1991 Japanese Grand Prix

 1991 Japanese Grand Prix

Racing data
15th of 16 races in the 1991 Formula 1 World Championship
Surname:	Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix
Date:	October 20, 1991
Place:	Suzuka
Course:	Suzuka International Racing Course
Length:	310.792 km in 53 laps of 5.864 km
Weather:	sunny and warm
Spectator:	~ 140,000
Pole position
Driver:	Gerhard Berger	McLaren Honda
Time:	1: 34.700 min
Fastest lap
Driver:	Ayrton Senna	McLaren Honda
Time:	1: 41.532 min (lap 39)
Podium
First:	Gerhard Berger	McLaren Honda
Second:	Ayrton Senna	McLaren Honda
Third:	Riccardo Patrese	Williams-Renault

The 1991 Japanese Grand Prix took place in Suzuka on October 20 and was the 15th race of the 1991 Formula 1 World Championship .

Reports

background

The Formula 1 newcomer Karl Wendlinger was signed by the financially troubled Leyton House team for the last two races of the year , as he could show sponsorship money from Mercedes-Benz . For Ivan Capelli , who was replaced by the Austrian, the 1991 season ended prematurely. AGS withdrew from Formula 1, also mainly for financial reasons . Coloni, on the other hand, competed again in the final races after the Japanese debutant Naoki Hattori had joined the team as the successor to Pedro Chaves . Johnny Herbert returned to the field as the second driver for the Lotus team. Also back on site was Bertrand Gachot , who after his release from prison hoped to be able to take up his traditional place with Jordan again. However, it was decided against him and ended the season with Alessandro Zanardi .

training

Eric Bernard had a serious accident during the pre-qualification . Due to the injuries he suffered, he was unable to participate in the rest of the race weekend.

Ayrton Senna , who was 16 points ahead in the World Championship standings, secured second starting position behind his team-mate Gerhard Berger and ahead of his only remaining title competitor, Nigel Mansell , who, together with Alain Prost, formed the second row ahead of Riccardo Patrese and Jean Alesi . The two Minardi pilots Pierluigi Martini and Gianni Morbidelli qualified for the fourth row in front of the two Benettons of Michael Schumacher and Nelson Piquet .

run

On the second lap, engine failure on Alesi's car indirectly led to a collision between several pilots. Andrea de Cesaris spun on spilled oil, causing JJ Lehto to brake suddenly. Emanuele Pirro could not react in time and crashed into the rear of his team mate. When more vehicles approached the scene of the accident, de Cesaris was about to start the race again. Karl Wendlinger had to avoid him and also collided with Lehto.

While Berger was leading the race, Senna, who could not keep the pace of his McLaren teammate at first , stopped the two Williams drivers Mansell and Patrese. Mansell had to win to keep his chances in the World Cup duel and therefore went to the limit and at times even beyond to overtake the Brazilian. At the beginning of the tenth round, however, it came to a spin, which meant the end for him and consequently the win of the 1991 World Cup for Senna.

On lap 18, Senna took the lead from Berger. Both stood out clearly from the rest of the field led by Patrese and Prost. After Schumacher and Martini were eliminated due to technical defects, Martin Brundle was in fifth place ahead of Stefano Modena .

Due to misfires, Berger fell slightly behind Senna during the final laps. However, he remembered an internal team agreement made in advance of the race, according to which in the event of a prematurely decided world championship in favor of Senna, the one who had been in the lead during the first laps should win. Since this was Berger, Senna slowed down in the last corner, let the Austrian pass and gave him the victory.

Registration list

team	No.	driver	chassis	engine	tires
Honda Marlboro McLaren	1	Ayrton Senna	McLaren MP4 / 6	Honda RA121E 3.5 V12	G
	2	Gerhard Berger
Brown Tyrrell Honda	3	Satoru Nakajima	Tyrrell 020	Honda RA101E 3.5 V10	P
	4th	Stefano Modena
Canon Williams team	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams FW14	Renault RS3 3.5 V10	G
	6th	Riccardo Patrese
Motor Racing Developments	7th	Martin Brundle	Brabham BT60Y	Yamaha OX99 3.5 V12	P
	8th	Mark Blundell
Footwork Grand Prix International	9	Michele Alboreto	Footwork FA12B	Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8	G
	10	Alex Caffi
Team Lotus	11	Mika Hakkinen	Lotus 102B	Judd EV 3.5 V8	G
	12	Johnny Herbert
Fund metal	14th	Gabriele Tarquini	Fund metal GR01	Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8	G
Leyton House Racing	15th	Maurício Gugelmin	Leyton House CG911	Ilmor 2175A 3.5 V10	G
	16	Karl Wendlinger
Camel Benetton Ford	19th	Michael sSchumacher	Benetton B191	Ford Cosworth HB5 3.5 V8	P
	20th	Nelson Piquet
BMS Scuderia Italia	21st	Emanuele Pirro	Dallara 191	Judd GV 3.5 V10	P
	22nd	JJ Lehto
Minardi team	23	Pierluigi Martini	Minardi M191	Ferrari 037 3.5 V12	G
	24	Gianni Morbidelli
Ligier Gitanes	25th	Thierry Boutsen	Ligier JS35B	Lamborghini 3512 3.5 V12	G
	26th	Érik Comas
Scuderia Ferrari SpA	27	Alain Prost	Ferrari 643	Ferrari 037 3.5 V12	G
	28	Jean Alesi
Larrousse F1	29	Eric Bernard	Lola LC91	Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8	G
	30th	Aguri Suzuki
Coloni Racing	31	Naoki Hattori	Coloni C4		G
Team 7Up Jordan	32	Alessandro Zanardi	Jordan 191	Ford Cosworth HB4 3.5 V8	G
	33	Andrea de Cesaris
Modena team	34	Nicola Larini	Lambo 291	Lamborghini 3512 3.5 V12	G
	35	Eric van de Poele

Classifications

Qualifying

Item	driver	constructor	Pre-qualification		1. Qualification training		2. Qualification training		begin
			time	Ø speed	time	Ø speed	time	Ø speed
01	Gerhard Berger	McLaren Honda	-	-	1: 36.458	218.856 km / h	1: 34.700	222.919 km / h	01
02	Ayrton Senna	McLaren Honda	-	-	1: 36.490	218.783 km / h	1: 34.898	222.454 km / h	02
03	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Renault	-	-	1: 36.529	218.695 km / h	1: 34.922	222.397 km / h	03
04th	Alain Prost	Ferrari	-	-	1: 37.565	216.373 km / h	1: 36.670	218.376 km / h	04th
05	Riccardo Patrese	Williams-Renault	-	-	1: 37.874	215.690 km / h	1: 36.882	217.898 km / h	05
06th	Jean Alesi	Ferrari	-	-	1: 37.718	216.034 km / h	1: 37.140	217.319 km / h	06th
07th	Pierluigi Martini	Minardi Ferrari	-	-	1: 40.176	210.733 km / h	1: 38.154	215.074 km / h	07th
08th	Gianni Morbidelli	Minardi Ferrari	-	-	1: 41.088	208.832 km / h	1: 38.248	214.868 km / h	08th
09	Michael sSchumacher	Benetton-Ford	-	-	1: 39.742	211.650 km / h	1: 38.363	214.617 km / h	09
10	Nelson Piquet	Benetton-Ford	-	-	1: 40.557	209.935 km / h	1: 38.614	214.071 km / h	10
11	Andrea de Cesaris	Jordan Ford	-	-	1: 40.407	210.248 km / h	1: 38.842	213.577 km / h	11
12	JJ Lehto	Dallara-Judd	-	-	1: 40.191	210.702 km / h	1: 38.911	213.428 km / h	12
13	Alessandro Zanardi	Jordan Ford	-	-	1: 39.051	213.127 km / h	1: 38.923	213.402 km / h	13
14th	Stefano Modena	Tyrrell Honda	-	-	1: 39.245	212.710 km / h	1: 38.926	213.396 km / h	14th
15th	Satoru Nakajima	Tyrrell Honda	-	-	1: 40,100	210.893 km / h	1: 39.118	212.983 km / h	15th
16	Emanuele Pirro	Dallara-Judd	-	-	1: 41.246	208.506 km / h	1: 39.238	212.725 km / h	16
17th	Thierry Boutsen	Ligier-Lamborghini	-	-	1: 39.946	211.218 km / h	1: 39.499	212.167 km / h	17th
18th	Maurício Gugelmin	Leyton House-Ilmor	-	-	1: 40.714	209.607 km / h	1: 39.518	212.126 km / h	18th
19th	Martin Brundle	Brabham-Yamaha	1: 41.289	208.417 km / h	1: 40.867	209.289 km / h	1: 39.697	211.746 km / h	19th
20th	Érik Comas	Ligier-Lamborghini	-	-	1: 41.251	208.496 km / h	1: 39.820	211.485 km / h	20th
21st	Mika Hakkinen	Lotus Judd	-	-	1: 41.485	208.015 km / h	1: 40.024	211.053 km / h	21st
22nd	Karl Wendlinger	Leyton House-Ilmor	-	-	1: 41.639	207.700 km / h	1: 40.092	210.910 km / h	22nd
23	Johnny Herbert	Lotus Judd	-	-	1: 40.512	210.029 km / h	1: 40.170	210.746 km / h	23
24	Gabriele Tarquini	Fond metal Ford	1: 43.025	204.906 km / h	1: 42.835	205.284 km / h	1: 40.184	210.716 km / h	24
25th	Aguri Suzuki	Lola Ford	-	-	1: 41.528	207.927 km / h	1: 40.255	210.567 km / h	25th
26th	Alex Caffi	Footwork Ford	1: 42.382	206.192 km / h	1: 40.517	210.018 km / h	1: 40.402	210.259 km / h	26th
DNQ	Michele Alboreto	Footwork Ford	1: 42.479	205.997 km / h	1: 41.536	207.910 km / h	1: 40.844	209.337 km / h	-
DNQ	Nicola Larini	Lambo Lamborghini	-	-	1: 43.057	204.842 km / h	1: 42.492	205.971 km / h	-
DNQ	Eric van de Poele	Lambo Lamborghini	-	-	1: 46.641	197.958 km / h	1: 42.724	205.506 km / h	-
DNPQ	Mark Blundell	Brabham-Yamaha	1: 44.004	202.977 km / h	-	-	-	-	-
DNPQ	Naoki Hattori	Coloni-Ford	2: 00.035	175.869 km / h	-	-	-	-	-
DNS	Eric Bernard	Lola Ford	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

run

Item	driver	constructor	Round	Stops	time	begin	Fastest lap	Failure reason
01	Gerhard Berger	McLaren Honda	53	1	1: 32: 10.695	01	1: 41.579
02	Ayrton Senna	McLaren Honda	53	1	+ 0.344	02	1: 41.532
03	Riccardo Patrese	Williams-Renault	53	0	+ 56.731	05	1: 41.804
04th	Alain Prost	Ferrari	53	0	+1: 20.761	04th	1: 43.712
05	Martin Brundle	Brabham-Yamaha	52	0	+ 1 lap	19th	1: 43.959
06th	Stefano Modena	Tyrrell Honda	52	0	+ 1 lap	14th	1: 43.596
07th	Nelson Piquet	Benetton-Ford	52	0	+ 1 lap	10	1: 43.997
08th	Maurício Gugelmin	Leyton House-Ilmor	52	0	+ 1 lap	18th	1: 44.344
09	Thierry Boutsen	Ligier-Lamborghini	52	0	+ 1 lap	17th	1: 45.723
10	Alex Caffi	Footwork Ford	51	0	+ 2 rounds	26th	1: 45.999
11	Gabriele Tarquini	Fond metal Ford	50	0	+ 3 rounds	24	1: 46.210
-	Érik Comas	Ligier-Lamborghini	41	0	DNF	20th	1: 44.204	defective alternator
-	Pierluigi Martini	Minardi Ferrari	39	0	DNF	07th	1: 44.718	Electrical damage
-	Michael sSchumacher	Benetton-Ford	34	0	DNF	09	1: 43.530	Engine failure
-	Johnny Herbert	Lotus Judd	31	0	DNF	23	1: 45.853	Electrical damage
-	Satoru Nakajima	Tyrrell Honda	30th	0	DNF	15th	1: 46.351	accident
-	Aguri Suzuki	Lola Ford	26th	0	DNF	25th	1: 45.107	Engine failure
-	Gianni Morbidelli	Minardi Ferrari	15th	0	DNF	08th	1: 47.108	Suspension damage
-	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Renault	09	0	DNF	03	1: 45.642	Lathe operator
-	Alessandro Zanardi	Jordan Ford	07th	0	DNF	13	1: 46.184	Gearbox damage
-	Mika Hakkinen	Lotus Judd	04th	0	DNF	21st	1: 48.864	accident
-	Andrea de Cesaris	Jordan Ford	01	0	DNF	11	1: 57.393	accident
-	JJ Lehto	Dallara-Judd	01	0	DNF	12	1: 58.100	accident
-	Emanuele Pirro	Dallara-Judd	01	0	DNF	16	1: 58.757	accident
-	Karl Wendlinger	Leyton House-Ilmor	01	0	DNF	22nd	2: 02.942	accident
-	Jean Alesi	Ferrari	00	0	DNF	06th	-	Engine failure

World Cup stands after the race

The first six of the race got 10, 6, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point (s) respectively.

Driver ranking

Item driver constructor Points 01  Ayrton Senna McLaren Honda 91 02  Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault 69 03  Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault 52 04th  Gerhard Berger McLaren Honda 41 05  Alain Prost Ferrari 34 06th  Nelson Piquet Benetton-Ford 25th 07th  Jean Alesi Ferrari 21st 08th  Stefano Modena Tyrrell Honda 10 09  Andrea de Cesaris Jordan Ford 9 10  Roberto Moreno Benetton-Ford 8th 11  Pierluigi Martini Minardi Ferrari 6th 12  JJ Lehto Dallara-Judd 4th

Item driver constructor Points 13  Michael sSchumacher Benetton-Ford 4th 14th  Bertrand Gachot Jordan Ford 4th 15th  Martin Brundle Brabham-Yamaha 2 16  Satoru Nakajima Tyrrell Honda 2 17th  Mika Hakkinen Lotus Judd 2 18th  Emanuele Pirro Dallara-Judd 1 19th  Julian Bailey Lotus Judd 1 20th  Aguri Suzuki Lola Ford 1 21st  Mark Blundell Brabham-Yamaha 1 22nd  Eric Bernard Lola Ford 1 23  Ivan Capelli Leyton House-Ilmor 1

Constructors' championship

Item constructor Points 01  McLaren Honda 132 02  Williams-Renault 121 03  Ferrari 55 04th  Benetton-Ford 37 05  Jordan Ford 13 06th  Tyrrell Honda 12

Item constructor Points 07th  Minardi Ferrari 6th 08th  Dallara-Judd 5 09  Brabham-Yamaha 3 10  Lotus Judd 3 11  Lola Ford 2 12  Leyton House-Ilmor 1

Individual evidence

1. ↑ "Training" ( Memento of the original from January 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Motorsportarchiv.de; accessed on December 10, 2013)  
2. ^ "Report" (accessed December 10, 2013)
3. ↑ "World Cup stands" ( Memento of the original from January 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Motorsportarchiv.de; accessed on December 10, 2013)  

Web links

• Race result on the official Formula 1 website
• Race result on "Motorsportarchiv.de"