giacomelli	Life
DNPQ	17	Gabriele Tarquini	AGS-Ford
DNPQ	18	Yannick Dalmas	AGS-Ford
Source: [4]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Ayrton Senna 13 2 Alain Prost 12 3 Gerhard Berger 12 4 Riccardo Patrese 9 5 Jean Alesi 7 Source: [5]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 McLaren-Honda 25 2 Williams-Renault 15 3 Ferrari 15 4 Benetton-Ford 10 5 Tyrrell-Ford 8 Source: [5]

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

References

1. "Motor Racing Programme Covers: 1990". The Programme Covers Project. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
2. "Statistics Drivers - Wins - Interval between two". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
3. Walker, Murray (1990). Murray Walker's Grand Prix Year. Hazleton Publishing. pp. 31–38. ISBN   0-905138-82-1.
4. "1990 San Marino Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 21 December 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
5. "San Marino 1990 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.

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