1991 French Grand Prix

The 1991 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Magny-Cours on 7 July 1991. It was the seventh race of the 1991 Formula One World Championship, and the first French Grand Prix to be held at Magny-Cours. The 72-lap race was won by Nigel Mansell, driving a Williams-Renault, with local driver Alain Prost second in a Ferrari and Ayrton Senna third in a McLaren-Honda.

1991 French Grand Prix
Race 7 of 16 in the 1991 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date 7 July 1991
Location Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours
Magny-Cours, France
Course Permanent circuit
Course length 4.250 km (2.651 mi)
Distance 72 laps, 306.000 km (190.892 mi)
Pole position
Driver Williams-Renault
Time 1:14.559[1]
Fastest lap
Driver Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault
Time 1:19.168 on lap 49[2]
Podium
First Williams-Renault
Second Ferrari
Third McLaren-Honda

Pre-race

The French Grand Prix had moved from the Circuit Paul Ricard near Marseille to the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours in the centre of France, to mixed reviews. There were no changes in the driver line-up, but the Footwork team had decided to abandon the disastrous Porsche V12 engine project in favour of a return to Ford engines, while Ferrari introduced a new car, the 643.

Qualifying

Pre-qualifying report

In the Friday morning pre-qualification session, Andrea de Cesaris was fastest in the Jordan for the second time this season. He was four tenths of a second faster than JJ Lehto in the Dallara, with Olivier Grouillard third fastest for Fondmetal at his home race, the second time in a row the Frenchman had pre-qualified. The fourth pre-qualifier was Bertrand Gachot in the other Jordan.

Those failing to progress to the main qualifying sessions included the other Dallara of Emanuele Pirro in fifth, just a couple of tenths slower than Gachot. The two Modena Lambos were sixth and seventh, with Nicola Larini outpacing Eric van de Poele, and bottom of the time sheets was Pedro Chaves in the Coloni. This was the seventh consecutive Grand Prix in which the Portuguese driver had failed to pre-qualify.[3]

Pre-qualifying classification

PosNoDriverConstructorTimeGap
1 33 Andrea de Cesaris Jordan-Ford 1:19.729
2 22 JJ Lehto Dallara-Judd 1:20.172 +0.443
3 14 Olivier Grouillard Fondmetal-Ford 1:20.227 +0.498
4 32 Bertrand Gachot Jordan-Ford 1:20.309 +0.580
5 21 Emanuele Pirro Dallara-Judd 1:20.539 +0.810
6 34 Nicola Larini Lambo-Lamborghini 1:20.628 +0.899
7 35 Eric van de Poele Lambo-Lamborghini 1:21.304 +1.575
8 31 Pedro Chaves Coloni-Ford 1:22.229 +2.500

Qualifying report

In qualifying, local driver Alain Prost impressed and was set to score Ferrari's first pole position of the season, but in the dying minutes Riccardo Patrese in the Williams-Renault came through to pip the French driver to the pole. Championship leader Ayrton Senna spun on Olivier Grouillard's oil on his final qualifying attempt and had to settle for third alongside Nigel Mansell in the second Williams, with the rest of the top ten starting spots occupied by Gerhard Berger, Jean Alesi, Nelson Piquet, Roberto Moreno, Maurício Gugelmin, and the impressive Gianni Morbidelli in a Minardi.

Qualifying classification

PosNoDriverConstructorQ1Q2Gap
1 6 Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault 1:17.472 1:14.559 -
2 27 Alain Prost Ferrari 1:17.386 1:14.789 +0.230
3 1 Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 1:16.557 1:14.857 +0.298
4 5 Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault 1:17.095 1:14.895 +0.336
5 2 Gerhard Berger McLaren-Honda 1:18.087 1:15.376 +0.817
6 28 Jean Alesi Ferrari 1:17.303 1:15.877 +1.318
7 20 Nelson Piquet Benetton-Ford 1:20.449 1:16.816 +2.257
8 19 Roberto Moreno Benetton-Ford 1:19.711 1:16.961 +2.402
9 15 Maurício Gugelmin Leyton House-Ilmor 1:19.728 1:17.015 +2.456
10 24 Gianni Morbidelli Minardi-Ferrari 1:20.635 1:17.020 +2.461
11 4 Stefano Modena Tyrrell-Honda 1:19.530 1:17.114 +2.555
12 23 Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ferrari 1:19.426 1:17.149 +2.590
13 33 Andrea de Cesaris Jordan-Ford 1:20.097 1:17.163 +2.604
14 26 Érik Comas Ligier-Lamborghini 1:20.427 1:17.504 +2.945
15 16 Ivan Capelli Leyton House-Ilmor 1:19.555 1:17.533 +2.974
16 25 Thierry Boutsen Ligier-Lamborghini 1:19.187 1:17.775 +3.216
17 8 Mark Blundell Brabham-Yamaha 1:22.277 1:17.836 +3.277
18 3 Satoru Nakajima Tyrrell-Honda 1:21.020 1:18.144 +3.585
19 32 Bertrand Gachot Jordan-Ford 1:20.374 1:18.150 +3.591
20 12 Johnny Herbert Lotus-Judd 1:21.230 1:18.185 +3.626
21 14 Olivier Grouillard Fondmetal-Ford 1:20.640 1:18.210 +3.651
22 30 Aguri Suzuki Lola-Ford 1:22.058 1:18.224 +3.665
23 29 Éric Bernard Lola-Ford 1:21.613 1:18.540 +3.981
24 7 Martin Brundle Brabham-Yamaha 1:20.999 1:18.826 +4.267
25 9 Michele Alboreto Footwork-Ford 1:21.966 1:18.846 +4.287
26 22 JJ Lehto Dallara-Judd 1:21.323 1:19.267 +4.708
27 11 Mika Häkkinen Lotus-Judd 1:22.274 1:19.491 +4.932
28 18 Fabrizio Barbazza AGS-Ford 1:22.319 1:20.110 +5.551
29 17 Gabriele Tarquini AGS-Ford 1:22.737 1:20.262 +5.703
30 10 Stefan Johansson Footwork-Ford 1:24.114 1:21.000 +6.441

Race

Race report

At the start Patrese made a disastrous start and dropped to 10th position on lap 1, so Prost led from Mansell, Senna, Berger, and Alesi, while Bertrand Gachot spun off on the first lap in his Jordan. Berger was the first of the big boys to go out when his engine failed on lap 6, his third consecutive retirement due to engine problems. Patrese started another recovery drive by passing both Piquet and Morbidelli in one fell swoop when Morbidelli botched an overtaking attempt, taking himself out of the running. At the front Mansell pressured Prost and on Lap 21 he made his move taking advantage of traffic to out-brake the French star going into the hairpin. Mansell slowly pulled away but problems at his first tyre stop dropped him back behind Prost. Mansell once again closed on Prost and the two battled it out until Mansell finally managed to take advantage of traffic, again, and took the lead on Lap 54 by this time outbraking Prost around the outside at the hairpin. Mansell pulled away and scored his first win of the season, Prost was second followed by Senna, Alesi, Patrese, and de Cesaris.

This was the 17th win of Mansell's career, thus breaking the record of Grand Prix wins by an English driver, previously held by Stirling Moss.

Race classification

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
1 5 Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault 72 1:38:00.056 4 10
2 27 Alain Prost Ferrari 72 + 5.003 2 6
3 1 Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 72 + 34.934 3 4
4 28 Jean Alesi Ferrari 72 + 35.920 6 3
5 6 Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault 71 + 1 lap 1 2
6 33 Andrea de Cesaris Jordan-Ford 71 + 1 lap 13 1
7 15 Maurício Gugelmin Leyton House-Ilmor 70 + 2 laps 9
8 20 Nelson Piquet Benetton-Ford 70 + 2 laps 7
9 23 Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ferrari 70 + 2 laps 12
10 12 Johnny Herbert Lotus-Judd 70 + 2 laps 20
11 26 Érik Comas Ligier-Lamborghini 70 + 2 laps 14
12 25 Thierry Boutsen Ligier-Lamborghini 69 + 3 laps 16
Ret 19 Roberto Moreno Benetton-Ford 63 Physical 8
Ret 4 Stefano Modena Tyrrell-Honda 57 Gearbox 11
Ret 14 Olivier Grouillard Fondmetal-Ford 47 Oil leak 21
Ret 29 Éric Bernard Lola-Ford 43 Transmission 23
Ret 22 JJ Lehto Dallara-Judd 39 Tyre 26
Ret 8 Mark Blundell Brabham-Yamaha 36 Spun off 17
Ret 30 Aguri Suzuki Lola-Ford 32 Transmission 22
Ret 9 Michele Alboreto Footwork-Ford 31 Gearbox 25
Ret 7 Martin Brundle Brabham-Yamaha 21 Gearbox 24
Ret 3 Satoru Nakajima Tyrrell-Honda 12 Spun off 18
Ret 24 Gianni Morbidelli Minardi-Ferrari 8 Collision 10
Ret 16 Ivan Capelli Leyton House-Ilmor 7 Spun off 15
Ret 2 Gerhard Berger McLaren-Honda 6 Engine 5
Ret 32 Bertrand Gachot Jordan-Ford 0 Spun off 19
DNQ 11 Mika Häkkinen Lotus-Judd
DNQ 18 Fabrizio Barbazza AGS-Ford
DNQ 17 Gabriele Tarquini AGS-Ford
DNQ 10 Stefan Johansson Footwork-Ford
DNPQ 21 Emanuele Pirro Dallara-Judd
DNPQ 34 Nicola Larini Lambo-Lamborghini
DNPQ 35 Eric van de Poele Lambo-Lamborghini
DNPQ 31 Pedro Chaves Coloni-Ford
Source:[4]

Championship standings after the race

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

References

  1. Henry, Alan (1991). AUTOCOURSE 1991-92. Hazleton Publishing. p. 162. ISBN 0-905138-87-2.
  2. Henry, Alan (1991). AUTOCOURSE 1991-92. Hazleton Publishing. p. 163. ISBN 0-905138-87-2.
  3. Walker, Murray (1991). Murray Walker's Grand Prix Year. Hazleton Publishing. p. 61–68. ISBN 0 905138 90 2.
  4. "1991 French Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 3 November 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  5. "France 1991 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
Previous race:
1991 Mexican Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1991 season
Next race:
1991 British Grand Prix
Previous race:
1990 French Grand Prix
French Grand Prix Next race:
1992 French Grand Prix
Awards
Preceded by
1990 Australian Grand Prix
Formula One Promotional Trophy
for Race Promoter

1991
Succeeded by
1992 French Grand Prix
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