1991 Formula One season

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1991 FIA Formula One World Championship season
Previous: 1990	Next: 1992
Index: Races by country \| Races by season

The 1991 Formula One season was the 42nd FIA Formula One World Championship season. It commenced on March 10, 1991, and ended on November 3 after sixteen races.

1 Season summary
2 Drivers and Constructors
3 Season review
4 1991 Constructors Championship final standings
5 1991 Drivers Championship final standings
6 References

[edit] Season summary

A classic F1 season, which saw close racing and excitement from beginning to end. Ayrton Senna won his third and final F1 World Championship in 1991. 1991 was arguably the Brazilian's greatest season in Formula One. Senna won seven races, and kept out of trouble for the entire season.

Nelson Piquet won the 1991 Canadian Grand Prix, and this turned out to be his final F1 victory.

Five drivers made their F1 debuts in 1991:-

Mika Häkkinen (USA GP); Mark Blundell (USA GP); Michael Schumacher (Belgian GP); Fabrizio Barbazza; Alessandro Zanardi;

Jean Alesi joined Ferrari, and partnered Alain Prost. Alain was fired by the Ferrari team towards the end of the season, after speaking out against them. Riccardo Patrese had a good 1991 season, with victories in the Mexican GP and Portuguese GP. Riccardo spoke about feelings of "tranquility" when he was racing in 1991, and on several occasions he outperformed his highly rated team mate. Nigel Mansell returned to Williams, after spending two years at Ferrari. He was initially outperformed by Patrese, but Nigel improved considerably by the season's end. 1991 was the last season to feature "sticky" qualifying tyres, which were made of an ultra high grip rubber compound. These tyres only gave one lap of good performance before they deteriorated.

Michael Schumacher's debut was controversial. A Mercedes sports car driver, he debuted for Jordan at the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix after regular driver Bertrand Gachot was imprisoned in the UK for using CS gas on a London taxi driver during an argument. Mercedes paid Jordan £150,000 to take Schumacher on as they wished him to gain Formula One experience ahead of Mercedes planned arrival in the series in 1993 with Sauber. The young German qualified 7th, beating his team mate Andrea de Cesaris and matching the team's best performance of the season. Although he retired on the opening lap of the race with clutch problems, Schumacher had done enough to attract other teams.^[1]

Jordan had an agreement in principle with Mercedes for Schumacher to joint them for the rest of the season, but had not signed a contract. On learning this, Benetton moved rapidly to offer a contract, which was signed before the next race, the 1991 Italian Grand Prix. Jordan launched a challenge in the UK courts, but lost their case. Benetton driver Roberto Moreno won a case in the Italian courts to keep the seat intended for Schumacher, but, according to Eddie Jordan and Ian Philips, accepted a payment of $500,000 to give up his seat. He appeared in a Jordan car at the Italian race.^[1]

1991 saw the last V12 engined car winning the F1 Constructor's Championship, in the form of the McLaren MP4/6 Honda. The Coloni F1 team failed to qualify for any of the 16 rounds. They disappeared at the end of the season, but the Coloni C4s would briefly re-appear during the 1992 Championship, with the Andrea Moda team.

[edit] Drivers and Constructors

The following teams and drivers competed in the 1991 FIA Formula One World Championship.

Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Tyre	No	Driver	Test Driver(s)
Honda Marlboro McLaren	McLaren	MP4/6	Honda RA121E	G	1	Ayrton Senna	Allan McNish Jonathan Palmer Stefan Johansson Roberto Moreno Emanuele Pirro Mark Blundell
Honda Marlboro McLaren	McLaren	MP4/6	Honda RA121E	G	2	Gerhard Berger
Braun Tyrrell Honda	Tyrrell	020	Honda RA101E	P	3	Satoru Nakajima	Johnny Herbert Volker Weidler
Braun Tyrrell Honda	Tyrrell	020	Honda RA101E	P	4	Stefano Modena	Johnny Herbert Volker Weidler
Canon Williams Team	Williams	FW14	Renault RS3	G	5	Nigel Mansell	Mark Blundell Damon Hill
Canon Williams Team	Williams	FW14	Renault RS3	G	6	Riccardo Patrese	Mark Blundell Damon Hill
Motor Racing Developments Ltd.	Brabham	BT60Y	Yamaha OX99	P	7	Martin Brundle	n/a
Motor Racing Developments Ltd.	Brabham	BT60Y	Yamaha OX99	P	8	Mark Blundell	n/a
Footwork Grand Prix International	Footwork	FA11C FA12	Porsche 3512 Ford DFR	G	9	Michele Alboreto	n/a
					10	Alex Caffi
					10	Stefan Johansson
Team Lotus	Lotus	102B	Judd EV	G	11	Mika Häkkinen	Johnny Herbert
					12	Julian Bailey
						Johnny Herbert
						Michael Bartels
Fondmetal F1 SpA	Fondmetal	FA1M-E Fomet-1	Ford DFR	G	14	Olivier Grouillard	Marco Greco
Fondmetal F1 SpA	Fondmetal	FA1M-E Fomet-1	Ford DFR	G	14	Gabriele Tarquini	Marco Greco
Leyton House Racing	Leyton House	CG911	Ilmor 2175A	G	15	Mauricio Gugelmin	n/a
					16	Karl Wendlinger
					16	Ivan Capelli
Automobiles Gonfaronaise Sportive	AGS	JH25 JH25B JH27	Ford DFR	G	17	Gabriele Tarquini	n/a
					17	Olivier Grouillard
					18	Stefan Johansson
					18	Fabrizio Barbazza
Camel Benetton Ford	Benetton	B190B B191	Ford HB5	P	19	Roberto Moreno	n/a
					19	Michael Schumacher
					20	Nelson Piquet
Scuderia Italia SpA	Dallara	191	Judd GV	P	21	Emanuele Pirro	n/a
Scuderia Italia SpA	Dallara	191	Judd GV	P	22	Jyrki Järvilehto	n/a
Minardi Team	Minardi	M191	Ferrari 036	G	23	Pierluigi Martini	n/a
					24	Gianni Morbidelli
					24	Roberto Moreno
Ligier Gitantes	Ligier	JS35 JS35B	Lamborghini 3512	G	25	Thierry Boutsen	Emmanuel Collard
Ligier Gitantes	Ligier	JS35 JS35B	Lamborghini 3512	G	26	Érik Comas	Emmanuel Collard
Scuderia Ferrari SpA	Ferrari	642 642/2 643	Ferrari	G	27	Alain Prost	Gianni Morbidelli Andrea Montermini Dario Benuzzi
					27	Gianni Morbidelli
					28	Jean Alesi
Larrousse F1	Lola	LC91	Ford DFR	G	29	Éric Bernard	n/a
					29	Aguri Suzuki
					30	Bertrand Gachot
Coloni Racing Srl	Coloni	C4	Ford DFR	G	31	Pedro Chaves	n/a
Coloni Racing Srl	Coloni	C4	Ford DFR	G	31	Naoki Hattori	n/a
Team 7UP Jordan	Jordan	191	Ford HB4	G	32	Bertrand Gachot	n/a
						Michael Schumacher
						Roberto Moreno
						Alessandro Zanardi
					33	Andrea de Cesaris
Modena Team SpA	Lambo	291	Lamborghini 3512	G	34	Nicola Larini	Mauro Baldi Marco Apicella
Modena Team SpA	Lambo	291	Lamborghini 3512	G	35	Eric van de Poele	Mauro Baldi Marco Apicella

[edit] Season review

Round	Race	Date	Location	Winning driver	Constructor	Report
1	United States Grand Prix	March 10	Phoenix	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Honda	Report
2	Brazilian Grand Prix	March 24	Interlagos	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Honda	Report
3	San Marino Grand Prix	April 28	Imola	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Honda	Report
4	Monaco Grand Prix	May 12	Monaco	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Honda	Report
5	Canadian Grand Prix	June 2	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve	Nelson Piquet	Benetton-Ford	Report
6	Mexican Grand Prix	June 16	Hermanos Rodriguez	Riccardo Patrese	Williams-Renault	Report
7	French Grand Prix	July 7	Magny-Cours	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Renault	Report
8	British Grand Prix	July 14	Silverstone	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Renault	Report
9	German Grand Prix	July 28	Hockenheimring	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Renault	Report
10	Hungarian Grand Prix	August 11	Hungaroring	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Honda	Report
11	Belgian Grand Prix	August 25	Spa-Francorchamps	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Honda	Report
12	Italian Grand Prix	September 8	Monza	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Renault	Report
13	Portuguese Grand Prix	September 22	Estoril	Riccardo Patrese	Williams-Renault	Report
14	Spanish Grand Prix	September 29	Catalunya	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Renault	Report
15	Japanese Grand Prix	October 20	Suzuka	Gerhard Berger	McLaren-Honda	Report
16	Australian Grand Prix	November 3	Adelaide	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Honda	Report

[edit] 1991 Constructors Championship final standings

Place	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Tyre	Points	Wins	Podiums	Poles
1	McLaren-Honda	MP4/6	Honda RA121E	G	139	8	18	10
2	Williams-Renault	FW14	Renault RS3	G	125	7	17	6
3	Ferrari	F1-91 F1-91B	Ferrari 037	G	55.5		8
4	Benetton-Ford	B190B B191	Ford HBA5 Ford HBA6	P	38.5	1	3
5	Jordan-Ford	191	Ford HBB4	G	13
6	Tyrrell-Honda	020	Honda RA109E	P	12		1
7	Minardi-Ferrari	M191	Ferrari 037	G	6
8	Dallara-Judd	F191	Judd GV	P	5		1
9	Brabham-Yamaha	BT59Y BT60Y	Yamaha OX99	P	3
10	Lotus-Judd	102B	Judd EV	G	3
11	Lola-Ford	LC91	Ford DFR	G	2
12	Leyton House-Ilmor	CG911	Ilmor 2175A	G	1
13	Lambo-Lamborghini	291	Lamborghini 3512	G
14	Fondmetal-Ford	FA1ME-90	Ford DFR	G
15	Ligier-Lamborghini	JS35 JS35B	Lamborghini 3512	G
16	Coloni-Ford	C4	Ford DFR	G
17	AGS-Ford	JH25B JH27	Ford DFR	G
18	Footwork-Porsche	A11C FA12	Porsche V12 Ford DFR	G

[edit] 1991 Drivers Championship final standings

Pos	Driver	USA	BRA	SMR	MON	CAN	MEX	FRA	GBR	DEU	HUN	BEL	ITA	POR	ESP	JPN	AUS	Points
1	Senna	1	1	1	1	Ret	3	3	4	7	1	1	2	2	5	2	1	96
2	Mansell	Ret	Ret	Ret	2	6	2	1	1	1	2	Ret	1	DSQ	1	Ret	2	72
3	Patrese	Ret	2	Ret	Ret	3	1	5	Ret	2	3	5	Ret	1	3	3	5	53
4	Berger	Ret	3	2	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	2	4	4	2	4	Ret	Ret	1	3	43
5	Prost	2	4	DNS	5	Ret	Ret	2	3	Ret	Ret	Ret	3	Ret	2	4		34
6	Piquet	3	5	Ret	Ret	1	Ret	8	5	Ret	Ret	3	6	5	11	7	4	26.5
7	Alesi	12	6	Ret	3	Ret	Ret	4	Ret	3	5	Ret	Ret	3	4	Ret	Ret	21
8	Modena	4	Ret	Ret	Ret	2	11	Ret	7	13	12	Ret	Ret	Ret	16	6	10	10
9	de Cesaris	DNPQ	Ret	Ret	Ret	4	4	6	Ret	5	7	13	7	8	Ret	Ret	8	9
10	Moreno	Ret	7	13	4	Ret	5	Ret	Ret	8	8	4	Ret	10			16	8
11	Martini	9	Ret	4	12	7	Ret	9	9	Ret	Ret	12	Ret	4	13	Ret	Ret	6
12	Järvilehto	Ret	Ret	3	11	Ret	Ret	Ret	13	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	8	Ret	12	4
13	Gachot	10	13	Ret	8	5	Ret	Ret	6	6	9						DNQ	4
14	Schumacher											Ret	5	6	6	Ret	Ret	4
15	Nakajima	5	Ret	Ret	Ret	10	12	Ret	8	Ret	15	Ret	Ret	13	17	Ret	Ret	2
16	Häkkinen	Ret	9	5	Ret	Ret	9	DNQ	12	Ret	14	Ret	14	14	Ret	Ret	19	2
17	Brundle	11	12	11	DSQ	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	11	Ret	9	13	12	10	5	DNQ	2
18	Pirro	Ret	11	DNPQ	6	9	DNPQ	DNPQ	10	10	Ret	8	10	Ret	15	Ret	7	1
19	Blundell	Ret	Ret	8	Ret	DNQ	Ret	Ret	Ret	12	Ret	6	12	Ret	Ret	DNPQ	17	1
20	Capelli	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	6	Ret	8	17	Ret			1
21	Bernard	Ret	Ret	Ret	9	Ret	6	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	DNQ	Ret	DNPQ		1
22	Suzuki	6	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	DNQ	DNQ	Ret	DNQ	Ret	DNQ	1
23	Bailey	DNQ	DNQ	6	DNQ													1
24	Morbidelli	Ret	8	Ret	Ret	Ret	7	Ret	11	Ret	13	Ret	9	9	14	Ret	6	0.5
—	Gugelmin	Ret	Ret	12	Ret	Ret	Ret	7	Ret	Ret	11	Ret	15	7	7	8	14	0
—	Boutsen	Ret	10	7	7	Ret	8	12	Ret	9	17	11	Ret	16	Ret	9	Ret	0
—	Herbert					DNQ	10	10	14			7		Ret		Ret	11	0
—	Larini	7	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	Ret	16	DNQ	16	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	Ret	0
—	Comas	DNQ	Ret	10	10	8	DNQ	11	DNQ	Ret	10	Ret	11	11	Ret	Ret	18	0
—	Tarquini	8	Ret	DNQ	Ret	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNQ	12	11	DNPQ	0
—	Zanardi														9	Ret	9	0
—	van de Poele	DNPQ	DNPQ	9	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	0
—	Caffi	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ					DNPQ	DNPQ	DNQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	10	15	0
—	Grouillard	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	Ret	Ret	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNQ	10	Ret	DNPQ	DNPQ			0
—	Alboreto	Ret	DNQ	DNQ	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	DNQ	DNQ	DNPQ	DNQ	15	Ret	DNQ	13	0
—	Wendlinger															Ret	20	0
—	Johansson	DNQ	DNQ			Ret	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ									0
—	Chaves	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ				0
—	Barbazza			DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ			0
—	Bartels									DNQ	DNQ		DNQ		DNQ			0
—	Hattori															DNPQ	DNPQ	0
Pos	Driver	USA	BRA	SMR	MON	CAN	MEX	FRA	GBR	DEU	HUN	BEL	ITA	POR	ESP	JPN	AUS	Points

In Australian Grand Prix half points were awarded as the race was stopped after 14 out of 81 laps due to torrential rain

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b Collings, Timothy The Piranha Club Chapter 1 'Welcome to the Piranha Club

Colour	Result
Gold	Winner
Silver	2nd place
Bronze	3rd place
Green	Finished, in points
Blue	Finished, no points
Purple	Did not finish (Ret)
Red	Did not qualify (DNQ)
Black	Disqualified (DSQ)
White	Did not start (DNS)
Blank	Did not participate
	Injured (INJ)
	Excluded (EX)