1990 Belgian Grand Prix
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| 1990 Belgian Grand Prix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 11 of 16 in the 1990 Formula One World Championship | |||
 | |||
| Race details | |||
| Date | 26 August 1990 | ||
| Location |
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Francorchamps, Wallonia, Belgium[1] | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 6.940 km (4.312[2] miles) | ||
| Distance | 44 laps, 301.172 km (187.136 miles) | ||
| Weather | Dry | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | McLaren-Honda | ||
| Time | 1:50.365 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 Alain Prost | Ferrari | |
| Time | 1:55.087 on lap 38 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | McLaren-Honda | ||
| Second | Ferrari | ||
| Third | McLaren-Honda | ||
|
Lap leaders | |||
The 1990 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Spa-Francorchamps on 26 August 1990. It was the eleventh race of the 1990 Formula One World Championship. The race was the 48th Belgian Grand Prix. It was the 36th to be held at Spa-Francorchamps and the seventh since the circuit was extensively redeveloped in 1979. The race was held over 44 laps of the seven kilometre circuit for a race distance of 301 kilometres.
Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna claimed his fifth race victory for the season in his McLaren MP4/5B taking a four-second win over the Ferrari 641 driven the reigning world champion, Frenchman Alain Prost. It was Senna's fourth victory in the Belgian Grand Prix, and his third in succession. Senna's Austrian team mate Gerhard Berger finished third, while further back Maurício Gugelmin scored a point for the Leyton House team.
Three attempts were made to start the race, the first two being red-flagged after collisions. Aguri Suzuki's Lola LC90 was eliminated after the first start, Paolo Barilla's Minardi M190 after the second.
Off-track, Nigel Mansell was rumoured to be reconsidering his prior announcement to retire, and he was strongly linked with Williams. He had demanded undisputed number one status as a driver, and various assurances from engine supplier Renault, which Frank Williams had told him were impossible.[3]
The Onyx team pulled out of Formula One before the weekend of the race, for financial reasons, having competed at this level for a season and a half.[4]
Pre-qualifying report
With the withdrawal of the Onyx team, Ligier were relieved of the requirement to pre-qualify, and returned to the main qualifying pool. They had only been required to pre-qualify twice, which both cars did comfortably on both occasions.
Therefore there was slightly less pressure on the other entrants in the pre-qualifying session. Olivier Grouillard was fastest in the Osella, the second time he had been top of the Friday morning time sheets, and the first time since round six in Mexico. Second fastest was Yannick Dalmas in the AGS, his fifth successful pre-qualification of the season from eleven attempts. Third fastest was Bertrand Gachot in the improving Coloni, and this was the first time in 1990 that he had pre-qualified. Fourth was Gabriele Tarquini in the other AGS, his fourth pre-qualification this season.[4]
Missing the cut in fifth and sixth positions were the EuroBruns of Roberto Moreno and Claudio Langes. The margin of failure was fairly narrow however, with Moreno 0.36 seconds behind Tarquini, and Langes just over a second further behind. Bruno Giacomelli was slowest again in the Life, with the L190 refusing to start until the closing stages of the session. The car managed five slow laps before an electrical failure. "Nothing impressive," Giacomelli stated. He also announced that work was restarting on the chassis to allow a Judd CV V8 engine to be fitted by round 13 in Portugal, in place of the disastrous in-house W12.[5]
Pre-qualifying classification
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 | Olivier Grouillard |
Osella-Ford | 1:57.941 | — |
| 2 | 18 | Yannick Dalmas |
AGS-Ford | 1:58.339 | +0.398 |
| 3 | 31 |  Bertrand Gachot |
Coloni-Ford | 1:59.130 | +1.189 |
| 4 | 17 |  Gabriele Tarquini |
AGS-Ford | 1:59.910 | +1.969 |
| 5 | 33 |  Roberto Moreno |
EuroBrun-Judd | 2:00.270 | +2.329 |
| 6 | 34 | Claudio Langes |
EuroBrun-Judd | 2:01.405 | +3.464 |
| 7 | 39 | Bruno Giacomelli |
Life | 2:19.445 | +21.504 |
Qualifying report
The two McLarens were on the front row, with Senna ahead of Berger. Prost in the Ferrari was third ahead of Boutsen and the second Ferrari of Mansell.
Qualifying classification
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Q1 | Q2 | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 27 | Ayrton Senna |
McLaren-Honda | 1:52.278 | 1:50.365 | — |
| 2 | 28 |  Gerhard Berger |
McLaren-Honda | 1:51.211 | 1:50.948 | +0.583 |
| 3 | 1 | Alain Prost |
Ferrari | 1:51.841 | 1:51.043 | +0.678 |
| 4 | 5 | Thierry Boutsen |
Williams-Renault | 1:54.024 | 1:51.902 | +1.537 |
| 5 | 2 |  Nigel Mansell |
Ferrari | 1:52.601 | 1:52.267 | +1.902 |
| 6 | 19 | Alessandro Nannini |
Benetton-Ford | 1:55.800 | 1:52.648 | +2.283 |
| 7 | 6 | Riccardo Patrese |
Williams-Renault | 1:54.260 | 1:52.703 | +2.338 |
| 8 | 20 | Nelson Piquet |
Benetton-Ford | 1:53.689 | 1:52.853 | +2.488 |
| 9 | 4 | Jean Alesi |
Tyrrell-Ford | 1:54.116 | 1:52.885 | +2.520 |
| 10 | 3 |  Satoru Nakajima |
Tyrrell-Ford | 1:55.798 | 1:53.468 | +3.103 |
| 11 | 30 | Aguri Suzuki |
Lola-Lamborghini | 1:55.294 | 1:53.523 | +3.158 |
| 12 | 16 | Ivan Capelli |
Leyton House-Judd | 1:55.012 | 1:53.783 | +3.418 |
| 13 | 8 | Stefano Modena |
Brabham-Judd | 1:57.014 | 1:53.916 | +3.551 |
| 14 | 15 | Maurício Gugelmin |
Leyton House-Judd | 1:54.497 | 1:54.120 | +3.755 |
| 15 | 29 | Éric Bernard |
Lola-Lamborghini | 1:56.213 | 1:54.251 | +3.886 |
| 16 | 23 | Pierluigi Martini |
Minardi-Ford | 1:56.074 | 1:54.312 | +3.947 |
| 17 | 21 | Emanuele Pirro |
Dallara-Ford | 1:56.239 | 1:54.595 | +4.230 |
| 18 | 11 | Derek Warwick |
Lotus-Lamborghini | 1:56.246 | 1:55.068 | +4.703 |
| 19 | 10 | Alex Caffi |
Arrows-Ford | 1:56.562 | 1:55.199 | +4.834 |
| 20 | 22 | Andrea de Cesaris |
Dallara-Ford | 1:56.923 | 1:55.261 | +4.896 |
| 21 | 25 | Nicola Larini |
Ligier-Ford | 1:57.471 | 1:55.278 | +4.913 |
| 22 | 12 | Martin Donnelly |
Lotus-Lamborghini | 1:56.666 | 1:55.304 | +4.939 |
| 23 | 14 | Olivier Grouillard |
Osella-Ford | 1:57.770 | 1:55.334 | +4.969 |
| 24 | 7 |  David Brabham |
Brabham-Judd | 1:58.034 | 1:55.668 | +5.303 |
| 25 | 24 | Paolo Barilla |
Minardi-Ford | 1:57.221 | 1:55.859 | +5.494 |
| 26 | 9 | Michele Alboreto |
Arrows-Ford | 1:57.255 | 1:56.055 | +5.690 |
| 27 | 26 | Philippe Alliot |
Ligier-Ford | no time | 1:56.118 | +5.753 |
| 28 | 17 | Gabriele Tarquini |
AGS-Ford | 1:58.293 | 1:57.566 | +7.201 |
| 29 | 18 | Yannick Dalmas |
AGS-Ford | 1:58.995 | 1:57.704 | +7.339 |
| 30 | 31 | Bertrand Gachot |
Coloni-Ford | no time | 1:58.520 | +8.155 |
