1991 Monaco Grand Prix

The  was the fourth round of the 1991 Formula One Championship, hosted at the definitve Grand Prix location: Monaco. The race was won by Mr. Monaco himself, Ayrton Senna, whom was left celebrating his 30th career win, and his fourth win out of four in 1991.
Behind Senna came Nigel Mansell, who claimed his first points of his return to Williams, joined by Jean Alesi in third, the Frenchman taking his first Ferrari podium. Alain Prost and Riccardo Patrese had been on for the podium earlier in the race, before both lost out due to unrelated issues, as Senna extended his Championship lead to 29 points.
==Background==
There were no changes to the driver line ups after the San Marino battle, as teams largely focused on rebuilding damaged machinery. Incredibly, Footwork had managed to build an entire car to replace the A12 chassis that Michele Alboreto had obliterated a fortnight earlier, with minor refinements also made to Alex Caffi's car. But, they were still expected to struggle at the back of the field.
Championship-wise, there seemed little anyone could do to stop Ayrton Senna adding a third title to his name, having won all three races in 1991 so far. His three victories meant he held a 20 point lead over team mate Gerhard Berger in second, as his major rivals all suffered issues in the opening races. Alain Prost found himself in third, 21 points behind, with Riccardo Patrese and Nelson Piquet the best of the rest in fourth and fifth.
, meanwhile, were all conquering in the Constructors' Championship courtesy of Senna's perfect start to the season. Their 40 tally meant they were 30 ahead of Ferrari already, and with what was widely regarded as the best car in the field, were unlikely to be caught before the end of the year. The rest of the Constructors' Championship points were distributed between British and Italian privateers, with Williams next up behind Ferrari.
==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 V12 3.5 	
2 	Gerhard Berger 	Honda Marlboro McLaren 	 	MP4/6 	 	RA121E V12 3.5 	
3 	Satoru Nakajima 	Braun Tyrrell Honda 	 	020 	 	RA101E V10 3.5 	
4 	Stefano Modena 	Braun Tyrrell Honda 	 	020 	 	RA101E V10 3.5 	
5 	Nigel Mansell 	Canon Williams Team 	 	FW14 	 	RS3 V10 3.5 	
6 	Riccardo Patrese 	Canon Williams Team 	 	FW14 	 	RS3 V10 3.5 	
7 	Martin Brundle 	Motor Racing Developments Ltd. 	 	BT60Y 	 	OX99 V12 3.5 	
8 	Mark Blundell 	Motor Racing Developments Ltd. 	 	BT60Y 	 	OX99 V12 3.5 	
9 	Michele Alboreto 	Footwork Grand Prix International 	 	A12 	 	Porsche V12 3.5	
10 	Alex Caffi 	Footwork Grand Prix International 	 	A12 	 	Porsche V12 3.5	
11 	 	Team Lotus 	 	102B 	 	EV V8 3.5 	
12 	Julian Bailey 	Team Lotus 	 	102B 	 	EV V8 3.5 	
14 	Olivier Grouillard	Fondmetal F1 SpA 	 	FA1 M-E	 	DFR V8 3.5 	
15 	Mauricio Gugelmin 	Leyton House Racing 	 	CG911 	 	LH10 V10 3.5 	
16 	Ivan Capelli 	Leyton House Racing 	 	CG911 	 	LH10 V10 3.5 	
17 	Gabriele Tarquini 	Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives	 	JH25B 	 	DFR V8 3.5 	
18 	Fabrizio Barbazza 	Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives	 	JH25B 	 	DFR V8 3.5 	
19 	Roberto Moreno 	Camel Benetton Ford 	 	B191 	 	HB V8 3.5 	
20 	Nelson Piquet 	Camel Benetton Ford 	 	B191 	 	HB V8 3.5 	
21 	Emanuele Pirro 	BMS Scuderia Italia 	 	BMS-191	 	GV V10 3.5 	
22 	JJ Lehto 	BMS Scuderia Italia 	 	BMS-191	 	GV V10 3.5 	
23 	Pierluigi Martini 	Minardi Team 	 	M191 	 	F1-91 V12 3.5 	
24 	Gianni Morbidelli 	Minardi Team 	 	M191 	 	F1-91 V12 3.5 	
25 	Thierry Boutsen 	Ligier Gitanes 	 	JS35 	 	L3512 V12 3.5 	
26 	 	Ligier Gitanes 	 	JS35 	 	L3512 V12 3.5 	
27 	Alain Prost 	Scuderia Ferrari SpA 	 	642B 	 	F1-91 V12 3.5 	
28 	Jean Alesi 	Scuderia Ferrari SpA 	 	642B 	 	F1-91 V12 3.5 	
29 	 	Larrousse F1 	 	91 	 	DFR V8 3.5 	
30 	Aguri Suzuki 	Larrousse F1 	 	91 	 	DFR V8 3.5 	
31 	Pedro Chaves 	Coloni Racing Srl 	 	C4 	 	DFR V8 3.5 	
32 	Bertrand Gachot 	Team 7Up Jordan 	 	191 	 	HB V8 3.5 	
33 	Andrea de Cesaris 	Team 7Up Jordan 	 	191 	 	HB V8 3.5 	
34 	Nicola Larini 	Modena Team SpA 	 	291 	 	L3512 V12 3.5 	
35 	Eric van de Poele 	Modena Team SpA 	 	291 	 	L3512 V12 3.5 	
==Practice Overview==
==Qualifying==
Previously, during the turbo-era, the FIA had deemed the streets of Monaco too dangerous for anymore than 20 cars to race on at any one time. In 1991, however, the upperlimit was the familiar 26 used at every other Grand Prix, although their new limit of 30 cars in qualifying still applied. That meant the increasingly competitive pre-qualifying session returned in Monaco, with eight cars battling for four qualifying spots.
===Pre-Qualifying===
 and were once again the class acts in pre-qualifying, as JJ Lehto, fresh from his first taste of champagne on the podium in San Marino, topped the session. Andrea de Cesaris beat Lehto's team mate Emanuele Pirro to second in the group, while Bertrand Gachot beat the two s to the final spot. Out went Eric van de Poele, Nicola Larini, Pedro Chaves and Olivier Grouillard, an increasingly familiar outcome for the quartet.
===Report===
Senna was not to be denied at the track where he announced his arrival to the F1 world in 1984, taking yet another pole position, almost half a second of his nearest rival. Stefano Modena took a shock second for , beating the two s of Riccardo Patrese and Nigel Mansell, who were split by Nelson Piquet. Alain Prost was best of the Ferraris in seventh, also behind Gerhard Berger in the second McLaren, while an exstatic Eddie Jordan would see de Cesaris line up tenth in Jordan's first visit to Monte Carlo.
The first session saw the elimination of two drivers in very different circumstances on Saturday morning, as penalties and crashes came to the Monaco streets. First Alex Caffi destroyed his new Footwork A12 in the Swimming pool section, tearing the chassis in two as the car was shreaded against the barrier. Martin Brundle was excluded from the result after the session was restarted for failing to attend a weight check during the interval, a fact the Brit was keen to argue. Julian Bailey and Fabrizio Barbazza were also eliminated, with Bailey losing his seat as a result.
===Full Qualifying Result===
The full result for the is outlined below:
Pos.	No.	Driver 	Constructor	Time'1991 Monaco Grand Prix', wikipedia.org, (WikiMedia, 28/07/2015), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_Monaco_Grand_Prix, (Accessed 01/08/2015)	Time'1991 Monaco Grand Prix', wikipedia.org, (WikiMedia, 28/07/2015), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_Monaco_Grand_Prix, (Accessed 01/08/2015)	Gap
Pos.	No.	Driver 	Constructor	Q1 	Q2 	Gap
1 	1 	Ayrton Senna 	 	1:20.508 	1:20.344 	
2 	4 	Stefano Modena 	 	1:23.442 	1:20.809 	+0.456s
3 	6 	Riccardo Patrese 	 	1:22.057 	1:20.973 	+0.629s
4 	20 	Nelson Piquet 	 	1:22.816 	1:21.159 	+0.815s
5 	5 	Nigel Mansell 	 	1:23.274 	1:21.205 	+0.861s
6 	2 	Gerhard Berger 	 	1:21.222 	1:21.583 	+0.878s
7 	27 	Alain Prost 	 	1:22.113 	1:21.455 	+1.111s
8 	19 	Roberto Moreno 	 	1:23.476 	1:21.804 	+1.460s
9 	28 	Jean Alesi 	 	1:22.966 	1:21.910 	+1.566s
10 	33 	Andrea de Cesaris 	 	1:24.257 	1:22.764 	+2.420s
11 	3 	Satoru Nakajima 	 	1:24.435 	1:22.972 	+2.628s
12 	21 	Emanuele Pirro 	 	1:23.311 	1:23.022 	+2.678s
13 	22 	JJ Lehto 	 	1:23.023 	1:23.983 	+2.679s
14 	23 	Pierluigi Martini 	 	1:24.101 	1:23.064 	+2.720s
15 	15 	Mauricio Gugelmin 	 	1:24.920 	1:23.394 	+3.050s
16 	25 	Thierry Boutsen 	 	1:24.728 	1:23.431 	+3.087s
17 	24 	Gianni Morbidelli 	 	1:24.481 	1:23.584 	+3.240s
18 	16 	Ivan Capelli 	 	1:25.040 	1:23.642 	+3.298s
19 	30 	Aguri Suzuki 	 	1:26.380 	1:23.898 	+3.554s
20 	17 	Gabriele Tarquini 	 	1:25.078 	1:23.909 	+3.565s
21 	29 	 	 	1:25.370 	1:24.079 	+3.735s
22 	8 	Mark Blundell 	 	1:25.500 	1:24.109 	+3.765s
23 	26 	 	 	1:24.747 	1:24.151 	+3.807s
24 	32 	Bertrand Gachot 	 	1:24.540 	1:24.208 	+3.864s
25 	9 	Michele Alboreto 	 	1:27.843 	1:24.606 	+4.262s
26 	11 	 	 	1:24.868 	1:24.829 	+4.485s
DNQ 	12 	Julian Bailey 	 	1:28.772 	1:26.995 	+6.651s
DNQ 	18 	Fabrizio Barbazza 	 	1:28.060 	1:27.079 	+6.735s
NC 	10 	Alex Caffi 	 	No Time 	No Time 	No Time
DSQ*	7 	Martin Brundle 	 	Disqualified 	Disqualified 	Disqualified
DNPQ	34 	Nicola Larini 	 	1:25.893 	1:25.893 	1:25.893
DNPQ	35 	Eric van de Poele 	 	1:26.282 	1:26.282 	1:26.282
DNPQ	31 	Pedro Chaves 	 	1:27.389 	1:27.389 	1:27.389
DNPQ	14 	Olivier Grouillard	 	1:27.759 	1:27.759 	1:27.759
** Brundle was disqualified for missing a weight check.
===Grid===
The starting grid for the is shown below: 
==Race==
A warm dry day on the banks of the Mediterranean greeted the field on Sunday, with the man who had dominated the season so far the favourite to take a fourth consecutive win. With Ayrton Senna's words of praise still ringing in his ears after his qualifying performance, Stefano Modena was set to challenge the all conquering Brazilian from second, with the s and Ferraris having to come through a minor amount of traffic to get to the World Champion.senorsoupe, '1991 FIA Review Round 4 Monaco', youtubecom, (YouTube, 20/07/2008), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoG4cLaXFlk, {Accessed 03/08/2015)
===Report===
Monaco was famous for its first corner problems, and as Senna successfully pulled away with Modena in tow, Nelson Piquet was hit from behind by the second of Gerhard Berger.'GRAND PRIX RESULTS: MONACO GP, 1991', grandprix.com, (Inside F1 Inc., 1999), http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr504.html, (Accessed 03/08/2015) Berger was left beached on the curb, although a combination of reverse gear and a few marshals put him back into the race. Piquet, meanwhile, was out of the race with a suspension failure a few moments later, unrelated to his contact with Berger. Senna, meanwhile, was off and away at the front, as Modena fended off a early attack from Riccardo Patrese.
Senna's bolt at the front was almost halted when a marshal ran across the track in front of him, although there was no contact between them. Modena was doing well in second, able to pull a gap to Patrese after his initial attack, as Berger crashed in the swimming pool section while trying catch the back of the field. Modena was then caught in traffic as the leaders came up to the tail end of the runners, falling back into the clutches of Patrese.
Modena's problems were caused by Pierluigi Martini in the , with a little bit of history created from the incident. The Italian was awarded the first ever 10 second stop-go penalty in Formula One, which he served a lap later. Alain Prost and Nigel Mansell, now some way off of Modena and Patrese, were battling for fourth, with the Frenchman forcing his way past. The race remained fairly stable for the following laps, until Modena and Patrese's battle got more heated, Patrese now on the gearbox of the Tyrrell.
It was all over for the pair a few laps later, as Modena's Honda engine blew in the tunnel, leaving Patrese unsighted coming into the Nouvelle Chicane, as well as slipping on oil. Patrese was flung into the wall before the Chicane, putting him out of the race, as Modena pulled off at the same place, promoting Prost and Mansell onto the podium. Senna, meanwhile, continued to pound round the circuit without putting a fault wrong.
Prost was unable to lose Mansell as the race came to a close, with the Brit lining up a move through the tunnel on lap 63. It was a classic move by the man with the moustache, as he dived on the brakes milliseconds after Prost into the Nouvelle Chicane snatching second. Prost opted to have a wheel wobble investigated afterwards, holding a significant lead over fourth placed Jean Alesi, but it was a lengthy stop for the treble World Champion. A wheelnut got caught under the Ferrari during the stop, with the few extra moments lost dropping Prost to fifth, behind the lonely Roberto Moreno as well.
But, it was Senna's day, as he completed his task of four wins from four races, also taking his fourth Monaco victory in five years. Mansell was still pushing in second, successfully taking his first points of the season, while Alesi scored a first podium for Ferrari in third. Moreno claimed a steady fourth in his sole remaining Benetton, as Prost set the fastest lap in his attempts to catch him, the Frenchman finishing the day in fifth. JJ Lehto was on course for sixth until a gearbox issue dropped him out of the top ten, leaving team mate Emauele Pirro to complete the job in the second .
===Results===
Pos. 	No. 	Driver 	Constructor	Laps 	Time/Retired	Grid 	Points
1 	1 	Ayrton Senna 	 	78 	1:53:02.334 	1 	10
2 	5 	Nigel Mansell 	 	78 	+18.384s 	5 	6
3 	28 	Jean Alesi 	 	78 	+47.455s 	9 	4
4 	19 	Roberto Moreno 	 	77 	+1 lap 	8 	3
5 	27 	Alain Prost 	 	77 	+1 lap 	7 	2
6 	21 	Emanuele Pirro 	 	77 	+1 lap 	12 	1
7 	25 	Thierry Boutsen 	 	76 	+2 laps 	16 	
8 	32 	Bertrand Gachot 	 	76 	+2 laps 	24 	
9 	29 	 	 	76 	+2 laps 	21 	
10 	26 	 	 	76 	+2 laps 	23 	
11 	22 	JJ Lehto 	 	75 	+3 laps 	13 	
12 	23 	Pierluigi Martini 	 	72 	+6 laps 	14 	
Ret 	11 	 	 	64 	Oil leak 	26 	
Ret 	24 	Gianni Morbidelli 	 	49 	Gearbox 	17 	
Ret 	15 	Mauricio Gugelmin 	 	43 	Throttle 	15 	
Ret 	4 	Stefano Modena 	 	42 	Engine 	2 	
Ret 	6 	Riccardo Patrese 	 	42 	Accident 	3 	
Ret 	8 	Mark Blundell 	 	41 	Spin 	22 	
Ret 	9 	Michele Alboreto 	 	39 	Engine 	25 	
Ret 	3 	Satoru Nakajima 	 	35 	Spin 	11 	
Ret 	30 	Aguri Suzuki 	 	24 	Spin 	19 	
Ret 	33 	Andrea de Cesaris 	 	21 	Throttle 	10 	
Ret 	16 	Ivan Capelli 	 	12 	Brakes 	18 	
Ret 	17 	Gabriele Tarquini 	 	9 	Gearbox 	20 	
Ret 	2 	Gerhard Berger 	 	9 	Accident 	6 	
Ret 	20 	Nelson Piquet 	 	0 	Suspension 	4 	
DNQ 	12 	Julian Bailey 	 	 	 	 	
DNQ 	18 	Fabrizio Barbazza 	 	 	 	 	
DNQ 	10 	Alex Caffi 	 	 	 	 	
EXC* 	7 	Martin Brundle 	 	 	 	 	
DNPQ 	34 	Nicola Larini 	 	 	 	 	
DNPQ 	35 	Eric van de Poele 	 	 	 	 	
DNPQ 	31 	Pedro Chaves 	 	 	 	 	
DNPQ 	14 	Olivier Grouillard	 	 	 	 	
Source	Source	Source 	Source 	Source	Source 	Source	Source
** Brundle was excluded from all results of the weekend because of his infringement.
==Milestones==
*
==Standings==
Ayrton Senna's 30th career win meant he remained in complete control of the Drivers' Championship, now 29 points ahead of Alain Prost in second. Prost, meanwhile, held a one point advantage over Gerhard Berger in third, as the top three began to gap the rest of the field, but only by a small amount. Jean Alesi's podium moved him into seventh, a point behind Riccardo Patrese, Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet all on six. Emanuele Pirro, meanwhile, was placed fifteenth, one ahead of Julian Bailey whom had just raced for the last time in Formula One.
's lead in the Constructors Championship grew once again through Senna's work, leaving Monte Carlo with 34 points in hand over Ferrari. With sixteen available at each race, McLaren could afford to simply not attend two races and still retain the lead over the Championship, as Ferrari pulled a small margin over in third. Pirro's point put level with for fifth place, with the latter judged to be ahead due to Nakajima's better result of fifth to Pirro's sixth.  
Drivers' World Championship	Drivers' World Championship	Drivers' World Championship	Drivers' World Championship
Pos. 	Driver 	Pts 	+/-
1 	Ayrton Senna 	40 	
2 	Alain Prost 	11 	1
3 	Gerhard Berger 	10 	1
4 	Riccardo Patrese 	6 	
5 	Nigel Mansell 	6 	9
6 	Nelson Piquet 	6 	1
7 	Jean Alesi 	5 	4
8 	JJ Lehto 	4 	2
9 	Pierluigi Martini 	3 	2
10 	Roberto Moreno 	3 	4
11 	Stefano Modena 	3 	3
12 	 	2 	3
13 	Satoru Nakajima 	2 	3
14 	Aguri Suzuki 	1 	2
15 	Emanuele Pirro 	1 	1
16 	Julian Bailey 	1 	3
Constructors' World Championship	Constructors' World Championship	Constructors' World Championship	Constructors' World Championship
Pos. 	Team 	Pts 	+/-
1 	 	50 	
2 	 	16 	
3 	 	12 	
4 	 	9 	
5 	 	5 	
6 	 	5 	
7 	 	3 	
8 	 	3 	
9 	 	1 	
==References==
Videos and Images:
*Jmex60, 'Ayrton Senna 1991 Monaco', wikipedia.org, (WikiMedia, 12/05/1991), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ayrton_Senna_1991_Monaco.jpg (Accessed 02/08/2015)
References:
Category:Grand Prix articles
Category:Monaco Grand Prix
Category:1991 Grands Prix