French GP 1990

French GP, 1990

Paul Ricard celebrated the track's 20th birthday in the knowledge that the French GP would be moving, amid much controversy, to Magny-Cours in 1991. The driver line-up was the same but there had been some changes down the field with Adrian Newey leaving Leyton House, having previously come up with a new aerodynamic package to try to solve the problems of the CG901 chassis. The Ferraris were very competitive and Nigel Mansell took pole from the McLarens of Gerhard Berger and Ayrton Senna. Alain Prost was fourth quickest in the second Ferrari with Sandro Nannini's Benetton fifth, Riccardo Patrese's Williams-Renault sixth and Ivan Capelli seventh fastest in the Leyton House. The top 10 was completed by Thierry Boutsen (Williams), Nelson Piquet (Benetton) and Mauricio Gugelmin in the second Leyton House. The Pirelli cars were off the pace with the fastest being Jean Alesi (Tyrrell) in 13th.

Berger and Mansell took off into the lead, the Austrian getting ahead at the first corner. Senna was third with Nannini, Patrese, Prost, Boutsen, Piquet and Alesi chasing. On the second lap Senna overtook Mansell and went after Berger. It was a McLaren 1-2 again. Boutsen soon disappeared with a massive engine blow-up. When the top four pitted the two Leyton House cars went into the lead with Capelli ahead of Gugelmin with no sign that they were going to stop for tyres. Despite having new tyres the chasers did not seem to be able to catch them. Prost led the charge from Nannini, Mansell, Senna, Piquet and Berger. It took Prost until lap 54 to get ahead of Gugelmin. Mauricio's engine blew three laps later and as this was happening the Leyton House fortunes seemed to be fading as Prost reeled in Capelli. On lap 60 he was with him but there he stayed, unable to pass. With three laps to go Prost finally managed to get ahead. The exhausted Capelli struggled on with a misfire but he made it home second. Senna came home third. Piquet was fourth with Berger fifth and Patrese sixth.

POSNODRIVERENTRANTLAPSTIME/RETIREMENTQUAL POS
1 1 Alain Prost Ferrari  80 1h33m29.606s  4 
2 16 Ivan Capelli Leyton House-Judd  80 1h33m38.232s  7 
3 27 Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda  80 1h33m41.212s  3 
4 20 Nelson Piquet Benetton-Cosworth  80 1h34m10.813s  9 
5 28 Gerhard Berger McLaren-Honda  80 1h34m11.825s  2 
6 6 Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault  80 1h34m38.957s  6 
7 30 Aguri Suzuki Lola-Lamborghini  79  14 
8 29 Eric Bernard Lola-Lamborghini  79  11 
9 26 Philippe Alliot Ligier-Cosworth  79  12 
10 9 Michele Alboreto Arrows-Cosworth  79  18 
11 11 Derek Warwick Lotus-Lamborghini  79  16 
12 12 Martin Donnelly Lotus-Lamborghini  79  17 
13 8 Stefano Modena Brabham-Judd  78  20 
14 25 Nicola Larini Ligier-Cosworth  78  19 
dq 22 Andrea de Cesaris Dallara-Cosworth  78 Car Under Weight 21 
15 7 David Brabham Brabham-Judd  77  25 
16r 19 Alessando Nannini Benetton-Cosworth  75 Electrics 5 
17 18 Yannick Dalmas AGS-Cosworth  75  26 
18r 2 Nigel Mansell Ferrari  72 Engine 1 
r 3 Satoru Nakajima Tyrrell-Cosworth  63 Gear Linkage 15 
r 15 Mauricio Gugelmin Leyton House-Judd  58 Engine 10 
r 23 Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Cosworth  40 Electrics 23 
r 4 Jean Alesi Tyrrell-Cosworth  23 Differential 13 
r 10 Alex Caffi Arrows-Cosworth  22 Rear Suspension 22 
r 5 Thierry Boutsen Williams-Renault  7 Engine 8 
r 21 Emanuele Pirro Dallara-Cosworth  7 Brake Disc/spin 24 
nq 24 Paolo Barilla Minardi-Cosworth    27 
nq 17 Gabriele Tarquini AGS-Cosworth    28 
nq 35 Gregor Foitek Oynx-Cosworth    29 
nq 36 JJ Lehto Oynx-Cosworth    30 
npq 14 Olivier Grouillard Osella-Cosworth    31 
npq 33 Roberto Moreno EuroBrun-Judd    32 
npq 34 Claudio Langes EuroBrun-Judd    33 
npq 31 Bertrand Gachot Coloni-Subaru    34 
npq 39 Bruno Giacomelli Life    35