Italian GP 1991

Italian GP, 1991

The main action at the Italian GP was in the paddock where the Benetton management had decided to break their contract with Roberto Moreno in order to sign up Formula 1 sensation Michael Schumacher. This caught Jordan (which thought it had a contract with Schumacher) unawares. It was a shoddy affair from which none of the Benetton or Schumacher management emerged looking good.

As usual the battle for pole position was fought out between Ayrton Senna's McLaren and the Williams-Renault of Nigel Mansell. Then came Gerhard Berger (McLaren) and Riccardo Patrese (Williams) followed by the two Ferraris, Alain Prost ahead of Jean Alesi. Then came Schumacher the wunderkind ahead of Nelson Piquet and Moreno (who had taken over at Jordan) and the top 10 was rounded off by Mark Blundell in his improving Brabham-Yamaha.

At the start Alesi got ahead of Prost but then challenged Patrese at the first corner and went off and so he had to pit for repairs. Further round the lap Moreno's hopes of beating the Benettons ended when the brakes on the Jordan locked up and the car spun. At the front Senna led Mansell with Berger third until lap seven when Patrese overtook him. Prost was next ahead of Schumacher

As Mansell and Patrese began to look for a way to pass Senna, the two Williams men changed places. On lap 26, Riccardo dived ahead as they braked for the Ascari chicane. A lap later, at the same place, he spun off. He would retire half a lap later with a gearbox failure. Mansell then attacked Senna, and on lap 34 Nigel went ahead. Ayrton went straight into the pits and rejoined in fifth. He quickly caught and passed Schumacher and then worked his way up to second ahead of Prost and Berger. Schumacher was fifth while Piquet passed de Cesaris for sixth place in the closing laps.

POSNODRIVERENTRANTLAPSTIME/RETIREMENTQUAL POS
1 5 Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault  53 1h17m54.319s  2 
2 1 Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda  53 1h18m10.581s  1 
3 27 Alain Prost Ferrari  53 1h18m11.148s  5 
4 2 Gerhard Berger McLaren-Honda  53 1h18m22.038s  3 
5 19 Michael Schumacher Benetton-Cosworth  53 1h18m28.782s  7 
6 20 Nelson Piquet Benetton-Cosworth  53 1h18m39.919s  8 
7 33 Andrea de Cesaris Jordan-Cosworth  53 1h18m45.455s  14 
8 16 Ivan Capelli Leyton House-Ilmor  53 1h19m09.338s  12 
9 24 Gianni Morbidelli Minardi-Ferrari  52  17 
10 21 Emanuele Pirro Dallara-Judd  52  16 
11 26 Erik Comas Ligier-Lamborghini  52  22 
12 8 Mark Blundell Brabham-Yamaha  52  11 
13 7 Martin Brundle Brabham-Yamaha  52  19 
14 11 Mika Hakkinen Lotus-Judd  49  25 
15 15 Mauricio Gugelmin Leyton House-Ilmor  49  18 
16 34 Nicola Larini Lamborghini  48  23 
r 14 Olivier Grouillard Fomet-Cosworth  46 Gearbox/engine 26 
r 22 JJ Lehto Dallara-Judd  35 Puncture/suspension 20 
r 4 Stefano Modena Tyrrell-Honda  32 Emgine 13 
r 28 Jean Alesi Ferrari  29 Engine 6 
r 6 Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault  27 Gearbox/clutch 4 
r 3 Satoru Nakajima Tyrrell-Honda  24 Throttle Jammed 15 
r 29 Eric Bernard Lola-Cosworth  21  24 
r 23 Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ferrari  8 Brakes/spin 10 
r 32 Roberto Moreno Jordan-Cosworth  2 Brakes/spin 9 
r 25 Thierry Boutsen Ligier-Lamborghini  1 Spin 21 
nq 9 Michele Alboreto Footwork-Porsche    27 
nq 12 Michael Bartels Lotus-Judd    28 
nq 35 Eric van de Poele Lamborghini    29 
nq 30 Aguri Suzuki Lola-Cosworth    30 
npq 18 Fabrizio Barbazza AGS-Cosworth    31 
npq 17 Gabriele Tarquini AGS-Cosworth    32 
npq 10 Alex Caffi Footwork-Porsche    33 
npq 31 Pedro Chaves Coloni-Cosworth    34