| 1991 Italian Grand Prix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 12 of 16 in the1991 Formula One World Championship | |||
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| Race details | |||
| Date | 8 September 1991 | ||
| Official name | Coca-Cola 62º Gran Premio d'Italia | ||
| Location | Autodromo Nazionale di Monza Monza,Lombardy,Italy | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 5.800 km (3.604 miles) | ||
| Distance | 53 laps, 307.400 km (191.01 miles) | ||
| Weather | Sunny and warm | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | McLaren-Honda | ||
| Time | 1:21.114 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |  Ayrton Senna | McLaren-Honda | |
| Time | 1:26.061 on lap 41 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Williams-Renault | ||
| Second | McLaren-Honda | ||
| Third | Ferrari | ||
Lap leaders | |||
The1991 Italian Grand Prix (formally theCoca-Cola 62º Gran Premio d'Italia[1]) was aFormula One motor race held atMonza on 8 September 1991. It was the twelfth race of the1991 Formula One World Championship.
The 53-lap race was won by British driverNigel Mansell, driving aWilliams-Renault, after he started from second position. Drivers' Championship leader, BrazilianAyrton Senna, finished second in hisMcLaren-Honda, having started frompole position, with FrenchmanAlain Prost third in aFerrari. The win, Mansell's fourth of the season, enabled him to reduce Senna's championship lead to 18 points with four races remaining.
The big news between the Belgian and Italian Grands Prix revolved around youngMichael Schumacher, who had made his debut forJordan inBelgium. Schumacher had signed forBenetton while still being under contract to Jordan. After much legal wrangling the German was confirmed at Benetton, whileRoberto Moreno went the other way, taking Schumacher's place at Jordan. ElsewhereMichael Bartels was back atLotus, asJohnny Herbert had more commitments inJapanese Formula 3000.
It was a third 1–2 in a row forBrabham in the Friday morning pre-qualifying session, withMark Blundell back on top of the time sheets, eight tenths of a second faster thanMartin Brundle.Olivier Grouillard was again third fastest forFondmetal, his fifth pre-qualifying success of the season.Michele Alboreto took the last pre-qualification position in theFootwork, 1.5 seconds off Blundell's pace.
In his best pre-qualifying performance in his four attempts so far,Fabrizio Barbazza just missed out in fifth place in theAGS, albeit 1.6 seconds slower than Alboreto. His team-mateGabriele Tarquini debuted the newJH27 car, but its engine failed on the first lap. Tarquini reverted to theJH25B, but could only manage sixth fastest.Alex Caffi was a couple of tenths of a second further back in seventh in the other Footwork, whilePedro Chaves remained stuck in the pits after the worn engine in hisColoni refused to start.[2]
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 |  Mark Blundell | Brabham-Yamaha | 1:24.271 | |
| 2 | 7 | Martin Brundle | Brabham-Yamaha | 1:25.117 | +0.846 |
| 3 | 14 |  Olivier Grouillard | Fondmetal-Ford | 1:25.556 | +1.285 |
| 4 | 9 |  Michele Alboreto | Footwork-Ford | 1:25.771 | +1.500 |
| 5 | 18 | Fabrizio Barbazza | AGS-Ford | 1:27.392 | +3.121 |
| 6 | 17 | Gabriele Tarquini | AGS-Ford | 1:27.401 | +3.130 |
| 7 | 10 | Alex Caffi | Footwork-Ford | 1:27.608 | +3.337 |
| 8 | 31 |  Pedro Chaves | Coloni-Ford | — | — |
In qualifying,Ayrton Senna took pole again, with title rivalNigel Mansell second, the Englishman complaining of traffic on his final two hot laps.Gerhard Berger was third, followed byRiccardo Patrese,Alain Prost,Jean Alesi, Schumacher,Nelson Piquet, in his 200th Grand Prix, Moreno, andPierluigi Martini, in theFerrari poweredMinardi.
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Q1 | Q2 | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Ayrton Senna | McLaren-Honda | 1:21.114 | 1:21.245 | |
| 2 | 5 | Nigel Mansell | Williams-Renault | 1:21.328 | 1:21.247 | +0.133 |
| 3 | 2 |  Gerhard Berger | McLaren-Honda | 1:21.360 | 1:21.346 | +0.232 |
| 4 | 6 | Riccardo Patrese | Williams-Renault | 1:21.619 | 1:21.372 | +0.258 |
| 5 | 27 | Alain Prost | Ferrari | 1:22.080 | 1:21.825 | +0.711 |
| 6 | 28 | Jean Alesi | Ferrari | 1:21.956 | 1:21.890 | +0.776 |
| 7 | 19 |  Michael Schumacher | Benetton-Ford | 1:22.471 | 1:22.553 | +1.357 |
| 8 | 20 | Nelson Piquet | Benetton-Ford | 1:23.176 | 1:22.726 | +1.612 |
| 9 | 32 | Roberto Moreno | Jordan-Ford | 1:23.102 | 1:23.447 | +1.988 |
| 10 | 23 | Pierluigi Martini | Minardi-Ferrari | 1:23.294 | 1:23.789 | +2.180 |
| 11 | 8 | Mark Blundell | Brabham-Yamaha | 1:23.473 | 1:24.400 | +2.359 |
| 12 | 16 | Ivan Capelli | Leyton House-Ilmor | 1:23.674 | 1:24.755 | +2.560 |
| 13 | 4 | Stefano Modena | Tyrrell-Honda | 1:24.457 | 1:23.701 | +2.587 |
| 14 | 33 | Andrea de Cesaris | Jordan-Ford | 1:24.060 | 1:23.921 | +2.807 |
| 15 | 3 |  Satoru Nakajima | Tyrrell-Honda | 1:24.464 | 1:24.265 | +3.151 |
| 16 | 21 | Emanuele Pirro | Dallara-Judd | 1:24.584 | 1:24.282 | +3.168 |
| 17 | 24 | Gianni Morbidelli | Minardi-Ferrari | 1:24.287 | 1:25.223 | +3.173 |
| 18 | 15 | Maurício Gugelmin | Leyton House-Ilmor | 1:24.391 | 1:25.023 | +3.277 |
| 19 | 7 | Martin Brundle | Brabham-Yamaha | 1:24.713 | 1:24.643 | +3.529 |
| 20 | 22 |  JJ Lehto | Dallara-Judd | 1:24.733 | 1:24.725 | +3.611 |
| 21 | 25 |  Thierry Boutsen | Ligier-Lamborghini | 1:26.133 | 1:25.177 | +4.063 |
| 22 | 26 | Érik Comas | Ligier-Lamborghini | 1:25.478 | 1:25.420 | +4.306 |
| 23 | 34 | Nicola Larini | Lambo-Lamborghini | 1:25.717 | 1:25.934 | +4.603 |
| 24 | 29 | Éric Bernard | Lola-Ford | 1:26.325 | 1:25.871 | +4.757 |
| 25 | 11 | Mika Häkkinen | Lotus-Judd | 1:26.701 | 1:25.941 | +4.827 |
| 26 | 14 | Olivier Grouillard | Fondmetal-Ford | 1:26.416 | 1:26.805 | +5.302 |
| 27 | 9 | Michele Alboreto | Footwork-Ford | 1:26.563 | 1:27.198 | +5.449 |
| 28 | 12 | Michael Bartels | Lotus-Judd | 1:27.169 | 1:26.829 | +5.715 |
| 29 | 35 | Eric van de Poele | Lambo-Lamborghini | 1:27.110 | 1:27.099 | +5.985 |
| 30 | 30 | Aguri Suzuki | Lola-Ford | 1:27.257 | 18:14.470 | +6.143 |
At the start Senna got away well from Mansell, Berger, Patrese, and Alesi, with everyone making it through the Rettifilo double chicane. Moreno was an early casualty as he spun off on lap 2 with the Jordan's suspension breaking just before the spin also just behind the leaders.
Patrese at the front started to charge, first he disposed of Berger, and then Mansell. Martini had spun off in the Minardi by lap 8 at Roggia behind the leaders. On lap 26 Patrese passed Senna at the Ascari chicane, but on the following lap a gearbox failure took him out. Senna now led from Mansell and Berger, with Mansell pressuring Senna for the lead, and on lap 34 he took it with a perfectly timed out-braking manoeuvre going into the Ascari chicane. Senna proceeded to pit for tyres and emerged down in fifth place, but in no mood to stay there. Senna proceeded to pass Schumacher going into Ascari, and then slipstreamed passed Berger into the first corner, and got back to second by passing arch-rival Prost going into the second chicane. Mansell meanwhile cruised to victory from Senna, Prost, Berger (despite pulling off just after the start/finish line with electrical problems), Schumacher, and Piquet, Alesi having retired with a blown engine. With four races to go Senna still led Mansell by 18 points, but this race confirmed that Mansell and Williams could beat Senna's McLaren in a straight fight.
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| Previous race: 1991 Belgian Grand Prix | FIA Formula One World Championship 1991 season | Next race: 1991 Portuguese Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 1990 Italian Grand Prix | Italian Grand Prix | Next race: 1992 Italian Grand Prix |
