Australian GP 1992

Australian GP, 1992

The field for the final race of the 1992 season was as it had been in Japan two weeks earlier and World Champion Nigel Mansell was on pole from his rival Ayrton Senna. Riccardo Patrese was third in his Williams with Gerhard Berger fourth fastest in the second McLaren. Fifth place went to Michael Schumacher's Benetton with Jean Alesi (Ferrari) sixth and the top 10 was completed by Andrea de Cesaris (Tyrrell-Ilmor), Martin Brundle (Benetton), Erik Comas (Ligier-Renault) and Mika Hakkinen (Lotus).

At the start Mansell led Senna while behind them the midfield had a shake-up when Pierluigi Martini (Dallara-Ferrari), Olivier Grouillard (Tyrrell) and Michele Alboreto (Footwork-Mugen) all collided with one another. Mauricio Gugelmin was also affected, damaging a brake line and a few laps later had a big crash when he arrived at a fast corner and found that he had no brakes at all.

Mansell and Senna battled at the front until lap 19 when the Williams slowed suddenly behind the pits and Senna, caught unawares, ran into the back of it. Senna felt that Mansell had braked to shake him off. Whatever the case, both men were out.

With the two leaders gone, Berger and Patrese were left to fight for the lead. The fight continued until Berger stopped for new tyres. This dropped him to third behind Schumacher. He pitted later and could do nothing to stop Berger getting back into second. Patrese kept going on the same set of tyres. On lap 51, however, Patrese's race ended with an engine problem, leaving Berger to win. Schumacher was second with Brundle third while the minor positions went to Alesi, Thierry Boutsen (Ligier) and Stefano Modena (Jordan), the Italian scoring the team's first point of the year.

POSNODRIVERENTRANTLAPSTIME/RETIREMENTQUAL POS
Gerhard Berger McLaren-Honda  81 1h46m54.786s  
19 Michael Schumacher Benetton-Cosworth  81 1h46m55.527s  
20 Martin Brundle Benetton-Cosworth  81 1h47m48.942s  
27 Jean Alesi Ferrari  80  
25 Thierry Boutsen Ligier-Renault  80  22 
32 Stefano Modena Jordan-Yamaha  80  15 
11 Mika Hakkinen Lotus-Cosworth  80  10 
10 Aguri Suzuki Footwork-Mugen Honda  79  18 
23 Christian Fittipaldi Minardi-Lamborghini  79  17 
10 24 Gianni Morbidelli Minardi-Lamborghini  79  16 
11 28 Nicola Larini Ferrari  79  19 
12 16 Jan Lammers March-Ilmor  78  25 
13 12 Johnny Herbert Lotus-Cosworth  77  12 
21 JJ Lehto Dallara-Ferrari  70 Gearbox 24 
17 Paul Belmondo March-Ilmor  55 Gearbox 23 
29 Bertrand Gachot Venturi Larrousse-Lamborghini  51 Engine 21 
Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault  50 Fuel Pressure 
30 Ukyo Katayama Venturi Larrousse-Lamborghini  35 Differential 26 
Andrea de Cesaris Tyrrell-Ilmor  29 Fuel Pressure/fire 
Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault  18 Accident 
Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda  18 Accident 
33 Mauricio Gugelmin Jordan-Yamaha  Brakes/accident 20 
26 Erik Comas Ligier-Renault  Engine 
Michele Alboreto Footwork-Mugen Honda  Accident 11 
22 Pierluigi Martini Dallara-Ferrari  Accident 14 
Olivier Grouillard Tyrrell-Ilmor  Accident 13