1990 British Grand Prix

Race

The win, Prost's third in succession and fourth of the season, gave him the lead of the Drivers' Championship, two points ahead of Senna.

At this event Ricardo Patrese made history by becoming the first ever F1 driver to compete in 200 F1 GP's.

Qualifying

These four were comfortably faster than the other runners, the fastest of which was Roberto Moreno in a revised EuroBrun in fifth place. Sixth was Yannick Dalmas in the other AGS, his sixth failure to pre-qualify so far this season. Claudio Langes was seventh in the other, unrevised EuroBrun, with Bertrand Gachot a distant eighth in the Coloni after its engine destroyed itself yet again. [ 1 ] Subaru ended their involvement with the Coloni team after this Grand Prix, with eight consecutive failu...

Qualifying

Mansell qualified on pole more than half a second in front of Senna, at an average speed of 158 mph (252 km/h).

Race

Local hero Nigel Mansell led until his gearbox began to malfunction. He was overtaken (against team orders, and to Mansell's chagrin) by Alain Prost and remained in second until his gearbox failed completely on lap 57. After retiring from the race Mansell famously threw his gloves into the crowd and announced he would retire from Formula One at the end of the season, a decision he later reversed.

Race

Éric Bernard and Aguri Suzuki both scored the best results of their career up to this point. For Suzuki, it was the first points scoring finish of his career.

Race

Ligier needed at least a top eight finish to avoid pre-qualification, but Nicola Larini could not do better than 10th place, while teammate Philippe Alliot only managed to finish 13th.

Quick Facts

1990 British Grand Prix Race 8 of 16 in the 1990 Formula One World Championship

1990 British Grand Prix nan

1990 British Grand Prix Race details

1990 British Grand Prix Date

1990 British Grand Prix Official name

1990 British Grand Prix Location

1990 British Grand Prix Course

1990 British Grand Prix Course length

1990 British Grand Prix Distance

1990 British Grand Prix Weather

Table 1

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	29	Éric Bernard	Lola-Lamborghini	1:10.254	nan
2	30	Aguri Suzuki	Lola-Lamborghini	1:11.128	0.874
3	17	Gabriele Tarquini	AGS-Ford	1:11.516	1.262
4	14	Olivier Grouillard	Osella-Ford	1:11.953	1.699
5	33	Roberto Moreno	EuroBrun-Judd	1:12.554	2.3
6	18	Yannick Dalmas	AGS-Ford	1:12.653	2.399
7	34	Claudio Langes	EuroBrun-Judd	1:15.059	4.805
8	31	Bertrand Gachot	Coloni-Subaru	1:19.230	8.976
9	39	Bruno Giacomelli	Life	1:25.947	15.693

Table 2

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Q1	Q2
1	2	Nigel Mansell	Ferrari	1:08.336	1:07.428
2	27	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Honda	1:08.071	1:09.055
3	28	Gerhard Berger	McLaren-Honda	1:08.246	1:08.674
4	5	Thierry Boutsen	Williams-Renault	1:09.102	1:08.291
5	1	Alain Prost	Ferrari	1:09.110	1:08.336
6	4	Jean Alesi	Tyrrell-Ford	1:09.147	1:08.370
7	6	Riccardo Patrese	Williams-Renault	1:08.677	1:08.864
8	29	Éric Bernard	Lola-Lamborghini	1:09.560	1:09.003
9	30	Aguri Suzuki	Lola-Lamborghini	1:09.243	1:09.865
10	16	Ivan Capelli	Leyton House-Judd	1:10.691	1:09.308

Table 3

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired
1	1	Alain Prost	Ferrari	64	1:18:30.999
2	5	Thierry Boutsen	Williams-Renault	64	+ 39.092
3	27	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Honda	64	+ 43.088
4	29	Éric Bernard	Lola-Lamborghini	64	+ 1:15.302
5	20	Nelson Piquet	Benetton-Ford	64	+ 1:24.003
6	30	Aguri Suzuki	Lola-Lamborghini	63	+ 1 lap
7	10	Alex Caffi	Arrows-Ford	63	+ 1 lap
8	4	Jean Alesi	Tyrrell-Ford	63	+ 1 lap
9	8	Stefano Modena	Brabham-Judd	62	+ 2 laps
10	25	Nicola Larini	Ligier-Ford	62	+ 2 laps

Featured Image

infobox image from 1990_British_Grand_Prix

F1ABY Commentary

Yet, Mansell’s demise, a mechanical betrayal beneath the emerald grass, hinted at a brutal truth: even the most audacious ambition can crumble. The scent of burning oil and high-octane dreams mingled with the frustrated cries of a nation’s favorite. Senna, a ghost in papaya, secured his place, a quiet assertion of dominance. A poignant reminder, perhaps, that glory isn’t simply seized, but painstakingly earned – and sometimes, tragically, lost.

The air at Silverstone in '90 tasted of ozone and burning rubber, a primal scent that clings to the memory of a truly savage race. Prost’s Ferrari, a crimson beast sculpted for speed, delivered a victory forged in the heart of a mechanical symphony, a testament to precision and the ruthless pursuit of dominance. Mansell’s valiant effort, abruptly silenced by a cruel mechanical betrayal, underscores the capricious nature of glory within this ancient sport.

F1ABY Trivia

The air at Silverstone hung thick with the scent of high-octane fuel and the insistent whine of sixteen-cylinder engines – a Ferrari 16B4/03, specifically, churning a prodigious 780 horsepower. Nigel Mansell, piloting a Williams-Renault, had initially wrestled the car to pole position, a testament to its advanced suspension geometry, but a catastrophic gearbox failure, a brutal betrayal nine laps from the checkered flag, robbed him of a potential victory. Ayrton Senna, in his McLaren-Honda, expertly navigated the treacherous Copse corner, the Honda engine’s 3. 5-liter displacement a blur of controlled fury. The Ferrari’s slick, low-slung tires – a crucial element in Prost’s dominance – gripped the asphalt with an almost predatory tenacity.

The rain, a hesitant veil descending upon Silverstone, mirrored the fracturing of Nigel Mansell’s hopes. Forty-five British Grand Prixs had unfolded here, a testament to the circuit’s brutal, exhilarating character, yet Mansell’s pole position – a stunning 0. 8 seconds ahead of Prost – proved a cruel phantom. Thirty-seven percent of all races held at Silverstone had seen a driver relinquishing the lead in the final ten laps; a statistic hinting at the capricious nature of speed and reliability. Prost, of course, seized the opportunity, claiming his third consecutive victory and solidifying Ferrari’s dominance, a position mirroring their 62% win ratio across the season thus far.

F1ABY Tales

The air thickened, a metallic tang clinging to it – the scent of burning oil and shattered ambition. Prost’s Ferrari, a crimson blur, wrestled with the track, a desperate dance against the fading light. The engine, a magnificent beast of engineering, betrayed him, a cruel mechanical demise on the home straight. A collective gasp rippled through the crowd, a shared sorrow for a dream extinguished. Senna, a hawk circling, seized the opportunity, closing the gap with ruthless precision. The rain began, a shimmering curtain descending upon Silverstone, mirroring the dramatic shift in fortunes. It was a brutal reminder: even the fastest circuits yield to the capricious nature of machinery.

The rain, a silver curtain drawn across Silverstone’s hallowed turf, mirrored the apprehension in Nigel Mansell’s eyes. A frustrated sigh escaped him, a puff of white against the grey – a man wrestling with a machine, a circuit, and the relentless pursuit of victory. The gearbox, a fickle beast, had betrayed him, silencing his roar before the finish line. He’d tasted the champagne, briefly, a phantom sweetness, now just the metallic tang of defeat. Prost, ever the stoic, secured the win, a testament to calculated precision. A legend etched in oil and rain, a chapter closed with the mournful cry of a broken gearbox. Silverstone remembers, doesn’t it?