1991 Australian Grand Prix

The 1991 Australian Grand Prix served as the final race of the 1991 Formula One Season, held in the city of Adelaide, Australia. Heavy rain hit the race just before it began, with a red flag thrown after 16 laps due to the conditions.
The race was not restarted and, with the result declared from the order on the fourteenth lap, Ayrton Senna claimed victory in what was the shortest ever Formula One level Grand Prix until the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix. Nigel Mansell and Gerhard Berger completed the podium, with only half points awarded as the race had not reached the 75% mark, in a race that saw take the Constructors' Championship.
==Background==
The huge story to emerge post Japan and Ayrton Senna's triumph in the Championship surrounded his arch-rival Alain Prost and Ferrari. Prost had been very vocal about his dissatisfaction with the work of the Ferrari team and the delay, and subsequent poor performance, of their 1991 creation, the 643. By this stage, Ferrari had had enough, and opted to cancel Prost's contract with immediate affect, drafting in Gianni Morbidelli to replace him in Australia. Prost, for his part, decided to take a break from racing in 1992 following the incident.
 found their replacement for Morbidelli in the form of Roberto Moreno, who was once again earning a reputation for being a super-sub, rather than superstar. Elsewhere, had broken his leg in his huge crash in Japan, leaving the Larrouse team having to find a reserve. Luckily for them, Bertrand Gachot was still trying to revive his career, which up until four months earlier had been on an upward trend, with the two coming to a mutual agreement in Australia.
With the Drivers' title already settled, the Championship focus was on the battle between and . The former were favourites, holding an eleven point lead over their rivals, with just 16 available in Australia. If McLaren had one car finish ahead of the Williams, then they would win, although there were numerous other conditions in which they could. The reverse was true for Williams, who needed to score a double podium with the victory to stand any chance, and if one of the McLarens took second, then it would be the Marlboro machines that took the title.
==Entry List==
The full entry list for the is shown below:
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 Team 	 	FW14 	 	RS3 3.5 V10 	
6 	Riccardo Patrese 	Canon Williams Team 	 	FW14 	 	RS3 3.5 V10 	
7 	Martin Brundle 	Motor Racing Developments Ltd. 	 	BT60Y 	 	OX99 3.5 V12 	
8 	Mark Blundell 	Motor Racing Developments Ltd. 	 	BT60Y 	 	OX99 3.5 V12 	
9 	Michele Alboreto 	Footwork Grand Prix International	 	FA12C 	 	DFR 3.5 V8 	
10 	Alex Caffi 	Footwork Grand Prix International	 	FA12C 	 	DFR 3.5 V8 	
11 	Mika Häkkinen 	Team Lotus 	 	102B 	 	EV 3.5 V8 	
12 	Johnny Herbert 	Team Lotus 	 	102B 	 	EV 3.5 V8 	
14 	Gabriele Tarquini 	Fondmetal SpA 	 	F1 	 	DFR 3.5 V8 	
15 	Maurício Gugelmin 	Leyton House Racing 	 	CG911 	 	2175A 3.5 V10 	
16 	Karl Wendlinger 	Leyton House Racing 	 	CG911 	 	2175A 3.5 V10 	
19 	Michael Schumacher	Camel Benetton Ford 	 	B191 	 	HBA5 3.5 V8 	
20 	Nelson Piquet 	Camel Benetton Ford 	 	B191 	 	HBA5 3.5 V8 	
21 	Emanuele Pirro 	BMS Scuderia Italia 	 	F191 	 	GV 3.5 V8 	
22 	JJ Lehto 	BMS Scuderia Italia 	 	F191 	 	GV 3.5 V8 	
23 	Pierluigi Martini 	Minardi Team 	 	M191 	 	037 3.5 V12 	
24 	Roberto Moreno 	Minardi Team 	 	M191 	 	037 3.5 V12 	
25 	Thierry Boutsen 	Equipe Ligier Gitanes 	 	JS35B 	 	3512 3.5 V12 	
26 	Érik Comas 	Equipe Ligier Gitanes 	 	JS35B 	 	3512 3.5 V12 	
27 	Gianni Morbidelli 	Scuderia Ferrari 	 	643 	 	037 3.5 V12 	
28 	Jean Alesi 	Scuderia Ferrari 	 	643 	 	037 3.5 V12 	
29 	Bertrand Gachot 	Larrousse F1 	 	LC91 	 	DFR 3.5 V8 	
30 	Aguri Suzuki 	Larrousse F1 	 	LC91 	 	DFR 3.5 V8 	
31 	Naoki Hattori 	Coloni Racing 	 	C4 	 	DFR 3.5 V8 	
32 	Alex Zanardi 	Team 7Up Jordan 	 	191 	 	HBA4 3.5 V8 	
33 	Andrea de Cesaris 	Team 7Up Jordan 	 	191 	 	HBA4 3.5 V8 	
34 	Nicola Larini 	Modena Team 	 	291 	 	3512 3.5 V12 	
35 	Eric van de Poele 	Modena Team 	 	291 	 	3512 3.5 V12 	
==Practice Overview==
==Qualifying==
As with the majority of the 1991 season, the saw the use of pre-qualifying to satisfy the FIA's latest safety drive. The maximum limit for cars on any circuit at any time had been set at 30, meaning that 3 cars had to be removed from the weekend running. Seven drivers were therefore made to battle it out for four spots in the full qualifying session, based on their performance from the previous half season. Brabham, Coloni, Fondmetal, and Footwork were the entrants who made up the session after the 1991 German Grand Prix, with AGS out for the foreseeable future
===Pre-Qualifying===
Martin Brundle was once again fastest in pre-qualifying, amid rumours he was to join Benetton in 1992 to partner rising star Michael Schumacher. His team mate Mark Blundell also made it through, proving his poor performance in Japan was a blip, although he was outpaced by Alex Caffi. Michele Alboreto also got his Footwork through, as the Fondmetal of Gabriele Tarquini, and Naoki Hattori in the Coloni failed to get through, AGS having failed to send either of their cars once again.
====Pre-Qualifying Results====
The full pre-qualifying results for the are outlined below:
Pos.	No.	Driver 	Constructor	Time 	Gap 	Ave. Speed
1 	7 	Martin Brundle 	 	1:17.707	— 	175.119 km/h
2 	10 	Alex Caffi 	 	1:18.007	+0.300s	174.446 km/h
3 	8 	Mark Blundell 	 	1:18.049	+0.342s	174.352 km/h
4 	9 	Michele Alboreto 	 	1:18.051	+0.344s	174.348 km/h
DNPQ	14 	Gabriele Tarquini	 	1:18.184	+0.477s	174.051 km/h
DNPQ	31 	Naoki Hattori 	 	1:22.852	+5.145s	164.245 km/h
===Report===
With no pressure on his shoulders, Ayrton Senna duly took pole position, going three tenths faster than team mate Gerhard Berger in second. It was the ideal scenario for , as it meant they held the advantage in both the Championship and the race right from the start, although remained a threat, Nigel Mansell and Riccardo Patrese sharing row two. The two Benettons beat both Ferraris to the third row, Nelson Piquet finally beating rookie Schumacher in qualifying.
Alboreto was the best of the pre-qualifiers, claiming fifthteenth, with Blundell seventeenth and Caffi 23rd. But, there was to be no place on the grid for Brundle, who couldn't set a competitive time in either session, so tumbled out of the race. He joined Aguri Suzuki, who ruined his chances when he wrote off their stronger chassis in the first qualifying session, Eric van de Poele and the returning Bertrand Gachot in the other Lola.
===Full Qualifying Results===
The final result for the is outlined below:
Pos.	No.	Driver 	Constructor	Time'1991 Australian Grand Prix', wikipedia.org, (WikiMedia, 13/08/2015), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_Australian_Grand_Prix, (Accessed 15/08/2015)	Time'1991 Australian Grand Prix', wikipedia.org, (WikiMedia, 13/08/2015), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_Australian_Grand_Prix, (Accessed 15/08/2015)	Gap
Pos.	No.	Driver 	Constructor	Q1 	Q2 	Gap
1 	1 	Ayrton Senna 	 	1:14.210 	1:14.041 	
2 	2 	Gerhard Berger 	 	1:14.385 	1:15.563 	+0.344s
3 	5 	Nigel Mansell 	 	1:14.822 	1:14.897 	+0.781s
4 	6 	Riccardo Patrese 	 	1:15.633 	1:15.057 	+1.016s
5 	20 	Nelson Piquet 	 	1:16.552 	1:15.291 	+1.250s
6 	19 	Michael Schumacher	 	1:15.840 	1:15.508 	+1.467s
7 	28 	Jean Alesi 	 	1:17.014 	1:15.545 	+1.504s
8 	27 	Gianni Morbidelli 	 	1:16.203 	1:17.679 	+2.162s
9 	4 	Stefano Modena 	 	1:16.253 	No Time 	+2.212s
10 	23 	Pierluigi Martini 	 	1:17.614 	1:16.359 	+2.318s
11 	22 	JJ Lehto 	 	1:17.665 	1:16.871 	+2.830s
12 	33 	Andrea de Cesaris 	 	1:17.073 	1:17.050 	+3.009s
13 	21 	Emanuele Pirro 	 	1:17.342 	1:18.223 	+3.301s
14 	15 	Maurício Gugelmin 	 	1:17.344 	1:17.431 	+3.303s
15 	9 	Michele Alboreto 	 	1:18.214 	1:17.355 	+3.314s
16 	32 	Alex Zanardi 	 	1:17.362 	1:17.723 	+3.321s
17 	8 	Mark Blundell 	 	1:17.867 	1:17.365 	+3.324s
18 	24 	Roberto Moreno 	 	1:19.752 	1:17.639 	+3.598s
19 	34 	Nicola Larini 	 	1:19.076 	1:17.936 	+3.895s
20 	25 	Thierry Boutsen 	 	1:18.992 	1:17.969 	+3.958s
21 	12 	Johnny Herbert 	 	1:19.117 	1:18.091 	+4.050s
22 	26 	 	 	1:19.678 	1:18.112 	+4.071s
23 	10 	Alex Caffi 	 	1:18.783 	1:18.157 	+4.116s
24 	3 	Satoru Nakajima 	 	1:18.216 	1:18.307 	+4.175s
25 	11 	 	 	1:19.199 	1:18.271 	+4.230s
26 	16 	Karl Wendlinger 	 	1:18.282 	2:12.369 	+4.241s
DNQ 	30 	Aguri Suzuki 	 	No Time 	1:18.393 	+4.352s
DNQ 	7 	Martin Brundle 	 	1:18.887 	1:18.855 	+4.814s
DNQ 	35 	Eric van de Poele 	 	1:20.123 	1:19.000 	+4.959s
DNQ 	29 	Bertrand Gachot 	 	1:20.163 	1:19.274 	+5.223s
DNPQ	14 	Gabriele Tarquini 	 	1:18.184 	1:18.184 	1:18.184
DNPQ	31 	Naoki Hattori 	 	1:22.852 	1:22.852 	1:22.852
===Grid===
==Race==
The morning before the race had been warm and dry, with no concerns about the weather during the warm up session, with no changes to the grid. However, as the start time approached, dark clouds gathered overhead, with a storm breaking over the circuit an hour before the start time. The start was delayed until the FIA deemed that the rain was easing, finally allowing the race to start.'GRAND PRIX RESULTS: AUSTRALIAN GP, 1991', grandprix.com, (Inside F1 Inc., 1999), http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr516.html, (Accessed 17/08/2015)
===Report===
 Surprisingly, the FIA also deemed that the conditions were good enough to allow a standing start, with Ayrton Senna immediately showing his legendary feel in the wet to take the lead.'F1 highlights - Senna dominates aborted 1991 Australian Grand Prix', bbc.co.uk, (British Broadcasting Company, 23/03/2009), http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7951507.stm, (Accessed 17/08/2015) Gerhard Berger was smartly into second, with Nigel Mansell slipping into third, Riccardo Patrese falling to the two Benettons. Surprisingly, the entire field made it through the first lap without incident, although the rain remained.
Senna immediately scampered ahead, as a mistake by Berger allowed Mansell through into second on lap three. But it was the calm before the storm, as the chaos began on lap five. Nelson Piquet and Michael Schumacher hit each other down the back straight, with the latter put into the wall. He rebounded back onto the track, getting collected by Jean Alesi and the Modena of Nicola Larini, scattering debris every where.
Piquet, meanwhile, continued, before completing a pirouette all on his own after catching a curb, but again was able to continue, and hold his fourth place. Mansell, meanwhile, was right on the tail of Senna, and as the pair came through to the back straight on lap six, the Brit was in a position to attack. Senna slowed having seen a yellow flag, but Mansell, in the spray, could not see it, only noticing a yellow flag on his side of the track a few metres ahead of Larini's abandoned machine. Both managed to weave their way through the littered machinery, before their battle resumed.
The rain was now pelting down, and the Jack Brabham Straight claimed a fourth victim in the form of Pierluigi Martini on lap ten. Senna and Mansell, meanwhile, were beginning to encounter traffic, with Alex Caffi almost catching Mansell out as they came into the new graveyard that was the Jack Brabham Straight. Mansell lost time behind him, and as he pushed to catch Senna in the next lap, he too crashed into the wall down the back straight, leaving Senna all on his own.
As Mansell crashed out, there was a bad accident in the pits, as Maurício Gugelmin slid into the pit wall, while also knocking over two marshals. With his major rivals out (Berger now also walking away from a wall related incident), Senna was waving madly at the race director every time he came down the main straight, trying to get the race stopped. More cars were now flinging themselves off the circuit, Michele Alboreto the latest victim of the conditions, with red flag suddenly shown on lap seventeen.
With only a handful of cars in race worthy condition after the final lap, with the points looking as if they would go to Senna, Piquet, Gianni Morbidelli, Andrea de Cesaris, Alex Zanardi and Stefano Modena. That said, the organisers signalled the ten minute board after a long delay, despite the rain pouring down still, although somewhat lighter than it had been. However, protests from Senna and Patrese ultimately ended any chance of a restart.
The carnage of the final two laps caused a lot of confusion for the timekeepers, who opted to back track the result to lap 14. The controvesial decision meant that Senna won from Mansell and Berger, with Piquet dropping to fourth. Riccardo Patrese, who had collected a piece of Alesi's Ferrari in his undertray, was promoted to fifth, while Morbidelli was confirmed as taking points on his debut for the tifosi. The organisers were also made to award half points, as the race had not even approached the 75% mark needed for full points.
===Results===
The final results for the are shown below:
Pos. 	No. 	Driver 	Constructor	Laps 	Time/Retired	Grid 	Points
1 	1 	Ayrton Senna 	 	14 	24:34.899 	1 	5
2 	5 	Nigel Mansell 	 	14 	+1.259s 	3 	3
3 	2 	Gerhard Berger 	 	14 	+5.120s 	2 	2
4 	20 	Nelson Piquet 	 	14 	+30.103s 	5 	1.5
5 	6 	Riccardo Patrese 	 	14 	+50.537s 	4 	1
6 	27 	Gianni Morbidelli 	 	14 	+51.069s 	8 	0.5
7 	21 	Emanuele Pirro 	 	14 	+52.361s 	13 	
8 	33 	Andrea de Cesaris 	 	14 	+1:00.431 	12 	
9 	32 	Alex Zanardi 	 	14 	+1:15.567 	16 	
10 	4 	Stefano Modena 	 	14 	+1:20.370 	9 	
11 	12 	Johnny Herbert 	 	14 	+1:22.073 	21 	
12 	22 	JJ Lehto 	 	14 	+1:38.519 	11 	
13 	9 	Michele Alboreto 	 	14 	+1:39.303 	15 	
14 	15 	Maurício Gugelmin 	 	13 	Accident 	14 	
15 	10 	Alex Caffi 	 	13 	+1 lap 	23 	
16 	24 	Roberto Moreno 	 	13 	+1 lap 	18 	
17 	8 	Mark Blundell 	 	13 	+1 lap 	17 	
18 	26 	 	 	13 	+1 lap 	22 	
19 	11 	 	 	12 	+2 laps 	25 	
20 	16 	Karl Wendlinger 	 	12 	+2 laps 	26 	
Ret 	23 	Pierluigi Martini 	 	8 	Spin 	10 	
Ret 	19 	Michael Schumacher	 	5 	Spin 	6 	
Ret 	28 	Jean Alesi 	 	5 	Accident 	7 	
Ret 	34 	Nicola Larini 	 	5 	Accident 	19 	
Ret 	25 	Thierry Boutsen 	 	5 	Accident 	20 	
Ret 	3 	Satoru Nakajima 	 	4 	Spin 	24 	
DNQ 	30 	Aguri Suzuki 	 	 	 	 	
DNQ 	7 	Martin Brundle 	 	 	 	 	
DNQ 	35 	Eric van de Poele 	 	 	 	 	
DNQ 	29 	Bertrand Gachot 	 	 	 	 	
DNPQ 	14 	Gabriele Tarquini 	 	 	 	 	
DNPQ 	31 	Naoki Hattori 	 	 	 	 	
Source	Source	Source 	Source 	Source	Source 	Source	Source
==Milestones==
*Shortest Grand Prix in F1 history until the record was broken in the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix, in which only two laps were completed.
**Ironically, this was the race with most finishers in 1991 after the countback.
*60th pole position for Ayrton Senna.
*204th and last start for Nelson Piquet.
==Final Championship Standings==
With that, the 1991 season came to a close, with Ayrton Senna winning the title by 24 points from Nigel Mansell in second. Riccardo Patrese claimed third from Gerhard Berger, who had already confirmed his position after Alain Prost was sacked. Nelson Piquet claimed sixth ahead of Jean Alesi, with Stefano Modena, Andrea de Cesaris and Roberto Moreno completing the top ten.
The half point situation made it impossible for to win the Constructors' Championship, although Senna's victory made the point moot. therefore claimed the title for the second year in a row, with Williams in second, and Ferrari a distant third, only just ahead of Benetton. The other big story surronded Jordan, who confirmed their top five place despite being denied the points they would have got before the count back. In only their debut season, the small Irish owned team had made their mark on the Championship, and they were an exciting prospect for 1992.  
Drivers' World Championship	Drivers' World Championship	Drivers' World Championship	Drivers' World Championship
Pos. 	Driver 	Pts 	+/-
1 	Ayrton Senna 	96 	
2 	Nigel Mansell 	72 	
3 	Riccardo Patrese 	53 	
4 	Gerhard Berger 	43 	
5 	Alain Prost 	34 	
6 	Nelson Piquet 	26.5 	
7 	Jean Alesi 	21 	
8 	Stefano Modena 	10 	
9 	Andrea de Cesaris 	9 	
10 	Roberto Moreno 	8 	
11 	Pierluigi Martini 	6 	
12 	JJ Lehto 	4 	
13 	Bertrand Gachot 	4 	
14 	Michael Schumacher 	4 	
15 	Satoru Nakajima 	2 	
16 	 	2 	
17 	Martin Brundle 	2 	
18 	Emanuele Pirro 	1 	
19 	Mark Blundell 	1 	
20 	Ivan Capelli 	1 	
21 	 	1 	
22 	Aguri Suzuki 	1 	
23 	Julian Bailey 	1 	
24 	Gianni Morbidelli 	0.5 	1
Constructors' World Championship	Constructors' World Championship	Constructors' World Championship	Constructors' World Championship
Pos. 	Team 	Pts 	+/-
1 	 	139 	
2 	 	125 	
3 	 	55.5 	
4 	 	38.5 	
5 	 	13 	
6 	 	12 	
7 	 	6 	
8 	 	5 	
9 	 	3 	
10 	 	3 	
11 	 	2 	
12 	 	1 	
==References==
Category:Grand Prix articles
Category:1991 Grands Prix