1990 French Grand Prix
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France
| 1990 French Grand Prix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 7 of 16 in the 1990 Formula One World Championship | |||
 | |||
| Race details | |||
| Date | 8 July 1990 | ||
| Official name | Rhône-Poulenc Grand Prix de France | ||
| Location |
Paul Ricard France | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 3.813 km (2.369 miles) | ||
| Distance | 80 laps, 305.040 km (189.543 miles) | ||
| Weather | Hot, dry, sunny | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Ferrari | ||
| Time | 1:04.402 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 Nigel Mansell | Ferrari | |
| Time | 1:08.012 on lap 64 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Ferrari | ||
| Second | Leyton House-Judd | ||
| Third | McLaren-Honda | ||
|
Lap leaders | |||
The 1990 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Paul Ricard on 8 July 1990. It was the seventh race of the 1990 Formula One World Championship. It was the 68th French Grand Prix and the 14th and last to be held at Paul Ricard until the 2018 French Grand Prix. It was held over 80 laps of the four kilometre circuit for a race distance of 305 kilometres. This race was held the same day as the 1990 FIFA World Cup Final in Rome, Italy, but that event took place later in the day from this Grand Prix.[1]
The race almost saw one of the most remarkable upsets in Formula One history with the Leyton House Racing team of Italian driver Ivan Capelli and Brazilian driver Maurício Gugelmin running first and second for an extended period of the race in their Leyton House CG901s. Local driver Alain Prost claimed the lead late in the race to take the win in his Ferrari 641 by eight seconds over Capelli. Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna finished third in his McLaren MP4/5B.
The win, Prost's third for the season, marked Ferrari's 100th race victory in Formula One, and closed the gap to championship points leader Senna to just three points.[2][3]
Pre-qualifying report
In the Friday morning pre-qualifying session, it was a return to the top two places for the Larrousse-Lola drivers, their fourth 1–2 of the season. Éric Bernard was over a second faster than his team-mate Aguri Suzuki, who in turn was seven tenths faster than the next fastest driver. For the first time this season, at their home race, both AGS drivers pre-qualified, with Gabriele Tarquini third and Yannick Dalmas fourth. It was the first successful pre-qualification for Tarquini this season, and only the second for Dalmas.[4]
In fifth place, missing out by just under seven hundredths of a second, was Olivier Grouillard in the sole Osella, the first time he had failed to pre-qualify in 1990. Sixth was Roberto Moreno in his EuroBrun, some way adrift of Grouillard and nearly five seconds off Bernard's pace. It was the second time this season Moreno had failed to pre-qualify. Seventh, and much closer to his team-mate this time, was Claudio Langes in the other EuroBrun. The other two runners were not remotely competitive; Bertrand Gachot suffered an engine failure on his first lap in his Coloni, still with the heavy, fragile and underpowered Subaru engine,[5] while Bruno Giacomelli failed to leave the pits in the Life.[4]
Pre-qualifying classification
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 29 |  Éric Bernard |
Lola-Lamborghini | 1:05.165 | — |
| 2 | 30 |  Aguri Suzuki |
Lola-Lamborghini | 1:06.505 | +1.340 |
| 3 | 17 |  Gabriele Tarquini |
AGS-Ford | 1:07.232 | +2.067 |
| 4 | 18 | Yannick Dalmas |
AGS-Ford | 1:08.151 | +2.986 |
| 5 | 14 | Olivier Grouillard |
Osella-Ford | 1:08.219 | +3.054 |
| 6 | 33 |  Roberto Moreno |
EuroBrun-Judd | 1:09.885 | +4.720 |
| 7 | 34 | Claudio Langes |
EuroBrun-Judd | 1:10.368 | +5.203 |
| 8 | 31 |  Bertrand Gachot |
Coloni-Subaru | 4:02.465 | +2:57.300 |
| 9 | 39 | Bruno Giacomelli |
Life | no time | — |
Qualifying report
Nigel Mansell took pole position from Gerhard Berger and Ayrton Senna being followed by Alain Prost, Alessandro Nannini fifth, Riccardo Patrese sixth, Ivan Capelli seventh followed by Thierry Boutsen in eighth, Nelson Piquet in ninth and Maurício Gugelmin tenth.
Qualifying classification
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Q1 | Q2 | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Nigel Mansell |
Ferrari | 1:04.402 | 1:04.871 | — |
| 2 | 28 |  Gerhard Berger |
McLaren-Honda | 1:05.350 | 1:04.512 | +0.110 |
| 3 | 27 | Ayrton Senna |
McLaren-Honda | 1:04.549 | 1:08.886 | +0.147 |
| 4 | 1 | Alain Prost |
Ferrari | 1:04.792 | 1:04.781 | +0.379 |
| 5 | 19 | Alessandro Nannini |
Benetton-Ford | 1:05.670 | 1:05.009 | +0.607 |
| 6 | 6 | Riccardo Patrese |
Williams-Renault | 1:05.059 | 1:05.394 | +0.657 |
| 7 | 16 | Ivan Capelli |
Leyton House-Judd | 1:06.384 | 1:05.369 | +0.967 |
| 8 | 5 | Thierry Boutsen |
Williams-Renault | 1:05.446 | 1:06.394 | +1.044 |
| 9 | 20 | Nelson Piquet |
Benetton-Ford | 1:05.640 | 1:05.744 | +1.238 |
| 10 | 15 | Maurício Gugelmin |
Leyton House-Judd | 1:05.818 | 1:06.446 | +1.416 |
| 11 | 29 | Éric Bernard |
Lola-Lamborghini | 1:05.910 | 1:05.852 | +1.450 |
| 12 | 26 | Philippe Alliot |
Ligier-Ford | 1:05.980 | 1:06.866 | +1.578 |
| 13 | 4 | Jean Alesi |
Tyrrell-Ford | 1:06.084 | 1:06.200 | +1.682 |
| 14 | 30 | Aguri Suzuki |
Lola-Lamborghini | 1:06.100 | 1:06.158 | +1.598 |
| 15 | 3 | Satoru Nakajima |
Tyrrell-Ford | 1:06.999 | 1:06.563 | +2.161 |
| 16 | 11 | Derek Warwick |
Lotus-Lamborghini | 1:06.624 | 1:07.031 | +2.222 |
| 17 | 12 | Martin Donnelly |
Lotus-Lamborghini | 1:06.647 | 1:07.248 | +2.245 |
| 18 | 9 | Michele Alboreto |
Arrows-Ford | 1:06.847 | 1:07.239 | +2.445 |
| 19 | 25 | Nicola Larini |
Ligier-Ford | 1:07.224 | 1:06.856 | +2.444 |
| 20 | 8 | Stefano Modena |
Brabham-Judd | 1:06.937 | 1:06.943 | +2.535 |
| 21 | 22 | Andrea de Cesaris |
Dallara-Ford | 1:09.727 | 1:07.137 | +2.735 |
| 22 | 10 | Alex Caffi |
Arrows-Ford | 1:07.496 | 1:07.207 | +2.805 |
| 23 | 23 | Pierluigi Martini |
Minardi-Ford | 1:07.315 | 1:07.333 | +2.913 |
| 24 | 21 | Emanuele Pirro |
Dallara-Ford | 1:07.687 | 1:07.692 | +3.285 |
| 25 | 7 |  David Brabham |
Brabham-Judd | 1:07.733 | 1:08.532 | +3.331 |
| 26 | 18 | Yannick Dalmas |
AGS-Ford | 1:08.630 | 1:07.926 | +3.524 |
| 27 | 24 | Paolo Barilla |
Minardi-Ford | 1:08.008 | 1:08.592 | +3.606 |
| 28 | 17 | Gabriele Tarquini |
AGS-Ford | 1:09.176 | 1:08.147 | +3.745 |
| 29 | 35 |  Gregor Foitek |
Onyx-Ford | 1:08.794 | 1:08.232 | +3.830 |
| 30 | 36 |  JJ Lehto |
Onyx-Ford | 1:08.954 | 1:08.487 | +4.085 |
