1991 Monaco Grand Prix
| 1991 Monaco Grand Prix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 4 of 16 in the 1991 Formula One World Championship | |||
| File:Montecarlo 1986.jpg | |||
| Race details | |||
| Date | 12 May 1991 | ||
| Official name | XLIX Grand Prix Automobile de Monaco | ||
| Location | Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo | ||
| Course | Street circuit | ||
| Course length | 3.328 km (2.068 miles) | ||
| Distance | 78 laps, 259.584 km (161.298 miles) | ||
| Weather | Cloudy, mild, dry | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | McLaren-Honda | ||
| Time | 1:20.344 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 Alain Prost | Ferrari | |
| Time | 1:24.368 on lap 77 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | McLaren-Honda | ||
| Second | Williams-Renault | ||
| Third | Ferrari | ||
|
Lap leaders | |||
The 1991 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at Monaco on May 12, 1991.
Report
Ayrton Senna shocked no-one by taking pole position, but second place was a surprise with Stefano Modena taking full advantage of the superior Pirelli qualifying tyres to be second followed by Patrese, Piquet, a disappointed Mansell, Berger, Prost, Moreno, Alesi, and de Cesaris. Alex Caffi had a huge accident in practice and would not participate in the race. Elsewhere Martin Brundle was disqualified for missing a weight check.
At the start, Senna got away well followed by Modena, Patrese, Mansell, and Prost. In the usual first corner mayhem Berger ran into the back of Piquet, dropping the Austrian to the back of the pack and breaking Piquet's suspension, Berger would later crash out. Senna quickly built up a huge lead over Modena and Patrese, and both the chasers were eliminated on lap 42 when Modena's engine blew in the tunnel spreading oil on the track which caused Patrese to crash. Senna now had a huge lead over Prost and Mansell, but the Englishman was in no mood to stay third and passed Prost with a daring move going into the chicane. Prost would later pit to repair a loose wheel and problems with the stop dropped him down to fifth.
Senna duly won his fourth Monaco Grand Prix in five years by 18 seconds over Mansell, who drove a brilliant race, Alesi, Moreno, Prost, and Emanuelle Pirro in the Dallara. The second place finish was Nigel Mansell's first points of the season and the gearbox issues that had troubled the start of his season did not re-appear.
Classification
Pre Qualifying
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22 |  JJ Lehto
|
Dallara-Judd | 1:23.260 | — |
| 2 | 33 |  Andrea de Cesaris
|
Jordan-Ford | 1:23.538 | +0.278 |
| 3 | 21 | Emanuele Pirro
|
Dallara-Judd | 1:24.421 | +1.161 |
| 4 | 32 |  Bertrand Gachot
|
Jordan-Ford | 1:24.802 | +1.542 |
| 5 | 34 | Nicola Larini
|
Lambo-Lamborghini | 1:25.893 | +2.633 |
| 6 | 35 | Eric van de Poele
|
Lambo-Lamborghini | 1:26.282 | +3.022 |
| 7 | 31 |  Pedro Chaves
|
Coloni-Ford | 1:27.389 | +4.129 |
| 8 | 14 | Olivier Grouillard
|
Fondmetal-Ford | 1:27.759 | +4.499 |
Qualifying
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Q1 | Q2 | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 |  Ayrton Senna
|
McLaren-Honda | 1:20.508 | 1:20.344 | — |
| 2 | 4 | Stefano Modena
|
Tyrrell-Honda | 1:23.442 | 1:20.809 | +0.465 |
| 3 | 6 | Riccardo Patrese
|
Williams-Renault | 1:22.057 | 1:20.973 | +0.629 |
| 4 | 20 | Nelson Piquet
|
Benetton-Ford | 1:22.816 | 1:21.159 | +0.815 |
| 5 | 5 |  Nigel Mansell
|
Williams-Renault | 1:23.274 | 1:21.205 | +0.861 |
| 6 | 2 |  Gerhard Berger
|
McLaren-Honda | 1:21.222 | 1:21.583 | +0.878 |
| 7 | 27 | Alain Prost
|
Ferrari | 1:22.113 | 1:21.455 | +1.111 |
| 8 | 19 | Roberto Moreno
|
Benetton-Ford | 1:23.476 | 1:21.804 | +1.460 |
| 9 | 28 | Jean Alesi
|
Ferrari | 1:22.966 | 1:21.910 | +1.566 |
| 10 | 33 | Andrea de Cesaris
|
Jordan-Ford | 1:24.257 | 1:22.764 | +2.420 |
| 11 | 3 |  Satoru Nakajima
|
Tyrrell-Honda | 1:24.435 | 1:22.972 | +2.628 |
| 12 | 21 | Emanuele Pirro
|
Dallara-Judd | 1:23.311 | 1:23.022 | +2.678 |
| 13 | 22 | JJ Lehto
|
Dallara-Judd | 1:23.023 | 1:23.983 | +2.679 |
| 14 | 23 | Pierluigi Martini
|
Minardi-Ferrari | 1:24.101 | 1:23.064 | +2.720 |
| 15 | 15 | Maurício Gugelmin
|
Leyton House-Ilmor | 1:24.920 | 1:23.394 | +3.050 |
| 16 | 25 | Thierry Boutsen
|
Ligier-Lamborghini | 1:24.728 | 1:23.431 | +3.087 |
| 17 | 24 | Gianni Morbidelli
|
Minardi-Ferrari | 1:24.481 | 1:23.584 | +3.240 |
| 18 | 16 | Ivan Capelli
|
Leyton House-Ilmor | 1:25.040 | 1:23.642 | +3.298 |
| 19 | 30 | Aguri Suzuki
|
Lola-Ford | 1:26.380 | 1:23.898 | +3.554 |
| 20 | 17 | Gabriele Tarquini
|
AGS-Ford | 1:25.078 | 1:23.909 | +3.565 |
| 21 | 29 | Éric Bernard
|
Lola-Ford | 1:25.370 | 1:24.079 | +3.735 |
| 22 | 8 | Mark Blundell
|
Brabham-Yamaha | 1:25.500 | 1:24.109 | +3.765 |
| 23 | 26 | Érik Comas
|
Ligier-Lamborghini | 1:24.747 | 1:24.151 | +3.807 |
| 24 | 32 | Bertrand Gachot
|
Jordan-Ford | 1:24.540 | 1:24.208 | +3.864 |
| 25 | 9 | Michele Alboreto
|
Footwork-Porsche | 1:27.843 | 1:24.606 | +4.262 |
| 26 | 11 | Mika Häkkinen
|
Lotus-Judd | 1:24.868 | 1:24.829 | +4.485 |
| 27 | 12 | Julian Bailey
|
Lotus-Judd | 1:28.772 | 1:26.995 | +6.651 |
| 28 | 18 | Fabrizio Barbazza
|
AGS-Ford | 1:28.060 | 1:27.079 | +6.735 |
| 29 | 10 | Alex Caffi
|
Footwork-Porsche | — | — | Did Not Start |
| 30 | 7 | Martin Brundle
|
Brabham-Yamaha | — | — | Disqualified |
Race
Notes
- Lap leaders: Ayrton Senna 78 (1-78)
- Last race: Julian Bailey
- Gerhard Berger made an error at the first corner at the start and he was demoted to 26th.
- Mansell's first points of the season (2nd position)
- Martin Brundle was disqualified by FIA Stewards for not weighing in
- Alex Caffi had a huge shunt by the swimming pool section of the circuit in the Footwork-Porsche
- Stefano Modena in the Tyrrell Honda V10 put in a stunning qualifying lap to join the front row of the grid with Senna in his V12 powered Honda Marlboro McLaren
- In the opening stages of the race, a marshal picking up some debris from an earlier incident at Ste Devote was almost hit by Ayrton Senna
- Ayrton Senna's 4th victory out of 4 races in the 1991 season
- Pierluigi Martini received the first 10 second stop and go penalty in Formula One history
Standings after the race
|
|
- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References
- Unless otherwise indicated, all race results are taken from "The Official Formula 1 website". Retrieved 2007-08-08.