1990 United States Grand Prix

August 2023 F1 United States United States XXVII Iceberg United States Grand Prix March 11 Phoenix Grand Prix Route - 1989, 1990.svg 1990 1 16 Phoenix Street CircuitPhoenix, Arizona Temporary street circuit 2.361 3.800 72 169.992 273.60 Cloudy and cool with temperatures reaching up to 18 C FWeather info for the 1990 United States Grand Prix at Weather Underground 10,000-15,000Early pass launches Senna to victory in U.S. Grand Prix Courier-Post 12 March 1990 19 September 2020 https://newspapers.com/clip/59570607/ Newspapers.com Gerhard Berger Austria McLaren-Honda 1:28.664 Gerhard Berger Austria McLaren-Honda 1:31.050 34 Ayrton Senna Brazil 1968 McLaren-Honda Jean Alesi France Tyrrell-Ford Thierry Boutsen Belgium Williams-Renault USA The 1990 United States Grand Prix was the opening motor race of the 1990 Formula One World Championship held on March 11, 1990, in Phoenix, Arizona. It was the 32nd United States Grand Prix since the American Grand Prize was first held in 1908, and the 25th under Formula One regulations since the first United States Grand Prix was held at Sebring, Florida in 1959. It was the second to be held on the Phoenix Street Circuit and ran over 72 laps of the 3.800 km mi on circuit. The race was won by Brazilian Ayrton Senna, driving a McLaren MP4/5B by eight seconds over French driver Jean Alesi in his comparatively under-funded Tyrrell 018. It was Alesi's first podium finish, with Belgian driver Thierry Boutsen in a Williams FW13B coming home third. Background The United States Grand Prix in the dry desert city of Phoenix was moved to the start of the season in March to avoid the intense 100+ °F heat the city experiences in summer, although the previous year's race was run in June because it was given at such short notice. Swiss driver Gregor Foitek made his Formula One race debut for the Brabham team. He had attempted to qualify for races during the 1989 season, failing to make the grid in eleven qualifying attempts for EuroBrun and one for Rial. Qualifying Pre-qualifying report Several teams were required to participate in the Friday morning pre-qualifying sessions during 1990, in order to reduce the field to thirty cars for the main qualifying sessions on Friday afternoon and Saturday. At the midway point of the season, the pre-qualifying group was to be reassessed, with the more successful, points-scoring teams being allowed to avoid pre-qualifying, and unsuccessful teams being required to pre-qualify from mid-season onwards. Nine cars were required to take part in pre-qualifying sessions during the first half of the 1990 season, reduced from thirteen at the end of the 1989 season. The disappearance of the Zakspeed and Rial teams reduced the numbers, as did the reduction of the Osella and Coloni teams from two cars each to one car each. In contrast, EuroBrun expanded from one car to two, and were joined by the only new team on the entry lists, Life Racing Engines, who ran a single car. The fastest four cars would go through to the main qualifying sessions. The Larrousse team again fielded Lola-Lamborghinis, driven by Éric Bernard and ex-Zakspeed driver Aguri Suzuki, both of whom had driven odd races for the team before. AGS continued with Yannick Dalmas and Gabriele Tarquini, while EuroBrun hired ex-Coloni driver Roberto Moreno and newcomer Claudio Langes. Coloni brought in ex-Rial and Onyx driver Bertrand Gachot to drive the C3B with its new Subaru-badged engine, while the sole Osella FA1M was to be driven by ex-Ligier man Olivier Grouillard. The new team, Life, hired another Grand Prix newcomer, Gary Brabham to drive their L190 car with its unusual W12 engine. The chassis had initially been built for the previous season by the First Racing team, which ultimately did not take part in Formula One.Walker Murray 1990 Murray Walker's Grand Prix Year Hazleton Publishing 10–22 0-905138-82-1 During the pre-qualifying session on Friday morning, Moreno was fastest by four tenths of a second in his EuroBrun ER189B, already a great improvement over their form during 1989, despite the car being overweight. The Larrousse-Lola LC89Bs of Bernard and Suzuki were second and fourth, this marking the first pre-qualification for Suzuki after failing at every event for Zakspeed last season. Sandwiched between the Lolas in third was Grouillard in the Osella. The unsuccessful runners included Tarquini and Dalmas in the two AGS JH24 cars, two seconds behind Suzuki, and debutant Langes in the second EuroBrun, a couple of seconds adrift of Dalmas. The other two cars struggled, as Brabham in the Life suffered electrical failure after four laps, the team having been unable to sufficiently test their new car and engine; while Gachot's Coloni broke a gear selector rod on its first lap. Pre-qualifying classification Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap 1 33Brazil 1968 Roberto Moreno EuroBrun-Judd 1:32.292 2 29 France Éric Bernard Lola-Lamborghini 1:32.711 +0.419 3 14 France Olivier Grouillard Osella-Ford 1:33.181 +0.889 4 30Japan 1947 Aguri Suzuki Lola-Lamborghini 1:33.331 +1.039 5 17Italy Gabriele Tarquini AGS-Ford 1:35.420 +3.128 6 18France Yannick Dalmas AGS-Ford 1:35.481 +3.189 7 34Italy Claudio Langes EuroBrun-Judd 1:37.399 +5.107 8 39Australia Gary Brabham Life 2:07.147 +35.855 9 31Belgium Bertrand Gachot Coloni-Subaru 5:15.010+3:43.718 Qualifying report Unexpected rain on Saturday meant that the grid was decided entirely by times from Friday's session. Pirelli's soft qualifying tires caught Goodyear off guard, and the Italian manufacturer put five of its teams in the top ten positions, including Jean Alesi, who was fourth in a Tyrrell. In a surprise move, team manager Ken Tyrrell had signed with Pirelli two days before the race, after 18 years with Goodyear. Gerhard Berger's pole-winning McLaren was the only car in the first two rows sporting Goodyears. Pierluigi Martini put Minardi on the front row for the only time in the team's history, less than seven-hundredths off Berger's pole time. In addition, Andrea de Cesaris (Scuderia Italia), Olivier Grouillard (Osella) and Roberto Moreno (EuroBrun) all scored what proved to be their team's best grid position of the year. Ayrton Senna could only manage fifth, while Alain Prost, in his first race for Ferrari, was seventh. Philippe Alliot was excluded when a mechanic worked on the car outside of the pit area during Friday's practice. Qualifying classification Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap 1 28Austria Gerhard Berger McLaren-Honda 1:28.664 1:53.486 2 23Italy Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 1:28.731 2:33.083 +0.067 3 22Italy Andrea de Cesaris Dallara-Ford 1:29.019 1:57.435 +0.355 4 4France Jean Alesi Tyrrell-Ford 1:29.408 1:54.738 +0.744 5 27Brazil 1968 Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 1:29.431 1:52.015 +0.767 6 20 Brazil 1968 Nelson Piquet Benetton-Ford 1:29.862 1:55.449 +1.198 7 1France Alain Prost Ferrari 1:29.910 1:56.661 +1.246 8 14 France Olivier Grouillard Osella-Ford 1:29.947 — +1.283 9 5Belgium Thierry Boutsen Williams-Renault 1:30.059 1:52.771 +1.395 10 8Italy Stefano Modena Brabham-Judd 1:30.127 — +1.463 11 3Japan 1947 Satoru Nakajima Tyrrell-Ford 1:30.130 — +1.466 12 6Italy Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault 1:30.213 1:53.530 +1.549 13 25Italy Nicola Larini Ligier-Ford 1:30.424 — +1.760 14 24Italy Paolo Barilla Minardi-Ford 1:31.194 — +2.530 15 29France Éric Bernard Lola-Lamborghini 1:31.226 — +2.562 16 33Brazil 1968 Roberto Moreno EuroBrun-Judd 1:31.247 1:51.538 +2.583 17 2UK Nigel Mansell Ferrari 1:31.363 1:52.405 +2.699 18 30Japan 1947 Aguri Suzuki Lola-Lamborghini 1:31.414 — +2.750 19 12UK Martin Donnelly Lotus-Lamborghini 1:31.650 1:49.942 +2.986 20 10Germany Bernd Schneider Arrows-Ford 1:31.892 — +3.228 21 9Italy Michele Alboreto Arrows-Ford 1:31.948 1:54.499 +3.284 22 19Italy Alessandro Nannini Benetton-Ford 1:31.984 — +3.320 23 7Switzerland Gregor Foitek Brabham-Judd 1:32.398 — +3.734 24 11UK Derek Warwick Lotus-Lamborghini 1:32.400 2:05.974 +3.736 25 15Brazil 1968 Maurício Gugelmin Leyton House-Judd 1:32.904 — +4.240 26 16Italy Ivan Capelli Leyton House-Judd 1:33.044 — +4.380 27 35Sweden Stefan Johansson Onyx-Ford 1:33.468 — +4.804 28 21Italy Gianni Morbidelli Dallara-Ford 1:34.292 — +5.628 29 36Finland JJ Lehto Onyx-Ford — — — EX Excluded 26France Philippe Alliot Ligier-Ford 1:31.664 — +3.000 Race Race report Martin Donnelly did not take the dummy grid due to gearbox failure. (Some sources consider this a did not start.) Race day was cool with a chance of rain. Berger quickly pulled ahead of Martini and moved over in front of him, but Alesi, in only the 8th start of his Formula 1 career, passed them both and outbraked Berger into the first corner. He immediately began pulling away, and led by 2.4 seconds after one lap. Senna passed de Cesaris for third, and closed on Berger, who was giving up a half second a lap to Alesi. The Brazilian got by his team-mate when, on lap 9, Berger hit a bump under braking, backed into the tire wall and damaged his rear wing. He pitted for a new wing, and later recorded the fastest lap of the race, but eventually retired with a clutch problem. When Berger spun, Senna was 8.2 seconds behind Alesi. Not knowing whether the Tyrrell's Pirelli tires would last, Senna was reluctant to push too hard early on. After 30 laps, Alesi remained in the lead, but on lap 34, Senna passed him on the inside. The Tyrrell held the outside line on the exit and retook the lead on the next turn. At the same point, one lap later, Senna took the lead again, and this time he held it. After several attempts to regain the lead, Alesi decided to conserve his tires, and let Senna go. Meanwhile, Nelson Piquet had progressed from sixth on the grid to third by lap 17. Brake trouble caused him to flatspot his tyres, however, and on lap 28 he pitted for new ones. This allowed Thierry Boutsen's Williams through, and though he battled a problem with his engine intermittently cutting out, he maintained third place to the flag. Piquet had to settle for fourth in his first drive for Benetton. Prost had fallen back to ninth at the start with gearbox problems, and, while he advanced to fourth place by lap 17, his gearbox troubles proved terminal on lap 21. In the other Ferrari, Nigel Mansell retired from fifth on lap 49, when his clutch disintegrated and pierced the oil tank. The engine seized and caught fire, sending Mansell into a spin. Senna built his lead over Alesi to 28.5 seconds, but backed off slightly when his engine began sounding less than healthy. Stefano Modena and Satoru Nakajima, in a Brabham and the second Tyrrell, respectively, finished the scoring in fifth and sixth places. It was the 21st win of Ayrton Senna's career and the first of six for the season. Alesi's podium finish was the first of his career. The first two finishers were full of praise for one another after the race. Senna said he knew Alesi had the ingredients to be World Champion, and Alesi gushed, "He is my hero and has been for many years." Other winners in the race were Ken Tyrrell, with two cars in the points; and Pirelli, with three points finishers. Race classification Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 27 Brazil 1968 Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 72 1:52:32.829 5 9 2 4 France Jean Alesi Tyrrell-Ford 72 + 8.685 4 6 3 5 Belgium Thierry Boutsen Williams-Renault 72 + 54.080 9 4 4 20 Brazil 1968 Nelson Piquet Benetton-Ford 72 + 1:08.358 6 3 5 8 Italy Stefano Modena Brabham-Judd 72 + 1:09.503 10 2 6 3 Japan 1947 Satoru Nakajima Tyrrell-Ford 71 + 1 lap 11 1 7 23 Italy Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 71 + 1 lap 2 8 29 France Éric Bernard Lola-Lamborghini 71 + 1 lap 15 9 6 Italy Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault 71 + 1 lap 12 10 9 Italy Michele Alboreto Arrows-Ford 70 + 2 laps 21 11 19 Italy Alessandro Nannini Benetton-Ford 70 + 2 laps 22 12 10 Germany Bernd Schneider Arrows-Ford 70 + 2 laps 20 13 33 Brazil 1968 Roberto Moreno EuroBrun-Judd 67 + 5 laps 16 14 15 Brazil 1968 Maurício Gugelmin Leyton House-Judd 66 + 6 laps 25 Ret Retired 24 Italy Paolo Barilla Minardi-Ford 54 Physical 14 Ret Retired 30 Japan 1947 Aguri Suzuki Lola-Lamborghini 53 Brakes 18 Ret Retired 2 UK Nigel Mansell Ferrari 49 Clutch 17 Ret Retired 28 Austria Gerhard Berger McLaren-Honda 44 Clutch 1 Ret Retired 7 Switzerland Gregor Foitek Brabham-Judd 39 Accident 23 Ret Retired 14 France Olivier Grouillard Osella-Ford 39 Collision 8 Ret Retired 22 Italy Andrea de Cesaris Dallara-Ford 25 Engine 3 Ret Retired 1 France Alain Prost Ferrari 21 Oil leak 7 Ret Retired 16 Italy Ivan Capelli Leyton House-Judd 20 Electrical 26 Ret Retired 11 UK Derek Warwick Lotus-Lamborghini 6 Gearbox 24 Ret Retired 25 Italy Nicola Larini Ligier-Ford 4 Throttle 13 DNS Did not start 12 UK Martin Donnelly Lotus-Lamborghini 0 Gearbox 19 DNQ Did not qualify 35Sweden Stefan Johansson Onyx-Ford DNQ Did not qualify 21Italy Gianni Morbidelli Dallara-Ford DNQ Did not qualify 36Finland JJ Lehto Onyx-Ford EX Excluded 26France Philippe Alliot Ligier-Ford DNPQ Did not pre-qualify 17Italy Gabriele Tarquini AGS-Ford DNPQ Did not pre-qualify 18France Yannick Dalmas AGS-Ford DNPQ Did not pre-qualify 34Italy Claudio Langes EuroBrun-Judd DNPQ Did not pre-qualify 39Australia Gary Brabham Life DNPQ Did not pre-qualify 31Belgium Bertrand Gachot Coloni-SubaruSource:http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1990/215/ 1990 United States Grand Prix formula1.com 23 December 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20141221235522/http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1990/215/ 21 December 2014 Championship standings after the race Drivers' Championship standings PosDriverPoints 1 BRA 1968 Ayrton Senna 9 2 FRA Jean Alesi 6 3 BEL Thierry Boutsen 4 4 BRA 1968 Nelson Piquet 3 5 ITA Stefano Modena 2Source:https://www.statsf1.com/en/1990/etats-unis/championnat.aspx United States 1990 - Championship • STATS F1 www.statsf1.com 21 March 2019 Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 GBR McLaren-Honda9 2 GBR Tyrrell-Ford7 3 GBR Williams-Renault4 4 GBR Benetton-Ford3 5 GBR Brabham-Judd2Source: Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. References Rob Walker (June, 1990). "2nd United States Grand Prix at Phoenix: Senna's Surprise". Road & Track, 92–96. External links United States Grand Prix 1990 1989 Australian Grand Prix 1990 Brazilian Grand Prix 1989 United States Grand Prix 1991 United States Grand Prix 33 26 52.5 N 112 4 28.5 W title United States Grand Prix Category:United States Grand Prix United States Grand Prix United States Grand Prix Category:1990s in Phoenix, Arizona United States Grand Prix