1992 Portuguese Grand Prix

Portugal  1992 Portuguese Grand Prix
Race details
Race 14 of 16 in the 1992 Formula One season

Date September 27, 1992
Official name XXI Grande Premio de Portugal
Location Autódromo do Estoril, Estoril, Portugal
Course Permanent racing facility
4.349 km (2.703 mi)
Distance 71 laps, 308.779 km (191.913 mi)
Weather Dry, sunny, windy
Pole position
Driver United Kingdom Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault
Time 1:13.041
Fastest lap
Driver Brazil Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda
Time 1:16.272 on lap 66
Podium
First United Kingdom Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault
Second Austria Gerhard Berger McLaren-Honda
Third Brazil Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda

The 1992 Portuguese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Autódromo do Estoril on September 27, 1992. It was the fourteenth round of the 1992 Formula One season.

Nigel Mansell won the race from pole position, in the process setting new records for most wins (nine) and most points (108) in one season, with McLaren drivers Gerhard Berger and Ayrton Senna second and third. However, the race is best remembered for the accident between Berger and Mansell's Williams team-mate Riccardo Patrese. Intending to make a pit stop, Berger moved towards the right side of the track at the beginning of the start/finish straight, with Patrese following in his slipstream. Failing to realise Berger's intentions, Patrese swerved to avoid him, but his right front wheel hit Berger's left rear and the Williams was launched into the air, almost hitting a pedestrian bridge over the track. Patrese escaped the accident shaken but unhurt, and neither driver was punished by the stewards. The debris from the crash, however, caused numerous other incidents, with Michael Schumacher and Pierluigi Martini suffering punctures, and JJ Lehto suffering slight injury as the driveshaft of the Williams went through the undertray of his Dallara, hitting him on the leg.

Before this race, the financially troubled Fondmetal team pulled out of the sport, the third team to do so this season after Brabham and Andrea Moda. That meant that there were only 26 cars on the entry list, and hence this Grand Prix was the first since 1987 in which all cars automatically qualified for the race, regardless of qualifying lap times.

Classification

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 5 United Kingdom Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault 71 1:34:46.659 1 10
2 2 Austria Gerhard Berger McLaren-Honda 71 + 37.533 4 6
3 1 Brazil Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 70 + 1 Lap 3 4
4 20 United Kingdom Martin Brundle Benetton-Ford 70 + 1 Lap 6 3
5 11 Finland Mika Häkkinen Lotus-Ford 70 + 1 Lap 7 2
6 9 Italy Michele Alboreto Footwork-Mugen-Honda 70 + 1 Lap 8 1
7 19 Germany Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 69 + 2 Laps 5  
8 25 Belgium Thierry Boutsen Ligier-Renault 69 + 2 Laps 11  
9 4 Italy Andrea de Cesaris Tyrrell-Ilmor 69 + 2 Laps 12  
10 10 Japan Aguri Suzuki Footwork-Mugen-Honda 68 + 3 Laps 17  
11 17 Italy Emanuele Naspetti March-Ilmor 68 + 3 Laps 23  
12 23 Brazil Christian Fittipaldi Minardi-Lamborghini 68 + 3 Laps 26  
13 32 Italy Stefano Modena Jordan-Yamaha 68 + 3 Laps 24  
14 24 Italy Gianni Morbidelli Minardi-Lamborghini 68 + 3 Laps 18  
Ret 21 Finland JJ Lehto Dallara-Ferrari 51 Physical 19  
Ret 16 Austria Karl Wendlinger March-Ilmor 48 Gearbox 22  
Ret 26 France Érik Comas Ligier-Renault 47 Engine 14  
Ret 30 Japan Ukyo Katayama Larrousse-Lamborghini 46 Spun Off 25  
Ret 6 Italy Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault 43 Collision 2  
Ret 22 Italy Pierluigi Martini Dallara-Ferrari 43 Puncture 21  
Ret 28 Italy Ivan Capelli Ferrari 34 Engine 16  
Ret 3 France Olivier Grouillard Tyrrell-Ilmor 27 Gearbox 15  
Ret 29 France Bertrand Gachot Larrousse-Lamborghini 25 Engine 13  
Ret 33 Brazil Maurício Gugelmin Jordan-Yamaha 19 Electrical 20  
Ret 27 France Jean Alesi Ferrari 12 Spun Off 10  
Ret 12 United Kingdom Johnny Herbert Lotus-Ford 2 Accident 9  

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 United Kingdom Nigel Mansell 108
2 Brazil Ayrton Senna 50
3 Germany Michael Schumacher 47
4 Italy Riccardo Patrese 46
5 Austria Gerhard Berger 33

Constructors' Championship standings
Pos Constructor Points
1 United Kingdom Williams-Renault 154
2 United Kingdom McLaren-Honda 83
3 United Kingdom Benetton-Ford 77
4 Italy Ferrari 16
5 United Kingdom Lotus-Ford 13

References

Previous race:
1992 Italian Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1992 season
Next race:
1992 Japanese Grand Prix
Previous race:
1991 Portuguese Grand Prix
Portuguese Grand Prix Next race:
1993 Portuguese Grand Prix