PRE QUALIFYING, SENNA VS PROST AND SENNA VS MANSELL
Germany saw a prequalifying rejig, Jordan and Dallara deserved to move out having both scored a handful of points, but the Modena team undeservedly also made their way out via a fluke 7th from Phoenix, the team had only qualified for 2 races at this point and it was harsh on the promising and improving Brabham team who had not quite managed to deliver results they were capable of. Footwork and AGS also slipped into pre qualifying, Footwork’s season ruined by the Porsche debacle had Alex Caffi return in favour of Stefan Johansson although it was rumoured he threatened legal action to do so, it was a sorry season for Footwork. Michael Bartels stood in for Johnny Herbert at Lotus but the German failed to qualify.
At the other end of the grid Mansell was again on pole and this time held his lead at the start, Berger initially ran 2nd but a horrible pit stop wrecked the Austrian’s race. Patrese was running second but after both Williams pitted, Alesi emerged in the lead as the Frenchman attempted to run through the whole race on one set of tyres. Mansell and Patrese passed him on their fresh rubber. Alesi was a creditable third but behind him a fierce battle insued between Senna and Prost for 4th which went to neither. Senna defended aggressively causing Prost to go up the escape road, Prost stalled and was out and in the very same spot on the last lap Senna ran out of fuel again.
Senna was classified 7th, behind Mansell 1st, Patrese 2nd, Alesi 3rd, Berger 4th, De Cesaris 5th and Gachot 6th, the Jordan teams remarkable season saw them now ahead of Tyrrell in 5th place in the constructor’s title while Senna’s lead over Mansell (which was 34 points after Monaco) was down to just 8 points. Williams now lead the constructors title by one point (the gap was 38 points in McLaren’s favour after Monaco).
SENNA RALLIES THE TROOPS:
Off the track leading into Hungary, Ayrton Senna rallied the McLaren-Honda troops given it was quite clear they no longer had the best car, it had the desired effect but prior to the race his old rival Alain Prost was nagging away again. Prost was angry following the German Grand Prix when he felt Senna’s defence was aggressive, Prost threatened to run Senna off the track if it happened again, a threat laughed off by Senna. Prost was given a one race suspended ban while both drivers had talks to clear the air. Prost never carried out the threat.
On the tight twisty Hungaroring Senna’s rallying call did the job with Senna taking pole (by over a second) and the race win, Senna lead every lap with Mansell in second, Patrese who had out-qualified Mansell allowed his team mate to pass in light of the championship battle. Berger was 4th with Alesi 5th and Ivan Capelli scored the first point of the season in 6th for Leyton House. The Jordan team’s points run ended with De Cesaris in 7th although Bertand Gachot in 9th did set the fastest lap of the race. McLaren retook the lead in the constructor’s title.
JORDAN MAKE SOME WAVES WITH A FAMOUS DEBUT BUT ITS ALL ABOUT SENNA:
In Belgium, Gachot was again in the news, this time because he was jailed due to an incident with a taxi driver, his place was famously taken by Michael Schumacher. Johnny Herbert returned at Lotus in place of Michael Bartels. Senna was on pole again by over a second, this time from Prost in a very fast Ferrari, Michael Schumacher was a very impressive 7th in the Jordan and even got as high as 5th at the start only for the Jordan’s clutch to break after a few 100 yards, but he had made his point.
Prost retired after 3 laps whilst Senna and Mansell battled for the lead which Mansell took after the pit stops but he too retired with mechanical gremlins, this promoted Alesi to the lead but in a running theme, the Frenchman retired late on with a blown engine. 2nd place had become a poisoned chalice, Riccardo Patrese passed Piquet but slid off the track, Andrea De Cesaris driving the race of his life in the Jordan passed Piquet for second and set off after Senna who had gearbox trouble.
De Cesaris ran out of oil and blew his engine just 3 laps from home, Patrese took 2nd but he too suffered gearbox trouble and ended up 5th. Gerhard Berger took over 2nd and almost caught Senna who limped over the line in 1st, everything had gone Senna’s way. Piquet and Moreno in the Benettons took 3rd and 4th and behind Patrese in 5th, Mark Blundell scored a valuable first point of the season in the Brabham, it was also engine supplier Yamaha’s first ever point.
Drivers title: Senna 71, Mansell 49, Patrese 34, Berger 28, Piquet 22.
Constructors: McLaren 99, Williams 83, Ferrari 35, Benetton 30, Jordan 13, Tyrrell 11.
MANSELL FIGHTS BACK WHILE SCHUMACHER JUMPS SHIP
In Italy there was more drama surrounding Jordan, Benetton signed Michael Schumacher on a long term contract from under Jordan’s noses, despite Schumacher having tested the Jordan since Spa, however without a contract in place Benetton pounced. Roberto Moreno who had just had his best race of the season in Spa (4th with fastest lap) was forced to make way and took over Schumacher’s seat at Jordan. Elsewhere Michael Bartels again replaced Herbert at Lotus.
Senna took another pole but this time Mansell, Berger and Patrese were much closer, Senna lead the field away but Mansell allowed Patrese past to wear down Senna’s tyres. Mansell stayed slightly further back to conserve his tyres as he ran the race without stopping. Patrese did as told and took the lead but just a lap later he spun off with gearbox trouble. Senna’s tyres however were a little more worn and Mansell passed him shortly after. Senna pitted for new tyres, unlike mostly everyone else, he re-emerged 5th but passed Schumacher, Berger and Prost to finish 2nd, however the Brazilian was still 2nd best to Mansell who won the race narrowing the gap to 18 points with 4 races left. Senna was 2nd, Prost 3rd, Berger 4th, Schumacher was 5th on his Benetton debut ahead of team mate Piquet who came home 6th in his 200th grand prix.
PIT STOP WOES LEAD TO BITTER SWEET WEEKEND FOR WILLIAMS
In Portugal the number 2 drivers decided to muscle in on the act, Patrese was on pole, Berger 2nd, Senna 3rd and Mansell 4th, Mansell quipped to the press behind a nervous laugh
“I mean shit!!! You guys have the best grid possible for tomorrow, but for me it’s the worst grid possible” it wasn’t to get better!
At the start Patrese held his lead while Mansell brilliantly went round the outside of Senna then roared past Berger one corner later. As both Williams pulled away Mansell was allowed into the lead by team mate Patrese but disaster struck at the pit stop. Mansell’s right rear tyre wasn’t fitted properly and as one mechanic furiously tried to stop the car leaving his colleague gave the AOK. Mansell’s car left the pit box only to almost drunkenly stumble side to side before coasting to a halt with the right rear wheel rolling down the pit lane. For an absolute eternity Williams tried to fix the situation, the car was illegally lifted (manually as opposed to a jack) and was worked on in the middle of the pit lane causing others to avoid. Mansell even appeared to be crying his eyes out in the cockpit, it was awful to watch. Mansell re-emerged in 17th, he fought his way back to 6th only to be disqualified.
Patrese at least gave Mansell some respite with a win but Senna’s second place gave him a 24 point lead with just 30 points available. Alesi finished 3rd having been briefly under pressure from Martini’s Minardi and Capelli’s Leyton house. Martini did come home 4th but Capelli slid into the barrier to surrender 5th to Piquet and 6th to Schumacher.
MORE GRID RESHUFFLES, AS WILLIAMS HANG IN THERE:
There were more driver changes at the next round in Spain as Michael Bartels again replaced Herbert having stepped aside in Portugal, Bartels in his 4th race for the team again failed to qualify. Further down the order Fondmetal sacked Olivier Grouillard after a row at the Portuguese grand prix, AGS driver Gabriele Tarquini was given the teams blessing to replace him given his loyal service to the AGS team that were now on life support. Grouillard replaced Tarquini in the AGS while Coloni’s Pedro Chaves had enough, he left the team leaving them with no driver for the weekend. The team hadn’t pre-qualified at any race so far. There was also another change at Jordan as Alex Zanardi replaced Roberto Moreno.
Berger started on pole in the first ever grand prix in Barcelona, Senna was second with Mansell third though the race started on a damp slippery track, Schumacher briefly passed Mansell for third but Mansell returned the favour soon after. Berger was pulling away but as some pitted for dry tyres the leaders held off, during this time Mansell famously went wheel to wheel with Senna with hardly anything separating them, Mansell took the place in a famous overtake that is well known.
The pit stops jumbled the order as Senna emerged in the lead ahead of Berger who had a terrible stop with Mansell 3rd, however a Berger win was as good as anything so Senna allowed his team mate to take over the lead, Senna tried to back the field up but amid handling problems he spun wildly and almost took Mansell out. Several cars passed him. Mansell set off after Berger who just avoided a collision but would later retire himself, shortly after this though Schumacher spun off attempting to pass Berger and he would finish the day in 6th. Mansell took a much needed win ahead of Prost, Patrese was 3rd, Alesi recovered from a stop go penalty to finish 4th with Senna 5th. The gap was now 16 points but only 2 races remained. Williams however had now leapfrogged McLaren to take the lead of the constructor’s title by one point.
Following the race the AGS team withdrew from the sport, they had only made the starting grid 3 times all season.
MCLAREN AND SENNA SEE OFF WILLIAMS AND MANSELL:
In Japan, Coloni made a surprise return with Haoki Hattori at the wheel, Johnny Herbert was yet again back at Lotus while management trouble at Leyton House saw Ivan Capelli step down allowing Karl Wendlinger to make his debut. The first 3 on the grid were the same again as Berger, Senna and Mansell started 1-2-3. They held their position for 9 laps with Berger pulling away from Senna who held back Mansell, a Berger win would mean Senna need only finish 6th. Mansell knew what Senna was up to, but admitted afterwards it was perfectly fair as he knew he would have done the same, but the title race ended on lap 9 when Mansell understeered into the gravel and damaged his car. Mansell was out and Senna was now a 3 time world champion.
For some reason Berger allowed Senna to take the lead even though the title was decided, however on the final corner Senna allowed Berger to take the win, Patrese was third ahead of Prost while Martin Brundle got his first points of the season for Brabham after Schumacher and Martini retired. Stefano Modena gave Honda another point when he brought his Tyrrell home 6th, his first point since Canada. McLaren again lead the constructor’s title race, their lead now 11 points.
SENSATION AT FERRARI IN SEASON ENDING WASHOUT
At the final round in Australia there was drama before the race when Ferrari sacked Alain Prost, it was a late decision as Prost’s garage had been assembled, the Frenchman had been unhappy given Ferrari’s disappointing season when so much more was expected, Prost infamously compared the cars handling to a truck and that was the final straw for Ferrari. Gianni Morbidelli took over the number 27 Ferrari as he was the teams test driver, Morbidelli had driven all season for Minardi and his place was taken by Roberto Moreno, the Brazilian’s third team of the season.
Bertrand Gachot, released early from jail, was back in Formula 1 joining Larrousse after Eric Bernard broke his leg at Suzuka. The race conditions however were treacherous, Senna on pole pulled away from Berger and Mansell. The rain however got heavier and a mistake from Berger allowed Mansell into second. In what could have been a very dangerous accident Mansell attempted to overtake Senna but a marshall warned him to abandon the move as at the end of the long straight lay wreckage with Larini, Schumacher and Alesi all out of the race. A couple of laps later Martini’s Minardi joined the demolition derby when he aquaplaned. A recovery truck was down the same straight and now everyone just wanted it over.
Mansell was next to aquaplane on lap 16 suffering an ankle and head injury, Berger spun off, recovered and spun off again and by now people had enough, Senna began waving furiously to stop the race and the officials waved the red flag. The order was Senna, Piquet, Morbidelli, De Cesaris, Zanardi and Modena. For some reason the results were counted back two laps instead of one resulting in the order being Senna, Mansell, Berger, Piquet, Patrese and Morbidelli.
The officials did threaten to restart but with conditions not improving the race was declared over after just 14 laps and 24 minutes, the shortest grand prix ever.
Ron Dennis summed it up:
“Whether we start again or not we have won the constructors title because Mansell is out, you win championships in 16 races not 1, but it would have been nice to have a better show at the end.”
The season ended with Senna taking the title by 24 points, but it didn’t tell the whole story as to how close it really was, Senna third and final world title may have been his finest but the ominous signs for 1992 were there. Williams and Mansell would destroy everyone.
FINAL STANDINGS:
Drivers title: Senna 96, Mansell 72, Patrese 53, Berger 43, Prost 34, Piquet 26.5, Alesi 21, Modena 10, De Cesaris 9, Moreno 8
Constructors: McLaren 139, Williams 125, Ferrari 55.5, Benetton 38.5, Jordan 13, Tyrrell 12, Minardi 6, Dallara 5, Lotus & Brabham 3, Larrousse Lola 2, Leyton House 1.
