| 1991 Brazilian Grand Prix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 2 of 16 in the1991 Formula One World Championship | |||
 | |||
| Race details | |||
| Date | 24 March 1991 | ||
| Location | Autódromo José Carlos Pace São Paulo,Brazil | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 4.325 km (2.687 miles) | ||
| Distance | 71 laps, 307.075 km (190.808 miles) | ||
| Weather | Cloudy at start, rainy later. Ambient temperature: 29.4°C (85°F). Humidity: 95%. Wind speed: 33.7 km/h (21 mph). | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | McLaren-Honda | ||
| Time | 1:16.392 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |  Nigel Mansell | Williams-Renault | |
| Time | 1:20.436 on lap 35 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | McLaren-Honda | ||
| Second | Williams-Renault | ||
| Third | McLaren-Honda | ||
Lap leaders | |||
The1991 Brazilian Grand Prix was aFormula One motor race held atInterlagos on 24 March 1991. It was the second race of the1991 Formula One World Championship.
The 71-lap race was won frompole position by local driverAyrton Senna, driving aMcLaren-Honda. It was the first time Senna had won his home Grand Prix, in his eighth season of F1. ItalianRiccardo Patrese finished second in aWilliams-Renault, with Senna's Austrian teammateGerhard Berger third.
In the Friday morning pre-qualifying session, aDallara was again the fastest car, but this time it wasJJ Lehto who topped the time sheets. He was six tenths of a second ahead of theJordan ofAndrea de Cesaris, who was a fraction faster than his team-mateBertrand Gachot in third. The fourth pre-qualifier was the otherScuderia Italia Dallara, driven byEmanuele Pirro.
The twoModenaLambos missed out in fifth and sixth, withEric van de Poele over a second slower than Pirro, withNicola Larini another second further back. Seventh wasPedro Chaves in theColoni, followed byOlivier Grouillard in theFondmetal. Grouillard had initially used an interim chassis, with an eye to the team's new car which was still being completed, and was running well until the suspension broke. He was forced to revert to an older chassis, and was unable to match the times of his opponents.[1]
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22 |  JJ Lehto | Dallara-Judd | 1:19.540 | |
| 2 | 33 |  Andrea de Cesaris | Jordan-Ford | 1:20.150 | +0.610 |
| 3 | 32 |  Bertrand Gachot | Jordan-Ford | 1:20.184 | +0.644 |
| 4 | 21 | Emanuele Pirro | Dallara-Judd | 1:20.567 | +1.027 |
| 5 | 35 | Eric van de Poele | Lambo-Lamborghini | 1:21.919 | +2.379 |
| 6 | 34 | Nicola Larini | Lambo-Lamborghini | 1:22.944 | +3.404 |
| 7 | 31 |  Pedro Chaves | Coloni-Ford | 1:23.231 | +3.691 |
| 8 | 14 |  Olivier Grouillard | Fondmetal-Ford | 1:23.951 | +4.411 |
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Q1 | Q2 | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 |  Ayrton Senna | McLaren-Honda | 1:18.711 | 1:16.392 | |
| 2 | 6 | Riccardo Patrese | Williams-Renault | 1:22.069 | 1:16.775 | +0.383 |
| 3 | 5 | Nigel Mansell | Williams-Renault | 1:20.056 | 1:16.843 | +0.451 |
| 4 | 2 |  Gerhard Berger | McLaren-Honda | 1:19.557 | 1:17.471 | +1.079 |
| 5 | 28 | Jean Alesi | Ferrari | 1:19.350 | 1:17.601 | +1.209 |
| 6 | 27 | Alain Prost | Ferrari | 1:20.079 | 1:17.739 | +1.347 |
| 7 | 20 | Nelson Piquet | Benetton-Ford | 1:20.105 | 1:18.577 | +2.185 |
| 8 | 15 | Maurício Gugelmin | Leyton House-Ilmor | 1:22.196 | 1:18.664 | +2.272 |
| 9 | 4 | Stefano Modena | Tyrrell-Honda | 1:21.709 | 1:18.847 | +2.455 |
| 10 | 32 | Bertrand Gachot | Jordan-Ford | 1:21.493 | 1:18.882 | +2.490 |
| 11 | 29 | Éric Bernard | Lola-Ford | 1:22.127 | 1:19.291 | +2.899 |
| 12 | 21 | Emanuele Pirro | Dallara-Judd | 1:21.286 | 1:19.305 | +2.913 |
| 13 | 33 | Andrea de Cesaris | Jordan-Ford | 1:21.710 | 1:19.339 | +2.947 |
| 14 | 19 | Roberto Moreno | Benetton-Ford | 1:21.266 | 1:19.360 | +2.968 |
| 15 | 16 | Ivan Capelli | Leyton House-Ilmor | 1:21.171 | 1:19.517 | +3.125 |
| 16 | 3 |  Satoru Nakajima | Tyrrell-Honda | 1:21.825 | 1:19.546 | +3.154 |
| 17 | 30 | Aguri Suzuki | Lola-Ford | 1:22.281 | 1:19.832 | +3.440 |
| 18 | 25 | Thierry Boutsen | Ligier-Lamborghini | 1:23.197 | 1:19.868 | +3.476 |
| 19 | 22 | JJ Lehto | Dallara-Judd | 1:22.243 | 1:19.954 | +3.562 |
| 20 | 23 | Pierluigi Martini | Minardi-Ferrari | 1:22.852 | 1:20.175 | +3.783 |
| 21 | 24 | Gianni Morbidelli | Minardi-Ferrari | 1:26.147 | 1:20.502 | +4.110 |
| 22 | 11 | Mika Häkkinen | Lotus-Judd | 1:25.587 | 1:20.611 | +4.219 |
| 23 | 26 | Érik Comas | Ligier-Lamborghini | 1:22.682 | 1:21.168 | +4.776 |
| 24 | 17 | Gabriele Tarquini | AGS-Ford | 1:23.618 | 1:21.219 | +4.827 |
| 25 | 8 | Mark Blundell | Brabham-Yamaha | 1:23.547 | 1:21.230 | +4.838 |
| 26 | 7 | Martin Brundle | Brabham-Yamaha | 1:23.271 | 1:21.280 | +4.888 |
| 27 | 10 | Alex Caffi | Footwork-Porsche | 1:25.555 | 1:22.190 | +5.798 |
| 28 | 18 |  Stefan Johansson | AGS-Ford | 1:24.698 | 1:22.432 | +6.040 |
| 29 | 9 | Michele Alboreto | Footwork-Porsche | 1:25.795 | 1:22.739 | +6.347 |
| 30 | 12 | Julian Bailey | Lotus-Judd | 1:24.947 | 1:23.590 | +7.198 |
Ayrton Senna made a perfect start to lead fromNigel Mansell,Riccardo Patrese,Jean Alesi,Gerhard Berger andAlain Prost, building up a lead of three seconds by lap eight. However Mansell was closing and by lap 20 the gap was down to 0.7s. On lap 17 Prost pitted for new tyres, keen to avoid being stuck behindNelson Piquet'sBenetton. Mansell pitted on lap 26, but the stop was terrible - lasting over 14 seconds. This returned him to the race in fifth place behind Patrese, Alesi and Berger.
After Senna and Patrese had made their stops, Mansell was seven seconds behind the leadMcLaren. There seemed no doubt that Senna would be caught but the chance never arose as on lap 50 Mansell had to stop for a new set of tyres after a puncture caused by debris on the track. Unknown to observers, Senna's gearbox was failing, having lost fourth gear and by lap 60 the lead was halved and Mansell had set fastest lap. Yet it was Mansell's gearbox that gave way first, forcing the Williams into a spin and causing him to retire on lap 61. With just a couple of laps left, Senna had also lost fifth and third gears. Having to maintain sixth gear in slow and medium corners meant that several times he nearly stalled. Patrese was catching him rapidly, but with gearbox problems of his own he was unable to pass.
Senna won 2.9 seconds ahead of Patrese. When he crossed the finish line, he started to scream in celebration of achieving his dream of winning at home. The tremendous struggle of trying to keep the car under control caused him to have muscle cramps and fever. After stopping his car, Senna was almost unable to move on his own. He had to be lifted bodily from the car due to exhaustion and driven to the podium in the medical car. Despite a small fire on the grid and a sticking throttle, Berger claimed the final podium place from Prost, Piquet and Alesi. On the podium, after all that effort, Senna barely managed to lift the trophy.
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| Previous race: 1991 United States Grand Prix | FIA Formula One World Championship 1991 season | Next race: 1991 San Marino Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 1990 Brazilian Grand Prix | Brazilian Grand Prix | Next race: 1992 Brazilian Grand Prix |
