1991 San Marino Grand Prix

The was the third round of the 1991 Formula One Championship, and the first race to be held in Europe that year. Held in Imola at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, the circuit saw World Champion Ayrton Senna take a landmark 55th career pole, now 22 ahead of Jim Clark's previous record.
It was a good day for the Brazilian on Sunday too, as he maintained his 100% start to the season, claiming his third victory in a row. A dominant display by saw Gerhard Berger take second, two seconds behind Senna and the only man to stay on the lead lap, while JJ Lehto took a shock podium in his .
==Background==
The month break between Brazil and San Marino saw a wave of new machinery hit the paddock, as several teams completed their winter projects. Benetton unveiled the new B191, replacing a car that had already taken Nelson Piquet to the podium, while Footwork had been hard at work on building two new FA12s for the European season. It would not be a successful debut for the new s, however.
Brabham released their latest creation, the BT60Y in partnership with Yamaha, while there was large upheaval at AGS. A favourite to crumble both over the winter and in the early stages of the new season, AGS had seen a lot of staff leave in the previous weeks, but were given renewed hope when a set of buyers adopted the team. Patrizio Cantu and Gabriele Rafanelli were the men behind the new investment, and their first move was to replace the under performing Stefan Johansson with debutant Fabrizio Barbazza.
But, these changes were unlikely to upset the dominance displayed by Ayrton Senna in the Drivers' Championship, with the Brazilian born ace now eleven points ahead, despite there only being two races so far. Alain Prost was second, ahead of Riccardo Patrese and Nelson Piquet, both sat on six. Aguri Suzuki and Jean Alesi completed the point scorer's table with a point apiece.
 were also dominating the Constructors Championship courtesy of Senna's early form. Already fourteen points ahead of , and with the s proving to be more of a problem to themselves than their British rivals, few would suggest, even at this early stage, that McLaren were the team to beat. Benetton, Tyrrell and Lola were the only other Constructors with points to their names.
==Entry List==
The full entry list for the is shown below:
 Official Entry List for the 
No.	Driver 	Entrant 	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Model 	Tyre
1 	Ayrton Senna 	Honda Marlboro McLaren 	 	MP4/6 	 	RA121E 3.5 V12	
2 	Gerhard Berger 	Honda Marlboro McLaren 	 	MP4/6 	 	RA121E 3.5 V12	
3 	Satoru Nakajima 	Braun Tyrrell Honda 	 	020 	 	RA101E 3.5 V10	
4 	Stefano Modena 	Braun Tyrrell Honda 	 	020 	 	RA101E 3.5 V10	
5 	Nigel Mansell 	Canon Williams 	 	FW14 	 	RS3 3.5 V10 	
6 	Riccardo Patrese 	Canon Williams 	 	FW14 	 	RS3 3.5 V10 	
7 	Martin Brundle 	Brabham Yamaha 	 	BT60Y 	 	OX99 3.5 V12 	
8 	Mark Blundell 	Brabham Yamaha 	 	BT60Y 	 	OX99 3.5 V12 	
9 	Michele Alboreto 	Footwork Porsche 	 	FA12 	 	3512 3.5 V12 	
10 	Alex Caffi 	Footwork Porsche 	 	FA12 	 	3512 3.5 V12 	
11 	Mika Häkkinen 	Team Lotus 	 	102B 	 	EV 3.5 V8 	
12 	Julian Bailey 	Team Lotus 	 	102B 	 	EV 3.5 V8 	
14 	Olivier Grouillard	Fondmetal 	 	FA1M-E 	 	DFR 3.5 V8 	
15 	Maurício Gugelmin 	Leyton House Racing 	 	CG911 	 	2175A 3.5 V10 	
16 	Ivan Capelli 	Leyton House Racing 	 	CG911 	 	2175A 3.5 V10 	
17 	Gabriele Tarquini 	Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives	 	JH25B 	 	DFR 3.5 V8 	
18 	Fabrizio Barbazza 	Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives	 	JH25B 	 	DFR 3.5 V8 	
19 	Roberto Moreno 	Camel Benetton Ford 	 	B191 	 	HBA4 3.5 V8 	
20 	Nelson Piquet 	Camel Benetton Ford 	 	B191 	 	HBA4 3.5 V8 	
21 	Emanuele Pirro 	Scuderia Italia 	 	F191 	 	GV 3.5 V10 	
22 	JJ Lehto 	Scuderia Italia 	 	F191 	 	GV 3.5 V10 	
23 	Pierluigi Martini 	Minardi Team 	 	M191 	 	037 3.5 V12 	
24 	Gianni Morbidelli 	Minardi Team 	 	M191 	 	037 3.5 V12 	
25 	Thierry Boutsen 	Equipe Ligier Gitanes 	 	JS35 	 	3512 3.5 V12 	
26 	Érik Comas 	Equipe Ligier Gitanes 	 	JS35 	 	3512 3.5 V12 	
27 	Alain Prost 	Scuderia Ferrari 	 	642 	 	037 3.5 V12 	
28 	Jean Alesi 	Scuderia Ferrari 	 	642 	 	037 3.5 V12 	
29 	Éric Bernard 	Larrousse F1 	 	LC91 	 	DFR 3.5 V8 	
30 	Aguri Suzuki 	Larrousse F1 	 	LC91 	 	DFR 3.5 V8 	
31 	Pedro Chaves 	Coloni Racing 	 	C4 	 	DFR 3.5 V8 	
32 	Bertrand Gachot 	Team 7Up Jordan 	 	191 	 	HBA4 3.5 V8 	
33 	Andrea de Cesaris 	Team 7Up Jordan 	 	191 	 	HBA4 3.5 V8 	
34 	Nicola Larini 	Central Park Modena Team 	 	291 	 	3512 3.5 V12 	
35 	Eric van de Poele 	Central Park Modena Team 	 	291 	 	3512 3.5 V12 	
==Practice Overview==
Practice was dominated by a huge accident for Michele Alboreto in the new coming through Tamburello on Friday. A suspension failure pitched the car into the wall, obliterating the new car and leaving the Italian driver with a distinct limp, but no serious injuries. Alboreto would compete in the older car for the rest of the meeting, although he was still shaken by the accident.
==Qualifying==
Pre-Qualifying was back once again as the eight worst cars from the second half of last season did battle for four places in the full qualifying session. The FIA had pushed for the session on safety grounds, believing that 30 cars was the upper limit for any circuit approved for Formula One, with 34 cars entering each race in 1991.
===Pre-Qualifying===
For the second race in succession, both s made it through into the full qualifying, with the added bonus of Andrea de Cesaris topping the session. JJ Lehto also made it through, joined by Eric van de Poele in the , as Lehto's team mate Emanuele Pirro dropping out. He joined three familiar casualties from pre-qualifying, as Nicola Larini, Olivier Grouillard and Pedro Chaves all missed out once again.
====Pre-Qualifying Results====
The full pre-qualifying results for the are outline below:
Pos.	No.	Driver 	Constructor	Time 	Gap 	Ave. Speed
1 	33 	Andrea de Cesaris 	 	1:25.535	— 	212.124 km/h
2 	22 	JJ Lehto 	 	1:25.923	+0.388s	211.166 km/h
3 	32 	Bertrand Gachot 	 	1:25.980	+0.445s	211.026 km/h
4 	35 	Eric van de Poele 	 	1:26.117	+0.582s	210.690 km/h
DNPQ	21 	Emanuele Pirro 	 	1:26.305	+0.770s	210.231 km/h
DNPQ	14 	Olivier Grouillard	 	1:26.789	+1.254s	209.059 km/h
DNPQ	34 	Nicola Larini 	 	1:26.886	+1.351s	208.825 km/h
DNPQ	31 	Pedro Chaves 	 	1:31.239	+5.704s	198.862 km/h
===Report===
There was almost a shock result in qualifying, as Ayrton Senna only took pole by a small margin, 0.080s to be precise. His sixth pole in a row (and 55th of his career) was almost lost to Riccardo Patrese, who put together a stunning lap in the to take second. Alain Prost and Nigel Mansell would share the second row, both ahead of the second of Gerhard Berger, who was joined on the third row by Stefano Modena. 
De Cesaris' form continued into the full session, as he and Gachot put their two Jordans onto the sixth row, with Lehto taking sixteenth in his . Van de Poele took 21st after making his way into qualifying, while the duo were saved when rain affected the second qualifying session, scraping through in 25th and 26th. Out went the two AGS cars, as well as the two machines, Alboreto still not comfortable after his practice crash.
===Full Qualifying Results===
The full result for the is outlined below:
Pos.	No.	Driver 	Constructor	Time'1991 San Marino Grand Prix', wikipedia.org, (WikiMedia, 28/07/2015), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_San_Marino_Grand_Prix, (Accessed 01/08/2015)	Time'1991 San Marino Grand Prix', wikipedia.org, (WikiMedia, 28/07/2015), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_San_Marino_Grand_Prix, (Accessed 01/08/2015)	Gap
Pos.	No.	Driver 	Constructor	Q1 	Q2 	Gap
1 	1 	Ayrton Senna 	 	1:21.877 	1:43.633 	
2 	6 	Riccardo Patrese 	 	1:21.957 	1:42.455 	+0.080s
3 	27 	Alain Prost 	 	1:22.195 	1:42.429 	+0.318s
4 	5 	Nigel Mansell 	 	1:22.366 	1:41.878 	+0.489s
5 	2 	Gerhard Berger 	 	1:22.567 	1:40.322 	+0.690s
6 	4 	Stefano Modena 	 	1:23.511 	1:44.613 	+1.634s
7 	28 	Jean Alesi 	 	1:23.945 	1:41.149 	+2.068s
8 	24 	Gianni Morbidelli 	 	1:24.762 	No Time 	+2.885s
9 	23 	Pierluigi Martini 	 	1:24.807 	No Time 	+2.930s
10 	3 	Satoru Nakajima 	 	1:25.345 	1:42.063 	+3.468s
11 	33 	Andrea de Cesaris 	 	1:25.491 	1:44.118 	+3.614s
12 	32 	Bertrand Gachot 	 	1:25.531 	1:44.897 	+3.654s
13 	19 	Roberto Moreno 	 	1:25.655 	1:45.216 	+3.778s
14 	20 	Nelson Piquet 	 	1:25.809 	1:42.911 	+3.932s
15 	15 	Mauricio Gugelmin 	 	1:25.841 	No Time 	+3.964s
16 	22 	JJ Lehto 	 	1:25.974 	1:43.397 	+4.097s
17 	29 	 	 	1:25.983 	No Time 	+4.106s
18 	7 	Martin Brundle 	 	1:26.055 	No Time 	+4.178s
19 	26 	 	 	1:26.207 	1:46.667 	+4.330s
20 	30 	Aguri Suzuki 	 	1:26.356 	No Time 	+4.479s
21 	35 	Eric van de Poele 	 	1:26.550 	1:47.619 	+4.673s
22 	18 	Ivan Capelli 	 	1:26.602 	1:52.949 	+4.725s
23 	8 	Mark Blundell 	 	1:26.778 	1:49.539 	+4.901s
24 	25 	Thierry Boutsen 	 	1:26.998 	1:44.125 	+5.121s
25 	11 	 	 	1:27.324 	1:47.444 	+5.447s
26 	12 	Julian Bailey 	 	1:27.976 	1:45.931 	+6.099s
DNQ 	17 	Gabriele Tarquini 	 	1:28.175 	No Time 	+6.298s
DNQ 	18 	Fabrizio Barbazza 	 	1:29.665 	No Time 	+7.788s
DNQ 	10 	Alex Caffi 	 	1:30.280 	2:06.589 	+8.403s
DNQ 	9 	Michele Alboreto 	 	1:30.762 	19:39.741 	+8.885s
DNPQ	21 	Emanuele Pirro 	 	1:26.305 	1:26.305 	1:26.305
DNPQ	14 	Olivier Grouillard	 	1:26.789 	1:26.789 	1:26.789
DNPQ	34 	Nicola Larini 	 	1:26.886 	1:26.886 	1:26.886
DNPQ	31 	Pedro Chaves 	 	1:31.239 	1:31.239 	1:31.239
===Grid===
The starting grid for the is shown below:
==Race==
Clouds gathered over the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari as the start time approached, with water coating the surface of the Imola based track as the field left the grid. There were no issues for the leaders on the formation lap, until Ayrton Senna led the field through Rivazza, a down hill turn half way through the lap.'GRAND PRIX RESULTS: SAN MARINO GP, 1991', grandprix.com, (Inside F1 Inc., 1999), http://www.manipef1.com/results/1991/sanmarino/race/, (Accessed 09/08/2015) Unsighted, Alain Prost hit a pool of water close to the apex, sending his Ferrari into a spin on the grass down the outside of the turn. A similar fate struck Gerhard Berger in the second McLaren, although the outcome of their respective incidents could not have been more different. As Prost slid down the hill and stalled on the wet grass, Berger reacted quickly to bring his McLaren back into line, recovering to take his grid slot before the end of the formation lap.
===Report===
The sun broke through the clouds as the lights went out, with Riccardo Patrese making a perfect start to grab the lead from Senna off the line, as Berger and Nigel Mansell lost out to Stefano Modena.senorsoupe, '1991 FIA Review, Round 3, San Marino', youtube.com, (YouTube, 20/07/2008), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdhysblW7bA, (Accessed 02/08/2015) For Mansell, a third gearbox problem in as many races ruined his start, before a clumsy challenge by Martin Brundle put Williams into a spin. Unable to find a gear, Mansell was out again, as Patrese established a small lead over Senna on a quickly drying circuit.
But, the circuit was still incredibly slippery, as a triple World Champion was the next driver to fall victim to the conditions. Nelson Piquet ran wide at Tosa on the second lap, before the wet grass on the outside of the track dragged him into the gravel further on. He would soon be joined on the side lines by Jean Alesi, who pulled a move on Modena for third, but was going too quickly to make the hairpin of Tosa, ending his day in the gravel as well. Also out was Aguri Suzuki after an unseen spin, while Senna began eating away at Patrese's lead.
Senna's mastery of wet conditions was already well noted, so it was no surprise when he swung his way past Patrese on lap ten, with Patrese pitting immediately after with a misfire. After losing several laps, the Italian returned to the circuit, only to retire with a much larger electrical issue. Berger, meanwhile, had retaken Modena for second leaving the s running one-two, although Senna was already well ahead by the time Patrese called it a day.
Only four cars remained on the lead lap when the field swept into the pits for slick tyres, with Senna easing off and allowing Berger to catch him. It was soon to be just the McLarens on the lead lap, as the two s of Modena and Satoru Nakajima retired soon after with identical transmission issues. JJ Lehto was the man on the move afterwards, forcing his way through the field in his to take third from Roberto Moreno as Modena cruised off the circuit, as, further down, the two Jordans retired within seconds of one another with unrelated issues.
The two cars were promoted into the points in the closing stages, Moreno falling victim to an engine failure soon after Lehto's move. This gave two points in only his third race when the pair crossed the line in fifth and sixth, Julian Bailey notching the only point of his career in the second car. Pierluigi Martini scored three points at Minardi's home race, finishing fourth, with Lehto remaining unchallenged to take a career best third place.
But, there was no denying who were the class acts in Imola, as Senna and Berger crossed the line two seconds apart to take their first one-two of 1991, scoring sixteen points for the dominant partnership. The dominance was no better demonstrated than by the fact that the pair were a lap ahead of Lehto in third, two laps in front of Martini, and three ahead of the Lotuses. Mention must also be made of Eric van de Poele, making his first Grand Prix start at Imola, who was fifth until he ran out of fuel just four laps from the end.
===Results===
Pos. 	No. 	Driver 	Constructor	Laps 	Time/Retired	Grid 	Points
1 	1 	Ayrton Senna 	 	61 	1:35:14.750 	1 	10
2 	2 	Gerhard Berger 	 	61 	+1.675s 	5 	6
3 	22 	JJ Lehto 	 	60 	+1 lap 	16 	4
4 	23 	Pierluigi Martini 	 	59 	+2 laps 	9 	3
5 	11 	 	 	58 	+3 laps 	25 	2
6 	12 	Julian Bailey 	 	58 	+3 laps 	26 	1
7 	25 	Thierry Boutsen 	 	58 	+3 laps 	24 	
8 	8 	Mark Blundell 	 	58 	+3 laps 	23 	
9* 	35 	Eric van de Poele 	 	57 	Out of fuel 	21 	
10 	26 	 	 	57 	+4 laps 	19 	
11 	7 	Martin Brundle 	 	57 	+4 laps 	18 	
12* 	15 	Mauricio Gugelmin 	 	55 	Engine 	15 	
13* 	19 	Roberto Moreno 	 	54 	Engine 	13 	
Ret 	4 	Stefano Modena 	 	41 	Transmission	6 	
Ret 	33 	Andrea de Cesaris 	 	37 	Gearbox 	11 	
Ret 	32 	Bertrand Gachot 	 	37 	Suspension 	12 	
Ret 	16 	Ivan Capelli 	 	24 	Spin 	22 	
Ret 	29 	  	 	17 	Engine 	17 	
Ret 	6 	Riccardo Patrese 	 	17 	Electrical 	2 	
Ret 	3 	Satoru Nakajima 	 	15 	Transmission	10 	
Ret 	24 	Gianni Morbidelli 	 	10 	Gearbox 	8 	
Ret 	28 	Jean Alesi 	 	2 	Spin 	7 	
Ret 	30 	Aguri Suzuki 	 	2 	Spin 	20 	
Ret 	20 	Nelson Piquet 	 	1 	Spin 	14 	
Ret 	5 	Nigel Mansell 	 	0 	Accident 	4 	
DNS 	27 	Alain Prost 	 	0 	Accident 	3 	
DNQ 	17 	Gabriele Tarquini 	 	 	 	 	
DNQ 	18 	Fabrizio Barbazza 	 	 	 	 	
DNQ 	10 	Alex Caffi 	 	 	 	 	
DNQ 	9 	Michele Alboreto 	 	 	 	 	
DNPQ 	21 	Emanuele Pirro 	 	 	 	 	
DNPQ 	14 	Olivier Grouillard	 	 	 	 	
DNPQ 	34 	Nicola Larini 	 	 	 	 	
DNPQ 	31 	Pedro Chaves 	 	 	 	 	
Source	Source	Source 	Source 	Source	Source 	Source	Source
** Moreno, Gugelmin and van de Poele were still classified despite retiring before the end of the final lap.
==Milestones==
*55th career pole for Ayrton Senna
*First and only podium for JJ Lehto
==Standings==
Dominance was the word on everyone's lips after San Marino, as Ayrton Senna left Italy with effectively a two race advantage over team mate Gerhard Berger in second. Alain Prost already looked out of the title fight, 21 points behind already, with Riccardo Patrese and Nelson Piquet for company. The future of F1 was shown to be in good hands, however, as scored his first career points in only his third race, defeating more experienced team mate Julian Bailey to fifth.
Much like their star driver, already looked like the 1991 Constructors Champions, an incredible 30 points ahead of Ferrari, as the Italians faltered at their home circuit. and also looked out of the fight even at this early stage, while secured their first points of the season. JJ Lehto's shock podium also paid off for his team, as found themselves in sixth place.  
Drivers' World Championship	Drivers' World Championship	Drivers' World Championship	Drivers' World Championship
Pos. 	Driver 	Pts 	+/-
1 	Ayrton Senna 	30 	
2 	Gerhard Berger 	10 	3
3 	Alain Prost 	9 	1
4 	Riccardo Patrese 	6 	1
5 	Nelson Piquet 	6 	1
6 	JJ Lehto 	4 	4
7 	Pierluigi Martini 	3 	3
8 	Stefano Modena 	3 	2
9 	 	2 	1
10 	Satoru Nakajima 	2 	3
11 	Jean Alesi 	1 	3
12 	Aguri Suzuki 	1 	3
13 	Julian Bailey 	1 	1
Constructors' World Championship	Constructors' World Championship	Constructors' World Championship	Constructors' World Championship
Pos. 	Team 	Pts 	+/-
1 	 	40 	
2 	 	10 	
3 	 	6 	
4 	 	6 	
5 	 	5 	
6 	 	4 	1
7 	 	3 	1
8 	 	3 	1
9 	 	1 	3
==References==
Category:Grand Prix articles
Category:1991 Grands Prix
Category:San Marino Grand Prix
Category:Formula One races in Italy