1991 French Grand Prix

 1991 French Grand Prix

Racing data
7th of 16 races in the 1991 Formula 1 World Championship
Surname:	Rhône-Poulenc Grand Prix de France
Date:	July 7, 1991
Place:	Magny-Cours
Course:	Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours
Length:	307.512 km in 72 laps of 4.271 km
Weather:	cloudy but hot
Spectator:	~ 70,000
Pole position
Driver:	Riccardo Patrese	Williams-Renault
Time:	1: 14.559 min
Fastest lap
Driver:	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Renault
Time:	1: 19.168 min (lap 49)
Podium
First:	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Renault
Second:	Alain Prost	Ferrari
Third:	Ayrton Senna	McLaren Honda

The 1991 French Grand Prix took place on July 7th at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours and was the seventh race of the 1991 Formula 1 World Championship .

Reports

background

The relocation of the French Grand Prix from Circuit Paul Ricard in southern France to Magny-Cours in the middle of the country was criticized many times, as the infrastructure there and the relatively small number of hotels in particular were felt to be insufficient.

In the hope of not counting among the teams that have to take part in the pre-qualification from the middle of the season, the Footwork team exchanged the vulnerable Porsche engines for tried-and-tested units from the manufacturer Cosworth . While both Jordan and BMS had a good chance of leaving the pre-qualification behind, Brabham and Footwork were in a critical situation, as no World Cup point had been scored at this point in the season.

The new Type 643 was used for the first time at Scuderia Ferrari . Ligier competed with a further developed version of the JS35 .

training

For the third time in a row Riccardo Patrese achieved pole position. Ayrton Senna lost control of his McLaren MP4 / 6 in the last corner while trying to beat his best time and hit the pit wall after a spin. But since he crossed the finish line, the lap time counted and was enough for third place on the grid behind Alain Prost . Nigel Mansell qualified for fourth place ahead of Gerhard Berger and Jean Alesi as well as the two Benetton drivers Nelson Piquet and Roberto Moreno .

run

After a bad start, Patrese was in ninth place at the end of the first lap. Prost led ahead of Mansell, Senna, Berger, Alesi, Piquet and Moreno. As in Mexico three weeks earlier , Berger retired after just a few laps due to an engine failure. Gianni Morbidelli collided with Nelson Piquet and with Ivan Capelli while trying to overtake Nelson Piquet . Unlike Piquet, the two Italians could not continue the race.

On the 22nd lap, Mansell took the lead from Prost. In the course of the pit stops, the position changed again nine laps later. On lap 54, Mansell managed to overtake Prost again, on the outside of the Adelaide hairpin . In the course of his lap, Patrese let Mansell pass immediately, but stopped Prost for a few seconds in order to give his team-mate a bigger lead. This finally won over Prost, Senna, Alesi and Patrese. Andrea de Cesaris took sixth place. Maurício Gugelmin subsequently received a 10-second time penalty for blocking a competitor.

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	Stefan Johansson
Team Lotus	11	Mika Hakkinen	Lotus 102B	Judd EV 3.5 V8	G
	12	Johnny Herbert
Fund metal	14th	Olivier Grouillard	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	Ivan Capelli
AGS Racing	17th	Gabriele Tarquini	AGS JH25B	Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8	G
	18th	Fabrizio Barbazza
Camel Benetton Ford	19th	Roberto Moreno	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	Pedro Chaves	Coloni C4		G
Team 7Up Jordan	32	Bertrand Gachot	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	Riccardo Patrese	Williams-Renault	-	-	1: 17.472	198.467 km / h	1: 14.559	206.221 km / h	01
02	Alain Prost	Ferrari	-	-	1: 17.386	198.687 km / h	1: 14.789	205.586 km / h	02
03	Ayrton Senna	McLaren Honda	-	-	1: 16.557	200.839 km / h	1: 14.857	205.400 km / h	03
04th	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Renault	-	-	1: 17.095	199.437 km / h	1: 14.895	205.295 km / h	04th
05	Gerhard Berger	McLaren Honda	-	-	1: 18.087	196.903 km / h	1: 15.376	203.985 km / h	05
06th	Jean Alesi	Ferrari	-	-	1: 17.303	198.900 km / h	1: 15.877	202.638 km / h	06th
07th	Nelson Piquet	Benetton-Ford	-	-	1: 20.449	191.122 km / h	1: 16.816	200.161 km / h	07th
08th	Roberto Moreno	Benetton-Ford	-	-	1: 19.711	192.892 km / h	1: 16.961	199.784 km / h	08th
09	Maurício Gugelmin	Leyton House-Ilmor	-	-	1: 19.728	192.851 km / h	1: 17.015	199.644 km / h	09
10	Gianni Morbidelli	Minardi Ferrari	-	-	1: 20.635	190.681 km / h	1: 17.020	199.631 km / h	10
11	Stefano Modena	Tyrrell Honda	-	-	1: 19.530	193.331 km / h	1: 17.114	199.388 km / h	11
12	Pierluigi Martini	Minardi Ferrari	-	-	1: 19.426	193.584 km / h	1: 17,149	199.297 km / h	12
13	Andrea de Cesaris	Jordan Ford	1: 19.729	192.848 km / h	1: 20.097	191.962 km / h	1: 17.163	199.261 km / h	13
14th	Érik Comas	Ligier-Lamborghini	-	-	1: 20.427	191.175 km / h	1: 17.504	198.385 km / h	14th
15th	Ivan Capelli	Leyton House-Ilmor	-	-	1: 19.555	193.270 km / h	1: 17.533	198.310 km / h	15th
16	Thierry Boutsen	Ligier-Lamborghini	-	-	1: 19.187	194.168 km / h	1: 17.775	197.693 km / h	16
17th	Mark Blundell	Brabham-Yamaha	-	-	1: 22.277	186.876 km / h	1: 17.836	197.538 km / h	17th
18th	Satoru Nakajima	Tyrrell Honda	-	-	1: 21.020	189.775 km / h	1: 18.144	196.760 km / h	18th
19th	Bertrand Gachot	Jordan Ford	1: 20.309	191.456 km / h	1: 20.374	191.301 km / h	1: 18.150	196.745 km / h	19th
20th	Johnny Herbert	Lotus Judd	-	-	1: 21.230	189.285 km / h	1: 18.185	196.657 km / h	20th
21st	Olivier Grouillard	Fond metal Ford	1: 20.227	191.651 km / h	1: 20.640	190.670 km / h	1: 18.210	196.594 km / h	21st
22nd	Aguri Suzuki	Lola Ford	-	-	1: 22.058	187.375 km / h	1: 18.224	196.559 km / h	22nd
23	Eric Bernard	Lola Ford	-	-	1: 21.613	188.396 km / h	1: 18.540	195.768 km / h	23
24	Martin Brundle	Brabham-Yamaha	-	-	1: 20.999	189.825 km / h	1: 18.826	195.057 km / h	24
25th	Michele Alboreto	Footwork Ford	-	-	1: 21.966	187.585 km / h	1: 18.846	195.008 km / h	25th
26th	JJ Lehto	Dallara-Judd	1: 20.172	191.783 km / h	1: 21.323	189.068 km / h	1: 19.267	193.972 km / h	26th
DNQ	Mika Hakkinen	Lotus Judd	-	-	1: 22.274	186.883 km / h	1: 19.491	193.426 km / h	-
DNQ	Fabrizio Barbazza	AGS-Ford	-	-	1: 22.319	186.781 km / h	1: 20.110	191.931 km / h	-
DNQ	Gabriele Tarquini	AGS-Ford	-	-	1: 22.737	185.837 km / h	1: 20.262	191.568 km / h	-
DNQ	Stefan Johansson	Footwork Ford	-	-	1: 24.114	182.795 km / h	1: 21,000	189.822 km / h	-
DNPQ	Emanuele Pirro	Dallara-Judd	1: 20.539	190.909 km / h	-	-	-	-	-
DNPQ	Nicola Larini	Lambo Lamborghini	1: 20.628	190.698 km / h	-	-	-	-	-
DNPQ	Eric van de Poele	Lambo Lamborghini	1: 21.304	189.112 km / h	-	-	-	-	-
DNPQ	Pedro Chaves	Coloni-Ford	1: 22.229	186.985 km / h	-	-	-	-	-

run

Item	driver	constructor	Round	Stops	time	begin	Fastest lap	Failure reason
01	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Renault	72	1	1: 38: 00.056	04th	1: 19.168
02	Alain Prost	Ferrari	72	1	+ 5.003	02	1: 19.944
03	Ayrton Senna	McLaren Honda	72	0	+ 34.934	03	1: 20.570
04th	Jean Alesi	Ferrari	72	0	+ 35.920	06th	1: 20.425
05	Riccardo Patrese	Williams-Renault	71	0	+ 1 lap	01	1: 20.028
06th	Andrea de Cesaris	Jordan Ford	71	0	+ 1 lap	13	1: 21.051
07th	Maurício Gugelmin	Leyton House-Ilmor	70	0	+ 2 rounds	09	1: 22.309
08th	Nelson Piquet	Benetton-Ford	70	0	+ 2 rounds	07th	1: 21.873
09	Pierluigi Martini	Minardi Ferrari	70	0	+ 2 rounds	12	1: 21.719
10	Johnny Herbert	Lotus Judd	70	0	+ 2 rounds	20th	1: 23,201
11	Érik Comas	Ligier-Lamborghini	70	0	+ 2 rounds	14th	1: 21.916
12	Thierry Boutsen	Ligier-Lamborghini	69	0	+ 3 rounds	16	1: 21.641
-	Roberto Moreno	Benetton-Ford	63	0	DNF	08th	1: 23.693	task
-	Stefano Modena	Tyrrell Honda	57	0	DNF	11	1: 23.480	defective power transmission
-	Olivier Grouillard	Fond metal Ford	47	0	DNF	21st	1: 22.837	Engine failure
-	Eric Bernard	Lola Ford	43	0	DNF	23	1: 22.133	Gearbox damage
-	JJ Lehto	Dallara-Judd	39	0	DNF	26th	1: 23.748	Tire damage
-	Mark Blundell	Brabham-Yamaha	36	0	DNF	17th	1: 23.282	accident
-	Aguri Suzuki	Lola Ford	32	0	DNF	22nd	1: 23.448	Clutch damage
-	Michele Alboreto	Footwork Ford	31	0	DNF	25th	1: 24.369	Gearbox damage
-	Martin Brundle	Brabham-Yamaha	21st	0	DNF	24	1: 23.636	Gearbox damage
-	Satoru Nakajima	Tyrrell Honda	12	0	DNF	18th	1: 24.420	Lathe operator
-	Gianni Morbidelli	Minardi Ferrari	08th	0	DNF	10	1: 23.687	collision
-	Ivan Capelli	Leyton House-Ilmor	07th	0	DNF	15th	1: 23.623	Engine failure
-	Gerhard Berger	McLaren Honda	06th	0	DNF	05	1: 23.297	Engine failure
-	Bertrand Gachot	Jordan Ford	00	0	DNF	19th	-	accident

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 48 02  Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault 23 03  Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault 22nd 04th  Alain Prost Ferrari 17th 05  Nelson Piquet Benetton-Ford 16 06th  Gerhard Berger McLaren Honda 10 07th  Stefano Modena Tyrrell Honda 9 08th  Jean Alesi Ferrari 8th 09  Andrea de Cesaris Jordan Ford 7th 10  Roberto Moreno Benetton-Ford 5

Item driver constructor Points 11  JJ Lehto Dallara-Judd 4th 12  Pierluigi Martini Minardi Ferrari 3 13  Mika Hakkinen Lotus Judd 2 14th  Bertrand Gachot Jordan Ford 2 15th  Satoru Nakajima Tyrrell Honda 2 16  Emanuele Pirro Dallara-Judd 1 17th  Julian Bailey Lotus Judd 1 18th  Eric Bernard Lola Ford 1 19th  Aguri Suzuki Lola Ford 1

Constructors' championship

Item constructor Points 01  McLaren Honda 58 02  Williams-Renault 45 03  Ferrari 25th 04th  Benetton-Ford 21st 05  Tyrrell Honda 11

Item constructor Points 06th  Jordan Ford 9 07th  Dallara-Judd 5 08th  Minardi Ferrari 3 09  Lotus Judd 3 10  Lola Ford 2

Individual evidence

1. ↑ "Training" ( memento of the original from December 30, 2013 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 December 31, 2013 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)  

Web links

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