1991 Japanese Grand Prix

Last updated
1991 Japanese Grand Prix
Race 15 of 16 in the 1991 Formula One World Championship
Suzuka circuit map (1987-2002).svg
Race details
Date20 October 1991
Official name XVII Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix
Location Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka, Japan
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.860 km (3.641 [1] miles)
Distance 53 laps, 310.580 km (192.985 miles)
Weather Sunny, warm
Attendance 337,000 [2]
Pole position
Driver
 McLaren-Honda
Time 1:34.700
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda
Time 1:41.532 on lap 39
Podium
First
 McLaren-Honda
Second
 McLaren-Honda
Third
 Williams-Renault
Lap leaders
  • 1991 Japanese Grand Prix

The 1991 Japanese Grand Prix (formally the XVII Fuji Television 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. [3]

Contents

This was also Honda's last one-two finish until the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Pre-race

Formula One moved to Japan with the fight for the title still open; this was the fifth year in a row that the title would be decided at the Suzuka circuit. Both championship contenders Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell knew exactly what they needed to do; Mansell had to win with help and Senna needed to beat Mansell. There were several changes to the driver lineup, the most notable being at Leyton House where Ivan Capelli had been replaced by young Austrian Karl Wendlinger, with Capelli being freed up as a spare driver for Ferrari if Alain Prost decided not to enter. It was the first time the Leyton House/March team had not entered with Capelli as a named driver since their return to the grid in 1987, during which time he had partnered Mauricio Gugelmin in every race from 1988 onwards. Elsewhere, AGS had run out of money and did not make the voyage to Japan, while fellow stragglers Coloni had hired local driver Naoki Hattori. Johnny Herbert was back behind the wheel of the Lotus after having missed a few races in the second half of the season due to Japanese Formula 3000 commitments.

Qualifying

Pre-qualifying report

With the withdrawal of AGS from Formula One prior to this event, and the return of the Coloni team after missing the last grand Prix, the pre-qualifying pool was reduced to six cars.

A Brabham topped the time sheets for the seventh time this season as Martin Brundle was fastest, over a second ahead of Alex Caffi in the Footwork. It was only the second time in seven attempts that the Italian had pre-qualified. His team-mate Michele Alboreto was third fastest, just under a tenth of a second slower. The fourth and final pre-qualifying position went to Gabriele Tarquini for Fondmetal, the second time in as many attempts that he had pre-qualified for his new team.

For the first time in 1991, the other Brabham failed to pre-qualify, as Mark Blundell suffered an oil leak in his Yamaha engine during the session. His time was only good enough for fifth place. Coloni had hired the 1990 Japanese Formula Three champion, Naoki Hattori, to replace Pedro Chaves for the last two races of the season, but the car broke down before Hattori was able to post a representative time. [4]

Pre-qualifying classification

PosNoDriverConstructorTimeGap
17 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Martin Brundle Brabham-Yamaha 1:41.289—
210 Flag of Italy.svg Alex Caffi Footwork-Ford 1:42.382+1.093
39 Flag of Italy.svg Michele Alboreto Footwork-Ford 1:42.479+1.190
414 Flag of Italy.svg Gabriele Tarquini Fondmetal-Ford 1:43.025+1.736
58 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Mark Blundell Brabham-Yamaha 1:44.025+2.736
631 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Naoki Hattori Coloni-Ford 2:00.035+18.746

Qualifying report

There were a number of accidents during the qualifying sessions, including young sensation Michael Schumacher and Ferrari driver Jean Alesi. The biggest of these accidents was the one that befell Éric Bernard who broke his ankle and would not take any further part in the race. At the end of the qualifying sessions it was a McLaren front row with Gerhard Berger ahead of Ayrton Senna. Mansell was third followed by the unhappy Alain Prost, Riccardo Patrese, Jean Alesi, Pierluigi Martini, Gianni Morbidelli, Michael Schumacher, and Nelson Piquet. Senna was right where he wanted to be, while Mansell knew he had his work cut out for him.

Qualifying classification

PosNoDriverConstructorQ1Q2Gap
12 Flag of Austria.svg Gerhard Berger McLaren-Honda 1:36.4581:34.700—
21 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 1:36.4901:34.898+0.198
35 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault 1:36.5291:34.922+0.222
427 Flag of France.svg Alain Prost Ferrari 1:37.5651:36.670+1.970
56 Flag of Italy.svg Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault 1:37.8741:36.882+2.182
628 Flag of France.svg Jean Alesi Ferrari 1:37.7181:37.140+2.740
723 Flag of Italy.svg Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ferrari 1:40.1761:38.154+3.454
824 Flag of Italy.svg Gianni Morbidelli Minardi-Ferrari 1:41.0881:38.248+3.548
919 Flag of Germany.svg Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 1:39.7421:38.363+3.663
1020 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Nelson Piquet Benetton-Ford 1:40.5571:38.614+3.914
1133 Flag of Italy.svg Andrea de Cesaris Jordan-Ford 1:40.4071:38.842+4.142
1222 Flag of Finland.svg JJ Lehto Dallara-Judd 1:40.1911:38.911+4.211
1332 Flag of Italy.svg Alessandro Zanardi Jordan-Ford 1:39.0511:38.923+4.223
144 Flag of Italy.svg Stefano Modena Tyrrell-Honda 1:39.2451:38.926+4.226
153 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Satoru Nakajima Tyrrell-Honda 1:40.1001:39.118+4.418
1621 Flag of Italy.svg Emanuele Pirro Dallara-Judd 1:41.2461:39.238+4.538
1725 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Thierry Boutsen Ligier-Lamborghini 1:39.9461:39.499+4.799
1815 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Maurício Gugelmin Leyton House-Ilmor 1:40.7141:39.518+4.818
197 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Martin Brundle Brabham-Yamaha 1:40.8671:39.697+4.997
2026 Flag of France.svg Érik Comas Ligier-Lamborghini 1:41.2511:39.820+5.120
2111 Flag of Finland.svg Mika Häkkinen Lotus-Judd 1:41.4851:40.024+5.324
2216 Flag of Austria.svg Karl Wendlinger Leyton House-Ilmor 1:41.6391:40.092+5.392
2312 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Johnny Herbert Lotus-Judd 1:40.5121:40.170+5.470
2414 Flag of Italy.svg Gabriele Tarquini Fondmetal-Ford 1:42.8351:40.184+5.484
2530 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Aguri Suzuki Lola-Ford 1:41.5281:40.255+5.555
2610 Flag of Italy.svg Alex Caffi Footwork-Ford 1:40.5171:40.402+5.702
279 Flag of Italy.svg Michele Alboreto Footwork-Ford 1:41.5361:40.844+6.144
2834 Flag of Italy.svg Nicola Larini Lambo-Lamborghini 1:43.0571:42.492+7.792
2935 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Eric van de Poele Lambo-Lamborghini 1:46.6411:42.724+8.024
3029 Flag of France.svg Éric Bernard Lola-Ford no timeno time—

Race

Race report

At the start of the race, Berger got away well and Senna blocked Mansell the way that Mansell had done to him in Portugal. Elsewhere, Jean Alesi's day ended on the first lap in a cloud of smoke, his Ferrari engine having blown. At the end of lap 1, the order was Berger, Senna, Mansell, Patrese, and Prost. There was a huge accident on lap two when Andrea de Cesaris spun his Jordan while leading other cars, and the resulting accident took Wendlinger, Pirro, and Lehto with him. At the front, Berger pulled off into the lead while Mansell hounded Senna. It all ended on lap 10 when Mansell made a mistake on the first corner and spun off. His Williams was stuck in the gravel and Mansell was out of championship contention.

With the news of Mansell's retirement, Senna and Berger both went off into the distance, with Berger waving his recrowned world champion teammate through. The two ran in formation for the rest of the race with Senna letting Berger through on the last lap to win his first race for McLaren. Patrese finished third followed by Prost, Martin Brundle (scoring the last points in the history of the Brabham team), and Stefano Modena in the Tyrrell. Senna had won his third world championship. This was the last time Senna, Prost, Piquet and Mansell raced together; Prost was dismissed by Ferrari before the final race of the season, which turned out to be Piquet's last.

Race classification

PosNoDriverConstructorTyreLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
12 Flag of Austria.svg Gerhard Berger McLaren-Honda G 531:32:10.695110
21 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda G 53+ 0.34426
36 Flag of Italy.svg Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault G 53+ 56.73154
427 Flag of France.svg Alain Prost Ferrari G 53+ 1:20.76143
57 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Martin Brundle Brabham-Yamaha P 52+ 1 lap192
64 Flag of Italy.svg Stefano Modena Tyrrell-Honda P 52+ 1 lap141
720 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Nelson Piquet Benetton-Ford P 52+ 1 lap10
815 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Maurício Gugelmin Leyton House-Ilmor G 52+ 1 lap18
925 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Thierry Boutsen Ligier-Lamborghini G 52+ 1 lap17
1010 Flag of Italy.svg Alex Caffi Footwork-Ford G 51+ 2 laps26
1114 Flag of Italy.svg Gabriele Tarquini Fondmetal-Ford G 50+ 3 laps24
Ret26 Flag of France.svg Érik Comas Ligier-Lamborghini G 41Alternator20
Ret23 Flag of Italy.svg Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ferrari G 39Electrical7
Ret19 Flag of Germany.svg Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford P 34Engine9
Ret12 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Johnny Herbert Lotus-Judd G 31Engine23
Ret3 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Satoru Nakajima Tyrrell-Honda P 30Spun off15
Ret30 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Aguri Suzuki Lola-Ford G 26Engine25
Ret24 Flag of Italy.svg Gianni Morbidelli Minardi-Ferrari G 15Wheel8
Ret5 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault G 9Spun off3
Ret32 Flag of Italy.svg Alessandro Zanardi Jordan-Ford G 7Gearbox13
Ret11 Flag of Finland.svg Mika Häkkinen Lotus-Judd G 4Engine21
Ret33 Flag of Italy.svg Andrea de Cesaris Jordan-Ford G 1Collision11
Ret22 Flag of Finland.svg JJ Lehto Dallara-Judd P 1Collision12
Ret21 Flag of Italy.svg Emanuele Pirro Dallara-Judd P 1Collision16
Ret16 Flag of Austria.svg Karl Wendlinger Leyton House-Ilmor G 1Collision22
Ret28 Flag of France.svg Jean Alesi Ferrari G 0Engine6
DNQ9 Flag of Italy.svg Michele Alboreto Footwork-Ford G
DNQ34 Flag of Italy.svg Nicola Larini Lambo-Lamborghini G
DNQ35 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Eric van de Poele Lambo-Lamborghini G
DNQ29 Flag of France.svg Éric Bernard Lola-Ford G Accident
DNPQ8 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Mark Blundell Brabham-Yamaha P
DNPQ31 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Naoki Hattori Coloni-Ford G
Source: [5] [6]

Championship standings after the race

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References

  1. ↑ "1991 Japanese Grand Prix | Motorsport Database".
  2. ↑ "Formula 1 Honda Japanese Grand Prix 2022 – Media Kit" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 5 October 2022. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  3. ↑ "McLaren - One-two • STATS F1".
  4. ↑ Walker, Murray (1991). Murray Walker's Grand Prix Year. Hazleton Publishing. pp. 125–132. ISBN   0-905138-90-2.
  5. ↑ "1991 Japanese Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 3 November 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  6. ↑ "1991 Japanese Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive". GPArchive.com. 20 October 1991. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  7. 1 2 "Japan 1991 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
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