1991 British Grand Prix

The 1991 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Silverstone on 14 July 1991. It was the eighth race of the 1991 FIA Formula One World Championship.

1991 British Grand Prix
Race 8 of 16 in the 1991 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 United Kingdom Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault
Time 1:26.379 on lap 43
Podium
First Williams-Renault
Second McLaren-Honda
Third Ferrari
Lap leaders

The 59-lap race was won from pole position by local driver Nigel Mansell, driving a Williams-Renault. Gerhard Berger finished second in a McLaren-Honda, with Alain Prost third in a Ferrari. 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 consecutive grand slams at the Silverstone circuit for Mansell, who repeated the feat the following year in 1992.[1]

Pre-race

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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. Elsewhere Tom Walkinshaw had bought a 35% stake in the Benetton team, but the driver line-ups were unchanged from the previous race. Stefan Johansson continued to stand in for the injured Alex Caffi at Footwork, although it was the last race he would do so.

Qualifying

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Pre-qualifying report

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The Friday morning pre-qualifying session resulted in a return to the Dallara / Jordan lockout seen three times earlier in the season. JJ Lehto was fastest in the Dallara, with Andrea de Cesaris' Jordan nearly seven tenths of a second slower in second position. Third was the Dallara of Emanuele Pirro, with Bertrand 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 for Fondmetal. The Modena Lambos were again sixth and seventh, with Nicola Larini again faster than Eric van de Poele. Nine tenths of a second further back in eighth was Pedro Chaves in the Coloni.[2]

Pre-qualifying classification

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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

Qualifying report

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In qualifying Nigel Mansell took pole in front of his home fans, with title rival Ayrton Senna second. Riccardo Patrese was third, followed by Gerhard Berger, Alain Prost, Jean Alesi, Roberto Moreno, Nelson Piquet, Maurício Gugelmin, and Stefano Modena.

Qualifying classification

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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

Race

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Race report

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Nigel Mansell gives Ayrton Senna a lift back to the paddock at Silverstone during his victory lap, after Senna had run out of fuel.

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 with Aguri Suzuki while trying to lap the Japanese driver's Lola.

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 missed Satoru Nakajima's Tyrrell; de Cesaris was unhurt.

At the front it was all Mansell as the Englishman recorded his second win in succession, while rival Senna ran out of fuel on the last lap and he was classified fourth. Berger ended up second, followed by Prost, Senna, Piquet, and Bertrand 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 the Leyton House team, but neither Brundle nor Blundell finished the race (Brundle retired with a broken throttle and Mark Blundell retired with engine failure later in the race on lap 53).

Race classification

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Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 5   Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault 59 1:27:35.479 1 10
2 2   Gerhard Berger McLaren-Honda 59 + 42.293 4 6
3 27   Alain Prost Ferrari 59 + 1:00.150 5 4
4 1   Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 58 Out of fuel 2 3
5 20   Nelson Piquet Benetton-Ford 58 + 1 lap 8 2
6 32   Bertrand Gachot Jordan-Ford 58 + 1 lap 17 1
7 4   Stefano Modena Tyrrell-Honda 58 + 1 lap 10
8 3   Satoru Nakajima Tyrrell-Honda 58 + 1 lap 15
9 23   Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ferrari 58 + 1 lap 23
10 21   Emanuele Pirro Dallara-Judd 57 + 2 laps 18
11 24   Gianni Morbidelli Minardi-Ferrari 57 + 2 laps 20
12 11   Mika Häkkinen Lotus-Judd 57 + 2 laps 25
13 22   JJ Lehto Dallara-Judd 56 + 3 laps 11
14 12   Johnny Herbert Lotus-Judd 55 Oil pressure 24
Ret 8   Mark Blundell Brabham-Yamaha 52 Engine 12
Ret 33   Andrea de Cesaris Jordan-Ford 41 Suspension/Accident 13
Ret 28   Jean Alesi Ferrari 31 Collision 6
Ret 30   Aguri Suzuki Lola-Ford 29 Collision 22
Ret 25   Thierry Boutsen Ligier-Lamborghini 29 Engine 19
Ret 7   Martin Brundle Brabham-Yamaha 28 Throttle 14
Ret 9   Michele Alboreto Footwork-Ford 25 Transmission 26
Ret 15   Maurício Gugelmin Leyton House-Ilmor 24 Broken floor 9
Ret 19   Roberto Moreno Benetton-Ford 21 Gearbox 7
Ret 29   Éric Bernard Lola-Ford 21 Transmission 21
Ret 16   Ivan Capelli Leyton House-Ilmor 16 Spun off 16
Ret 6   Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault 1 Collision 3
DNQ 26   Érik Comas Ligier-Lamborghini
DNQ 10   Stefan Johansson Footwork-Ford
DNQ 18   Fabrizio Barbazza AGS-Ford
DNQ 17   Gabriele Tarquini AGS-Ford
DNPQ 14   Olivier Grouillard Fondmetal-Ford
DNPQ 34   Nicola Larini Lambo-Lamborghini
DNPQ 35   Eric van de Poele Lambo-Lamborghini
DNPQ 31   Pedro Chaves Coloni-Ford
Source:[3]

Championship standings after the race

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  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

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  1. ^ "Grand Chelem - Mansell, Nigel" (in French). Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  2. ^ Walker, Murray (1991). Murray Walker's Grand Prix Year. Hazleton Publishing. pp. 69–76. ISBN 0-905138-90-2.
  3. ^ "1991 British Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 3 November 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  4. ^ a b "Britain 1991 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 13 March 2019.


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