1986 Spanish Grand Prix

  1986 Spanish Grand Prix

Race details
Race 2 of 16 in the 1986 Formula One season
Date	April 13, 1986
Official name	Gran Premio Tio Pepe de España
Location	Jerez, Jerez de la Frontera, Spain
Course	Permanent racing facility 4.218 km (2.62 mi)
Distance	72 laps, 303.696 km (188.74 mi)
Weather	Warm, dry and sunny
Pole position
Driver	Ayrton Senna	Lotus-Renault
Time	1:21.605
Fastest lap
Driver	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Honda
Time	1:27.176 on lap 65
Podium
First	Ayrton Senna	Lotus-Renault
Second	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Honda
Third	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG

The 1986 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Jerez on April 13, 1986. This was the first Formula One Spanish Grand Prix since the 1981 race was held at Jarama.

This race featured a 3 car battle for the lead over the last half of the race. Ayrton Senna (Lotus-Renault), Nigel Mansell (Williams-Honda) and reigning World Champion Alain Prost (McLaren-TAG), all had opportunities to take the win, with close nose to tail racing around the circuit. Once Mansell pitted for fresh tyres he charged back into the fight making up over 19 seconds in the final 10 laps on his fresh rubber. It was not quite sufficient to take the win, but it was very close with Senna and Mansell taking the chequered flag almost side by side, Senna only 0.014 in front of Mansell in one of the closest finishes in Formula One history.

In an interview after the race, Mansell said he had no problems with Senna's defensive driving (blocking) at the end of the race when the Williams was clearly the quicker car, saying that Senna was entitled to protect his lead. He then jokingly added that the finish was so close they should give them both 7½ points each.^[1]

Classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Pts
1	12	Ayrton Senna	Lotus-Renault	72	1:48:47.735	1	9
2	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Honda	72	+ 0.014	3	6
3	1	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG	72	+ 21.552	4	4
4	2	Keke Rosberg	McLaren-TAG	71	+ 1 Lap	5	3
5	19	Teo Fabi	Benetton-BMW	71	+ 1 Lap	9	2
6	20	Gerhard Berger	Benetton-BMW	71	+ 1 Lap	7	1
7	18	Thierry Boutsen	Arrows-BMW	68	+ 4 Laps	19
8	16	Patrick Tambay	Lola-Hart	66	+ 6 Laps	18
Ret	11	Johnny Dumfries	Lotus-Renault	52	Gearbox	10
Ret	3	Martin Brundle	Tyrrell-Renault	41	Engine	12
Ret	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Renault	40	Halfshaft	8
Ret	17	Marc Surer	Arrows-BMW	39	Fuel System	22
Ret	6	Nelson Piquet	Williams-Honda	39	Engine	2
Ret	8	Elio de Angelis	Brabham-BMW	29	Gearbox	15
Ret	25	René Arnoux	Ligier-Renault	29	Half Shaft	6
Ret	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	22	Wheel Bearing	13
Ret	4	Philippe Streiff	Tyrrell-Renault	22	Engine	20
Ret	22	Christian Danner	Osella-Alfa Romeo	14	Engine	23
Ret	28	Stefan Johansson	Ferrari	11	Brakes	11
Ret	21	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Osella-Alfa Romeo	10	Engine	21
Ret	7	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham-BMW	8	Gearbox	14
Ret	23	Andrea de Cesaris	Minardi-Motori Moderni	1	Differential	24
Ret	14	Jonathan Palmer	Zakspeed	0	Collision	16
Ret	15	Alan Jones	Lola-Hart	0	Collision	17
Ret	24	Alessandro Nannini	Minardi-Motori Moderni	0	Differential	25

Notes

This was the third-closest finish in Formula One history, after Mansell's spectacular charge allowed him to pull alongside Senna on the final straight.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Ayrton Senna 15 2 Nelson Piquet 9 3 Nigel Mansell 6 4 Jacques Laffite 4 4 Alain Prost 4

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Williams-Honda 15 1 Lotus-Renault 15 3 Ligier-Renault 7 3 McLaren-TAG 7 5 Benetton-BMW 4

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References