1990 Spanish Grand Prix
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 14 of 16 in the 1990 Formula One season | |||
.svg.png) | |||
| Date | 30 September 1990 | ||
| Official name | XXXI Gran Premio Tio Pepe de España | ||
| Location |
Circuito Permanente de Jerez Jerez de la Frontera, Spain | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 4.218 km (2.6209 mi) | ||
| Distance | 73 laps, 307.918 km (191.328 mi) | ||
| Weather | Dry, hot, sunny | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | McLaren-Honda | ||
| Time | 1:18.387 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 Riccardo Patrese | Williams-Renault | |
| Time | 1:24.513 on lap 53 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Ferrari | ||
| Second | Ferrari | ||
| Third | Benetton-Ford | ||
The 1990 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 30 September 1990 at Jerez. It was the 31st Spanish Grand Prix and the fifth and last time the Grand Prix was held at the Jerez circuit before moving to a new larger facility near Barcelona in Catalunya, though it was not the last time Formula One raced here; F1 returned twice in the 1990s for a race titled the European Grand Prix.
Ferrari drivers dominated the race with reigning world champion Alain Prost leading his teammate Nigel Mansell home by 22 seconds for a 1-2 finish. British Team Lotus driver Martin Donnelly had a horrific crash during Friday practice at the very fast Turn 14; the seat of his Lotus 102 broke free and was flung clear of the wreck. Donnelly received serious injuries that took months of recovery, bringing an end to his Formula One career, although he later returned to racing. Team Lotus decided not to retire from the race, and Derek Warwick was close to the point-scoring positions when he became the race's final retirement on lap 63 with a broken gearbox in the other Lotus 102.
The race also turned out to be the last race of Alessandro Nannini's Formula One career. Nannini claimed the final podium position of the race in his Benetton B190, the ninth podium of his career, finishing ahead of the Williams pair of Thierry Boutsen and Riccardo Patrese. One week after the race, his right arm was severed in a helicopter accident. Nannini recovered and returned to racing as a touring car driver.
At the start of the race, Gerhard Berger, desperate to move up from his fifth place on the grid, gave Jean Alesi no room, resulting in Alesi moving to the outside, where he was hit and put out of the race by Riccardo Patrese.
The Larrousse-Lola of Aguri Suzuki claimed the final championship point of the race, continuing an encouraging season for the French team. It was an encouraging race for another French team, Yannick Dalmas and Gabriele Tarquini both qualified in AGS JH25s in a first for the team, but AGS never again got two cars onto a Formula One grid. Dalmas finished in ninth position, the highlight of the season for the small French team. The ninth-placed finish saved the team from pre-qualifying for the first half of 1991 as it moved them up to a crucial 14th place in the Constructors Championship. As a consequence, Scuderia Italia dropped into pre-qualifying, as they failed to finish higher than 10th all season.
McLaren driver Ayrton Senna's lap 53 retirement with a failed radiator reduced his lead in the world championship over Prost to nine points with just the Japanese and Australian Grands Prix remaining in the season.
Classification
Pre Qualifying
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18 |  Yannick Dalmas |
AGS-Ford | 1:22.470 | — |
| 2 | 17 | Gabriele Tarquini |
AGS-Ford | 1:22.592 | +0.122 |
| 3 | 14 | Olivier Grouillard |
Osella-Ford | 1:22.708 | +0.238 |
| 4 | 31 | .svg.png){kind=small} Bertrand Gachot |
Coloni-Ford | 1:24.603 | +2.133 |
| 5 | 33 |  Roberto Moreno |
EuroBrun-Judd | 1:24.621 | +2.151 |
| 6 | 34 | Claudio Langes |
EuroBrun-Judd | 1:25.736 | +3.266 |
| 7 | 39 | Bruno Giacomelli |
Life | 1:42.699 | +20.229 |
Qualifying
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Q1 | Q2 | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 27 | Ayrton Senna |
McLaren-Honda | 1:18.900 | 1:18.387 | — |
| 2 | 1 | Alain Prost |
Ferrari | 1:20.026 | 1:18.824 | +0.437 |
| 3 | 2 |  Nigel Mansell |
Ferrari | 1:21.005 | 1:19.106 | +0.719 |
| 4 | 4 | Jean Alesi |
Tyrrell-Ford | 1:19.923 | 1:19.604 | +1.217 |
| 5 | 28 |  Gerhard Berger |
McLaren-Honda | 1:19.643 | 1:19.618 | +1.231 |
| 6 | 6 | Riccardo Patrese |
Williams-Renault | 1:20.562 | 1:19.647 | +1.260 |
| 7 | 5 | Thierry Boutsen |
Williams-Renault | 1:20.721 | 1:19.689 | +1.302 |
| 8 | 20 | Nelson Piquet |
Benetton-Ford | 1:21.111 | 1:19.700 | +1.313 |
| 9 | 19 | Alessandro Nannini |
Benetton-Ford | 1:21.383 | 1:20.367 | +1.980 |
| 10 | 11 | Derek Warwick |
Lotus-Lamborghini | 1:22.111 | 1:20.610 | +2.223 |
| 11 | 23 | Pierluigi Martini |
Minardi-Ford | 1:22.255 | 1:21.060 | +2.673 |
| 12 | 15 | Maurício Gugelmin |
Leyton House-Judd | 1:23.019 | 1:21.167 | +2.780 |
| 13 | 26 | Philippe Alliot |
Ligier-Ford | 1:23.783 | 1:21.170 | +2.783 |
| 14 | 3 |  Satoru Nakajima |
Tyrrell-Ford | 1:22.690 | 1:21.215 | +2.828 |
| 15 | 30 | Aguri Suzuki |
Lola-Lamborghini | 1:21.740 | 1:21.244 | +2.857 |
| 16 | 21 | Emanuele Pirro |
Dallara-Ford | 1:23.485 | 1:21.277 | +2.890 |
| 17 | 22 | Andrea de Cesaris |
Dallara-Ford | 1:22.953 | 1:21:467 | +3.080 |
| 18 | 29 | Éric Bernard |
Lola-Lamborghini | 1:22.403 | 1:21.551 | +3.164 |
| 19 | 16 | Ivan Capelli |
Leyton House-Judd | 1:23.866 | 1:21.916 | +3.529 |
| 20 | 25 | Nicola Larini |
Ligier-Ford | 1:23.290 | 1:21.996 | +3.609 |
| 21 | 14 | Olivier Grouillard |
Osella-Ford | 1:24.784 | 1:22.288 | +3.901 |
| 22 | 17 | Gabriele Tarquini |
AGS-Ford | 1:23.260 | 1:22.466 | +4.079 |
| 23 | 12 | Martin Donnelly |
Lotus-Lamborghini | 1:22.659 | — | +4.272 |
| 24 | 18 | Yannick Dalmas |
AGS-Ford | 1:23.249 | 1:22.716 | +4.329 |
| 25 | 8 | Stefano Modena |
Brabham-Judd | 1:23.641 | 1:23.133 | +4.746 |
| 26 | 9 | Michele Alboreto |
Arrows-Ford | 1:24.043 | 1:23.161 | +4.774 |
| 27 | 7 |  David Brabham |
Brabham-Judd | 1:25.899 | 1:23.163 | +4.776 |
| 28 | 24 | Paolo Barilla |
Minardi-Ford | 1:25.093 | 1:23.274 | +4.887 |
| 29 | 10 |  Bernd Schneider |
Arrows-Ford | 1:24.675 | 1:23.924 | +5.537 |
| 30 | 31 | Bertrand Gachot |
Coloni-Ford | 1:26.593 | 1:25.114 | +6.727 |
Race
Notes
- Lap Leaders: Ayrton Senna 26 laps (1-26); Nelson Piquet 2 laps (27-28); Alain Prost 45 laps (29-73)
- 50th pole position: Ayrton Senna
Championship standings after the race
- Bold text indicates who still has a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.
|
|
- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References
- ↑ "1990 Spanish Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 21 December 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
| Previous race: 1990 Portuguese Grand Prix |
FIA Formula One World Championship 1990 season |
Next race: 1990 Japanese Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 1989 Spanish Grand Prix |
Spanish Grand Prix | Next race: 1991 Spanish Grand Prix |