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| 1991 Belgian Grand Prix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 11 of 16 in the1991 Formula One World Championship | |||
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| Race details | |||
| Date | 25 August 1991 | ||
| Official name | XLGrand Prix de Belgique | ||
| Location | Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Francorchamps,Wallonia,Belgium | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 6.940 km (4.312 miles) | ||
| Distance | 44 laps, 305.360 km (189.741 miles) | ||
| Weather | Sunny and hot | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | McLaren-Honda | ||
| Time | 1:47.811 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |  Roberto Moreno | Benetton-Ford | |
| Time | 1:55.161 on lap 40 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | McLaren-Honda | ||
| Second | McLaren-Honda | ||
| Third | Benetton-Ford | ||
Lap leaders | |||
The1991 Belgian Grand Prix was aFormula One motor race held at theCircuit de Spa-Francorchamps on 25 August 1991. It was the eleventh race of the1991 Formula One World Championship. The 44-lap race was won by BrazilianAyrton Senna, driving aMcLaren-Honda, after he started frompole position. His Austrian teammateGerhard Berger finished second, with another Brazilian,Nelson Piquet, third in aBenetton-Ford. Senna's Drivers' Championship rival, BritonNigel Mansell, retired with an electrical failure, allowing Senna to extend his lead over him to 22 points with five races remaining.
The race marked the debut of future seven-time World Champion, GermanMichael Schumacher, driving aJordan-Ford. Schumacher qualified seventh, which matched the team's season-best grid position, and Schumacher outqualified veteranAndrea de Cesaris. Although he retired on the opening lap with a clutch failure, Schumacher's debut impressed the paddock. His seventh place qualifying was done in a midfield car, theJordan 191, which he drove half a day of testing and at a track he had never raced at.[1]
The Jordan team dominated the headlines leading up to the Belgian Grand Prix. DriverBertrand Gachot was serving a two-month prison sentence in an English jail as a result of an altercation with a London taxi driver, so the team had decided to replace him with young German driverMichael Schumacher. Elsewhere,Johnny Herbert had returned toLotus after having missed the previous two races due toFormula 3000 commitments in Japan.
As at the previous event inHungary, the Friday morning pre-qualifying session was dominated byBrabham, who achieved their second 1–2 in succession. On this occasion,Martin Brundle was fastest, 1.5 seconds quicker than his team-mateMark Blundell. Third, over 3.5 seconds slower than Brundle, wasOlivier Grouillard forFondmetal, the fourth time this season he had pre-qualified. Over a second behind Grouillard wasAlex Caffi, pre-qualifying for the first time in three attempts forFootwork.
Missing out by 0.45 of a second in fifth place was Caffi's team-mateMichele Alboreto, the first time he had failed to pre-qualify in his three attempts. A fraction slower in sixth, after suffering a huge accident, wasGabriele Tarquini in theAGS, nearly two seconds ahead ofPedro Chaves in theColoni. Bottom of the time sheets was the other AGS ofFabrizio Barbazza, who also crashed during the session.[2]
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 |  Martin Brundle | Brabham-Yamaha | 1:54.929 | — |
| 2 | 8 | Mark Blundell | Brabham-Yamaha | 1:56.446 | +1.517 |
| 3 | 14 |  Olivier Grouillard | Fondmetal-Ford | 1:58.447 | +3.518 |
| 4 | 10 |  Alex Caffi | Footwork-Ford | 1:59.460 | +4.531 |
| 5 | 9 | Michele Alboreto | Footwork-Ford | 1:59.910 | +4.981 |
| 6 | 17 | Gabriele Tarquini | AGS-Ford | 1:59.972 | +5.043 |
| 7 | 31 |  Pedro Chaves | Coloni-Ford | 2:01.921 | +6.992 |
| 8 | 18 | Fabrizio Barbazza | AGS-Ford | 2:03.766 | +8.837 |
Ayrton Senna was fastest most of the weekend and duly took pole position, but Ferrari were right on his heels.Alain Prost qualified third on the road whileJean Alesi had set the fastest first and second sectors only to come across traffic at the end of the lap, resulting in a sixth place start, which would be elevated to fifth.Riccardo Patrese had originally qualified second, but after Saturday qualifying his car was found to not have a reverse gear as per the safety regulations and Patrese's Saturday times were wiped out, he had to start a disappointing seventeenth on the grid. Patrese's misfortune promoted Prost to second, withNigel Mansell third,Gerhard Berger fourth, Alesi fifth, andNelson Piquet sixth while the sensation of qualifying, Schumacher, was an amazing seventh for his first Grand Prix. The top ten was completed by Roberto Moreno in the second Benetton,Pierluigi Martini in a Minardi and the ever-impressiveStefano Modena in a Tyrrell.
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Q1 | Q2 | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Ayrton Senna | McLaren-Honda | 1:49.100 | 1:47.811 | — |
| 2 | 27 | Alain Prost | Ferrari | 1:51.369 | 1:48.821 | +1.010 |
| 3 | 5 | Nigel Mansell | Williams-Renault | 1:50.666 | 1:48.828 | +1.017 |
| 4 | 2 |  Gerhard Berger | McLaren-Honda | 1:49.485 | 12:29.200 | +1.674 |
| 5 | 28 | Jean Alesi | Ferrari | 1:51.832 | 1:49.974 | +2.163 |
| 6 | 20 | Nelson Piquet | Benetton-Ford | 1:53.371 | 1:50.540 | +2.729 |
| 7 | 32 |  Michael Schumacher | Jordan-Ford | 1:53.290 | 1:51.212 | +3.401 |
| 8 | 19 | Roberto Moreno | Benetton-Ford | 1:53.664 | 1:51.283 | +3.472 |
| 9 | 23 | Pierluigi Martini | Minardi-Ferrari | 1:53.460 | 1:51.299 | +3.488 |
| 10 | 4 | Stefano Modena | Tyrrell-Honda | 1:52.899 | 1:51.307 | +3.496 |
| 11 | 33 | Andrea de Cesaris | Jordan-Ford | 1:54.186 | 1:51.986 | +4.175 |
| 12 | 16 | Ivan Capelli | Leyton House-Ilmor | 1:53.603 | 1:52.113 | +4.302 |
| 13 | 8 | Mark Blundell | Brabham-Yamaha | 1:54.814 | 1:52.377 | +4.566 |
| 14 | 22 |  JJ Lehto | Dallara-Judd | 1:54.211 | 1:52.417 | +4.606 |
| 15 | 15 | Maurício Gugelmin | Leyton House-Ilmor | 1:56.027 | 1:52.623 | +4.812 |
| 16 | 7 | Martin Brundle | Brabham-Yamaha | 1:54.921 | 1:52.626 | +4.815 |
| 17 | 6 | Riccardo Patrese | Williams-Renault | 1:52.646 | no time | +4.835 |
| 18 | 25 |  Thierry Boutsen | Ligier-Lamborghini | 1:54.446 | 1:52.709 | +4.898 |
| 19 | 24 | Gianni Morbidelli | Minardi-Ferrari | 1:57.232 | 1:52.896 | +5.085 |
| 20 | 29 | Éric Bernard | Lola-Ford | 1:55.679 | 1:53.309 | +5.498 |
| 21 | 12 | Johnny Herbert | Lotus-Judd | 1:55.523 | 1:53.361 | +5.550 |
| 22 | 3 |  Satoru Nakajima | Tyrrell-Honda | 1:55.874 | 1:53.494 | +5.683 |
| 23 | 14 | Olivier Grouillard | Fondmetal-Ford | 1:55.945 | 1:53.628 | +5.817 |
| 24 | 11 | Mika Häkkinen | Lotus-Judd | 1:55.483 | 1:53.799 | +5.988 |
| 25 | 21 | Emanuele Pirro | Dallara-Judd | 1:56.131 | 1:53.839 | +6.028 |
| 26 | 26 | Érik Comas | Ligier-Lamborghini | 1:56.218 | 1:53.847 | +6.036 |
| 27 | 30 | Aguri Suzuki | Lola-Ford | 1:56.594 | 1:53.869 | +6.058 |
| 28 | 34 | Nicola Larini | Lambo-Lamborghini | 1:56.561 | 1:54.781 | +6.970 |
| 29 | 10 | Alex Caffi | Footwork-Ford | 1:57.556 | 1:57.338 | +9.527 |
| 30 | 35 | Eric van de Poele | Lambo-Lamborghini | 35:03.624 | 1:57.746 | +9.935 |
At the start both Senna and Prost got away well and the Brazilian led into the first corner. Mansell was third followed by Berger, Piquet, and Schumacher. The German's luck however would run dry just after Eau Rouge when his clutch failed. Out at the front Senna continued to lead but Prost's day ended on lap three when his Ferrari caught on fire, leaving Mansell in second. The determined Englishman proceeded to go after Senna and the two battled lap after lap until Senna pitted for new tyres on lap 15. The stop was a bad one and when Mansell pitted two laps later he was able to emerge ahead of Senna, but just behind Berger who had yet to stop. These stops left Piquet in the lead for one lap before he made his stop.
Mansell quickly closed in on Berger and managed to sweep past into Les Fagnes. When Berger stopped a lap later he had problems and then spun on the pit exit and came back right in front of Modena, nearly causing a bad accident. Mansell's big lead would not last, however as on lap 22 his car stopped, having succumbed to electronic problems, his championship hopes taking a major hit.
Mansell's misery was Alesi's jubilation as the young Frenchman took the lead with Senna closing. Senna continued to close until he had a small problem and lost ten seconds, putting him into the clutches of Piquet's Benetton. The Piquet-Senna battle was soon joined by Patrese and de Cesaris, who had been battling over fourth. Senna led the quartet, but could not pull away because he was suffering from gearbox problems. Alesi had planned to do the entire race without stopping and his strategy was looking very good until lap 30 when his engine expired. This left Senna ahead of Piquet, de Cesaris, and Patrese, who had gone off the track trying to pass Piquet.
On Lap 31 de Cesaris managed to out brake Piquet into Les Combes and was looking good for Jordan's first podium finish in second place. Meanwhile, Patrese got past Piquet as well and set off after the Jordan. In the late stages Berger got past Piquet and then moved into third when Patrese started to suffer from gearbox problems. De Cesaris's fairy tale run ended just three laps from the end when his engine blew, promoting Berger to second and Piquet to third; it was triple World Champion Piquet's final podium of his career. Up front Senna limped home to his second consecutive win despite serious gearbox issues. Moreno was fourth, followed by Patrese andMark Blundell, who scored Brabham's first point of the year (also the team's best result since Stefano Modena finished fifth in a Judd powered BT58 in the1990 United States Grand Prix). The Fondmetal team and its driverOlivier Grouillard scored their first finish of 1991.
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| Previous race: 1991 Hungarian Grand Prix | FIA Formula One World Championship 1991 season | Next race: 1991 Italian Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 1990 Belgian Grand Prix | Belgian Grand Prix | Next race: 1992 Belgian Grand Prix |
