1991 French Grand Prix | |||
---|---|---|---|
Race 7 of 16 in the 1991 Formula One World Championship | |||
Race details | |||
Date | 7 July 1991 | ||
Location | Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours Magny-Cours, France | ||
Course | Permanent circuit | ||
Course length | 4.250 km (2.651 miles) | ||
Distance | 72 laps, 306.000 km (190.892 miles) | ||
Pole position | |||
Driver | Williams-Renault | ||
Time | 1:14.559 [1] | ||
Fastest lap | |||
Driver | Nigel Mansell | Williams-Renault | |
Time | 1:19.168 on lap 49 [2] | ||
Podium | |||
First | Williams-Renault | ||
Second | Ferrari | ||
Third | McLaren-Honda | ||
Lap leaders |
The 1991 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Magny-Cours on 7 July 1991. It was the seventh race of the 1991 Formula One World Championship, and the first French Grand Prix to be held at Magny-Cours. The 72-lap race was won by Nigel Mansell, driving a Williams-Renault, with local driver Alain Prost second in a Ferrari and Ayrton Senna third in a McLaren-Honda.
The French Grand Prix had moved from the Circuit Paul Ricard near Marseille to the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours in the centre of France, to mixed reviews. There were no changes in the driver line-up, but the Footwork team had decided to abandon the disastrous Porsche V12 engine project in favour of a return to Ford engines, while Ferrari introduced a new car, the 643.
In the Friday morning pre-qualification session, Andrea de Cesaris was fastest in the Jordan for the second time this season. He was four tenths of a second faster than JJ Lehto in the Dallara, with Olivier Grouillard third fastest for Fondmetal at his home race, the second time in a row the Frenchman had pre-qualified. The fourth pre-qualifier was Bertrand Gachot in the other Jordan.
Those failing to progress to the main qualifying sessions included the other Dallara of Emanuele Pirro in fifth, just a couple of tenths slower than Gachot. The two Modena Lambos were sixth and seventh, with Nicola Larini outpacing Eric van de Poele, and bottom of the time sheets was Pedro Chaves in the Coloni. This was the seventh consecutive Grand Prix in which the Portuguese driver had failed to pre-qualify. [3]
Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 33 | Andrea de Cesaris | Jordan-Ford | 1:19.729 | — |
2 | 22 | JJ Lehto | Dallara-Judd | 1:20.172 | +0.443 |
3 | 14 | Olivier Grouillard | Fondmetal-Ford | 1:20.227 | +0.498 |
4 | 32 | Bertrand Gachot | Jordan-Ford | 1:20.309 | +0.580 |
5 | 21 | Emanuele Pirro | Dallara-Judd | 1:20.539 | +0.810 |
6 | 34 | Nicola Larini | Lambo-Lamborghini | 1:20.628 | +0.899 |
7 | 35 | Eric van de Poele | Lambo-Lamborghini | 1:21.304 | +1.575 |
8 | 31 | Pedro Chaves | Coloni-Ford | 1:22.229 | +2.500 |
In qualifying, local driver Alain Prost impressed and was set to score Ferrari's first pole position of the season, but in the dying minutes Riccardo Patrese in the Williams-Renault came through to pip the French driver to the pole. Championship leader Ayrton Senna spun on Olivier Grouillard's oil on his final qualifying attempt and had to settle for third alongside Nigel Mansell in the second Williams, with the rest of the top ten starting spots occupied by Gerhard Berger, Jean Alesi, Nelson Piquet, Roberto Moreno, Maurício Gugelmin, and the impressive Gianni Morbidelli in a Minardi.
Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Q1 | Q2 | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 6 | Riccardo Patrese | Williams-Renault | 1:17.472 | 1:14.559 | - |
2 | 27 | Alain Prost | Ferrari | 1:17.386 | 1:14.789 | +0.230 |
3 | 1 | Ayrton Senna | McLaren-Honda | 1:16.557 | 1:14.857 | +0.298 |
4 | 5 | Nigel Mansell | Williams-Renault | 1:17.095 | 1:14.895 | +0.336 |
5 | 2 | Gerhard Berger | McLaren-Honda | 1:18.087 | 1:15.376 | +0.817 |
6 | 28 | Jean Alesi | Ferrari | 1:17.303 | 1:15.877 | +1.318 |
7 | 20 | Nelson Piquet | Benetton-Ford | 1:20.449 | 1:16.816 | +2.257 |
8 | 19 | Roberto Moreno | Benetton-Ford | 1:19.711 | 1:16.961 | +2.402 |
9 | 15 | Maurício Gugelmin | Leyton House-Ilmor | 1:19.728 | 1:17.015 | +2.456 |
10 | 24 | Gianni Morbidelli | Minardi-Ferrari | 1:20.635 | 1:17.020 | +2.461 |
11 | 4 | Stefano Modena | Tyrrell-Honda | 1:19.530 | 1:17.114 | +2.555 |
12 | 23 | Pierluigi Martini | Minardi-Ferrari | 1:19.426 | 1:17.149 | +2.590 |
13 | 33 | Andrea de Cesaris | Jordan-Ford | 1:20.097 | 1:17.163 | +2.604 |
14 | 26 | Érik Comas | Ligier-Lamborghini | 1:20.427 | 1:17.504 | +2.945 |
15 | 16 | Ivan Capelli | Leyton House-Ilmor | 1:19.555 | 1:17.533 | +2.974 |
16 | 25 | Thierry Boutsen | Ligier-Lamborghini | 1:19.187 | 1:17.775 | +3.216 |
17 | 8 | Mark Blundell | Brabham-Yamaha | 1:22.277 | 1:17.836 | +3.277 |
18 | 3 | Satoru Nakajima | Tyrrell-Honda | 1:21.020 | 1:18.144 | +3.585 |
19 | 32 | Bertrand Gachot | Jordan-Ford | 1:20.374 | 1:18.150 | +3.591 |
20 | 12 | Johnny Herbert | Lotus-Judd | 1:21.230 | 1:18.185 | +3.626 |
21 | 14 | Olivier Grouillard | Fondmetal-Ford | 1:20.640 | 1:18.210 | +3.651 |
22 | 30 | Aguri Suzuki | Lola-Ford | 1:22.058 | 1:18.224 | +3.665 |
23 | 29 | Éric Bernard | Lola-Ford | 1:21.613 | 1:18.540 | +3.981 |
24 | 7 | Martin Brundle | Brabham-Yamaha | 1:20.999 | 1:18.826 | +4.267 |
25 | 9 | Michele Alboreto | Footwork-Ford | 1:21.966 | 1:18.846 | +4.287 |
26 | 22 | JJ Lehto | Dallara-Judd | 1:21.323 | 1:19.267 | +4.708 |
27 | 11 | Mika Häkkinen | Lotus-Judd | 1:22.274 | 1:19.491 | +4.932 |
28 | 18 | Fabrizio Barbazza | AGS-Ford | 1:22.319 | 1:20.110 | +5.551 |
29 | 17 | Gabriele Tarquini | AGS-Ford | 1:22.737 | 1:20.262 | +5.703 |
30 | 10 | Stefan Johansson | Footwork-Ford | 1:24.114 | 1:21.000 | +6.441 |
At the start Patrese made a disastrous start and dropped to 10th position on lap 1, so Prost led from Mansell, Senna, Berger, and Alesi, while Bertrand Gachot spun off on the first lap in his Jordan. Berger was out when his engine failed on lap 6, his third consecutive retirement due to engine problems. Patrese started another recovery drive by passing both Piquet and Morbidelli in one fell swoop when Morbidelli botched an overtaking attempt, taking himself out of the running. At the front Mansell pressured Prost and on Lap 21 he made his move taking advantage of traffic to out-brake the French star going into the hairpin. Mansell slowly pulled away but problems at his first tyre stop dropped him back behind Prost. Mansell once again closed on Prost and the two battled it out until Mansell finally managed to take advantage of traffic, again, and took the lead on Lap 54 by this time outbraking Prost around the outside at the hairpin. Mansell pulled away and scored his first win of the season, Prost was second followed by Senna, Alesi, Patrese, and de Cesaris.
This was the 17th win of Mansell's career, thus breaking the record of Grand Prix wins by an English driver, previously held by Stirling Moss.
|
|
The 1989 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Paul Ricard on 9 July 1989. It was the seventh race of the 1989 Formula One World Championship.
The 1990 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Interlagos, São Paulo on 25 March 1990. It was the second race of the 1990 Formula One World Championship. It was also the first Brazilian Grand Prix to be held at Interlagos since 1980, following the renovation and shortening of the circuit and the ascendancy of São Paulo driver Ayrton Senna.
The 1990 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Paul Ricard on 8 July 1990. It was the seventh race of the 1990 Formula One World Championship. It was the 68th French Grand Prix and the 14th and last to be held at Paul Ricard until the 2018 French Grand Prix. It was held over 80 laps of the four kilometre circuit for a race distance of 305 kilometres. This race was held the same day as the 1990 FIFA World Cup Final in Rome, Italy, but that event took place later in the day from this Grand Prix.
The 1990 Hungarian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Hungaroring on 12 August 1990. It was the tenth race of the 1990 Formula One World Championship. The race was the sixth Hungarian Grand Prix and the fifth to be held at the Hungaroring. It was held over 77 laps of the 3.97-kilometre (2.47 mi) circuit for a race distance of 305.5 kilometres (189.8 mi).
The 1991 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on March 10, 1991 in Phoenix, Arizona. It was the first race of the 1991 Formula One World Championship. The 81-lap race was won from pole position by Ayrton Senna, driving a McLaren-Honda, with Alain Prost second in a Ferrari and Nelson Piquet third in a Benetton-Ford.
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.
The 1991 San Marino Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Imola on 28 April 1991. It was the third race of the 1991 Formula One World Championship.
The 1991 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monaco on 12 May 1991. It was the fourth race of the 1991 Formula One World Championship.
The 1991 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on 2 June 1991. It was the fifth race of the 1991 FIA Formula One World Championship.
The 1991 Mexican Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City, on 16 June 1991. It was the sixth race of the 1991 Formula One World Championship.
The 1991 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Silverstone on 14 July 1991. It was the eighth race of the 1991 FIA Formula One World Championship.
The 1991 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Hockenheimring on 28 July 1991. It was the ninth race of the 1991 Formula One World Championship, and the first German Grand Prix to be held in Germany after the reunification between West and East Germany.
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 1991 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monza on 8 September 1991. It was the twelfth race of the 1991 Formula One World Championship.
The 1991 Portuguese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Autódromo do Estoril on 22 September 1991. It was the thirteenth race of the 1991 Formula One World Championship.
The 1991 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 29 September 1991 at the Circuit de Catalunya. It was the fourteenth race of the 1991 Formula One World Championship, and the first Spanish Grand Prix to be held at Circuit de Catalunya.
The 1991 Japanese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Suzuka on 20 October 1991. It was the fifteenth round of the 1991 Formula One season. The 53-lap race was won by McLaren driver Gerhard Berger after he started from pole position. His teammate Ayrton Senna finished second and Riccardo Patrese was third for the Williams team. The race would mark Mclaren's last one-two finish for six years until the 1997 European Grand Prix.
The 1992 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal on 14 June 1992. It was the seventh race of the 1992 Formula One World Championship.
The 1992 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Magny-Cours on 5 July 1992. It was the eighth race of the 1992 Formula One World Championship.
The 1991 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 45th season of FIA Formula One motor racing and the 42nd season of the Formula One World Championship. It featured the 1991 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1991 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were contested concurrently over a sixteen-race series that commenced on 10 March and ended on 3 November.