1990 French Grand Prix

7th round of the 1990 Formula One season March 2019 F1 French France Rhône-Poulenc Grand Prix de France 8 July 1990 Paul Ricard 1986.png 7 16 Paul RicardFrance Permanent racing facility 2.369 3.813 80 189.543 305.040 Hot, dry, sunny Nigel Mansell UK Ferrari 1:04.402 Nigel Mansell UK Ferrari 1:08.012 64 Alain Prost France Ferrari Ivan Capelli Italy Leyton House-Judd Ayrton Senna Brazil 1968 McLaren-Honda FRA The 1990 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Paul Ricard on 8 July 1990. It was the seventh race of the 1990 Formula One World Championship. It was the 68th French Grand Prix and the 14th and last to be held at Paul Ricard until the 2018 French Grand Prix. It was held over 80 laps of the four kilometre circuit for a race distance of 305 kilometres. This race was held the same day as the 1990 FIFA World Cup Final in Rome, Italy, but that event took place later in the day from this Grand Prix.1990 French Grand Prix https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/database/races/1990-french-grand-prix/ Motor Sport Magazine 26 September 2025 The race almost saw one of the most remarkable upsets in Formula One history with the Leyton House Racing team of Italian driver Ivan Capelli and Brazilian driver Maurício Gugelmin running first and second for an extended period of the race in their Leyton House CG901s. Local driver Alain Prost claimed the lead late in the race to take the win in his Ferrari 641 by eight seconds over Capelli. Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna finished third in his McLaren MP4/5B. The win, Prost's third for the season, marked Ferrari's 100th race victory in Formula One, and closed the gap to championship points leader Senna to just three points. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/24475281 Murray's Memories: 1990 French GP – Leyton House v Ferrari 23 October 2013 BBC Sport 23 October 2013https://www.motorsportweek.com/2023/06/19/where-f1-teams-claimed-their-100th-f1-grand-prix-win/ Where F1 teams claimed their 100th grand prix win Motorsport Week Walsh Fergal 19 June 2023 29 March 2024 Qualifying Pre-qualifying report In the Friday morning pre-qualifying session, it was a return to the top two places for the Larrousse-Lola drivers, their fourth 1–2 of the season. Éric Bernard was over a second faster than his team-mate Aguri Suzuki, who in turn was seven tenths faster than the next fastest driver. For the first time this season, at their home race, both AGS drivers pre-qualified, with Gabriele Tarquini third and Yannick Dalmas fourth. It was the first successful pre-qualification for Tarquini this season, and only the second for Dalmas.Walker Murray 1990 Murray Walker's Grand Prix Year Hazleton Publishing 63–70 0-905138-82-1 In fifth place, missing out by just under seven hundredths of a second, was Olivier Grouillard in the sole Osella, the first time he had failed to pre-qualify in 1990. Sixth was Roberto Moreno in his EuroBrun, some way adrift of Grouillard and nearly five seconds off Bernard's pace. It was the second time this season Moreno had failed to pre-qualify. Seventh, and much closer to his team-mate this time, was Claudio Langes in the other EuroBrun. The other two runners were not remotely competitive; Bertrand Gachot suffered an engine failure on his first lap in his Coloni, still with the heavy, fragile and underpowered Subaru engine,Motoring News 11 July 1990 while Bruno Giacomelli failed to leave the pits in the Life. Pre-qualifying classification Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap 1 29 France Éric Bernard Lola-Lamborghini 1:05.165 — 2 30 Japan 1947 Aguri Suzuki Lola-Lamborghini 1:06.505 +1.340 3 17 Italy Gabriele Tarquini AGS-Ford 1:07.232 +2.067 4 18 France Yannick Dalmas AGS-Ford 1:08.151 +2.986 5 14 France Olivier Grouillard Osella-Ford 1:08.219 +3.054 6 33 Brazil 1968 Roberto Moreno EuroBrun-Judd 1:09.885 +4.720 7 34 Italy Claudio Langes EuroBrun-Judd 1:10.368 +5.203 8 31 Belgium Bertrand Gachot Coloni-Subaru 4:02.465 +2:57.300 9 39 Italy Bruno Giacomelli Life no time — Qualifying report Nigel Mansell took pole position from Gerhard Berger and Ayrton Senna being followed by Alain Prost, Alessandro Nannini fifth, Riccardo Patrese sixth, Ivan Capelli seventh followed by Thierry Boutsen in eighth, Nelson Piquet in ninth and Maurício Gugelmin tenth. Qualifying classification Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap 1 2 UK Nigel Mansell Ferrari 1:04.402 1:04.871 — 2 28 Austria Gerhard Berger McLaren-Honda 1:05.350 1:04.512 +0.110 3 27 Brazil 1968 Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 1:04.549 1:08.886 +0.147 4 1 France Alain Prost Ferrari 1:04.792 1:04.781 +0.379 5 19 Italy Alessandro Nannini Benetton-Ford 1:05.670 1:05.009 +0.607 6 6 Italy Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault 1:05.059 1:05.394 +0.657 7 16 Italy Ivan Capelli Leyton House-Judd 1:06.384 1:05.369 +0.967 8 5 Belgium Thierry Boutsen Williams-Renault 1:05.446 1:06.394 +1.044 9 20 Brazil 1968 Nelson Piquet Benetton-Ford 1:05.640 1:05.744 +1.238 10 15 Brazil 1968 Maurício Gugelmin Leyton House-Judd 1:05.818 1:06.446 +1.416 11 29 France Éric Bernard Lola-Lamborghini 1:05.910 1:05.852 +1.450 12 26 France Philippe Alliot Ligier-Ford 1:05.980 1:06.866 +1.578 13 4 France Jean Alesi Tyrrell-Ford 1:06.084 1:06.200 +1.682 14 30 Japan 1947 Aguri Suzuki Lola-Lamborghini 1:06.100 1:06.158 +1.598 15 3 Japan 1947 Satoru Nakajima Tyrrell-Ford 1:06.999 1:06.563 +2.161 16 11 UK Derek Warwick Lotus-Lamborghini 1:06.624 1:07.031 +2.222 17 12 UK Martin Donnelly Lotus-Lamborghini 1:06.647 1:07.248 +2.245 18 9 Italy Michele Alboreto Arrows-Ford 1:06.847 1:07.239 +2.445 19 25 Italy Nicola Larini Ligier-Ford 1:07.224 1:06.856 +2.444 20 8 Italy Stefano Modena Brabham-Judd 1:06.937 1:06.943 +2.535 21 22 Italy Andrea de Cesaris Dallara-Ford 1:09.727 1:07.137 +2.735 22 10 Italy Alex Caffi Arrows-Ford 1:07.496 1:07.207 +2.805 23 23 Italy Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 1:07.315 1:07.333 +2.913 24 21 Italy Emanuele Pirro Dallara-Ford 1:07.687 1:07.692 +3.285 25 7 Australia David Brabham Brabham-Judd 1:07.733 1:08.532 +3.331 26 18 France Yannick Dalmas AGS-Ford 1:08.630 1:07.926 +3.524 27 24 Italy Paolo Barilla Minardi-Ford 1:08.008 1:08.592 +3.606 28 17 Italy Gabriele Tarquini AGS-Ford 1:09.176 1:08.147 +3.745 29 35 Switzerland Gregor Foitek Onyx-Ford 1:08.794 1:08.232 +3.830 30 36 Finland JJ Lehto Onyx-Ford 1:08.954 1:08.487 +4.085 Race Race report The Leyton House cars of Ivan Capelli and Maurício Gugelmin ran first and second for almost two-thirds of the race. Neither car had qualified for the previous race in Mexico, but on the smooth surface of Paul Ricard with its 1.1 km long Mistral Straight, the team were able to exploit their highly efficient aerodynamic package, as well as being the only team to attempt to race without stopping for fresh tyres. Gugelmin stopped late in the race while third, and Capelli led until three laps from home when his engine encountered problems and dropped to second. Berger took the lead at the start followed by pole sitter Mansell, Senna, Nannini, Patrese, Prost, Boutsen, Piquet and Jean Alesi. Later in the race when the leaders pitted, Capelli took the lead being followed by teammate Gugelmin. Prost overtook Gugelmin on lap 54 and Gugelmin's engine blew on lap 57. Mansell was battling for seventh position with the McLaren of Gerhard Berger after his second pit-stop, but was eventually forced to retire on lap 73 with engine troubles (Mansell was classified 18th). Alessandro Nannini overtook Senna for third place but eventually retired three laps after Mansell with electrical problems (Nannini was classified 16th). Prost overtook Capelli for the lead on lap 77 of 80 and went on to win in front of his home crowd at the last French Grand Prix held at Paul Ricard before the race was moved to Magny-Cours in 1991 for many years until it eventually returned to Paul Ricard in 2018. Prost's win was the 42nd of his career, his third French Grand Prix in succession, his fifth French GP overall (and his fourth at Paul Ricard), and the 100th Grand Prix victory for Ferrari. Prost won ahead of Capelli, Senna, Piquet and Berger, with Patrese rounding out the top six. It proved to be the third and last podium finish for Ivan Capelli, and the only podium finish for the Leyton House Racing team. Race classification Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 1 France Alain Prost Ferrari 80 1:33:29.606 4 9 2 16 Italy Ivan Capelli Leyton House-Judd 80 + 8.626 7 6 3 27 Brazil 1968 Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 80 + 11.606 3 4 4 20 Brazil 1968 Nelson Piquet Benetton-Ford 80 + 41.207 9 3 5 28 Austria Gerhard Berger McLaren-Honda 80 + 42.219 2 2 6 6 Italy Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault 80 + 1:09.351 6 1 7 30 Japan 1947 Aguri Suzuki Lola-Lamborghini 79 + 1 lap 14 8 29 France Éric Bernard Lola-Lamborghini 79 + 1 lap 11 9 26 France Philippe Alliot Ligier-Ford 79 + 1 lap 12 10 9 Italy Michele Alboreto Arrows-Ford 79 + 1 lap 18 11 11 UK Derek Warwick Lotus-Lamborghini 79 + 1 lap 16 12 12 UK Martin Donnelly Lotus-Lamborghini 79 + 1 lap 17 13 8 Italy Stefano Modena Brabham-Judd 78 + 2 laps 20 14 25 Italy Nicola Larini Ligier-Ford 78 + 2 laps 19 15 7 Australia David Brabham Brabham-Judd 77 + 3 laps 25 16 19 Italy Alessandro Nannini Benetton-Ford 75 Electrical 5 17 18 France Yannick Dalmas AGS-Ford 75 + 5 laps 26 18 2 UK Nigel Mansell Ferrari 72 Engine 1 DSQ Disqualified 22 Italy Andrea de Cesaris Dallara-Ford 78 Underweight 21 Ret Retired 3 Japan 1947 Satoru Nakajima Tyrrell-Ford 63 Gearbox 15 Ret Retired 15 Brazil 1968 Maurício Gugelmin Leyton House-Judd 58 Engine 10 Ret Retired 23 Italy Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 40 Electrical 23 Ret Retired 4 France Jean Alesi Tyrrell-Ford 23 Differential 13 Ret Retired 10 Italy Alex Caffi Arrows-Ford 22 Suspension 22 Ret Retired 5 Belgium Thierry Boutsen Williams-Renault 7 Engine 8 Ret Retired 21 Italy Emanuele Pirro Dallara-Ford 7 Brakes 24 DNQ Did not qualify 24 Italy Paolo Barilla Minardi-Ford DNQ Did not qualify 17 Italy Gabriele Tarquini AGS-Ford DNQ Did not qualify 35 Switzerland Gregor Foitek Onyx-Ford DNQ Did not qualify 36 Finland JJ Lehto Onyx-Ford DNPQ Did not pre-qualify 14 France Olivier Grouillard Osella-Ford DNPQ Did not pre-qualify 33 Brazil 1968 Roberto Moreno EuroBrun-Judd DNPQ Did not pre-qualify 34 Italy Claudio Langes EuroBrun-Judd DNPQ Did not pre-qualify 31 Belgium Bertrand Gachot Coloni-Subaru DNPQ Did not pre-qualify 39 Italy Bruno Giacomelli Life Source:http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1990/221/ 1990 French Grand Prix formula1.com 23 December 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20141221235621/http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1990/221/ 21 December 2014 Championship standings after the race Drivers' Championship standings PosDriverPoints 1 BRA 1968 Ayrton Senna 35 2 FRA Alain Prost 32 3 AUT Gerhard Berger 25 4 BRA 1968 Nelson Piquet 16 5 FRA Jean Alesi 13Source:https://www.statsf1.com/en/1990/france/championnat.aspx France 1990 - Championship • STATS F1 www.statsf1.com 17 March 2019 Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 GBR McLaren-Honda60 2 ITA Ferrari45 3 GBR Benetton-Ford23 4 GBR Williams-Renault21 5 GBR Tyrrell-Ford14Source: Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. References French Grand Prix 1990 1990 Mexican Grand Prix 1990 British Grand Prix 1989 French Grand Prix 1991 French Grand PrixNext race at Paul Ricard: 2018 French Grand Prix French Grand Prix Category:French Grand Prix Grand Prix French Grand Prix