The 1991 Monaco Grand Prix was the fourth round of the 1991 Formula One Championship, hosted at the definitve Grand Prix location: Monaco.[1] The race was won by Mr. Monaco himself, Ayrton Senna, whom was left celebrating his 30th career win, and his fourth win out of four in 1991.[1]
Behind Senna came Nigel Mansell, who claimed his first points of his return to Williams, joined by Jean Alesi in third, the Frenchman taking his first Ferrari podium.[1] Alain Prost and Riccardo Patrese had been on for the podium earlier in the race, before both lost out due to unrelated issues, as Senna extended his Championship lead to 29 points.
Background[]
There were no changes to the driver line ups after the San Marino battle, as teams largely focused on rebuilding damaged machinery. Incredibly, Footwork had managed to build an entire car to replace the A12 chassis that Michele Alboreto had obliterated a fortnight earlier, with minor refinements also made to Alex Caffi's car. But, they were still expected to struggle at the back of the field.
Championship-wise, there seemed little anyone could do to stop Ayrton Senna adding a third title to his name, having won all three races in 1991 so far. His three victories meant he held a 20 point lead over team mate Gerhard Berger in second, as his major rivals all suffered issues in the opening races. Alain Prost found himself in third, 21 points behind, with Riccardo Patrese and Nelson Piquet the best of the rest in fourth and fifth.
McLaren-Honda, meanwhile, were all conquering in the Constructors' Championship courtesy of Senna's perfect start to the season. Their 40 tally meant they were 30 ahead of Ferrari already, and with what was widely regarded as the best car in the field, were unlikely to be caught before the end of the year. The rest of the Constructors' Championship points were distributed between British and Italian privateers, with Williams next up behind Ferrari.
Entry List[]
The full entry list for the 1991 Monaco Grand Prix is shown below:
Practice Overview[]
Qualifying[]
Previously, during the turbo-era, the FIA had deemed the streets of Monaco too dangerous for anymore than 20 cars to race on at any one time. In 1991, however, the upperlimit was the familiar 26 used at every other Grand Prix, although their new limit of 30 cars in qualifying still applied. That meant the increasingly competitive pre-qualifying session returned in Monaco, with eight cars battling for four qualifying spots.
Pre-Qualifying[]
Dallara-Judd and Jordan-Ford Cosworth were once again the class acts in pre-qualifying, as JJ Lehto, fresh from his first taste of champagne on the podium in San Marino, topped the session.[1] Andrea de Cesaris beat Lehto's team mate Emanuele Pirro to second in the group, while Bertrand Gachot beat the two Lambo-Lamborghinis to the final spot.[2] Out went Eric van de Poele, Nicola Larini, Pedro Chaves and Olivier Grouillard, an increasingly familiar outcome for the quartet.
Report[]
Senna was not to be denied at the track where he announced his arrival to the F1 world in 1984, taking yet another pole position, almost half a second of his nearest rival.[1] Stefano Modena took a shock second for Tyrrell-Honda, beating the two Williams-Renaults of Riccardo Patrese and Nigel Mansell, who were split by Nelson Piquet.[1] Alain Prost was best of the Ferraris in seventh, also behind Gerhard Berger in the second McLaren, while an exstatic Eddie Jordan would see de Cesaris line up tenth in Jordan's first visit to Monte Carlo.[1]
The first session saw the elimination of two drivers in very different circumstances on Saturday morning, as penalties and crashes came to the Monaco streets. First Alex Caffi destroyed his new Footwork A12 in the Swimming pool section, tearing the chassis in two as the car was shreaded against the barrier.[3] Martin Brundle was excluded from the result after the session was restarted for failing to attend a weight check during the interval, a fact the Brit was keen to argue.[3] Julian Bailey and Fabrizio Barbazza were also eliminated, with Bailey losing his Lotus-Judd seat as a result.
Full Qualifying Result[]
The full result for the 1991 Monaco Grand Prix is outlined below:
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Time[2] | Gap | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | Q2 | |||||
| 1 | 1 |  Ayrton Senna
|
McLaren-Honda | 1:20.508 | 1:20.344 | — |
| 2 | 4 |  Stefano Modena
|
Tyrrell-Honda | 1:23.442 | 1:20.809 | +0.456s |
| 3 | 6 | Riccardo Patrese
|
Williams-Renault | 1:22.057 | 1:20.973 | +0.629s |
| 4 | 20 | Nelson Piquet
|
Benetton-Ford Cosworth | 1:22.816 | 1:21.159 | +0.815s |
| 5 | 5 |  Nigel Mansell
|
Williams-Renault | 1:23.274 | 1:21.205 | +0.861s |
| 6 | 2 |  Gerhard Berger
|
McLaren-Honda | 1:21.222 | 1:21.583 | +0.878s |
| 7 | 27 |  Alain Prost
|
Ferrari | 1:22.113 | 1:21.455 | +1.111s |
| 8 | 19 | Roberto Moreno
|
Benetton-Ford Cosworth | 1:23.476 | 1:21.804 | +1.460s |
| 9 | 28 | Jean Alesi
|
Ferrari | 1:22.966 | 1:21.910 | +1.566s |
| 10 | 33 | Andrea de Cesaris
|
Jordan-Ford Cosworth | 1:24.257 | 1:22.764 | +2.420s |
| 11 | 3 |  Satoru Nakajima
|
Tyrrell-Honda | 1:24.435 | 1:22.972 | +2.628s |
| 12 | 21 | Emanuele Pirro
|
Dallara-Judd | 1:23.311 | 1:23.022 | +2.678s |
| 13 | 22 |  JJ Lehto
|
Dallara-Judd | 1:23.023 | 1:23.983 | +2.679s |
| 14 | 23 | Pierluigi Martini
|
Minardi-Ferrari | 1:24.101 | 1:23.064 | +2.720s |
| 15 | 15 | Mauricio Gugelmin
|
Leyton House-Ilmor | 1:24.920 | 1:23.394 | +3.050s |
| 16 | 25 |  Thierry Boutsen
|
Ligier-Lamborghini | 1:24.728 | 1:23.431 | +3.087s |
| 17 | 24 | Gianni Morbidelli
|
Minardi-Ferrari | 1:24.481 | 1:23.584 | +3.240s |
| 18 | 16 | Ivan Capelli
|
Leyton House-Ilmor | 1:25.040 | 1:23.642 | +3.298s |
| 19 | 30 | Aguri Suzuki
|
Lola-Ford Cosworth | 1:26.380 | 1:23.898 | +3.554s |
| 20 | 17 | Gabriele Tarquini
|
AGS-Ford Cosworth | 1:25.078 | 1:23.909 | +3.565s |
| 21 | 29 | Éric Bernard
|
Lola-Ford Cosworth | 1:25.370 | 1:24.079 | +3.735s |
| 22 | 8 | Mark Blundell
|
Brabham-Yamaha | 1:25.500 | 1:24.109 | +3.765s |
| 23 | 26 | Érik Comas
|
Ligier-Lamborghini | 1:24.747 | 1:24.151 | +3.807s |
| 24 | 32 | Bertrand Gachot
|
Jordan-Ford Cosworth | 1:24.540 | 1:24.208 | +3.864s |
| 25 | 9 | Michele Alboreto
|
Footwork-Porsche | 1:27.843 | 1:24.606 | +4.262s |
| 26 | 11 | Mika Häkkinen
|
Lotus-Judd | 1:24.868 | 1:24.829 | +4.485s |
| DNQ | 12 | Julian Bailey
|
Lotus-Judd | 1:28.772 | 1:26.995 | +6.651s |
| DNQ | 18 | Fabrizio Barbazza
|
AGS-Ford Cosworth | 1:28.060 | 1:27.079 | +6.735s |
| NC | 10 | Alex Caffi
|
Footwork-Porsche | No Time | ||
| DSQ* | 7 | Martin Brundle
|
Brabham-Yamaha | Disqualified | ||
| DNPQ | 34 | Nicola Larini
|
Lambo-Lamborghini | 1:25.893 | ||
| DNPQ | 35 | Eric van de Poele
|
Lambo-Lamborghini | 1:26.282 | ||
| DNPQ | 31 |  Pedro Chaves
|
Coloni-Ford Cosworth | 1:27.389 | ||
| DNPQ | 14 | Olivier Grouillard
|
Fondmetal-Ford Cosworth | 1:27.759 | ||
- * Brundle was disqualified for missing a weight check.
Grid[]
The starting grid for the 1991 Monaco Grand Prix is shown below:
| Pos. | Pos. | |
|---|---|---|
| Driver | Driver | |
| ______________ | ||
| Row 1 | 1 | ______________ |
| Ayrton Senna | 2 | |
| ______________ | Stefano Modena | |
| Row 2 | 3 | ______________ |
| Riccardo Patrese | 4 | |
| ______________ | Nelson Piquet | |
| Row 3 | 5 | ______________ |
| Nigel Mansell | 6 | |
| ______________ | Gerhard Berger | |
| Row 4 | 7 | ______________ |
| Alain Prost | 8 | |
| ______________ | Roberto Moreno | |
| Row 5 | 9 | ______________ |
| Jean Alesi | 10 | |
| ______________ | Andrea de Cesaris | |
| Row 6 | 11 | ______________ |
| Satoru Nakajima | 12 | |
| ______________ | Emanuele Pirro | |
| Row 7 | 13 | ______________ |
| JJ Lehto | 14 | |
| ______________ | Pierluigi Martini | |
| Row 8 | 15 | ______________ |
| Maurício Gugelmin | 16 | |
| ______________ | Thierry Boutsen | |
| Row 9 | 17 | ______________ |
| Gianni Morbidelli | 18 | |
| ______________ | Ivan Capelli | |
| Row 10 | 19 | ______________ |
| Aguri Suzuki | 20 | |
| ______________ | Gabriele Tarquini | |
| Row 11 | 21 | ______________ |
| Éric Bernard | 22 | |
| ______________ | Mark Blundell | |
| Row 12 | 23 | ______________ |
| Érik Comas | 24 | |
| ______________ | Bertrand Gachot | |
| Row 13 | 25 | ______________ |
| Michele Alboreto | 26 | |
| ______________ | Mika Häkkinen |
Race[]
A warm dry day on the banks of the Mediterranean greeted the field on Sunday, with the man who had dominated the season so far the favourite to take a fourth consecutive win. With Ayrton Senna's words of praise still ringing in his ears after his qualifying performance, Stefano Modena was set to challenge the all conquering Brazilian from second, with the Williams-Renaults and Ferraris having to come through a minor amount of traffic to get to the World Champion.[3]
Report[]
Monaco was famous for its first corner problems, and as Senna successfully pulled away with Modena in tow, Nelson Piquet was hit from behind by the second McLaren-Honda of Gerhard Berger.[1] Berger was left beached on the curb, although a combination of reverse gear and a few marshals put him back into the race.[3] Piquet, meanwhile, was out of the race with a suspension failure a few moments later, unrelated to his contact with Berger.[1] Senna, meanwhile, was off and away at the front, as Modena fended off a early attack from Riccardo Patrese.
Senna's bolt at the front was almost halted when a marshal ran across the track in front of him, although there was no contact between them.[3] Modena was doing well in second, able to pull a gap to Patrese after his initial attack, as Berger crashed in the swimming pool section while trying catch the back of the field.[1] Modena was then caught in traffic as the leaders came up to the tail end of the runners, falling back into the clutches of Patrese.[1]
Modena's problems were caused by Pierluigi Martini in the Minardi-Ferrari, with a little bit of history created from the incident.[1] The Italian was awarded the first ever 10 second stop-go penalty in Formula One, which he served a lap later.[1] Alain Prost and Nigel Mansell, now some way off of Modena and Patrese, were battling for fourth, with the Frenchman forcing his way past.[1] The race remained fairly stable for the following laps, until Modena and Patrese's battle got more heated, Patrese now on the gearbox of the Tyrrell.
It was all over for the pair a few laps later, as Modena's Honda engine blew in the tunnel, leaving Patrese unsighted coming into the Nouvelle Chicane, as well as slipping on oil.[1] Patrese was flung into the wall before the Chicane, putting him out of the race, as Modena pulled off at the same place, promoting Prost and Mansell onto the podium.[1] Senna, meanwhile, continued to pound round the circuit without putting a fault wrong.
Ayrton Senna cruises his way to yet another victory in Monaco.
Prost was unable to lose Mansell as the race came to a close, with the Brit lining up a move through the tunnel on lap 63.[3] It was a classic move by the man with the moustache, as he dived on the brakes milliseconds after Prost into the Nouvelle Chicane snatching second.[3] Prost opted to have a wheel wobble investigated afterwards, holding a significant lead over fourth placed Jean Alesi, but it was a lengthy stop for the treble World Champion.[1] A wheelnut got caught under the Ferrari during the stop, with the few extra moments lost dropping Prost to fifth, behind the lonely Roberto Moreno as well.[3]
But, it was Senna's day, as he completed his task of four wins from four races, also taking his fourth Monaco victory in five years.[1] Mansell was still pushing in second, successfully taking his first points of the season, while Alesi scored a first podium for Ferrari in third.[1] Moreno claimed a steady fourth in his sole remaining Benetton, as Prost set the fastest lap in his attempts to catch him, the Frenchman finishing the day in fifth.[1] JJ Lehto was on course for sixth until a gearbox issue dropped him out of the top ten, leaving team mate Emauele Pirro to complete the job in the second Dallara-Judd.
Results[]
- * Brundle was excluded from all results of the weekend because of his infringement.
Milestones[]
Standings[]
Ayrton Senna's 30th career win meant he remained in complete control of the Drivers' Championship, now 29 points ahead of Alain Prost in second. Prost, meanwhile, held a one point advantage over Gerhard Berger in third, as the top three began to gap the rest of the field, but only by a small amount. Jean Alesi's podium moved him into seventh, a point behind Riccardo Patrese, Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet all on six. Emanuele Pirro, meanwhile, was placed fifteenth, one ahead of Julian Bailey whom had just raced for the last time in Formula One.
McLaren-Honda's lead in the Constructors Championship grew once again through Senna's work, leaving Monte Carlo with 34 points in hand over Ferrari. With sixteen available at each race, McLaren could afford to simply not attend two races and still retain the lead over the Championship, as Ferrari pulled a small margin over Williams-Renault in third. Pirro's point put Dallara-Judd level with Tyrrell-Honda for fifth place, with the latter judged to be ahead due to Nakajima's better result of fifth to Pirro's sixth.
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References[]
Videos and Images:
- Jmex60, 'Ayrton Senna 1991 Monaco', wikipedia.org, (WikiMedia, 12/05/1991), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ayrton_Senna_1991_Monaco.jpg (Accessed 02/08/2015)
References:
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 'GRAND PRIX RESULTS: MONACO GP, 1991', grandprix.com, (Inside F1 Inc., 1999), http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr504.html, (Accessed 03/08/2015)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 '1991 Monaco Grand Prix', wikipedia.org, (WikiMedia, 28/07/2015), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_Monaco_Grand_Prix, (Accessed 01/08/2015)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 senorsoupe, '1991 FIA Review Round 4 Monaco', youtubecom, (YouTube, 20/07/2008), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoG4cLaXFlk, {Accessed 03/08/2015)
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