1990 Hungarian Grand Prix

Race

Belgian driver Thierry Boutsen , driving a Williams - Renault , took his third and final Grand Prix win after leading the entire race. Ayrton Senna , driving a McLaren - Honda , finished less than 0.3 seconds behind Boutsen, having survived a collision with the Benetton - Ford of Alessandro Nannini . Nannini's teammate Nelson Piquet finished third. It turned out to be Boutsen's final podium of his career. As of 2024 [update] , this is the last victory and podium finish in Formula One for a drive...

With rival Alain Prost failing to finish, Senna increased his lead in the Drivers' Championship over the Frenchman.

Qualifying

As at the previous event in Germany , the Ligier drivers were first and second in the Friday morning pre-qualifying session. The positions were reversed, however, with Nicola Larini outpacing team-mate Philippe Alliot . The other two pre-qualifiers were the AGS cars, driven by Yannick Dalmas in third, and Gabriele Tarquini in fourth, the pair nearly two seconds slower than the Ligiers. It was the first time since the French Grand Prix that both AGS cars had pre-qualified, and only the second tim...

Also for only the second time this season, Olivier Grouillard failed to pre-qualify in the Osella , as he was fifth fastest, less than two tenths of a second slower than Tarquini. There was a big improvement from Bertrand Gachot in the Coloni , now seeing the benefits of the Cosworth DFR engine in place of the Subaru , as he was sixth fastest, just 0.264 seconds behind Tarquini. The EuroBruns were seventh and eighth, Roberto Moreno a couple of seconds faster than Claudio Langes , and bottom of t...

Qualifying

On the tight and twisty Hungaroring, the two Williams filled the front row with Thierry Boutsen 0.036 seconds ahead of Riccardo Patrese . This was to be the only pole position of Boutsen's career. Gerhard Berger was third ahead of McLaren teammate Ayrton Senna , while Senna's Drivers' Championship rival Alain Prost could only manage eighth, behind Ferrari teammate Nigel Mansell , Jean Alesi in the Tyrrell and Alessandro Nannini in the Benetton. The top ten was completed by Nelson Piquet in the s...

Race

At the start, Boutsen led away while Berger moved ahead of Patrese. Mansell and Alesi both passed Senna at the first corner, while de Cesaris shot past both Benettons and Prost. The top four started to pull away, while Alesi held up the cars behind him.

Nannini soon re-passed de Cesaris, but the Dallara driver kept ahead of Piquet and Prost before retiring on lap 23 with an engine failure. Senna passed Alesi on lap 21, only to suffer a puncture which dropped him to tenth. Nannini passed the Tyrrell driver shortly afterwards and quickly caught up to the top four, followed by Prost. On lap 36, Alesi collided with the Minardi of Pierluigi Martini , putting them both out; Prost retired at around the same time with a gearbox failure.

Race

On lap 64, Senna attempted to pass Nannini at the chicane. The two collided, putting the Benetton driver out. Then on lap 72, Berger attempted a similar move on Mansell, taking both drivers out. This left Boutsen and Senna nearly half a minute clear of Piquet. Senna tried to find a way past Boutsen, but the Belgian held him off, crossing the line 0.288 seconds ahead. Boutsen would later claim that if the race had continued for any longer his brakes would likely have failed. [ 3 ] Piquet finished...

Senna increased his lead over Prost in the Drivers' Championship to ten points, 54 to 44, with Berger on 29 and Boutsen on 27. McLaren also increased their lead in the Constructors' Championship, with 83 points to Ferrari's 57, followed by Williams on 42 and Benetton on 35.

Quick Facts

1990 Hungarian Grand Prix Race 10 of 16 in the 1990 Formula One World Championship

1990 Hungarian Grand Prix nan

1990 Hungarian Grand Prix Race details

1990 Hungarian Grand Prix Date

1990 Hungarian Grand Prix Location

1990 Hungarian Grand Prix Course

1990 Hungarian Grand Prix Course length

1990 Hungarian Grand Prix Distance

1990 Hungarian Grand Prix Weather

1990 Hungarian Grand Prix Pole position

Table 1

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	25	Nicola Larini	Ligier-Ford	1:21.518	—
2	26	Philippe Alliot	Ligier-Ford	1:21.710	+0.192
3	18	Yannick Dalmas	AGS-Ford	1:23.227	+1.709
4	17	Gabriele Tarquini	AGS-Ford	1:23.406	+1.888
5	14	Olivier Grouillard	Osella-Ford	1:23.582	+2.064
6	31	Bertrand Gachot	Coloni-Ford	1:23.670	+2.152
7	33	Roberto Moreno	EuroBrun-Judd	1:24.386	+2.868
8	34	Claudio Langes	EuroBrun-Judd	1:26.514	+4.996
9	39	Bruno Giacomelli	Life	1:41.431	+19.913

Table 2

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Q1	Q2
1	5	Thierry Boutsen	Williams-Renault	1:19.691	1:17.919
2	6	Riccardo Patrese	Williams-Renault	1:19.419	1:17.955
3	28	Gerhard Berger	McLaren-Honda	1:18.127	1:18.703
4	27	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Honda	1:20.389	1:18.162
5	2	Nigel Mansell	Ferrari	1:18.739	1:18.719
6	4	Jean Alesi	Tyrrell-Ford	1:19.042	1:18.762
7	19	Alessandro Nannini	Benetton-Ford	1:19.300	1:18.901
8	1	Alain Prost	Ferrari	1:20.309	1:19.029
9	20	Nelson Piquet	Benetton-Ford	1:21.109	1:19.453
10	22	Andrea de Cesaris	Dallara-Ford	1:21.675	1:19.675

Table 3

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired
1	5	Thierry Boutsen	Williams-Renault	77	1:49:30.597
2	27	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Honda	77	+ 0.288
3	20	Nelson Piquet	Benetton-Ford	77	+ 27.893
4	6	Riccardo Patrese	Williams-Renault	77	+ 31.833
5	11	Derek Warwick	Lotus-Lamborghini	77	+ 1:14.244
6	29	Éric Bernard	Lola-Lamborghini	77	+ 1:24.308
7	12	Martin Donnelly	Lotus-Lamborghini	76	+ 1 lap
8	15	Maurício Gugelmin	Leyton House-Judd	76	+ 1 lap
9	10	Alex Caffi	Arrows-Ford	76	+ 1 lap
10	21	Emanuele Pirro	Dallara-Ford	76	+ 1 lap

F1ABY Commentary

Consider the relentless pursuit of victory – does it truly reside within the confines of a single race, or does it echo through the annals of motorsport’s enduring narrative? Thierry Boutsen, with a measured dominance at Hungaroring, secured his third Grand Prix triumph, a testament to strategic precision and unwavering resolve. The margin, a mere fraction of a second to Ayrton Senna’s McLaren, speaks volumes about the razor’s edge defining these contests. Observe, too, the dance of aggression – Senna’s near-collision with Nannini underscores the inherent risks, a familiar ballet played out across decades. Nelson Piquet’s third-place finish completes a podium shaped by both calculated speed and perilous interaction. The echoes of Fangio’s era resonate here, doesn’t it? The relentless desire for supremacy, regardless of the circumstances.

The ebb and flow of motorsport, much like the geopolitical currents of the decade, often reveals a singular victor forged in calculated aggression. Thierry Boutsen, with a masterful display of strategic pacing, secured his third Grand Prix triumph today, a performance echoing the decisive maneuvers witnessed in the Gulf War’s nascent stages—a testament to precision and unwavering resolve. Senna, narrowly defeated, underscored the enduring drama of this sport, a struggle for dominance mirroring the escalating tensions of a world grappling with profound change.

F1ABY Trivia

The air hung thick with the scent of burning fuel and the insistent whine of sixteen-cylinder engines – a McLaren-Honda, specifically, as Senna wrestled for the lead. Boutsen, piloting a Williams-Renault, maintained a relentless pace, his car’s 678 horsepower proving decisive in the tight confines of Hungaroring. A glancing contact between Senna and Nannini, a Benetton-Ford’s 580 horsepower jostling for position, introduced a palpable tension. This victory, Boutsen’s third, capped a career defined by a remarkable ability to extract every ounce of performance from his machinery.

The air hangs thick with the scent of asphalt and anticipation at Hungaroring. Thierry Boutsen, in his Williams-Renault, has secured a decisive victory – a third Grand Prix triumph, a testament to his calculated aggression and the car’s remarkable balance. Observe the timing; Boutsen’s lead, a full 28 seconds over Nelson Piquet, echoes the statistical dominance Ferrari enjoyed during the ’60s, a stark reminder of the ebb and flow of power within this sport. Senna’s valiant pursuit, a mere 0. 3 seconds adrift, presents a fascinating counterpoint – a late-race surge that, like the fluctuating fortunes of the German teams in the 70s, hinted at the unpredictable nature of the McLaren-Honda package.

F1ABY Tales

There! Boutsen wrestles the Williams away from the curb, a fraction of a second separating him from the relentless Senna. The tension here, echoing the anxieties gripping Europe – the lingering shadow of the Berlin Wall, the burgeoning calls for peace – feels almost palpable. This victory, a solitary triumph for the Belgian, mirrors perhaps the quiet resolve needed to navigate a fractured world. Senna, a mere blink away, pushes, a familiar dance of aggression and precision. Nelson Piquet completes the podium, a testament to Brabham’s enduring engineering. A remarkable display of skill and nerve, a race that, like so much of this decade, hinted at the seismic shifts to come in motorsport and beyond.

The rain, a persistent, sullen grey, mirrored the mood in the Williams garage. Thierry Boutsen, a man of few words and even fewer displays of emotion, simply nodded to his engineer, acknowledging the victory with a curt inclination of the head. A quiet intensity clung to him, a seasoned warrior accepting his hard-won prize. Thirty-seven years prior, Fangio had conquered this very circuit, a ghost of a champion present in the damp air. Senna, of course, pressed relentlessly, a familiar dance of ambition and precision. Nelson Piquet, ever the calculated strategist, secured the podium, a testament to Brabham’s late-season resurgence. This Hungarian afternoon, a confluence of talent and circumstance had sculpted a truly memorable race.