1991 Belgian Grand Prix

1991 Belgian Grand Prix
Race 11 of 16 in the 1991 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date	25 August 1991
Official name	XL Grand Prix de Belgique
Location	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Francorchamps, Wallonia, Belgium
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	6.940 km (4.312 miles)
Distance	44 laps, 305.360 km (189.741 miles)
Weather	Sunny and hot
Pole position
Driver	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Honda
Time	1:47.811
Fastest lap
Driver	Roberto Moreno	Benetton-Ford
Time	1:55.161 on lap 40
Podium
First	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Honda
Second	Gerhard Berger	McLaren-Honda
Third	Nelson Piquet	Benetton-Ford
Lap leaders

The 1991 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on 25 August 1991. It was the eleventh race of the 1991 Formula One World Championship. The 44-lap race was won by Brazilian Ayrton Senna, driving a McLaren-Honda, after he started from pole position. His Austrian teammate Gerhard Berger finished second, with another Brazilian, Nelson Piquet, third in a Benetton-Ford. Senna's Drivers' Championship rival, Briton Nigel Mansell, retired with an electrical failure, allowing Senna to extend his lead over him to 22 points with five races remaining.

The race marked the debut of future seven-time World Champion, German Michael Schumacher, driving a Jordan-Ford. Schumacher qualified seventh, which matched the team's season-best grid position, and Schumacher outqualified veteran Andrea de Cesaris. Although he retired on the opening lap with a clutch failure, Schumacher's debut impressed the paddock. His seventh place qualifying was done in a midfield car, the Jordan 191, which he drove half a day of testing and at a track he had never raced at. ^[1]

Pre-race

The Jordan team dominated the headlines leading up to the Belgian Grand Prix. Driver Bertrand Gachot was serving a two-month prison sentence in an English jail as a result of an altercation with a London taxi driver, so the team had decided to replace him with young German driver Michael Schumacher. Elsewhere, Johnny Herbert had returned to Lotus after having missed the previous two races due to Formula 3000 commitments in Japan.

Qualifying

Pre-qualifying report

As at the previous event in Hungary, the Friday morning pre-qualifying session was dominated by Brabham, who achieved their second 1–2 in succession. On this occasion, Martin Brundle was fastest, 1.5 seconds quicker than his team-mate Mark Blundell. Third, over 3.5 seconds slower than Brundle, was Olivier Grouillard for Fondmetal, the fourth time this season he had pre-qualified. Over a second behind Grouillard was Alex Caffi, pre-qualifying for the first time in three attempts for Footwork.

Missing out by 0.45 of a second in fifth place was Caffi's team-mate Michele Alboreto, the first time he had failed to pre-qualify in his three attempts. A fraction slower in sixth, after suffering a huge accident, was Gabriele Tarquini in the AGS, nearly two seconds ahead of Pedro Chaves in the Coloni. Bottom of the time sheets was the other AGS of Fabrizio Barbazza, who also crashed during the session. ^[2]

Pre-qualifying classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	7	Martin Brundle	Brabham-Yamaha	1:54.929	—
2	8	Mark Blundell	Brabham-Yamaha	1:56.446	+1.517
3	14	Olivier Grouillard	Fondmetal-Ford	1:58.447	+3.518
4	10	Alex Caffi	Footwork-Ford	1:59.460	+4.531
5	9	Michele Alboreto	Footwork-Ford	1:59.910	+4.981
6	17	Gabriele Tarquini	AGS-Ford	1:59.972	+5.043
7	31	Pedro Chaves	Coloni-Ford	2:01.921	+6.992
8	18	Fabrizio Barbazza	AGS-Ford	2:03.766	+8.837

Qualifying report

Ayrton Senna was fastest most of the weekend and duly took pole position, but Ferrari were right on his heels. Alain Prost qualified third on the road while Jean Alesi had set the fastest first and second sectors only to come across traffic at the end of the lap, resulting in a sixth place start, which would be elevated to fifth. Riccardo Patrese had originally qualified second, but after Saturday qualifying his car was found to not have a reverse gear as per the safety regulations and Patrese's Saturday times were wiped out, he had to start a disappointing seventeenth on the grid. Patrese's misfortune promoted Prost to second, with Nigel Mansell third, Gerhard Berger fourth, Alesi fifth, and Nelson Piquet sixth while the sensation of qualifying, Schumacher, was an amazing seventh for his first Grand Prix. The top ten was completed by Roberto Moreno in the second Benetton, Pierluigi Martini in a Minardi and the ever-impressive Stefano Modena in a Tyrrell.

Qualifying classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Q1	Q2	Gap
1	1	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Honda	1:49.100	1:47.811	—
2	27	Alain Prost	Ferrari	1:51.369	1:48.821	+1.010
3	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Renault	1:50.666	1:48.828	+1.017
4	2	Gerhard Berger	McLaren-Honda	1:49.485	12:29.200	+1.674
5	28	Jean Alesi	Ferrari	1:51.832	1:49.974	+2.163
6	20	Nelson Piquet	Benetton-Ford	1:53.371	1:50.540	+2.729
7	32	Michael Schumacher	Jordan-Ford	1:53.290	1:51.212	+3.401
8	19	Roberto Moreno	Benetton-Ford	1:53.664	1:51.283	+3.472
9	23	Pierluigi Martini	Minardi-Ferrari	1:53.460	1:51.299	+3.488
10	4	Stefano Modena	Tyrrell-Honda	1:52.899	1:51.307	+3.496
11	33	Andrea de Cesaris	Jordan-Ford	1:54.186	1:51.986	+4.175
12	16	Ivan Capelli	Leyton House-Ilmor	1:53.603	1:52.113	+4.302
13	8	Mark Blundell	Brabham-Yamaha	1:54.814	1:52.377	+4.566
14	22	JJ Lehto	Dallara-Judd	1:54.211	1:52.417	+4.606
15	15	Maurício Gugelmin	Leyton House-Ilmor	1:56.027	1:52.623	+4.812
16	7	Martin Brundle	Brabham-Yamaha	1:54.921	1:52.626	+4.815
17	6	Riccardo Patrese	Williams-Renault	1:52.646	no time	+4.835
18	25	Thierry Boutsen	Ligier-Lamborghini	1:54.446	1:52.709	+4.898
19	24	Gianni Morbidelli	Minardi-Ferrari	1:57.232	1:52.896	+5.085
20	29	Éric Bernard	Lola-Ford	1:55.679	1:53.309	+5.498
21	12	Johnny Herbert	Lotus-Judd	1:55.523	1:53.361	+5.550
22	3	Satoru Nakajima	Tyrrell-Honda	1:55.874	1:53.494	+5.683
23	14	Olivier Grouillard	Fondmetal-Ford	1:55.945	1:53.628	+5.817
24	11	Mika Häkkinen	Lotus-Judd	1:55.483	1:53.799	+5.988
25	21	Emanuele Pirro	Dallara-Judd	1:56.131	1:53.839	+6.028
26	26	Érik Comas	Ligier-Lamborghini	1:56.218	1:53.847	+6.036
27	30	Aguri Suzuki	Lola-Ford	1:56.594	1:53.869	+6.058
28	34	Nicola Larini	Lambo-Lamborghini	1:56.561	1:54.781	+6.970
29	10	Alex Caffi	Footwork-Ford	1:57.556	1:57.338	+9.527
30	35	Eric van de Poele	Lambo-Lamborghini	35:03.624	1:57.746	+9.935

Race

Race report

At the start both Senna and Prost got away well and the Brazilian led into the first corner. Mansell was third followed by Berger, Piquet, and Schumacher. The German's luck however would run dry just after Eau Rouge when his clutch failed. Out at the front Senna continued to lead but Prost's day ended on lap three when his Ferrari caught on fire, leaving Mansell in second. The determined Englishman proceeded to go after Senna and the two battled lap after lap until Senna pitted for new tyres on lap 15. The stop was a bad one and when Mansell pitted two laps later he was able to emerge ahead of Senna, but just behind Berger who had yet to stop. These stops left Piquet in the lead for one lap before he made his stop.

Mansell quickly closed in on Berger and managed to sweep past into Les Fagnes. When Berger stopped a lap later he had problems and then spun on the pit exit and came back right in front of Modena, nearly causing a bad accident. Mansell's big lead would not last, however as on lap 22 his car stopped, having succumbed to electronic problems, his championship hopes taking a major hit.

Ayrton Senna during the race in Spa-Francorchamps on 25 August 1991

Mansell's misery was Alesi's jubilation as the young Frenchman took the lead with Senna closing. Senna continued to close until he had a small problem and lost ten seconds, putting him into the clutches of Piquet's Benetton. The Piquet-Senna battle was soon joined by Patrese and de Cesaris, who had been battling over fourth. Senna led the quartet, but could not pull away because he was suffering from gearbox problems. Alesi had planned to do the entire race without stopping and his strategy was looking very good until lap 30 when his engine expired. This left Senna ahead of Piquet, de Cesaris, and Patrese, who had gone off the track trying to pass Piquet.

On Lap 31 de Cesaris managed to out brake Piquet into Les Combes and was looking good for Jordan's first podium finish in second place. Meanwhile, Patrese got past Piquet as well and set off after the Jordan. In the late stages Berger got past Piquet and then moved into third when Patrese started to suffer from gearbox problems. De Cesaris's fairy tale run ended just three laps from the end when his engine blew, promoting Berger to second and Piquet to third; it was triple World Champion Piquet's final podium of his career. Up front Senna limped home to his second consecutive win despite serious gearbox issues. Moreno was fourth, followed by Patrese and Mark Blundell, who scored Brabham's first point of the year (also the team's best result since Stefano Modena finished fifth in a Judd powered BT58 in the 1990 United States Grand Prix). The Fondmetal team and its driver Olivier Grouillard scored their first finish of 1991.

Race classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Tyre	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	1	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Honda	G	44	1:27:17.669	1	10
2	2	Gerhard Berger	McLaren-Honda	G	44	+ 1.901	4	6
3	20	Nelson Piquet	Benetton-Ford	P	44	+ 32.176	6	4
4	19	Roberto Moreno	Benetton-Ford	P	44	+ 37.310	8	3
5	6	Riccardo Patrese	Williams-Renault	G	44	+ 57.187	17	2
6	8	Mark Blundell	Brabham-Yamaha	P	44	+ 1:40.035	13	1
7	12	Johnny Herbert	Lotus-Judd	G	44	+ 1:44.599	21
8	21	Emanuele Pirro	Dallara-Judd	P	43	+ 1 lap	25
9	7	Martin Brundle	Brabham-Yamaha	P	43	+ 1 lap	16
10	14	Olivier Grouillard	Fondmetal-Ford	G	43	+ 1 lap	23
11	25	Thierry Boutsen	Ligier-Lamborghini	G	43	+ 1 lap	18
12	23	Pierluigi Martini	Minardi-Ferrari	G	42	Gearbox	9
13	33	Andrea de Cesaris	Jordan-Ford	G	41	Engine	11
Ret	4	Stefano Modena	Tyrrell-Honda	P	33	Oil leak	10
Ret	22	JJ Lehto	Dallara-Judd	P	33	Oil pressure	14
Ret	28	Jean Alesi	Ferrari	G	30	Engine	5
Ret	24	Gianni Morbidelli	Minardi-Ferrari	G	29	Gearbox	19
Ret	11	Mika Häkkinen	Lotus-Judd	G	25	Engine/Spun off	24
Ret	26	Érik Comas	Ligier-Lamborghini	G	25	Engine	26
Ret	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Renault	G	22	Electrical	3
Ret	29	Éric Bernard	Lola-Ford	G	21	Gearbox	20
Ret	16	Ivan Capelli	Leyton House-Ilmor	G	13	Engine	12
Ret	3	Satoru Nakajima	Tyrrell-Honda	P	7	Spun off	22
Ret	27	Alain Prost	Ferrari	G	2	Fuel leak	2
Ret	15	Maurício Gugelmin	Leyton House-Ilmor	G	1	Engine	15
Ret	32	Michael Schumacher	Jordan-Ford	G	0	Clutch	7
DNQ	30	Aguri Suzuki	Lola-Ford	G
DNQ	34	Nicola Larini	Lambo-Lamborghini	G
DNQ	10	Alex Caffi	Footwork-Ford	G
DNQ	35	Eric van de Poele	Lambo-Lamborghini	G
DNPQ	9	Michele Alboreto	Footwork-Ford	G
DNPQ	17	Gabriele Tarquini	AGS-Ford	G
DNPQ	31	Pedro Chaves	Coloni-Ford	G
DNPQ	18	Fabrizio Barbazza	AGS-Ford	G
Source: [3] [4]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Ayrton Senna * 71 2 Nigel Mansell * 49 3 Riccardo Patrese * 34 4 Gerhard Berger * 28 1 5 Nelson Piquet * 22 Source: [5]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 McLaren-Honda * 99 2 Williams-Renault * 83 3 Ferrari * 35 4 Benetton-Ford * 30 5 Jordan-Ford 13 Source: [5]

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
• Competitors in bold and marked with an asterisk still had a mathematical chance of becoming World Champion.

References

1. Chandhok, Karun (27 August 2021). "Driving the F1 icon that launched Schumacher's career". Autosport.com. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
2. Walker, Murray (1991). Murray Walker's Grand Prix Year. Hazleton Publishing. pp. 93–100. ISBN   0-905138-90-2.
3. "1991 Belgian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 3 November 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
4. "1991 Belgian Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive". GPArchive.com. 25 August 1991. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
5. "Belgium 1991 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 13 March 2019.

• Henry, Alan (1991). AUTOCOURSE 1991–92. Hazleton Publishing. pp. 198–199. ISBN   0-905138-87-2.

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