1991 Japanese Grand Prix
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| 1991 Japanese Grand Prix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 15 of 16 in the 1991 Formula One World Championship | |||
.svg) | |||
| Race details | |||
| Date | 20 October 1991 | ||
| Official name | XVII Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix | ||
| Location | Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka, Japan | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 5.860 km (3.641[1] miles) | ||
| Distance | 53 laps, 310.580 km (192.985 miles) | ||
| Weather | Sunny, warm | ||
| Attendance | 337,000[2] | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | McLaren-Honda | ||
| Time | 1:34.700 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 Ayrton Senna | McLaren-Honda | |
| Time | 1:41.532 on lap 39 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | McLaren-Honda | ||
| Second | McLaren-Honda | ||
| Third | Williams-Renault | ||
|
Lap leaders | |||
The 1991 Japanese Grand Prix (formally the XVII Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held at Suzuka on 20 October 1991. It was the fifteenth round of the 1991 Formula One season. The 53-lap race was won by McLaren driver Gerhard Berger after he started from pole position. His teammate Ayrton Senna finished second and Riccardo Patrese was third for the Williams team. The race would mark McLaren's last one-two finish for six years until the 1997 European Grand Prix.[3]
This was also Honda's last one-two finish until the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix. Most notably, Senna's second-place-finish was sufficient to crown him World Champion for the third and final time in his career, having built an unassailable 22-point-lead over eventual runner-up Nigel Mansell with one round to spare.
Formula One moved to Japan with the fight for the title still open; this was the fifth year in a row that the title would be decided at the Suzuka circuit. Both championship contenders Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell knew exactly what they needed to do; Mansell had to win with help and Senna needed to beat Mansell. There were several changes to the driver lineup, the most notable being at Leyton House where Ivan Capelli had been replaced by young Austrian Karl Wendlinger, with Capelli being freed up as a spare driver for Ferrari if Alain Prost decided not to enter. It was the first time the Leyton House/March team had not entered with Capelli as a named driver since their return to the grid in 1987, during which time he had partnered Mauricio Gugelmin in every race from 1988 onwards. Elsewhere, AGS had run out of money and did not make the voyage to Japan, while fellow stragglers Coloni had hired local driver Naoki Hattori. Johnny Herbert was back behind the wheel of the Lotus after having missed a few races in the second half of the season due to Japanese Formula 3000 commitments.
Qualifying
Pre-qualifying report
With the withdrawal of AGS from Formula One prior to this event, and the return of the Coloni team after missing the last grand Prix, the pre-qualifying pool was reduced to six cars.
A Brabham topped the time sheets for the seventh time this season as Martin Brundle was fastest, over a second ahead of Alex Caffi in the Footwork. It was only the second time in seven attempts that the Italian had pre-qualified. His team-mate Michele Alboreto was third fastest, just under a tenth of a second slower. The fourth and final pre-qualifying position went to Gabriele Tarquini for Fondmetal, the second time in as many attempts that he had pre-qualified for his new team.
For the first time in 1991, the other Brabham failed to pre-qualify, as Mark Blundell suffered an oil leak in his Yamaha engine during the session. His time was only good enough for fifth place. Coloni had hired the 1990 Japanese Formula Three champion, Naoki Hattori, to replace Pedro Chaves for the last two races of the season, but the car broke down before Hattori was able to post a representative time.[4]
Pre-qualifying classification
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 |  Martin Brundle |
Brabham-Yamaha | 1:41.289 | — |
| 2 | 10 |  Alex Caffi |
Footwork-Ford | 1:42.382 | +1.093 |
| 3 | 9 | Michele Alboreto |
Footwork-Ford | 1:42.479 | +1.190 |
| 4 | 14 | Gabriele Tarquini |
Fondmetal-Ford | 1:43.025 | +1.736 |
| 5 | 8 | Mark Blundell |
Brabham-Yamaha | 1:44.025 | +2.736 |
| 6 | 31 |  Naoki Hattori |
Coloni-Ford | 2:00.035 | +18.746 |
Qualifying report
There were a number of accidents during the qualifying sessions, including young sensation Michael Schumacher and Ferrari driver Jean Alesi. The biggest of these accidents was the one that befell Éric Bernard who broke his ankle and would not take any further part in the race. At the end of the qualifying sessions it was a McLaren front row with Gerhard Berger ahead of Ayrton Senna. Mansell was third followed by the unhappy Alain Prost, Riccardo Patrese, Jean Alesi, Pierluigi Martini, Gianni Morbidelli, Michael Schumacher, and Nelson Piquet. Senna was right where he wanted to be, while Mansell knew he had his work cut out for him.
Qualifying classification
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Q1 | Q2 | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 |  Gerhard Berger |
McLaren-Honda | 1:36.458 | 1:34.700 | — |
| 2 | 1 | Ayrton Senna |
McLaren-Honda | 1:36.490 | 1:34.898 | +0.198 |
| 3 | 5 | Nigel Mansell |
Williams-Renault | 1:36.529 | 1:34.922 | +0.222 |
| 4 | 27 |  Alain Prost |
Ferrari | 1:37.565 | 1:36.670 | +1.970 |
| 5 | 6 | Riccardo Patrese |
Williams-Renault | 1:37.874 | 1:36.882 | +2.182 |
| 6 | 28 | Jean Alesi |
Ferrari | 1:37.718 | 1:37.140 | +2.440 |
| 7 | 23 | Pierluigi Martini |
Minardi-Ferrari | 1:40.176 | 1:38.154 | +3.454 |
| 8 | 24 | Gianni Morbidelli |
Minardi-Ferrari | 1:41.088 | 1:38.248 | +3.548 |
| 9 | 19 |  Michael Schumacher |
Benetton-Ford | 1:39.742 | 1:38.363 | +3.663 |
| 10 | 20 | Nelson Piquet |
Benetton-Ford | 1:40.557 | 1:38.614 | +3.914 |
| 11 | 33 | Andrea de Cesaris |
Jordan-Ford | 1:40.407 | 1:38.842 | +4.142 |
| 12 | 22 |  JJ Lehto |
Dallara-Judd | 1:40.191 | 1:38.911 | +4.211 |
| 13 | 32 | Alessandro Zanardi |
Jordan-Ford | 1:39.051 | 1:38.923 | +4.223 |
| 14 | 4 | Stefano Modena |
Tyrrell-Honda | 1:39.245 | 1:38.926 | +4.226 |
| 15 | 3 | Satoru Nakajima |
Tyrrell-Honda | 1:40.100 | 1:39.118 | +4.418 |
| 16 | 21 | Emanuele Pirro |
Dallara-Judd | 1:41.246 | 1:39.238 | +4.538 |
| 17 | 25 |  Thierry Boutsen |
Ligier-Lamborghini | 1:39.946 | 1:39.499 | +4.799 |
| 18 | 15 | Maurício Gugelmin |
Leyton House-Ilmor | 1:40.714 | 1:39.518 | +4.818 |
| 19 | 7 | Martin Brundle |
Brabham-Yamaha | 1:40.867 | 1:39.697 | +4.997 |
| 20 | 26 | Érik Comas |
Ligier-Lamborghini | 1:41.251 | 1:39.820 | +5.120 |
| 21 | 11 | Mika Häkkinen |
Lotus-Judd | 1:41.485 | 1:40.024 | +5.324 |
| 22 | 16 | Karl Wendlinger |
Leyton House-Ilmor | 1:41.639 | 1:40.092 | +5.392 |
| 23 | 12 | Johnny Herbert |
Lotus-Judd | 1:40.512 | 1:40.170 | +5.470 |
| 24 | 14 | Gabriele Tarquini |
Fondmetal-Ford | 1:42.835 | 1:40.184 | +5.484 |
| 25 | 30 | Aguri Suzuki |
Lola-Ford | 1:41.528 | 1:40.255 | +5.555 |
| 26 | 10 | Alex Caffi |
Footwork-Ford | 1:40.517 | 1:40.402 | +5.702 |
| 27 | 9 | Michele Alboreto |
Footwork-Ford | 1:41.536 | 1:40.844 | +6.144 |
| 28 | 34 | Nicola Larini |
Lambo-Lamborghini | 1:43.057 | 1:42.492 | +7.792 |
| 29 | 35 | Eric van de Poele |
Lambo-Lamborghini | 1:46.641 | 1:42.724 | +8.024 |
| 30 | 29 | Éric Bernard |
Lola-Ford | no time | no time | — |
