Formula One Features — October 1991

Last Wednesday in Paris Jean-Marie Balestre was ousted after 13 years as the president of FISA. Max Mosley is the man who beat him - with 43 votes to Balestre's 29 - in the election.

Ayrton Senna launched a bitter attack on ex-FISA President Jean-Marie Balestre after the Brazilian had won his third World Championship in Suzuka. Speaking publicly for the first time since Balestre was defeated in the FISA election by Max Mosley, Senna reiterated his 1989 allegation that Balestre had manipulated the World Championship result, following the collision between Senna and Alain Prost in the Japanese Grand Prix and accused Balestre of meddling with the championship again in Suzuka in 1990, when Senna and Prost again collided while fighting for the World Championship.

Bertrand Gachot was released from prison on the Tuesday before Suzuka. He flew straight out to Japan, but he no longer had a Formula 1 drive. He had been jailed just before the Belgian Grand Prix in August, convicted of causing actual bodily harm to a London taxi driver after a collision at London's Hyde Park Corner in December last year. In the ensuing altercation Bertrand sprayed CS gas into the face of the cabbie. In Britain CS gas is illegal. Bertrand was sentenced to six months for possession and 18 months for assault.

In the final moments of Friday morning's free practice session at Suzuka Eric Bernard crashed heavily on the exit of the hairpin after the underpass. His Larrousse Lola went a little wide as he put the power down and it slid on to the kerbing. Earlier in the session Pierluigi Martini had done the same and had had a large accident. Eric's would be even larger. The car snapped to the right and crashed into the barriers, virtually head on. It was a massive impact with almost no deflection of the energy involved. The Lola stood up remarkably well.

The 1991 season was always going to be an interim year for Guy Ligier's team -- an excuse which has been used far too often in the recent history of what is, effectively, France's national racing team.