1989 Mexican Grand Prix
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 4 of 16 in the 1989 Formula One season | |||
 | |||
| Date | 28 May 1989 | ||
| Official name | XIII Gran Premio de México | ||
| Location |
Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez Magdalena Mixhuca, Mexico City | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 4.421 km (2.747 mi) | ||
| Distance | 69 laps, 305.049 km (189.548 mi) | ||
| Weather | Hot, dry, partly sunny 25°C/79°F, 40% Humidity, wind NW-10mph | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | McLaren-Honda | ||
| Time | 1:17.876 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 Nigel Mansell | Ferrari | |
| Time | 1:20.420 on lap 41 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | McLaren-Honda | ||
| Second | Williams-Renault | ||
| Third | Tyrrell-Ford | ||
The 1989 Mexican Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City on 28 May 1989. The race, contested over 69 laps, was the fourth race of the 1989 Formula One season and was won from pole position by Ayrton Senna, driving a McLaren-Honda, with Riccardo Patrese second in a Williams-Renault and Michele Alboreto third in a Tyrrell-Ford.
Qualifying
Pre-qualifying was again dominated by the Brabhams of Martin Brundle and Stefano Modena, with Alex Caffi third in his Dallara and Stefan Johansson fourth in his Onyx.
In qualifying proper, World Champion Ayrton Senna scored his 33rd career pole position, equalling the long-standing record held by Jim Clark. Senna's pole time in his McLaren-Honda was 0.408 slower than his pole time in 1988 in the turbocharged McLaren MP4/4. His McLaren team-mate Alain Prost was second fastest with the Ferrari 640 of Nigel Mansell third. Mansell's team-mate Gerhard Berger, returning to action in Mexico after his crash at San Marino, was 6th, the Ferraris split by the March-Judd of Ivan Capelli and the Williams-Renault of Riccardo Patrese. Surprisingly, Capelli's teammate Maurício Gugelmin failed to qualify. Berger, still suffering the effects of his crash, admitted that if not for Ferrari's innovative semi-automatic transmission (which meant he did not have to change gears as with a normal stick shift), he would not have been able to race.
The back row of the grid was arguably the best credentialed and most experienced in Grand Prix history, consisting of seven-time winner René Arnoux in the Ligier-Ford and triple World Champion Nelson Piquet in the Lotus-Judd.
Race
Senna chose medium compound Goodyear "B" tyres for the race while Prost went for the softer C-compound tyres in the hopes of gaining a speed advantage. Despite the pole being on the dirty side of the track in Mexico, Senna made a better start and was able to lead into the first turn from Mansell, Prost, Berger, Patrese and the Tyrrell-Ford of Michele Alboreto. However, it all meant nothing as Modena spun his Brabham into the Peraltada on the first lap and was tapped by the Ligier of Olivier Grouillard and finished against the tyre wall. Despite the car not being in a dangerous position, the red flag was shown and the race had to be restarted.
Senna won the restart and led Prost, a fast starting Berger, Mansell and the Williams pair of Patrese and Thierry Boutsen. Prost, with his softer tyres giving him better grip, soon moved onto the back of his teammate's car. However, Mexico would be where Prost started questioning the power of his Honda V10 compared to the ones used by Senna. For a number of laps Prost, clearly faster through the final Peraltada curve coming onto the main straight, could not make an impression on Senna despite being in his aerodynamic tow on the 1.2 km long main straight. Indeed, the #1 McLaren was seen to pull away from the #2 car on the straight. Running close to his teammate eventually had a detrimental effect on Prost's tyres and he was soon into the pits for a change of rubber. The McLaren team then mistakenly gave the Frenchman another set of C tyres rather than the B's he had come in for. Prost was soon back in for another tyre change and went back into the race only seconds in front of Senna who now had nearly a lap lead over his closest championship rival. Despite being on far fresher tyres than his teammate, Prost still lost ground to Senna and was eventually lapped when the Brazilian swept past on the main straight, fueling Prost's claims that his engines were down on power compared to Senna's. McLaren team boss Ron Dennis later publicly apologised to Prost for the foul up in his pit stop.
Both Ferraris ran well until Berger's race ended on lap 16 with transmission failure while Mansell's gearbox lasted until lap 43. This left the Williams of Patrese in second place with Alboreto a surprising third. This was how the top three finished with Alessandro Nannini fourth in his Benetton B188. The Benetton team had hoped to have their new B189 available in Mexico, but ongoing problems with the new Ford HB engine meant the team had to continue using their 1988 car and engines. Prost, having unlapped himself, finished 5th to be the last car on the lead lap, while Italian Gabriele Tarquini scored the final point for 6th in his AGS-Ford, his only point in Formula One.[1]
Classification
Pre-Qualifying
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | Martin Brundle |
Brabham-Judd | 1:21.770 | — |
| 2 | 8 |  Stefano Modena |
Brabham-Judd | 1:22.211 | +0.441 |
| 3 | 21 | Alex Caffi |
Dallara-Ford | 1:22.876 | +1.106 |
| 4 | 36 |  Stefan Johansson |
Onyx-Ford | 1:23.288 | +1.518 |
| 5 | 37 | .svg.png){kind=small} Bertrand Gachot |
Onyx-Ford | 1:23.752 | +1.982 |
| 6 | 33 |  Gregor Foitek |
EuroBrun-Judd | 1.24.351 | +2.581 |
| 7 | 17 | Nicola Larini |
Osella-Ford | 1:24.392 | +2.622 |
| 8 | 39 |  Volker Weidler |
Rial-Ford | 1:24.966 | +3.196 |
| 9 | 34 | Bernd Schneider |
Zakspeed-Yamaha | 1:25.418 | +3.648 |
| 10 | 35 |  Aguri Suzuki |
Zakspeed-Yamaha | 1:25.658 | +3.888 |
| 11 | 18 | Piercarlo Ghinzani |
Osella-Ford | 1:26.065 | +4.295 |
| 12 | 41 | Joachim Winkelhock |
AGS-Ford | 1:26.754 | +4.984 |
| 13 | 32 |  Pierre-Henri Raphanel |
Coloni-Ford | 1:34.357 | +12.587 |
Qualifying
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Q1 | Q2 | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 |  Ayrton Senna |
McLaren-Honda | 1:19.112 | 1:17.876 | — |
| 2 | 2 | Alain Prost |
McLaren-Honda | 1:20.401 | 1:18.773 | +0.897 |
| 3 | 27 | Nigel Mansell |
Ferrari | 1:21.170 | 1:19.137 | +1.261 |
| 4 | 16 | Ivan Capelli |
March-Judd | 1:24.720 | 1:19.337 | +1.461 |
| 5 | 6 | Riccardo Patrese |
Williams-Renault | 1:21.763 | 1:19.656 | +1.780 |
| 6 | 28 |  Gerhard Berger |
Ferrari | 1:21.564 | 1:19.835 | +1.959 |
| 7 | 4 | Michele Alboreto |
Tyrrell-Ford | 1:22.150 | 1:20.066 | +2.190 |
| 8 | 5 | Thierry Boutsen |
Williams-Renault | 1:21.456 | 1:20.234 | +2.358 |
| 9 | 8 | Stefano Modena |
Brabham-Judd | 1:22.640 | 1:20.505 | +2.629 |
| 10 | 9 | Derek Warwick |
Arrows-Ford | 1:23.245 | 1:20.601 | +2.725 |
| 11 | 26 | Olivier Grouillard |
Ligier-Ford | 1:23.053 | 1:20.859 | +2.983 |
| 12 | 22 | Andrea de Cesaris |
Dallara-Ford | 1:23.066 | 1:20.873 | +2.997 |
| 13 | 19 | Alessandro Nannini |
Benetton-Ford | 1:21.791 | 1:20.888 | +3.012 |
| 14 | 3 | Jonathan Palmer |
Tyrrell-Ford | 1:21.561 | 1:20.888 | +3.012 |
| 15 | 12 | Satoru Nakajima |
Lotus-Judd | 1:22.438 | 1:20.943 | +3.067 |
| 16 | 30 | Philippe Alliot |
Lola-Lamborghini | 1:22.014 | 1:21.031 | +3.155 |
| 17 | 40 | Gabriele Tarquini |
AGS-Ford | 1:23.004 | 1:21.031 | +3.155 |
| 18 | 20 | Johnny Herbert |
Benetton-Ford | 1:22.553 | 1:21.105 | +3.229 |
| 19 | 21 | Alex Caffi |
Dallara-Ford | 1:22.705 | 1:21.139 | +3.263 |
| 20 | 7 | Martin Brundle |
Brabham-Judd | 1:23.375 | 1:21.217 | +3.341 |
| 21 | 36 | Stefan Johansson |
Onyx-Ford | 1:23.746 | 1:21.358 | +3.482 |
| 22 | 23 | Pierluigi Martini |
Minardi-Ford | 1:24.181 | 1:21.471 | +3.595 |
| 23 | 38 | Christian Danner |
Rial-Ford | 1:22.931 | 1:21.696 | +3.820 |
| 24 | 10 |  Eddie Cheever |
Arrows-Ford | 1:23.427 | 1:21.716 | +3.840 |
| 25 | 25 | René Arnoux |
Ligier-Ford | 1:24.890 | 1:21.830 | +3.954 |
| 26 | 11 | Nelson Piquet |
Lotus-Judd | 1:23.090 | 1:21.831 | +3.955 |
| 27 | 24 |  Luis Pérez-Sala |
Minardi-Ford | 1:26.567 | 1:21.935 | +4.059 |
| 28 | 15 | Maurício Gugelmin |
March-Judd | 1:22.712 | 1:22.081 | +4.205 |
| 29 | 29 | Yannick Dalmas |
Lola-Lamborghini | 1:25.651 | 9:27.789 | +7.775 |
| 30 | 31 | Roberto Moreno |
Coloni-Ford | no time | 3:34.095 | +2:16.219 |
Race
Championship standings after the race
|
|
- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References
- ↑ Roebuck, Nigel; Henry, Alan (1989). Naismith, Barry, ed. "Round 4:Mexico Making It Look Easy". Grand Prix. Glen Waverly, Victoria: Garry Sparke & Associates. 5: 54. ISBN 0-908081-99-5.
- ↑ "1989 Mexican Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
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FIA Formula One World Championship 1989 season |
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Mexican Grand Prix | Next race: 1990 Mexican Grand Prix |