1990 Brazilian Grand Prix
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 2 of 16 in the 1990 Formula One season | |||
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| Date | 25 March 1990 | ||
| Official name | XIX Grande Prêmio do Brasil | ||
| Location | Autódromo José Carlos Pace São Paulo, Brazil |
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| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 4.325 km (2.687 mi) | ||
| Distance | 71 laps, 307.075 km (190.807 mi) | ||
| Weather | Hot, dry, sunny | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | McLaren-Honda | ||
| Time | 1:17.277 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |  Gerhard Berger |
McLaren-Honda | |
| Time | 1:19.899 on lap 55 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Ferrari | ||
| Second | McLaren-Honda | ||
| Third | McLaren-Honda | ||
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The 1990 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 25 March 1990 at Interlagos. It was the 19th Brazilian Grand Prix and the ninth to be held at Interlagos. The São Paulo circuit had not held the Grand Prix since 1980 and the circuit was extensively renovated with the circuit itself almost halved in length. The race was contested over 71 laps of the four kilometre circuit (as opposed to 40 for the races on the original circuit), for a race distance of 307 kilometres.
The race was won for the sixth time by the reigning world champion Alain Prost driving a Ferrari 641. The win extended Prost's record for most wins of the Brazilian Grand Prix. Prost's winning margin was 13 seconds over Austrian driver Gerhard Berger driving a McLaren MP4/5B. Berger's Brazilian team mate Ayrton Senna was third.
Contents
Race summary[edit]
Qualifying[edit]
The rebuilt Interlagos circuit which hosted the race for the first time since 1980 had been dramatically altered, the track had been shortened by 3.5 km and lost many fast sweepers and the Retao straight, which allowed Formula One drivers to use full throttle for 20 seconds.
In pre-qualifying, the Life Racing Engines team saw their car splutter to a halt 400 metres after exiting the pits, Gary Brabham claimed the mechanics were on strike and refused to put oil in the car.[citation needed]
Local hero Ayrton Senna took his 43rd career pole position and led from the start. Gianni Morbidelli made it through qualifying for the first time in his Formula One career.
Race[edit]
After qualifying, Williams driver Thierry Boutsen, himself 3rd on the grid, predicted that the Ferraris on the 3rd row of the grid would be the cars to beat, citing their semi-automatic transmission and its paddle shift which allowed both Alain Prost and Nigel Mansell to keep their hands on the wheel around the bumpy turns at the back of the circuit
At the first corner, Jean Alesi, Alessandro Nannini and Andrea de Cesaris tangled, eliminating de Cesaris and requiring the Benetton driver to stop for a new nosecone. On lap 8 Boutsen passed Berger for second place, and Prost took the V12 Ferrari past the McLaren driver on lap 17. Mansell pitted on lap 27 for new tyres and also to inspect a broken rollbar, rejoining in 9th place. Boutsen's pit stop on lap 30 went disastrously wrong. With failing brakes, and a tricky bump in the pitlane, the Williams was unable to stop and crashed into the wheel and tyre equipment stacked outside the garage. This required a new nosecone and when he rejoined, he was down in 11th position.
Prost was piling on the pressure – by lap 35 he had climbed to second within 10 seconds of Senna, and was now ahead of Riccardo Patrese, Berger and Nelson Piquet. When Senna came up to lap former Lotus team mate Satoru Nakajima, there was contact and the McLaren had to pit for a new nosecone. He rejoined and challenged hard, but the reduced downforce levels made the car difficult to drive. On lap 66, Patrese retired with a broken oil cooler.
Prost took his 40th victory, and his first for Ferrari, from Berger and the recovering Senna. Mansell finished an excellent 4th, having driven through the field with a broken rollbar. Boutsen finished a creditable 5th and Piquet claimed the final point in front of his home crowd after passing Alesi – who was suffering severe tyre wear after attempting to run non-stop on his Pirellis – on the last lap.
Classification[edit]
Pre Qualifying[edit]
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 29 |  Éric Bernard |
Lola-Lamborghini | 1:23.763 | — |
| 2 | 30 |  Aguri Suzuki |
Lola-Lamborghini | 1:23.982 | +0.219 |
| 3 | 14 | Olivier Grouillard |
Osella-Ford | 1:23.987 | +0.224 |
| 4 | 18 | Yannick Dalmas |
AGS-Ford | 1:24.015 | +0.252 |
| 5 | 17 |  Gabriele Tarquini |
AGS-Ford | 1:24.265 | +0.502 |
| 6 | 33 |  Roberto Moreno |
EuroBrun-Judd | 1:25.763 | +2.000 |
| 7 | 31 |  Bertrand Gachot |
Coloni-Subaru | 1:34.046 | +10.283 |
| 8 | 34 | Claudio Langes |
EuroBrun-Judd | 1:39.188 | +15.425 |
| 9 | 39 |  Gary Brabham |
Life | — | — |
Qualifying[edit]
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Q1 | Q2 | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 27 | Ayrton Senna |
McLaren-Honda | 1:17.769 | 1:17.277 | — |
| 2 | 28 | Gerhard Berger |
McLaren-Honda | 1:17.888 | 1:18.504 | +0.611 |
| 3 | 5 | Thierry Boutsen |
Williams-Renault | 1:18.375 | 1:18.150 | +0.873 |
| 4 | 6 | Riccardo Patrese |
Williams-Renault | 1:18.465 | 1:18.288 | +1.011 |
| 5 | 2 |  Nigel Mansell |
Ferrari | 1:18.509 | 1:19.475 | +1.232 |
| 6 | 1 | Alain Prost |
Ferrari | 1:18.631 | 1:18.884 | +1.354 |
| 7 | 4 | Jean Alesi |
Tyrrell-Ford | 1:19.230 | 1:18.923 | +1.646 |
| 8 | 23 | Pierluigi Martini |
Minardi-Ford | 1:19.039 | 1:19.688 | +1.762 |
| 9 | 22 | Andrea de Cesaris |
Dallara-Ford | 1:19.125 | 1:19.964 | +1.848 |
| 10 | 26 | Philippe Alliot |
Ligier-Ford | 1:19.309 | — | +2.032 |
| 11 | 29 | Éric Bernard |
Lola-Lamborghini | 1:19.406 | 1:21.024 | +2.129 |
| 12 | 8 | Stefano Modena |
Brabham-Judd | 1:19.425 | 1:20.126 | +2.148 |
| 13 | 20 | Nelson Piquet |
Benetton-Ford | 1:19.629 | 1:20.317 | +2.352 |
| 14 | 12 | Martin Donnelly |
Lotus-Lamborghini | 1:20.032 | — | +2.755 |
| 15 | 19 | Alessandro Nannini |
Benetton-Ford | 1:20.055 | 1:20.317 | +2.778 |
| 16 | 21 | Gianni Morbidelli |
Dallara-Ford | 1:20.164 | 1:20.229 | +2.887 |
| 17 | 24 | Paolo Barilla |
Minardi-Ford | 1:20.282 | 1:21.121 | +3.005 |
| 18 | 30 | Aguri Suzuki |
Lola-Lamborghini | 1:20.557 | 1:21.086 | +3.280 |
| 19 | 3 | Satoru Nakajima |
Tyrrell-Ford | 1:20.568 | 1:21.086 | +3.291 |
| 20 | 25 | Nicola Larini |
Ligier-Ford | 1:20.650 | 1:20.794 | +3.373 |
| 21 | 14 | Olivier Grouillard |
Osella-Ford | 1:21.292 | 1:20.884 | +3.607 |
| 22 | 7 |  Gregor Foitek |
Brabham-Judd | 1:20.965 | 1:20.902 | +3.625 |
| 23 | 9 | Michele Alboreto |
Arrows-Ford | 1:20.920 | 1:21.002 | +3.643 |
| 24 | 11 | Derek Warwick |
Lotus-Lamborghini | 1:21.244 | 1:20.998 | +3.721 |
| 25 | 10 | Alex Caffi |
Arrows-Ford | 1:21.065 | 1:22.057 | +3.788 |
| 26 | 18 | Yannick Dalmas |
AGS-Ford | 1:22.426 | 1:21.087 | +3.810 |
| 27 | 35 |  Stefan Johansson |
Onyx-Ford | 1:21.241 | 1:22.184 | +3.964 |
| 28 | 36 |  JJ Lehto |
Onyx-Ford | 1:21.323 | 1:21.417 | +4.046 |
| 29 | 16 | Ivan Capelli |
Leyton House-Judd | 1:21.383 | 1:21.422 | +4.106 |
| 30 | 15 | Maurício Gugelmin |
Leyton House-Judd | 1:21.616 | 1:22.862 | +4.339 |
Race[edit]
Championship standings after the race[edit]
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- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References[edit]
- ^ "1990 Brazilian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 21 December 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
| Previous race: 1990 United States Grand Prix |
FIA Formula One World Championship 1990 season |
Next race: 1990 San Marino Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 1989 Brazilian Grand Prix |
Brazilian Grand Prix | Next race: 1991 Brazilian Grand Prix |
