1991 Brazilian Grand Prix

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.

1991 Brazilian Grand Prix
Race 2 of 16 in the 1991 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date 24 March 1991
Location Autódromo José Carlos Pace
São Paulo, Brazil
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.325 km (2.687 miles)
Distance 71 laps, 307.075 km (190.808 miles)
Weather Cloudy at start, rainy later. Ambient temperature: 29.4°C (85°F).
Humidity: 95%.
Wind speed: 33.7 km/h (21 mph).
Pole position
Driver McLaren-Honda
Time 1:16.392
Fastest lap
Driver United Kingdom Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault
Time 1:20.436 on lap 35
Podium
First McLaren-Honda
Second Williams-Renault
Third McLaren-Honda
Lap leaders

The 71-lap race was won from pole position by local driver Ayrton Senna, driving a McLaren-Honda. It was the first time Senna had won his home Grand Prix, in his eighth season of F1. Italian Riccardo Patrese finished second in a Williams-Renault, with Senna's Austrian teammate Gerhard Berger third.

Qualifying

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Pre-qualifying report

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In the Friday morning pre-qualifying session, a Dallara was again the fastest car, but this time it was JJ Lehto who topped the time sheets. He was six tenths of a second ahead of the Jordan of Andrea de Cesaris, who was a fraction faster than his team-mate Bertrand Gachot in third. The fourth pre-qualifier was the other Scuderia Italia Dallara, driven by Emanuele Pirro.

The two Modena Lambos missed out in fifth and sixth, with Eric van de Poele over a second slower than Pirro, with Nicola Larini another second further back. Seventh was Pedro Chaves in the Coloni, followed by Olivier Grouillard in the Fondmetal. Grouillard had initially used an interim chassis, with an eye to the team's new car which was still being completed, and was running well until the suspension broke. He was forced to revert to an older chassis, and was unable to match the times of his opponents.[1]

Pre-qualifying classification

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Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap
1 22   JJ Lehto Dallara-Judd 1:19.540
2 33   Andrea de Cesaris Jordan-Ford 1:20.150 +0.610
3 32   Bertrand Gachot Jordan-Ford 1:20.184 +0.644
4 21   Emanuele Pirro Dallara-Judd 1:20.567 +1.027
5 35   Eric van de Poele Lambo-Lamborghini 1:21.919 +2.379
6 34   Nicola Larini Lambo-Lamborghini 1:22.944 +3.404
7 31   Pedro Chaves Coloni-Ford 1:23.231 +3.691
8 14   Olivier Grouillard Fondmetal-Ford 1:23.951 +4.411

Qualifying report

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Qualifying classification

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Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap
1 1   Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 1:18.711 1:16.392
2 6   Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault 1:22.069 1:16.775 +0.383
3 5   Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault 1:20.056 1:16.843 +0.451
4 2   Gerhard Berger McLaren-Honda 1:19.557 1:17.471 +1.079
5 28   Jean Alesi Ferrari 1:19.350 1:17.601 +1.209
6 27   Alain Prost Ferrari 1:20.079 1:17.739 +1.347
7 20   Nelson Piquet Benetton-Ford 1:20.105 1:18.577 +2.185
8 15   Maurício Gugelmin Leyton House-Ilmor 1:22.196 1:18.664 +2.272
9 4   Stefano Modena Tyrrell-Honda 1:21.709 1:18.847 +2.455
10 32   Bertrand Gachot Jordan-Ford 1:21.493 1:18.882 +2.490
11 29   Éric Bernard Lola-Ford 1:22.127 1:19.291 +2.899
12 21   Emanuele Pirro Dallara-Judd 1:21.286 1:19.305 +2.913
13 33   Andrea de Cesaris Jordan-Ford 1:21.710 1:19.339 +2.947
14 19   Roberto Moreno Benetton-Ford 1:21.266 1:19.360 +2.968
15 16   Ivan Capelli Leyton House-Ilmor 1:21.171 1:19.517 +3.125
16 3   Satoru Nakajima Tyrrell-Honda 1:21.825 1:19.546 +3.154
17 30   Aguri Suzuki Lola-Ford 1:22.281 1:19.832 +3.440
18 25   Thierry Boutsen Ligier-Lamborghini 1:23.197 1:19.868 +3.476
19 22   JJ Lehto Dallara-Judd 1:22.243 1:19.954 +3.562
20 23   Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ferrari 1:22.852 1:20.175 +3.783
21 24   Gianni Morbidelli Minardi-Ferrari 1:26.147 1:20.502 +4.110
22 11   Mika Häkkinen Lotus-Judd 1:25.587 1:20.611 +4.219
23 26   Érik Comas Ligier-Lamborghini 1:22.682 1:21.168 +4.776
24 17   Gabriele Tarquini AGS-Ford 1:23.618 1:21.219 +4.827
25 8   Mark Blundell Brabham-Yamaha 1:23.547 1:21.230 +4.838
26 7   Martin Brundle Brabham-Yamaha 1:23.271 1:21.280 +4.888
27 10   Alex Caffi Footwork-Porsche 1:25.555 1:22.190 +5.798
28 18   Stefan Johansson AGS-Ford 1:24.698 1:22.432 +6.040
29 9   Michele Alboreto Footwork-Porsche 1:25.795 1:22.739 +6.347
30 12   Julian Bailey Lotus-Judd 1:24.947 1:23.590 +7.198

Race

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Race report

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Ayrton Senna made a perfect start to lead from Nigel Mansell, Riccardo Patrese, Jean Alesi, Gerhard Berger and Alain Prost, building up a lead of three seconds by lap eight. However Mansell was closing and by lap 20 the gap was down to 0.7s. On lap 17 Prost pitted for new tyres, keen to avoid being stuck behind Nelson Piquet's Benetton. Mansell pitted on lap 26, but the stop was terrible - lasting over 14 seconds. This returned him to the race in fifth place behind Patrese, Alesi and Berger.

After Senna and Patrese had made their stops, Mansell was seven seconds behind the lead McLaren. There seemed no doubt that Senna would be caught but the chance never arose as on lap 50 Mansell had to stop for a new set of tyres after a puncture caused by debris on the track. Unknown to observers, Senna's gearbox was failing, having lost fourth gear and by lap 60 the lead was halved and Mansell had set fastest lap. Yet it was Mansell's gearbox that gave way first, forcing the Williams into a spin and causing him to retire on lap 61. With just a couple of laps left, Senna had also lost fifth and third gears. Having to maintain sixth gear in slow and medium corners meant that several times he nearly stalled. Patrese was catching him rapidly, but with gearbox problems of his own he was unable to pass.

Senna won 2.9 seconds ahead of Patrese. When he crossed the finish line, he started to scream in celebration of achieving his dream of winning at home. The tremendous struggle of trying to keep the car under control caused him to have muscle cramps and fever. After stopping his car, Senna was almost unable to move on his own. He had to be lifted bodily from the car due to exhaustion and driven to the podium in the medical car. Despite a small fire on the grid and a sticking throttle, Berger claimed the final podium place from Prost, Piquet and Alesi. On the podium, after all that effort, Senna barely managed to lift the trophy.

Race classification

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Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 1   Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda G 71 1:38:28.128 1 10
2 6   Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault G 71 + 2.991 2 6
3 2   Gerhard Berger McLaren-Honda G 71 + 5.416 4 4
4 27   Alain Prost Ferrari G 71 + 18.369 6 3
5 20   Nelson Piquet Benetton-Ford P 71 + 21.960 7 2
6 28   Jean Alesi Ferrari G 71 + 23.641 5 1
7 19   Roberto Moreno Benetton-Ford P 70 + 1 lap 14
8 24   Gianni Morbidelli Minardi-Ferrari G 69 + 2 laps 21
9 11   Mika Häkkinen Lotus-Judd G 68 + 3 laps 22
10 25   Thierry Boutsen Ligier-Lamborghini G 68 + 3 laps 18
11 21   Emanuele Pirro Dallara-Judd P 68 + 3 laps 12
12 7   Martin Brundle Brabham-Yamaha P 67 + 4 laps 26
13 32   Bertrand Gachot Jordan-Ford G 63 Fuel system 10
Ret 5   Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault G 59 Gearbox 3
Ret 26   Érik Comas Ligier-Lamborghini G 50 Engine 23
Ret 23   Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ferrari G 47 Spun off 20
Ret 8   Mark Blundell Brabham-Yamaha P 34 Engine 25
Ret 29   Éric Bernard Lola-Ford G 33 Radiator 11
Ret 22   JJ Lehto Dallara-Judd P 22 Electrical 19
Ret 33   Andrea de Cesaris Jordan-Ford G 20 Engine 13
Ret 4   Stefano Modena Tyrrell-Honda P 19 Gearbox 9
Ret 16   Ivan Capelli Leyton House-Ilmor G 16 Transmission 15
Ret 3   Satoru Nakajima Tyrrell-Honda P 12 Spun off 16
Ret 15   Maurício Gugelmin Leyton House-Ilmor G 9 Physical 8
Ret 17   Gabriele Tarquini AGS-Ford G 0 Suspension 24
Ret 30   Aguri Suzuki Lola-Ford G 0 Fuel pump 17
DNQ 10   Alex Caffi Footwork-Porsche G
DNQ 18   Stefan Johansson AGS-Ford G
DNQ 9   Michele Alboreto Footwork-Porsche G
DNQ 12   Julian Bailey Lotus-Judd G
DNPQ 35   Eric van de Poele Lambo-Lamborghini G
DNPQ 34   Nicola Larini Lambo-Lamborghini G
DNPQ 31   Pedro Chaves Coloni-Ford G
DNPQ 14   Olivier Grouillard Fondmetal-Ford G
Source:[2][3]

Championship standings after the race

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

References

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  1. ^ Walker, Murray (1991). Murray Walker's Grand Prix Year. Hazleton Publishing. pp. 21–28. ISBN 0-905138-90-2.
  2. ^ "1991 Brazilian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 3 November 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  3. ^ "1991 Brazilian Grand Prix - Race Results & History - GP Archive". GPArchive.com. 24 March 1991. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Brazil 1991 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 13 March 2019.


Previous race:
1991 United States Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1991 season
Next race:
1991 San Marino Grand Prix
Previous race:
1990 Brazilian Grand Prix
Brazilian Grand Prix Next race:
1992 Brazilian Grand Prix