Italian GP 1986

Italian GP, 1986

The big news at Monza was that McLaren designer John Barnard was leaving to join the Ferrari team. The new AGS was in the paddock for the first time with Ivan Capelli driving the Motori Moderni-engined chassis (which was, in fact, an old Renault Sport one with AGS bodywork). This had previously been tested by Didier Pironi. Michele Alboreto was in difficulties having crashed a motorcycle and damaged his shoulder. The Osella team had replaced Allen Berg with local rising star Alex Caffi but otherwise the field was as normal.

Qualifying resulted in the Teo Fabi taking pole in his Benetton with Alain Prost second for McLaren ahead of Nigel Mansell's Williams-Honda, Gerhard Berger's Benetton, Ayrton Senna's Lotus and the second Williams-Honda of Nelson Piquet. The top 10 was completed by Derek Warwick (Brabham-BMW), Keke Rosberg (McLaren), Alboreto and Riccardo Patrese (Brabham).

Before the start Fabi and Prost both had trouble and while Fabi had to start from the back of the grid, Prost went to his spare car in the pitlane. As a result the front row was gone and this enabled Berger to take the lead from Mansell on the run down to the first corner. Senna suffered an immediate transmission failure and retired.

The result of all of this was that Berger led Mansell, Piquet, a fast-starting Rene Arnoux (Ligier), Rosberg and Alboreto. In the early laps Alboreto moved ahead of Arnoux and the front four then began to pull away from the rest of the field. At the end of the seventh lap Mansell went into the lead and he was followed through by Piquet and Alboreto as Berger backed off to conserve fuel. In the meantime Prost and Fabi were charging up through the field, Prost getting to sixth by lap 18. The McLaren was then black-flagged for an illegal switch of cars. It mattered little because his TAG engine blew soon afterwards.

During the tires stops Alboreto spun and glanced a barrier and had to stop for repairs. This dropped the Ferrari out of the battle for the lead. Piquet now charged up to Mansell and took the lead, pulling away to win a dominant victory and moved himself back to second in the World Championship. Mansell's second place meant that he was still five points ahead. Johansson finished third with Rosberg fourth, Berger fifth and Alan Jones sixth in the Haas Lola.

POSNODRIVERENTRANTLAPSTIME/RETIREMENTQUAL POS
Nelson Piquet Williams-Honda  51 1h17m42.889s  
Nigel Mansell Williams-Honda  51 1h17m52.717s  
28 Stefan Johansson Ferrari  51 1h18m05.804s  12 
Keke Rosberg McLaren-TAG Porsche  51 1h18m36.698  
20 Gerhard Berger Benetton-BMW  50  
15 Alan Jones Lola-Hart  49  18 
18 Thierry Boutsen Arrows-BMW  49  13 
17 Christian Danner Arrows-BMW  49  16 
Philippe Streiff Tyrrell-Renault  49  23 
10 Martin Brundle Tyrrell-Renault  49  20 
11 22 Alex Caffi Osella-Alfa Romeo  45  27 
19 Teo Fabi Benetton-BMW  44 Puncture/spin 
27 Michele Alboreto Ferrari  33 Engine 
23 Andrea de Cesaris Minardi-Motori Moderni  33 Engine 21 
31 Ivan Capelli AGS-Motori Moderni  31 Puncture 25 
25 Rene Arnoux Ligier-Renault  30 Gearbox 11 
r/dq Alain Prost McLaren-TAG Porsche  27 Engine 
14 Jonathan Palmer Zakspeed  27 Alternator 22 
26 Jacques Laffite Ligier-Renault  22 Engine 14 
11 Johnny Dumfries Lotus-Renault  18 Gearbox 17 
Derek Warwick Brabham-BMW  16 Brakes/spin 
24 Alessandro Nannini Minardi-Motori Moderni  15 Alternator Belt 19 
21 Piercarlo Ghinzani Osella-Alfa Romeo  12 Rear Suspension/spin 26 
16 Patrick Tambay Lola-Hart  Accident 15 
Riccardo Patrese Brabham-BMW  Accident 10 
29 Huub Rothengatter Zakspeed  Electrics 24 
12 Ayrton Senna Lotus-Renault  Clutch