| 1989 German Grand Prix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 9 of 16 in the1989 Formula One World Championship | |||
 | |||
| Race details | |||
| Date | 30 July 1989 | ||
| Official name | LIGrosser Mobil 1 Preis von Deutschland | ||
| Location | Hockenheimring nearHeidelberg,West Germany | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 6.802 km (4.227[1] miles) | ||
| Distance | 45 laps, 305.865 km (190.055 miles) | ||
| Weather | Warm, cloudy | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | McLaren-Honda | ||
| Time | 1:42.300 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |  Ayrton Senna | McLaren-Honda | |
| Time | 1:45.884 on lap 43 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | McLaren-Honda | ||
| Second | McLaren-Honda | ||
| Third | Ferrari | ||
Lap leaders | |||
The1989 German Grand Prix was aFormula One motor race held at theHockenheimring on 30 July 1989. The race was won byAyrton Senna, ahead ofAlain Prost andNigel Mansell.
Prior to the race meeting there had been a major shakeup of management atTeam Lotus. Long time Lotus man and team boss sinceColin Chapman's untimely death in 1982Peter Warr had been asked to leave the team and was replaced as team manager by Rupert Manwaring, while Lotus also had a new chairman inTony Rudd.[citation needed]
Pre-qualifying had been reorganised going into the second half of the season, with several drivers and teams either losing or gaining the right to progress without the need to pre-qualify.Brabham,Dallara andRial had scored enough points across the opening rounds of the season to enable them to escape the Friday morning sessions entirely.Larrousse, with theirLamborghini V12-enginedLolas had scored no points thus far, so were required to pre-qualify for Grands Prix.Philippe Alliot was now partnered byMichele Alboreto who had leftTyrrell after a sponsorship dispute, replacingÉric Bernard, who had stood in at Larrousse for two races.[citation needed]
Also new to pre-qualifying wasRoberto Moreno, joining hisColoni team-matePierre-Henri Raphanel; andGabriele Tarquini, joining hisAGS team-mateYannick Dalmas in the Friday morning sessions. This was despite Tarquini's sixth-place finish at theMexican Grand Prix, asMinardi had scored three points atSilverstone.Onyx had also only scored two points so were forced to continue to pre-qualify.Osella,EuroBrun andZakspeed had scored no points thus far, so also had to continue to pre-qualify.[citation needed]
Bertrand Gachot topped the pre-qualifying session for the third time in a row, with his Onyx team-mateStefan Johansson second. The two Larrousse-Lola drivers were third and fourth, with Alboreto edging out Dalmas in the AGS by a thousandth of a second.Nicola Larini was sixth in his Osella, with his team-matePiercarlo Ghinzani again failing at this stage, down in eighth. Moreno and Raphanel were ninth and tenth, withGregor Foitek eleventh in the new, untestedEuroBrun ER189. The Zakspeeds were bottom of the time sheets, withAguri Suzuki outpacingBernd Schneider for only the second time this season.[2]
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 37 |  Bertrand Gachot | Onyx-Ford | 1:47.283 | — |
| 2 | 36 |  Stefan Johansson | Onyx-Ford | 1:47.700 | +0.417 |
| 3 | 30 |  Philippe Alliot | Lola-Lamborghini | 1:47.746 | +0.463 |
| 4 | 29 |  Michele Alboreto | Lola-Lamborghini | 1:47.919 | +0.636 |
| 5* | 41 | Yannick Dalmas | AGS-Ford | 1:47.920 | +0.637 |
| 6* | 17 | Nicola Larini | Osella-Ford | 1.48.301 | +1.018 |
| 7* | 40 | Gabriele Tarquini | AGS-Ford | 1:48.558 | +1.275 |
| 8* | 18 | Piercarlo Ghinzani | Osella-Ford | 1:48.564 | +1.281 |
| 9* | 31 | Roberto Moreno | Coloni-Ford | 1:48.567 | +1.284 |
| 10* | 32 | Pierre-Henri Raphanel | Coloni-Ford | 1:48.780 | +1.457 |
| 11* | 33 |  Gregor Foitek | EuroBrun-Judd | 1:49.458 | +2.175 |
| 12* | 35 |  Aguri Suzuki | Zakspeed-Yamaha | 1:49.527 | +2.244 |
| 13* | 34 |  Bernd Schneider | Zakspeed-Yamaha | 1:50.455 | +3.172 |
* Driver failed to pre-qualify.
TheMcLaren-Honda's ofAyrton Senna andAlain Prost dominated qualifying on the ultra fast Hockenheim circuit, with Senna just under a second faster than Prost, who was himself almost eight-tenths faster than theFerrari 640 ofNigel Mansell.[citation needed]
During the Friday session Senna ran over a stone which put a sizeable hole in his car's undertray and the resulting damage would require a complete change of car, the problem being that the team only had three of the new transverse gearbox cars in Germany. As a precaution, team managerJo Ramírez instructed the team's secondary (test) crew, who were on their way toImola for a week of testing with the new car, to stop inDijon (easternFrance) in case the race team needed a replacement chassis. When Senna's car was deemed too badly damaged, the test crew made their way to Hockenheim and McLaren were back to having three full cars ready for use by Saturday's morning practice.[citation needed]
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Q1 | Q2 | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Ayrton Senna | McLaren-Honda | 1:42.300 | 1:42.790 | — |
| 2 | 2 | Alain Prost | McLaren-Honda | 1:43.306 | 1:43.295 | +0.995 |
| 3 | 27 |  Nigel Mansell | Ferrari | 1:44.020 | 1:44.076 | +1.720 |
| 4 | 28 |  Gerhard Berger | Ferrari | 1:44.467 | 1:44.509 | +2.167 |
| 5 | 6 | Riccardo Patrese | Williams-Renault | 1:45.062 | 1:44.511 | +2.211 |
| 6 | 5 | Thierry Boutsen | Williams-Renault | 1:45.520 | 1:44.702 | +2.402 |
| 7 | 19 | Alessandro Nannini | Benetton-Ford | 1:45.033 | 1:45.040 | +2.733 |
| 8 | 11 | Nelson Piquet | Lotus-Judd | 1:47.316 | 1:45.475 | +3.175 |
| 9 | 20 | Emanuele Pirro | Benetton-Ford | 1:46.521 | 1:45.845 | +3.545 |
| 10 | 4 | Jean Alesi | Tyrrell-Ford | 1:47.551 | 1:46.888 | +4.588 |
| 11 | 26 | Olivier Grouillard | Ligier-Ford | 1:47.408 | 1:46.893 | +4.593 |
| 12 | 7 | Martin Brundle | Brabham-Judd | 1:47.216 | 1:47.796 | +4.916 |
| 13 | 23 | Pierluigi Martini | Minardi-Ford | 1:48.222 | 1:47.380 | +5.080 |
| 14 | 15 | Maurício Gugelmin | March-Judd | 1:47.387 | 1:47.578 | +5.087 |
| 15 | 30 | Philippe Alliot | Lola-Lamborghini | 1:47.486 | 1:47.566 | +5.186 |
| 16 | 8 | Stefano Modena | Brabham-Judd | 1:47.511 | 1:47.552 | +5.211 |
| 17 | 9 | Derek Warwick | Arrows-Ford | 1:47.756 | 1:47.533 | +5.233 |
| 18 | 12 | Satoru Nakajima | Lotus-Judd | 1:48.782 | 1:47.663 | +5.363 |
| 19 | 3 | Jonathan Palmer | Tyrrell-Ford | 1:47.836 | 1:47.676 | +5.376 |
| 20 | 21 | Alex Caffi | Dallara-Ford | 1:48.671 | 1:47.679 | +5.379 |
| 21 | 22 | Andrea de Cesaris | Dallara-Ford | 1:47.879 | 1:48.005 | +5.579 |
| 22 | 16 | Ivan Capelli | March-Judd | 1:48.239 | 1:48.078 | +5.778 |
| 23 | 25 | René Arnoux | Ligier-Ford | 1:48.266 | 1:48.598 | +5.966 |
| 24 | 36 | Stefan Johansson | Onyx-Ford | 1:49.935 | 1:48.348 | +6.048 |
| 25 | 10 |  Eddie Cheever | Arrows-Ford | 1:48.396 | 1:48.553 | +6.096 |
| 26 | 29 | Michele Alboreto | Lola-Lamborghini | 1:48.670 | 1:48.726 | +6.370 |
| 27* | 24 |  Luis Pérez-Sala | Minardi-Ford | 1:49.587 | 1:48.686 | +6.386 |
| 28* | 37 | Bertrand Gachot | Onyx-Ford | 1:49.252 | 1:49.004 | +6.704 |
| 29* | 38 | Christian Danner | Rial-Ford | 1:50.679 | 1:49.767 | +7.467 |
| EX* | 39 | Volker Weidler | Rial-Ford | — | — | — |
* Driver failed to qualify.
The race started with Senna on pole position and Prost alongside him. At the start,Gerhard Berger in the semi-automatic Ferrari made a strong start from fourth, passing both Senna, Prost and his teammate Mansell to lead tinto the first corner with Senna, Prost and Mansell following in succession. At the start,Philippe Alliot went off the track after he was touched from behind by theMinardi ofPierluigi Martini and lost control of his Lola, spinning off into the grass. He was able to rejoin but his race only lasted 20 laps before his Lamborghini developed an oil leak. His new teammate Michele Alboreto was forced out of his first race with Larrousse just past turn 1 on the second lap after his car's electrics failed. Alboreto had qualified 26th and last, only 0.016 ahead of the Minardi ofLuis Pérez-Sala.[citation needed]
Berger's lead was to last about a quarter of a lap as a result of the greater power of the HondaV10 engines. Senna had Berger before the first chicane, and Prost outbraked him at the Ostkurve. At the start of the second lap, it was Senna leading from Prost, Berger, Mansell,Thierry Boutsen (Williams-Renault),Alessandro Nannini (Benetton Ford),Emanuele Pirro (Benetton-Ford),Riccardo Patrese (Williams-Renault), andNelson Piquet (Lotus-Judd).[citation needed]
The McLarens of Senna and Prost and the Ferraris of Mansell and Berger started to pull away from the field, with the Benettons of Pirro and Nannini, and the Williams of Patrese just barely clinging on (Boutsen retired on lap 5 after being punted off by Pirro at the Bremsschikane 2). On lap 14, Mansell had been hounding Berger for 2 laps, Berger had a puncture right when approaching the first chicane, and he went up on the marker, launching his Ferrari in midair, landing on a grassy patch and went across the track, just barely avoiding Mansell and came to rest on the trackside grass.[citation needed]
Prost and Senna were on the limit the entire race and Prost hounded Senna for 16 laps, until he went in for his pit stop for tyres, which was a slow one of 18 seconds (a good pit time during that era was around 6 to 8 seconds) which put Mansell in second place and gave Senna a stronger lead. The next lap, Mansell came into the pits for his tyre change and his pit stop was faster than Prost's but still a poor stop of 11 seconds, which dropped him down back to fourth behind, Senna, Pirro and Prost. Senna decided to take advantage of his lead and came into the pits for his tyre change, his stop was even worse than Prost's, lasting 23 seconds. All 4 wheels were replaced in good time, but team bossRon Dennis was forced to hold his driver when the left rear wheel changer didn't think he had located the wheel properly and they had to take it back off to get it set right. This dropped the World Champion down to second behind Prost while Pirro, now also in the new Benetton and the only team car left in the race after Nannini's new Ford V8 had succumbed to an electrical misfire on lap 7, had come into the pits for a tyre change and dropped back to fourth behind Mansell.[citation needed]
Pirro crashed into the styrofoam barriers at the stadium entrance on lap 26 and had to be taken to the hospital after one of the barriers had hit his helmet. With Mansell having problems with his Ferrari, Senna and Prost battled for the entire race, as both drivers were driving on the limit. They started trading off fastest laps (the V10 McLaren-Honda's fastest race laps were 1:45.884 (Senna) and 1:45.977 (Prost). The next best race laps were theV12 Ferrari's with Mansell recording a 1:48.722 and Berger a 1:48.931. No other driver in the race lapped under 1:49)[3] and Prost held off Senna for almost the entire race. On lap 43 on the straight heading into the Stadium section, the new transverse gearbox on Prost's McLaren malfunctioned and lost sixth (top) gear allowing Senna, in the process of setting his fastest race lap, to pass him at turn 11. Prost limped around the track for the next 2 laps well over a minute ahead of Mansell and thus in little danger of dropping back any further while Senna cruised around the track to grab his fourth victory of the season, followed by Prost, Mansell, Patrese, Piquet andDerek Warwick (Arrows-Ford) in sixth.[citation needed]
In the post race press conference, Senna refused to speculate on whether he would have been able to pass Prost if he hadn't lost top gear, instead stating that after suffering four straight DNFs (that had handed his team mate a healthy 20 point championship lead as Prost had won 3 of those races), winning was all he was concerned about. For his part, Prost was of the firm belief that he would have had no trouble holding on for the win had he not had a gearbox problem.[citation needed]
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| Previous race: 1989 British Grand Prix | FIA Formula One World Championship 1989 season | Next race: 1989 Hungarian Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 1988 German Grand Prix | German Grand Prix | Next race: 1990 German Grand Prix |
