1990 Formula One Season

### Enginesuppliers

Ferrari, Ford Cosworth, Honda, Ilmor, Judd, Lamborghini, Porsche, Renault, Rocchi, Subaru

## World Drivers' Championship

### Champion

 Ayrton Senna
 88 points

### Runner-Up

 Nelson Piquet
 58 points

### 3rd

 Joey Davies
 48 points

## World Constructors' Championship

### Champion

 Ferrari
 112 points

### Runner-Up

 McLaren–Honda
 94 points

### 3rd

 Williams–Renault
 87 points

The **1990 Formula One season** was the 41st season of the FIA Formula One World Championship. The championship comprised of 17 races, with the World Drivers' Championship won by Brazil's Ayrton Senna, and Ferrari won the Constructors' Championship.

Ayrton Senna's switch to Ferrari paid immediate dividends, as the package of the Brazilian and the Ferrari 641 was the class of the field, winning eight of the seventeen races. Senna had clinched the championship at the European Grand Prix in Jerez, giving Ferrari its first World Drivers' Championship since Jody Scheckter's victory in 1979. Despite missing the first four races as a result of a pre-season testing accident, Williams's Joey Davies impressed in the second half of the season, reeling off victories in four of the last five races.

Ferrari's victory in the World Constructors' Championship was their first since 1983, and their first double since Scheckter and Gilles Villeneuve's 1979 campaign.

## Technical and rules changes

The verdict after the 1989 season was that the major regulation overhaul had been a huge success. Formula One's increasing popularity had stimulated Bernie Ecclestone to find ways to improve the television coverage of the racing action. On-board cameras had now been made mandatory on the racing cars and to compensate for this added weight, the minimum weight of the cars had been increased to 505 kilograms (1,113 lb).

FISA had decreed that all cars would have an increased cockpit size as well as a newly designed quick release steering wheel. These were all designed so that drivers could exit the car within six seconds in case of an emergency. Related to this, all marshals and medical staff must practice driver extrication exercises prior to the races.

FISA had also taken extra precautions in accident prevention by making large mirrors mandatory on all cars. The larger mirrors would provide extra visibility for the drivers whilst on-track.

## Drivers and constructors

The following teams and drivers competed in the 1990 FIA Formula One World Championship. All engines' displacement is 3.5 litres (210 cubic inches).

### Team changes

* Zakspeed left the sport at the conclusion of the 1989 season, after their final two seasons were filled with very little success. They would remain in motor racing however, returning to sports and touring cars. They would later return to the sport in 1993.
* After one of the most disappointing seasons in its illustrious history, Lotus gambled on a switch from the Judd V8 to the fast Lamborghini V12.
* The prosperity of the Japanese economy saw two teams gain significant investment: Arrows received new title sponsors - logistics company Footwork - and Leyton House rebranded the March team, after being title sponsors since the team's most recent return to the sport.
* Japanese car manufacturer Subaru entered the sport, commissioning Motori Moderni to design and build a boxer-12 engine. Minardi were the intended recipients of the new engine, but, Subaru instead opted to partner their Italian rivals Coloni, even purchasing half of the team.
* Two new teams joined the grid:
	+ Legendary winners of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Joest Racing entered the sport with backing from their long time partner, Porsche. They would lead the Porsche works effort, with Porsche stating upon their return that they had capacity to supply an additional two teams. After several teams wined and dined team boss Reinhold Joest, EuroBrun and Ligier scored the customer engine deals.
	+ Life, named for the English translation of founder Ernesto Vita's Italian surname, created a team to help promote its unusual W12 engine configuration. The engine was designed by former Ferrari engineer Franco Rocchi. Initially, Vita wanted to partner with a well-funded Formula One team, but, with no partners forthcoming, he decided to create his own team.

### Driver changes

* After a turbulent two years at McLaren, where it was clear that there was only room for one of them, the Prost-Senna partnership split. Despite pressure from Honda to keep a hold of Ayrton Senna, it was announced in late-1989 that he would be joining Ferrari on a three-year deal. Alain Prost stayed on with the Woking-based team, joined by double World Champion Nelson Piquet, who moved over from a disastrous season at Lotus, to create one of the winningest driver pairings in Formula One history. Piquet's move was made possible thanks to Honda, who had an existing relationship with Piquet from his time at both Williams and Lotus.
* Tyrrell retained Jean Alesi after his stint in 1989, and he was joined by Satoru Nakajima, who brought significant Japanese sponsorship interest.
* With Ayrton Senna moving to Ferrari, Nigel Mansell made a sensational return to Williams, being given assurances from Frank Williams that he would be the team's lead driver. Mansell's iconic "Red 5" number would return to his car, as Joey Davies was moved to the second seat. This would begin the fractious relationship between the two Britons.
* Stefano Modena remained at Brabham, being joined by the youngest son of the triple World Champion and team founder Jack Brabham, David.
* Arrows ended the popular partnership of Derek Warwick and Eddie Cheever, with the American returning to the United States to participate in the Indy Car World Series on a full-time basis. The team partnered the youth of Johnny Herbert, in after a promising stint at Tyrrell, and the experience of Martin Brundle, who dealt with a disappointing Brabham team the previous term.
* Lotus also went the route of pairing youth with experience. The experience came from veteran Derek Warwick, and he was partnered by the likeable rookie Northern Irishman, Martin Donnelly.
* Osella assigned Olivier Grouillard and Enrico Bertaggia to its two seats.
* Gabriele Tarquini's performances that saw AGS participate in several races in 1989 did not go unnoticed, as he remained with the team, partnered with Yannick Dalmas, who moved over from Larrousse.
* After being replaced by Nigel Mansell at Williams, Riccardo Patrese moved over to Benetton, where he would partner the fast Alessandro Nannini.
* Scuderia Italia retained Andrea de Cesaris with his significant sponsorship money from Marlboro, joining former Honda test driver Emanuele Pirro.
* Pierluigi Martini stayed at Minardi, joined by Paolo Barilla. Barilla had previously driven for Minardi in the European Formula Two championship in the early-1980s, and won the 1985 24 Hours of Le Mans with Joest Racing. His most recent single-seater experience was in the International Formula 3000 series.
* After finishing last season with the team, Michele Alboreto was retained at Ligier, partnered by Nicola Larini, who had left Osella.
* Rookie Éric Bernard, fresh from the International F3000 series, joined Larrousse. Aguri Suzuki joined from the now departed Zakspeed, bringing his considerable Japanese commercial interests along with him.
* Coloni brought in Bertrand Gachot from Onyx and Philippe Alliot from Larrousse.
* Onyx signed Alex Caffi from Scuderia Italia to partner the experienced Swede, Stefan Johansson.
* Joest Racing paired the highly experienced Thierry Boutsen, fresh from three solid seasons with Benetton, with the likable Brazilian "super-sub" Roberto Moreno, who arrived carrying significant sponsorship from Parmalat.
* There would be another Brabham on the F1 grid, as Life signed Jack Brabham's second son, Gary. Bruno Giacomelli, who last raced with Toleman in 1983, returned to the grid, having raced in Indy Car, Sportscars, and Touring Cars during his time away.

### In-season changes

* Roberto Moreno suffered a fractured leg when his Joest-Porsche suffered brake failure during a pre-season test at Paul Ricard. He was replaced for the opening two rounds by Joachim Winkelhock.
* On the morning of the first day of the final pre-season test at Imola, Williams' Joey Davies and Ligier's Nicola Larini were involved in an accident at Tamburello. Davies fractured both his legs and two vertebrae, eventually missing the first four races of the season. Davies was already suspended for the first two races of the season, a result of indiscretions during the final race weekend of 1989.
	+ After testing Indy Car drivers Michael Andretti and Al Unser Jr. alongside the team's test driver Mark Blundell, Blundell prevailed in a shootout to win the seat on a short-term basis. This was despite pressure from F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, who felt adding a star of US open wheel racing would aid the sport in breaking in the USA.
	+ Larini was given a one-year race ban in February, however the FIA overturned the ban in June. Formula 3000 driver Érik Comas replaced Larini for the rest of winter testing, and up to the French Grand Prix, when Larini returned to Ligier.
* After a series of poor performances that failed to get Ligier out of pre-qualifying, Michele Alboreto was sacked after the Monaco Grand Prix. As he became available after the return of Joey Davies, Mark Blundell took over from Alboreto for the rest of the season.
* Two notable accidents occurred during the pre-qualifying session for the British Grand Prix:
	+ On his first flying lap, Olivier Grouillard's Osella suffered a major mechanical failure at Becketts, and was then hit by the Life of Bruno Giacomelli. Grouillard was placed in an induced coma, having suffered a broken back, broken right leg and some swelling to the brain. Debris from the crash breached the safety fencing and entered the spectator area, but, no serious injuries were reported. Grouillard was replaced for the rest of the season by Gianni Morbidelli. Grouillard would return to the sport in 1991 after recovering from his injuries.
	+ Less than 20 minutes later, Alex Caffi's Onyx suffered a front-left puncture at Club corner, crashing his Onyx into the barriers at over 160 mph (257 km/h). Earlier that week, team boss Jean-Pierre Van Rossem, growing frustrated at being unable to make it out of pre-qualifying, gave the team an ultimatum to get into qualifying proper, or he would pull the plug on funding the team. Caffi's crash doomed his team, and after failing to make qualifying, Van Rossem was true to his word, and Onyx pulled out of the sport.
* After one of the most disastrous seasons in the history of the sport, where they failed to make it out of pre-qualifying at each of 15 races they entered, and were the slowest car by some distance from their competitors, the Life team pulled out prior to the final two fly away races.
* Days after the South African Grand Prix, Benetton's Alessandro Nannini was involved in a helicopter crash over his Siena vineyard, suffering a severed right forearm. This ended his Formula One career. British Formula Three Champion Mika Häkkinen was announced as his replacement for the final two races of the season.

## Season calendar

Seventeen races were scheduled for the 1990 season, the joint longest season in history, along with the 1977 campaign.

### Calendar changes

The final 1990 calendar featured several changes to the draft calendar that was announced in June 1989:

* The United States Grand Prix moved from the streets of Phoenix. The 1989 race suffered from being held in early June in Arizona, and the air temperature on race day reached a high of 36 °C (97 °F). F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone also criticised the promoters for the lack of spectator areas that could see more than a small part of the race. The race was moved to the popular Road America circuit in Wisconsin, which signed a one-year deal to host the event, with an option for two further years. Initially pencilled in for June, the race was moved up to March and opened the 1990 season.
* The Brazilian Grand Prix moved from Jacarepaguá to São Paulo, returning to the Autódromo José Carlos Pace. Better known as Interlagos, the circuit was renamed in 1985 to honour the winner of the 1976 Brazilian Grand Prix, who perished a year after his victory. The race would be run on the same layout as the last race at the venue in 1980, although calls for the track to be shortened and modernised began almost immediately. This race was initially scheduled to open the season, but was pushed back by two weeks to accommodate the new date for the United States Grand Prix.
* The European Grand Prix on the streets of Birmingham was scheduled to be second round, but was moved to be the penultimate European round. The Portuguese Grand Prix was moved to one week later, remaining the final European race of the season. As financial losses mounted, the promoters of the Birmingham Superprix backed out of the race in late-July. The event was moved to Circuito de Jerez in Spain, which returned to the calendar after a two-year absence.
* The Mexican Grand Prix moved from it's initial October date to the vacated slot that was scheduled for the United States Grand Prix in June. The South African Grand Prix was moved one week later to take the open date in October.

## Season Results

### Points scoring system

Points were awarded to the top six finishers in each race as follows:

### World Drivers' Championship standings

Only the best eleven results counted towards each driver's championship total; total points scored are displayed within parentheses.

Notes

* † – Driver did not finish the Grand Prix but was classified, as he completed more than 90% of the race distance.

### World Constructors' Championship standings

Points towards the 1990 FIA Formula One World Championship for Constructors were awarded on a 9–6–4–3–2–1 basis for the top six placed cars at each round. All results were counted (not just best eleven rounds).

Notes

* † – Driver did not finish the Grand Prix but was classified, as he completed more than 90% of the race distance.