| 1992 British Grand Prix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 9 of 16 in the1992 Formula One World Championship | |||
 | |||
| Race details | |||
| Date | 12 July 1992 | ||
| Location | Silverstone Circuit,Silverstone, Northamptonshire, Great Britain | ||
| Course | Permanent race track | ||
| Course length | 5.226 km (3.260 miles) | ||
| Distance | 59 laps, 308.334 km (192.348 miles) | ||
| Weather | Dry | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Williams-Renault | ||
| Time | 1:18.965 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |  Nigel Mansell | Williams-Renault | |
| Time | 1:22.539 on lap 57 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Williams-Renault | ||
| Second | Williams-Renault | ||
| Third | Benetton-Ford | ||
Lap leaders | |||
The1992 British Grand Prix was aFormula One motor race held on 12 July 1992 atSilverstone, Northamptonshire. It was the ninth round of the1992 Formula One World Championship. The 59-lap race was won byNigel Mansell for theWilliams-Renault team, the Englishman also starting frompole position, leading every lap and setting the fastest lap of the race.Riccardo Patrese finished second in the other Williams car, withMartin Brundle third in aBenetton-Ford.
After Mansell won his home Grand Prix, the British spectators invaded the race track to congratulate their hero. Mansell's car was blocked by the crowd, preventing him from driving back to the pits. Eventually Mansell was returned to the pits by track marshals to attend the podium ceremony. The win was the 28th of Mansell's career, thus making him the most successful British Formula One driver of all time in terms of wins (surpassingJackie Stewart's 27) untilLewis Hamilton won the2014 Singapore Grand Prix.
Future World ChampionDamon Hill made his first start, for theBrabham team. Two further future champions,Michael Schumacher andMika Häkkinen, scored points.
The Friday morning pre-qualifying pool was slightly changed at this Grand Prix, the mid-point of the season.Footwork driverMichele Alboreto was relieved of the necessity to pre-qualify, and was replaced in the pool byGabriele Tarquini ofFondmetal. Thus both Fondmetal drivers were now required to pre-qualify, alongside the twoLarrousse drivers and the twoAndrea Moda drivers.[1]
The session itself followed the usual pattern for this season, with the two Andrea Moda cars being the ones to drop out at this stage.Bertrand Gachot was comfortably fastest for Larrousse, with Tarquini over 2.7 seconds slower in second. Gachot's team-mateUkyo Katayama was third, 1.4 seconds ahead of the final pre-qualifier,Andrea Chiesa, who was using the olderFondmetal GR01 after driving, and writing off, the newGR02 at the last race.
The Andrea Moda team had arrived at the circuit, unlike the previous event inFrance, and had engines with them, unlike the prior event inCanada. With the first part of the session taking place in damp conditions,Perry McCarthy was held in the pits by his team until the track was almost dry. However, he was then sent out with his team-mateRoberto Moreno's used wet tyres on his car, and managed only one timed lap before his clutch failed. Despite McCarthy setting a time fast enough to pre-qualify at that stage, all the other entrants subsequently took advantage of the drying track and went much faster. However, Moreno was still unable to match Chiesa's time, finishing fifth in the session, over 1.6 seconds slower than the Fondmetal.[1][2]
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 29 |  Bertrand Gachot | Venturi-Lamborghini | 1:24.650 | — |
| 2 | 15 |  Gabriele Tarquini | Fondmetal-Ford | 1:27.378 | +2.728 |
| 3 | 30 |  Ukyo Katayama | Venturi-Lamborghini | 1:27.560 | +2.910 |
| 4 | 14 |  Andrea Chiesa | Fondmetal-Ford | 1:28.965 | +4.315 |
| 5 | 34 |  Roberto Moreno | Andrea Moda-Judd | 1:30.592 | +5.942 |
| 6 | 35 | Perry McCarthy | Andrea Moda-Judd | 1:46.719 | +22.069 |
Nigel Mansell dominated qualifying, taking his eighth pole position of the year by nearly two seconds fromWilliams teammateRiccardo Patrese with a further 0.8 seconds back toAyrton Senna'sMcLaren in third. Alongside Senna on the second row wasMichael Schumacher in theBenetton, with their respective teammatesGerhard Berger andMartin Brundle on the third row.Johnny Herbert was seventh in hisLotus, ahead ofJean Alesi'sFerrari, withMika Häkkinen in the other Lotus andÉrik Comas in theLigier completing the top ten.Damon Hill qualified for the first time, taking the 26th and last slot in hisBrabham.
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Q1 Time | Q2 Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Nigel Mansell | Williams-Renault | 1:18.965 | 1:35.990 | Pole |
| 2 | 6 | Riccardo Patrese | Williams-Renault | 1:20.884 | 1:38.185 | +1.919 |
| 3 | 1 | Ayrton Senna | McLaren-Honda | 1:21.706 | 1:41.912 | +2.741 |
| 4 | 19 |  Michael Schumacher | Benetton-Ford | 1:22.066 | 1:41.227 | +3.101 |
| 5 | 2 |  Gerhard Berger | McLaren-Honda | 1:22.296 | 1:41.311 | +3.331 |
| 6 | 20 | Martin Brundle | Benetton-Ford | 1:23.489 | 1:40.781 | +4.524 |
| 7 | 12 | Johnny Herbert | Lotus-Ford | 1:23.605 | 1:42.124 | +4.640 |
| 8 | 27 | Jean Alesi | Ferrari | 1:23.723 | 1:39.961 | +4.758 |
| 9 | 11 |  Mika Häkkinen | Lotus-Ford | 1:23.813 | 1:42.815 | +4.848 |
| 10 | 26 | Érik Comas | Ligier-Renault | 1:23.957 | no time | +4.992 |
| 11 | 29 | Bertrand Gachot | Venturi-Lamborghini | 1:24.065 | 1:45.881 | +5.100 |
| 12 | 9 | Michele Alboreto | Footwork-Mugen-Honda | 1:24.198 | 1:41.504 | +5.233 |
| 13 | 25 |  Thierry Boutsen | Ligier-Renault | 1:24.545 | 1:45.659 | +5.580 |
| 14 | 28 | Ivan Capelli | Ferrari | 1:24.558 | 1:41.734 | +5.593 |
| 15 | 15 | Gabriele Tarquini | Fondmetal-Ford | 1:24.761 | 1:49.639 | +5.796 |
| 16 | 30 | Ukyo Katayama | Venturi-Lamborghini | 1:24.851 | 1:46.644 | +5.886 |
| 17 | 10 | Aguri Suzuki | Footwork-Mugen-Honda | 1:24.924 | 1:43.215 | +5.959 |
| 18 | 4 | Andrea de Cesaris | Tyrrell-Ilmor | 1:24.984 | 1:42.160 | +6.019 |
| 19 | 21 | JJ Lehto | Dallara-Ferrari | 1:25.037 | 1:40.867 | +6.072 |
| 20 | 3 | Olivier Grouillard | Tyrrell-Ilmor | 1:25.096 | 1:41.221 | +6.131 |
| 21 | 16 | Karl Wendlinger | March-Ilmor | 1:25.123 | no time | +6.131 |
| 22 | 22 | Pierluigi Martini | Dallara-Ferrari | 1:25.221 | 1:46.295 | +6.256 |
| 23 | 32 | Stefano Modena | Jordan-Yamaha | 1:25.362 | 1:42.104 | +6.397 |
| 24 | 33 | Maurício Gugelmin | Jordan-Yamaha | 1:25.988 | no time | +7.023 |
| 25 | 24 | Gianni Morbidelli | Minardi-Lamborghini | 1:25.998 | 1:43.981 | +7.033 |
| 26 | 8 | Damon Hill | Brabham-Judd | 1:26.378 | 1:45.272 | +7.413 |
| 27 | 23 | Alessandro Zanardi | Minardi-Lamborghini | 1:26.458 | no time | +7.493 |
| 28 | 17 | Paul Belmondo | March-Ilmor | 1:27.995 | no time | +9.030 |
| 29 | 14 | Andrea Chiesa | Fondmetal-Ford | 1:28.452 | no time | +9.487 |
| 30 | 7 | Eric van de Poele | Brabham-Judd | 1:28.719 | no time | +9.754 |
| Sources:[3][4][5] | ||||||
Though Patrese led at the first corner, Mansell soon re-passed his teammate and pulled away from the rest of the field, eventually winning by 39 seconds.Johnny Herbert became the first of the leaders to retire from 6th position in the leading Lotus by the pit wall with transmission problems on lap 32.Jean Alesi in the leading Ferrari eventually went off the track with mechanical problems by lap 44. Brundle made a fast start to run third, battling with his old Formula 3 rival Senna until the Brazilian suffered a transmission failure seven laps from the end. Brundle eventually finished nine seconds behind Patrese and five ahead of teammate Schumacher, who had lost time following a collision with theJordan ofStefano Modena when he was trying to lap him. Berger finished fifth, right behind Schumacher despite an engine problem in the closing stages, while Häkkinen took the final point for sixth. Hill finished 16th, four laps behind Mansell; he and other drivers were still circulating when the spectators invaded the track to celebrate Mansell's win.
The win, Mansell's seventh of the season, moved him to 76 points in the Drivers' Championship, with Patrese on 40 and Schumacher on 29. In the Constructors' Championship, Williams had 116 points, with Benetton a distant second on 42 and McLaren on 38.
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Previous race: 1992 French Grand Prix | FIA Formula One World Championship 1992 season | Next race: 1992 German Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 1991 British Grand Prix | British Grand Prix | Next race: 1993 British Grand Prix |
52°4′43″N1°1′1″W / 52.07861°N 1.01694°W /52.07861; -1.01694
