Last part
ROUND 15 - Japan- revenge a dish best served cold.
There were many changes going into Suzuka for 1990 and 1991. The Eurobrun and Life teams withdrew from the sport, Life did get some laps in in Spain but were still 20+ seconds off pre-qualifying even with the Judd engine so with both teams gone, Pre-qualifying wasn’t needed with the field now 30.
We hadn’t heard the last of Roberto Moreno though, the Eurobrun driver remarkably found himself in a Benetton though this was due to tragic circumstances as Alessandro Nannini was injured in a helicopter crash after the Spanish Grand prix. Nannini who had finished 3rd in spain and had won the Japanese Grand Prix a year earlier suffered a severed right forearm and never raced in formula 1 again. Nannini limb was reattached but he never regained the strength needed, a sad end to a promising career given Nannini had a 1991 Benetton contract signed at a time when Ferrari were said to be interested.
Nigel Mansell also announced he would stay on for 1991 with Williams who convinced him they could give him a package to win the world title. Elsewhere, Brabham announced a Yamaha deal for 1991, Arrows announced a Porsche deal for the same year with Alex Caffi and Michele Alboreto staying put. (Caffi had been replaced by Bernd Schneider for one race in Spain). From this race on Martin Donnelly was replaced by Johnny Herbert.
Senna was on pole with Prost alongside. Senna was unhappy that 2nd place seemed to be advantageous due to a slope and the fact it was a cleaner line due to it being on the race line, the touchpaper had been lit in 1989 with their collision but the decision to not move pole position was fuel on the fire and when Prost passed Senna at the start no one was shocked when Senna rammed Prost off the track thus confirming that Senna was world champion.
It was a bad move by Senna and he put a lot of people in danger but his revenge had been complete.
In the race itself Berger emerged ahead but ironically spun on dust thrown up from Prost and Senna’s cars and Mansell took over the lead. Mansell was just ahead of the Benettons when he pitted but a broken driveshaft put him out at his pit stop. This left Piquet and Moreno to lead home a Benetton 1-2 and the home crowd were delighted when Aguri Suzuki finished an incredible 3rd ahead of Patrese, Boutsen and another home boy in Nakajima. It was Piquet’s first win in over 3 years and a lovely moment for Suzuki while Moreno found it all too much and burst into tears in parc ferme
Standings Drivers: *Senna 78, Prost 69, Berger 40, Piquet 35, Boutsen 32, Mansell 31
Teams: McLaren 118, Ferrari 100, Benetton 62, Williams 54 and Tyrrell 16
*Although Senna lead by 9 points and Prost was only 9 behind only the best 11 scores counted so Prost’s 5th place in Canada wouldn’t count if he scored another 2 points in Adelaide. The result also meant McLaren were constructor’s champions.
ROUND 16 – Australia, Piquet finishes in style.
It was the 500th race in f1 history and Senna started on pole ahead of Berger, Mansell, Prost, Alesi, Patrese, Piquet and Moreno.
Mansell passed Berger at the start when the latter hit a bump and nearly cut his engine out, Piquet was on an early charge too, after passing Alesi and Patrese at the start he carved past Prost on lap 3 and Berger on lap 9.
In an 81 lap race, Mansell stopped on lap 45 for tyres dropping to 5th but a mistake from Berger allowed Mansell past again, on lap 61 a gearbox problem saw Senna slide into the barriers and out of the race. Piquet decided not to stop for tyres and was now leading. With Mansell going very quick on fresh tyres, Prost allowed his team mate into 2nd and Mansell charged after Piquet who had a brief off which saw Mansell close right up.
On the last lap Mansell made one last gasp overtake, a late braking manoeuvre that almost took both out although it was a case of now or never. The move meant Mansell locked up and Piquet on his battered tyres now had enough of a gap to cross the line and win again, a fine end to the season with two wins putting 3rd in the world championship.
Piquet is a bit of a strange one, he won 20 grand prix in his career and although he has the same number of world titles as Senna he never seems to get the same recognition as any other drivers of that era like Prost. But to win three world titles in that era he must have been doing something right. Those who doubt his ability or undermine his achievements should watch this race, it was an absolutely brilliant drive.
Mansell ended his Ferrari career on a high with second ahead of team mate Prost, Berger a disappointing 4th rounding out an average year when his title challenge faded mid season. The Austrian had the best car but found a win elusive. Boutsen and Patrese as consistent as ever rounded out the points in 5th and 6th.
And so 1990 came to a close, a deserved title for Senna, pushed hard by Prost and Ferrari, but the manner in which he won it left a sour taste, I am sure if it happened now Senna would have been stripped of the title and yes he was ripped off and screwed over in 1989 but running into Prost the way he did was cold and calculated. It could have ended a lot worse, wheels could have gone in the crowd, others might have been involved and both cars had full fuel tanks. Senna would eventually admit it was deliberate. It was the height of a very bitter feud with Prost. I do think Prost was more to blame of the two for the 1989 incident at Suzuka, that was more of a racing incident and the manner in which Senna was disqualified was a load of shite quite frankly.
I cant blame Senna for feeling angry and wanting revenge but what he did was a classic case of two wrongs not making a right.
A great year for F1 all the same, some wonderful performances from top class drivers, some great underdog stories, controversy, dreadful accidents and the farcical laughable efforts from Coloni and Life. It wasn’t dull that’s for sure.
Final standings
DRIVERS: Senna 78, Prost (73) 71, Piquet (44) 43, Berger 43, Mansell 37, Boutsen 34, Patrese 23, Nannini 21, Alesi 13, Capelli, Moreno and Suzuki 6, Bernard 5, Warwick and Nakajima 3, Caffi and Modena 2, Gugelmin 1
TEAMS: McLaren 121, Ferrari 110, Benetton 71, Williams 57, Tyrrell 16, Larrousse 11, Leyton house 7, Lotus 3, Brabham and Arrows 2
