1991 Japanese Grand Prix

F1 Japanese Japan 1947 Suzuka circuit map (1987-2002).svg XVII Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix 20 October 1991 15 16 Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka, Japan Permanent racing facility 3.641https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/database/races/1991-japanese-grand-prix/ 1991 Japanese Grand Prix | Motorsport Database 5.860 53 192.985 310.580 Sunny, warm 337,000https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/2022_japanesegp_mediakit_english.pdf Formula 1 Honda Japanese Grand Prix 2022 – Media Kit Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile 5 October 2022 5 October 2022 Gerhard Berger Austria McLaren-Honda 1:34.700 Ayrton Senna Brazil 1968 McLaren-Honda 1:41.532 39 Gerhard Berger Austria McLaren-Honda Ayrton Senna Brazil 1968 McLaren-Honda Riccardo Patrese Italy Williams-Renault JPN 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.https://www.statsf1.com/en/mclaren/double.aspx McLaren – One-two • STATS F1 This was also Honda's last one-two finish until the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix. Most notably, Senna's second-place-finish was sufficient to crown him World Champion for the third and final time in his career, having built an unassailable 22-point-lead over eventual runner-up Nigel Mansell with one round to spare. 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 There were several changes to the driver lineup, the most notable being at Leyton House where Ivan Capelli had been replaced by young Austrian Karl Wendlinger, with Capelli being freed up as a spare driver for Ferrari if Alain Prost decided not to enter.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.Walker Murray 1991 Murray Walker's Grand Prix Year Hazleton Publishing 125–132 0-905138-90-2 Pre-qualifying classification Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap 1 7 UK Martin Brundle Brabham-Yamaha 1:41.289 — 2 10 Italy Alex Caffi Footwork-Ford 1:42.382 +1.093 3 9 Italy Michele Alboreto Footwork-Ford 1:42.479 +1.190 4 14 Italy Gabriele Tarquini Fondmetal-Ford 1:43.025 +1.736 5 8 UK Mark Blundell Brabham-Yamaha 1:44.025 +2.736 6 31 Japan 1947 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 Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap 1 2 Austria Gerhard Berger McLaren-Honda 1:36.458 1:34.700 — 2 1 Brazil 1968 Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 1:36.490 1:34.898 +0.198 3 5 UK Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault 1:36.529 1:34.922 +0.222 4 27 France Alain Prost Ferrari 1:37.565 1:36.670 +1.970 5 6 Italy Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault 1:37.874 1:36.882 +2.182 6 28 France Jean Alesi Ferrari 1:37.718 1:37.140 +2.440 7 23 Italy Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ferrari 1:40.176 1:38.154 +3.454 8 24 Italy Gianni Morbidelli Minardi-Ferrari 1:41.088 1:38.248 +3.548 9 19 Germany Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 1:39.742 1:38.363 +3.663 10 20 Brazil 1968 Nelson Piquet Benetton-Ford 1:40.557 1:38.614 +3.914 11 33 Italy Andrea de Cesaris Jordan-Ford 1:40.407 1:38.842 +4.142 12 22 Finland JJ Lehto Dallara-Judd 1:40.191 1:38.911 +4.211 13 32 Italy Alessandro Zanardi Jordan-Ford 1:39.051 1:38.923 +4.223 14 4 Italy Stefano Modena Tyrrell-Honda 1:39.245 1:38.926 +4.226 15 3 Japan 1947 Satoru Nakajima Tyrrell-Honda 1:40.100 1:39.118 +4.418 16 21 Italy Emanuele Pirro Dallara-Judd 1:41.246 1:39.238 +4.538 17 25 Belgium Thierry Boutsen Ligier-Lamborghini 1:39.946 1:39.499 +4.799 18 15 Brazil 1968 Maurício Gugelmin Leyton House-Ilmor 1:40.714 1:39.518 +4.818 19 7 UK Martin Brundle Brabham-Yamaha 1:40.867 1:39.697 +4.997 20 26 France Érik Comas Ligier-Lamborghini 1:41.251 1:39.820 +5.120 21 11 Finland Mika Häkkinen Lotus-Judd 1:41.485 1:40.024 +5.324 22 16 Austria Karl Wendlinger Leyton House-Ilmor 1:41.639 1:40.092 +5.392 23 12 UK Johnny Herbert Lotus-Judd 1:40.512 1:40.170 +5.470 24 14 Italy Gabriele Tarquini Fondmetal-Ford 1:42.835 1:40.184 +5.484 25 30 Japan 1947 Aguri Suzuki Lola-Ford 1:41.528 1:40.255 +5.555 26 10 Italy Alex Caffi Footwork-Ford 1:40.517 1:40.402 +5.702 27 9 Italy Michele Alboreto Footwork-Ford 1:41.536 1:40.844 +6.144 28 34 Italy Nicola Larini Lambo-Lamborghini 1:43.057 1:42.492 +7.792 29 35 Belgium Eric van de Poele Lambo-Lamborghini 1:46.641 1:42.724 +8.024 30 29 France Éric Bernard Lola-Ford no time no 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, beaching his Williams in a gravel trap. He was forced to retire after the accident, ending his championship challenge and crowning Senna as Formula One World Champion for the second consecutive year. With the news of Mansell's retirement, Senna increased his pace and quickly caught Berger, passing him for the lead on lap 18. Senna slowed again at the end of the race, 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 Pos No Driver Constructor Tyre Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 2 Austria Gerhard Berger McLaren-Honda Goodyear 53 1:32:10.695 1 10 2 1 Brazil 1968 Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda Goodyear 53 + 0.344 2 6 3 6 Italy Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault Goodyear 53 + 56.731 5 4 4 27 France Alain Prost Ferrari Goodyear 53 + 1:20.761 4 3 5 7 UK Martin Brundle Brabham-Yamaha Pirelli 52 + 1 lap 19 2 6 4 Italy Stefano Modena Tyrrell-Honda Pirelli 52 + 1 lap 14 1 7 20 Brazil 1968 Nelson Piquet Benetton-Ford Pirelli 52 + 1 lap 10 8 15 Brazil 1968 Maurício Gugelmin Leyton House-Ilmor Goodyear 52 + 1 lap 18 9 25 Belgium Thierry Boutsen Ligier-Lamborghini Goodyear 52 + 1 lap 17 10 10 Italy Alex Caffi Footwork-Ford Goodyear 51 + 2 laps 26 11 14 Italy Gabriele Tarquini Fondmetal-Ford Goodyear 50 + 3 laps 24 Ret Retired 26 France Érik Comas Ligier-Lamborghini Goodyear 41 Alternator 20 Ret Retired 23 Italy Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ferrari Goodyear 39 Electrical 7 Ret Retired 19 Germany Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford Pirelli 34 Engine 9 Ret Retired 12 UK Johnny Herbert Lotus-Judd Goodyear 31 Engine 23 Ret Retired 3 Japan 1947 Satoru Nakajima Tyrrell-Honda Pirelli 30 Spun off 15 Ret Retired 30 Japan 1947 Aguri Suzuki Lola-Ford Goodyear 26 Engine 25 Ret Retired 24 Italy Gianni Morbidelli Minardi-Ferrari Goodyear 15 Wheel 8 Ret Retired 5 UK Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault Goodyear 9 Spun off 3 Ret Retired 32 Italy Alessandro Zanardi Jordan-Ford Goodyear 7 Gearbox 13 Ret Retired 11 Finland Mika Häkkinen Lotus-Judd Goodyear 4 Engine 21 Ret Retired 33 Italy Andrea de Cesaris Jordan-Ford Goodyear 1 Collision 11 Ret Retired 22 Finland JJ Lehto Dallara-Judd Pirelli 1 Collision 12 Ret Retired 21 Italy Emanuele Pirro Dallara-Judd Pirelli 1 Collision 16 Ret Retired 16 Austria Karl Wendlinger Leyton House-Ilmor Goodyear 1 Collision 22 Ret Retired 28 France Jean Alesi Ferrari Goodyear 0 Engine 6 DNQ Did not qualify 9 Italy Michele Alboreto Footwork-Ford Goodyear DNQ Did not qualify 34 Italy Nicola Larini Lambo-Lamborghini Goodyear DNQ Did not qualify 35 Belgium Eric van de Poele Lambo-Lamborghini Goodyear DNQ Did not qualify 29 France Éric Bernard Lola-Ford Goodyear Accident DNPQ Did not pre-qualify 8 UK Mark Blundell Brabham-Yamaha Pirelli DNPQ Did not pre-qualify 31 Japan 1947 Naoki Hattori Coloni-Ford GoodyearSource:http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1991/213/ 1991 Japanese Grand Prix formula1.com 23 December 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20141103035530/http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1991/213/ 3 November 2014https://gparchive.com/formula-1/1991-japanese-grand-prix/ 1991 Japanese Grand Prix – Race Results & History – GP Archive GPArchive.com 20 October 1991 27 November 2021 Championship standings after the race Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 10px 1 BRA 1968 Ayrton Senna 91 10px 2 GBR Nigel Mansell 69 10px 3 ITA Riccardo Patrese 52 10px 1 4 AUT Gerhard Berger 41 10px 1 5 FRA Alain Prost 34Source:https://www.statsf1.com/en/1991/japon/championnat.aspx Japan 1991 – Championship • STATS F1 www.statsf1.com 18 March 2019 Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 10px 1 1 GBR McLaren-Honda* 132 10px 1 2 GBR Williams-Renault* 121 10px 3 ITA Ferrari 55 10px 4 GBR Benetton-Ford 37 10px 5 IRE Jordan-Ford 13Source: Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Bold text indicates the 1991 World Drivers' Champion. Competitors in bold and marked with an asterisk still had a mathematical chance of becoming World Champion. References Henry Alan Alan Henry AUTOCOURSE 1991–92 Hazleton Publishing 1991 232–233 0-905138-87-2 The GEL Motorsports Information page http://www.teamdan.com/archive/1991/octobe91.html 2007-09-15 https://web.archive.org/web/20160303165236/http://www.teamdan.com/archive/1991/octobe91.html 2016-03-03 dead Japanese Grand Prix 1991 1991 Spanish Grand Prix 1991 Australian Grand Prix 1990 Japanese Grand Prix 1992 Japanese Grand Prix Japanese Grand Prix Category:Japanese Grand Prix Grand Prix Category:October 1991 sports events in Japan