1990 Japanese Grand Prix
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| Race details | ||
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| Race 15 of 16 in the 1990 Formula One season | ||
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| Date | October 21, 1990 | |
| Official name | XVI Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix | |
| Location | Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka, Mie, Japan | |
| Course | Permanent racing facility 5.859 km (3.64 mi) |
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| Distance | 53 laps, 310.548 km (192.966 mi) | |
| Weather | Sunny | |
| Pole position | ||
| Driver |  Ayrton Senna |
McLaren-Honda |
| Time | 1:36.996 | |
| Fastest lap | ||
| Driver |  Riccardo Patrese |
Williams-Renault |
| Time | 1:44.233 on lap 40 | |
| Podium | ||
| First | Nelson Piquet |
Benetton-Ford |
| Second | Roberto Moreno |
Benetton-Ford |
| Third |  Aguri Suzuki |
Lola-Lamborghini |
The 1990 Japanese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 21 October 1990 at Suzuka. It was the fifteenth and penultimate round of the 1990 Formula One season. It was the 17th Japanese Grand Prix and the fourth to be held at Suzuka. The race was held over 53 laps of the six kilometre circuit for a race distance of 310 kilometres.
The race is best remembered for the first corner collision between World Championship rivals Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna and French driver Alain Prost, the second consecutive year the two had collided at this race with heavy championship repercussions. It immediately put both cars out of the race and secured for Senna his second World Championship. The race saw a best result to that point for the Benetton Formula team with their drivers, Brazilian veteran Nelson Piquet and his young protege Roberto Moreno finishing first and second in their Benetton B190s. It was back to back wins for Benetton in Japan after the team's debut Formula One win the previous year. Japanese driver Aguri Suzuki scored a career best result for himself and the Larrousse team, finishing third in his Lola LC90 in the only podium driver and team would achieve.
With Ferrari scoring no points after Nigel Mansell's retirement, the McLaren team secured their sixth and third consecutive constructor's championship.
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[edit] Prior to the race
There were many announcements prior to the race, Brabham announced they would use Yamaha engines for 1991, Footwork also announced a Porsche engine deal for 1991 and they also retained both drivers in Alex Caffi and Michele Alboreto. Prior to the race, the Life Racing Engines and EuroBrun teams withdrew from the sport. EuroBrun's Roberto Moreno joined the Benetton team replacing Alessandro Nannini who was injured in a helicopter crash after the Spanish Grand Prix.
Alesi did not start due to a neck injury during Friday's practice. As his grid position was left empty, this was the third race in the running to have only 25 starters instead of the usual 26.
Nigel Mansell also announced a u-turn on his decision to retire by making public his agreement to join Williams-Renault for two years from 1991 after being given assurances from Frank Williams, Patrick Head and Renault that they could deliver him a car in which he could win a world championship. On Saturday Soichiro Honda, the founder of Honda, met Ayrton Senna in the McLaren box[1]
[edit] Race summary
This race is best known for its first corner incident involving world championship contenders Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna. Senna secured the pole, but was unhappy with the side of the track it was situated on, claiming that pole should always be on the racing line. He and Gerhard Berger then went to the Japanese stewards, to request a change of position of pole to the cleaner left side of the track. The stewards initially agreed but an injunction by FISA president Jean Marie Balestre later that night rejected the decision and the original pole position remained on the dirtier, less grippy right side of the track. After this, Senna vowed that if Prost (starting second) got the advantage into the first corner, which most were sure he would, he would never make it into the first corner. This was exactly what happened come race day at the start, with Senna ramming Prost off the track into the gravel and the tyre barriers. The crash meant that Senna had clinched the drivers' championship for a second time, as with one race left in the season, Prost could not overtake his points tally. Benetton-Ford's dominance of the podium prevented Ferrari from scoring enough points to stop McLaren clinching its sixth constructors' title.
The two discussed the event afterwards[2] with Senna claiming it was not how he wanted it but how it had to be, with many others accepting his actions as a solution (or revenge, to an extent) to the incident the year before.[3] Prost was infuriated by this and publicly slammed the move as "disgusting" and Senna as "a man without value". He later admitted that he almost retired from the sport instantly after the incident.
The pair went on to win one more championship each and eventually reconciled their differences in their final grand prix together.[4]
After the collision, the race proceeded with Gerhard Berger's McLaren MP4/5B leading and Nigel Mansell's Ferrari 641 second. Berger spun off at the first corner on lap 2, on sand thrown onto the track by the Senna/Prost collision, leaving Mansell to lead the race from the two Benettons of Piquet and Moreno. Anticipating that Benetton would follow their usual strategy of not making a pit stop, Mansell built up a gap until he pitted for tyres at the end of lap 25. After a quick stop, he left his box with heavy wheelspin, and a driveshaft failed. The Ferrari pulled over at the end of the pit lane and retired. Piquet inherited the lead and retained it all the way to the chequered flag, with his team mate Moreno following closely. Aguri Suzuki also drove a non-stop race, finishing third, the only Japanese driver to do so to date. The two Williams FW13B-Renaults of Riccardo Patrese and Thierry Boutsen finished fourth and fifth, while Satoru Nakajima finished sixth in a Tyrrell 019, the second Japanese driver in the points.
As of November 2011[update], this was the last race where no driver of a European nationality finished the race on the podium; two South American drivers and an Asian driver filled the three podium places for this race. It was also the only race where the Larrousse team scored a podium finish, during their eight seasons of competing in Formula One.
[edit] Classification
[edit] Notes
- Lap Leaders: Gerhard Berger 1 lap (1); Nigel Mansell 25 laps (2–26); Nelson Piquet 27 laps (27–53)
[edit] Standings after the race
- Bold Text indicates World Champions.
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- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuO9F-OUzf8 – Video: Soichiro Honda meet Ayrton Senna.
- ^ http://www.prostfan.com/hk/specials/suzuka3-4.htm – Prost-biased review and discussion of the incident.
- ^ http://www.prostfan.com/hk/specials/suzuka.htm – Prost-biased exploration of the events.
- ^ http://www.farzadsf1gallery.com/features/adel93.html – Adelaide Grand Prix review featuring images of Senna and Prost on the podium.
- Unless otherwise indicated, all race results are taken from "The Official Formula 1 website". http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1990/229/. Retrieved 2007-08-05.
| Previous race: 1990 Spanish Grand Prix |
FIA Formula One World Championship 1990 season |
Next race: 1990 Australian Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 1989 Japanese Grand Prix |
Japanese Grand Prix | Next race: 1991 Japanese Grand Prix |
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