| 1991 British Grand Prix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 8 of 16 in the1991 Formula One World Championship | |||
 | |||
| Race details | |||
| Date | 14 July 1991 | ||
| Official name | XLIV Foster's British Grand Prix | ||
| Location | Silverstone Circuit Silverstone, United Kingdom | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 5.226 km (3.247 miles) | ||
| Distance | 59 laps, 308.334 km (191.59 miles) | ||
| Weather | Hot, dry, sunny | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Williams-Renault | ||
| Time | 1:20.939 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |  Nigel Mansell | Williams-Renault | |
| Time | 1:26.379 on lap 43 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Williams-Renault | ||
| Second | McLaren-Honda | ||
| Third | Ferrari | ||
Lap leaders | |||
The1991 British Grand Prix was aFormula One motor race held atSilverstone on 14 July 1991. It was the eighth race of the1991 FIA Formula One World Championship.
The 59-lap race was won frompole position by local driverNigel Mansell, driving aWilliams-Renault.Gerhard Berger finished second in aMcLaren-Honda, withAlain Prost third in aFerrari. Drivers' Championship leader,Ayrton Senna, ran out of fuel in the second McLaren-Honda on the final lap and was classified fourth. As well as winning from pole position, Mansell led every lap and posted the fastest lap of the race. It was the first of two consecutivegrand slams at the Silverstone circuit for Mansell, who repeated the feat the following year in 1992.[1]
Mansell-mania greeted the drivers as they arrived at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix. The track had been vastly remodelled for 1991, which garnered largely positive reviews from the drivers. The track was no longer the fastest on the F1 calendar, but it now included many challenging corners for the drivers. ElsewhereTom Walkinshaw had bought a 35% stake in theBenetton team, but the driver line-ups were unchanged from theprevious race.Stefan Johansson continued to stand in for the injured Alex Caffi at Footwork, although it was the last race he would do so.
The Friday morning pre-qualifying session resulted in a return to theDallara /Jordan lockout seen three times earlier in the season.JJ Lehto was fastest in the Dallara, withAndrea de Cesaris' Jordan nearly seven tenths of a second slower in second position. Third was the Dallara ofEmanuele Pirro, withBertrand Gachot's Jordan a couple of tenths further back in fourth.
After pre-qualifying successfully at the last two Grands Prix,Olivier Grouillard missed out this time in fifth place forFondmetal. TheModena Lambos were again sixth and seventh, withNicola Larini again faster thanEric van de Poele. Nine tenths of a second further back in eighth wasPedro Chaves in theColoni.[2]
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22 |  JJ Lehto | Dallara-Judd | 1:24.825 | — |
| 2 | 33 |  Andrea de Cesaris | Jordan-Ford | 1:25.508 | +0.683 |
| 3 | 21 | Emanuele Pirro | Dallara-Judd | 1:25.726 | +0.901 |
| 4 | 32 |  Bertrand Gachot | Jordan-Ford | 1:25.931 | +1.106 |
| 5 | 14 |  Olivier Grouillard | Fondmetal-Ford | 1:26.299 | +1.474 |
| 6 | 34 | Nicola Larini | Lambo-Lamborghini | 1:28.042 | +3.217 |
| 7 | 35 | Eric van de Poele | Lambo-Lamborghini | 1:28.827 | +4.002 |
| 8 | 31 |  Pedro Chaves | Coloni-Ford | 1:29.735 | +4.910 |
In qualifyingNigel Mansell took pole in front of his home fans, with title rivalAyrton Senna second.Riccardo Patrese was third, followed byGerhard Berger,Alain Prost,Jean Alesi,Roberto Moreno,Nelson Piquet,Maurício Gugelmin, andStefano Modena.
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Q1 | Q2 | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Nigel Mansell | Williams-Renault | 1:22.644 | 1:20.939 | – |
| 2 | 1 |  Ayrton Senna | McLaren-Honda | 1:23.277 | 1:21.618 | +0.679 |
| 3 | 6 | Riccardo Patrese | Williams-Renault | 1:23.436 | 1:22.109 | +1.170 |
| 4 | 2 |  Gerhard Berger | McLaren-Honda | 1:23.045 | 1:22.476 | +1.537 |
| 5 | 27 | Alain Prost | Ferrari | 1:24.726 | 1:22.478 | +1.539 |
| 6 | 28 | Jean Alesi | Ferrari | 1:24.520 | 1:22.881 | +1.942 |
| 7 | 19 | Roberto Moreno | Benetton-Ford | 1:25.715 | 1:23.265 | +2.326 |
| 8 | 20 | Nelson Piquet | Benetton-Ford | 1:25.107 | 1:23.626 | +2.687 |
| 9 | 15 | Maurício Gugelmin | Leyton House-Ilmor | 1:25.834 | 1:24.044 | +3.105 |
| 10 | 4 | Stefano Modena | Tyrrell-Honda | 1:24.925 | 1:24.069 | +3.130 |
| 11 | 22 | JJ Lehto | Dallara-Judd | 1:24.997 | 1:24.141 | +3.202 |
| 12 | 8 | Mark Blundell | Brabham-Yamaha | 1:26.117 | 1:24.165 | +3.226 |
| 13 | 33 | Andrea de Cesaris | Jordan-Ford | 1:24.169 | 1:24.319 | +3.230 |
| 14 | 7 | Martin Brundle | Brabham-Yamaha | 1:25.803 | 1:24.345 | +3.406 |
| 15 | 3 |  Satoru Nakajima | Tyrrell-Honda | 1:26.229 | 1:24.560 | +3.621 |
| 16 | 16 | Ivan Capelli | Leyton House-Ilmor | 1:25.951 | 1:24.587 | +3.648 |
| 17 | 32 | Bertrand Gachot | Jordan-Ford | 1:25.323 | 1:24.592 | +3.653 |
| 18 | 21 | Emanuele Pirro | Dallara-Judd | 1:25.136 | 1:24.654 | +3.715 |
| 19 | 25 | Thierry Boutsen | Ligier-Lamborghini | 1:25.530 | 1:25.174 | +4.235 |
| 20 | 24 | Gianni Morbidelli | Minardi-Ferrari | 1:27.367 | 1:25.222 | +4.283 |
| 21 | 29 | Éric Bernard | Lola-Ford | 1:26.235 | 1:25.537 | +4.598 |
| 22 | 30 | Aguri Suzuki | Lola-Ford | 1:26.438 | 1:25.583 | +4.644 |
| 23 | 23 | Pierluigi Martini | Minardi-Ferrari | 1:27.279 | 1:25.583 | +4.644 |
| 24 | 12 | Johnny Herbert | Lotus-Judd | 1:27.207 | 1:25.689 | +4.750 |
| 25 | 11 | Mika Häkkinen | Lotus-Judd | 1:26.936 | 1:25.872 | +4.933 |
| 26 | 9 | Michele Alboreto | Footwork-Ford | 1:27.193 | 1:26.192 | +5.253 |
| 27 | 26 | Érik Comas | Ligier-Lamborghini | 1:26.486 | 1:26.392 | +5.453 |
| 28 | 10 |  Stefan Johansson | Footwork-Ford | 1:28.204 | 1:26.544 | +5.605 |
| 29 | 18 | Fabrizio Barbazza | AGS-Ford | 1:31.697 | 1:28.122 | +7.183 |
| 30 | 17 | Gabriele Tarquini | AGS-Ford | 1:31.130 | 1:28.136 | +7.197 |
Senna made a rocket start to lead Mansell, while Patrese was the first casualty of the day, having been bumped off by Berger (Patrese retired after the first lap as a result). Senna's lead did not last for long as Mansell re-passed him going into Stowe corner. Roberto Moreno in the Benetton retired from sixth place with a gearbox failure on lap 22.
Mansell and Senna proceeded to rocket off into the distance while Berger, Prost, and Alesi squabbled over third place, with Alesi emerging ahead; he would later retire after colliding withAguri Suzuki while trying to lap the Japanese driver'sLola.
Andrea de Cesaris had a huge accident on Lap 41 when his suspension failed at Abbey corner, his car bounced back across the track and narrowly missedSatoru Nakajima'sTyrrell; de Cesaris was unhurt.
At the front it was all Mansell as the Englishman recorded his second win in succession, while rival Senna running in second place ran out of fuel on the last lap and was classified fourth. Berger ended up second, followed by Prost, Senna, Piquet, andBertrand Gachot's Jordan. Mansell now trailed Senna by only 18 points and momentum was on his side.
While completing his victory lap Mansell stopped beside Senna and his out of fuel car. Mansell then had Senna climb on his car with Senna placing one leg in the cockpit and sitting on the car body, Mansell drove him back to pit lane.
In terms of having to pre-qualify, Brabham would have needed their top car at least in 7th position to demote theLeyton House team, but neither Brundle nor Blundell finished the race (Brundle retired with a broken throttle andMark Blundell retired with engine failure later in the race on lap 53).
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| Previous race: 1991 French Grand Prix | FIA Formula One World Championship 1991 season | Next race: 1991 German Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 1990 British Grand Prix | British Grand Prix | Next race: 1992 British Grand Prix |
