1991 San Marino Grand Prix

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1991 San Marino Grand Prix
Race 3 of 16 in the 1991 Formula One World Championship
Imola Circuit 1980-1995 Layout.png
The Imola circuit in its 1991 configuration
Race details
Date28 April 1991
Official name XI 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, 307.440 km (191.034 miles)
Weather Wet at start, dry by finish
Pole position
Driver
 McLaren-Honda
Time 1:21.877
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of Austria.svg Gerhard Berger McLaren-Honda
Time 1:26.531 on lap 55
Podium
First
 McLaren-Honda
Second
 McLaren-Honda
Third
 Dallara-Judd
Lap leaders
  • 1991 San Marino Grand Prix

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.

Contents

The 61-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 Finn JJ Lehto third in a Dallara-Judd. It was also McLaren's first 1-2 finish since the 1989 Belgian Grand Prix.

Pre-race

With the team under new management having been sold by Cyril De Rouvre, Stefan Johansson was replaced at AGS by Formula One debutant Fabrizio Barbazza.

Qualifying

Pre-qualifying report

In the pre-qualifying session on Friday morning, Andrea de Cesaris was fastest in the Jordan, just under four tenths of a second faster than JJ Lehto's Dallara in second. De Cesaris' team-mate Bertrand Gachot was third, just a few hundredths behind Lehto. The fourth pre-qualifier was Eric van de Poele in the Lambo, who edged out the second Dallara of Emanuele Pirro. It was van de Poele's first progression through to the main qualifying sessions, and the first time in 1991 that a Dallara had failed to pre-qualify. [1]

Apart from Pirro, those who failed to pre-qualify included Olivier Grouillard in the new British-built Fomet-1 chassis debuted by the Fondmetal team. Despite teething troubles which prevented him from progressing any further, Grouillard said he was happy with the new car. [1] Seventh was the other Lambo of Nicola Larini, and bottom of the time sheets was Pedro Chaves in the sole Coloni, who suffered a gearbox failure during the session. [1]

Pre-qualifying classification

PosNoDriverConstructorTimeGap
133 Flag of Italy.svg Andrea de Cesaris Jordan-Ford 1:25.535—
222 Flag of Finland.svg JJ Lehto Dallara-Judd 1:25.923+0.388
332 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Bertrand Gachot Jordan-Ford 1:25.980+0.445
435 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Eric van de Poele Lambo-Lamborghini 1:26.117+0.582
521 Flag of Italy.svg Emanuele Pirro Dallara-Judd 1:26.305+0.770
614 Flag of France.svg Olivier Grouillard Fondmetal-Ford 1:26.789+1.254
734 Flag of Italy.svg Nicola Larini Lambo-Lamborghini 1:26.886+1.351
831 Flag of Portugal.svg Pedro Chaves Coloni-Ford 1:31.239+5.704

Qualifying report

Ayrton Senna claimed his 55th pole position from Riccardo Patrese, Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Gerhard Berger.

Qualifying classification

PosNoDriverConstructorQ1Q2Gap
11 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 1:21.8771:43.633—
26 Flag of Italy.svg Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault 1:21.9571:42.455+0.080
327 Flag of France.svg Alain Prost Ferrari 1:22.1951:42.429+0.318
45 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault 1:22.3661:41.878+0.489
52 Flag of Austria.svg Gerhard Berger McLaren-Honda 1:22.5671:40.322+0.690
64 Flag of Italy.svg Stefano Modena Tyrrell-Honda 1:23.5111:44.613+1.634
728 Flag of France.svg Jean Alesi Ferrari 1:23.9451:41.149+2.068
824 Flag of Italy.svg Gianni Morbidelli Minardi-Ferrari 1:24.762no time+2.885
923 Flag of Italy.svg Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ferrari 1:24.807no time+2.930
103 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Satoru Nakajima Tyrrell-Honda 1:25.3451:42.063+3.468
1133 Flag of Italy.svg Andrea de Cesaris Jordan-Ford 1:25.4911:44.118+3.614
1232 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Bertrand Gachot Jordan-Ford 1:25.5311:44.897+3.654
1319 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Roberto Moreno Benetton-Ford 1:25.6551:45.216+3.778
1420 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Nelson Piquet Benetton-Ford 1:25.8091:42.911+3.932
1515 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Maurício Gugelmin Leyton House-Ilmor 1:25.841no time+3.964
1622 Flag of Finland.svg JJ Lehto Dallara-Judd 1:25.9741:43.397+4.097
1729 Flag of France.svg Éric Bernard Lola-Ford 1:25.983no time+4.106
187 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Martin Brundle Brabham-Yamaha 1:26.055no time+4.178
1926 Flag of France.svg Érik Comas Ligier-Lamborghini 1:26.2071:46.667+4.330
2030 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Aguri Suzuki Lola-Ford 1:26.356no time+4.479
2135 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Eric van de Poele Lambo-Lamborghini 1:26.5501:47.619+4.673
2216 Flag of Italy.svg Ivan Capelli Leyton House-Ilmor 1:26.6021:52.949+4.725
238 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Mark Blundell Brabham-Yamaha 1:26.7781:49.539+4.901
2425 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Thierry Boutsen Ligier-Lamborghini 1:26.9981:44.125+5.121
2511 Flag of Finland.svg Mika Häkkinen Lotus-Judd 1:27.3241:47.444+5.447
2612 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Julian Bailey Lotus-Judd 1:27.9761:45.931+6.099
2717 Flag of Italy.svg Gabriele Tarquini AGS-Ford 1:28.175no time+6.298
2818 Flag of Italy.svg Fabrizio Barbazza AGS-Ford 1:29.665no time+7.788
2910 Flag of Italy.svg Alex Caffi Footwork-Porsche 1:30.2802:06.589+8.403
309 Flag of Italy.svg Michele Alboreto Footwork-Porsche 1:30.76219:39.741+8.885

Race

Race report

The formation lap saw two dramatic incidents: Prost spun off the track at Rivazza Turn, followed by Berger, who was able to continue. However Prost stalled the engine and did not take the start.

At the lights, Patrese took the lead ahead of Senna, whilst Mansell, already slow off the line with gearbox problems, retired at the end of lap 1 after a collision with Martin Brundle. He was followed out by Nelson Piquet who spun off on lap 2, Aguri Suzuki who spun off on lap 3 behind the leaders and Jean Alesi who also spun off on lap 3 attempting a rather foolhardy pass on Stefano Modena.

In a strong lead, Patrese pitted for originally what appeared to be an early stop to slicks turned out to be more serious – a misfire with a faulty camshaft sensor. He restarted last before retiring for good 9 laps later.

Berger was catching Senna, lapping 1.5 seconds quicker than his teammate. The lead was soon down to 5 seconds, with Modena a superb third from Satoru Nakajima and the two Minardis of Pierluigi Martini and Gianni Morbidelli.

Both McLarens pitted for tyres with Senna maintaining his lead. Just after setting fastest lap, Berger was delayed in traffic, held up by the trio of Maurício Gugelmin, Julian Bailey and Thierry Boutsen. Bailey himself moved past Andrea de Cesaris into 6th, whilst Nakajima retired with transmission problems.

Ivan Capelli spun into retirement from fourth to hand over to JJ Lehto's Dallara. Modena retired with transmission problems which meant that behind the two dominant McLarens, the order was now Roberto Moreno, Lehto, Eric van de Poele for the little Modena team and Martini's Minardi. Meanwhile, de Cesaris eventually retired in the pits with gearbox problems on lap 38.

Moreno's gearbox broke on lap 52 causing him to retire, whilst Senna was having problems with oil pressure caused by the special high-torque Honda V12. As the Leyton House of Maurício Gugelmin eventually retired with an engine failure on lap 58. Berger put in a series of fastest laps to cut Senna's lead to just 1.7s at the line. Eric van de Poele had retired on the last lap as the result of fuel pump problems.

Lehto was overjoyed to gain the first podium place of his career for Dallara, with Martini fourth. Van de Poele's drive ended when a fuel pump broke on the last lap – he was classified ninth overall. The Lotus drivers of Mika Häkkinen and Bailey took fifth and sixth, both scoring their first world championship points, an unexpected result for the troubled team since their cars had barely managed to get on to the grid with Häkkinen 25th and Bailey 26th. This race was also noted for being the only Formula One point for Julian Bailey.

Race classification

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
11 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 611:35:14.750 [2] 110
22 Flag of Austria.svg Gerhard Berger McLaren-Honda 61+ 1.67556
322 Flag of Finland.svg JJ Lehto Dallara-Judd 60+ 1 lap164
423 Flag of Italy.svg Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ferrari 59+ 2 laps93
511 Flag of Finland.svg Mika Häkkinen Lotus-Judd 58+ 3 laps252
612 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Julian Bailey Lotus-Judd 58+ 3 laps261
725 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Thierry Boutsen Ligier-Lamborghini 58+ 3 laps24
88 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Mark Blundell Brabham-Yamaha 58+ 3 laps23
935 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Eric van de Poele Lambo-Lamborghini 57Fuel pump21
1026 Flag of France.svg Érik Comas Ligier-Lamborghini 57+ 4 laps19
117 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Martin Brundle Brabham-Yamaha 57+ 4 laps18
1215 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Maurício Gugelmin Leyton House-Ilmor 55Engine15
1319 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Roberto Moreno Benetton-Ford 54Gearbox13
Ret4 Flag of Italy.svg Stefano Modena Tyrrell-Honda 41Transmission6
Ret33 Flag of Italy.svg Andrea de Cesaris Jordan-Ford 37Gearbox11
Ret32 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Bertrand Gachot Jordan-Ford 37Suspension12
Ret16 Flag of Italy.svg Ivan Capelli Leyton House-Ilmor 24Spun off22
Ret29 Flag of France.svg Éric Bernard Lola-Ford 17Engine17
Ret6 Flag of Italy.svg Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault 17Electrical misfire2
Ret3 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Satoru Nakajima Tyrrell-Honda 15Transmission10
Ret24 Flag of Italy.svg Gianni Morbidelli Minardi-Ferrari 10Gearbox8
Ret28 Flag of France.svg Jean Alesi Ferrari 2Spun off7
Ret30 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Aguri Suzuki Lola-Ford 2Spun off20
Ret20 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Nelson Piquet Benetton-Ford 1Spun off14
Ret5 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault 0Collision4
DNS27 Flag of France.svg Alain Prost Ferrari 0Spun off3
DNQ17 Flag of Italy.svg Gabriele Tarquini AGS-Ford
DNQ18 Flag of Italy.svg Fabrizio Barbazza AGS-Ford
DNQ10 Flag of Italy.svg Alex Caffi Footwork-Porsche
DNQ9 Flag of Italy.svg Michele Alboreto Footwork-Porsche
DNPQ21 Flag of Italy.svg Emanuele Pirro Dallara-Judd
DNPQ14 Flag of France.svg Olivier Grouillard Fondmetal-Ford
DNPQ34 Flag of Italy.svg Nicola Larini Lambo-Lamborghini
DNPQ31 Flag of Portugal.svg Pedro Chaves Coloni-Ford
Source: [3]

Championship standings after the race

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Walker, Murray (1991). Murray Walker's Grand Prix Year. Hazleton Publishing. pp. 29–36. ISBN   0-905138-90-2.
  2. ↑ Henry, Alan (1991). AUTOCOURSE 1991-92. Hazleton Publishing. p. 125. ISBN   0-905138-87-2.
  3. ↑ "1991 San Marino Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 3 November 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  4. 1 2 "San Marino 1991 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
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