1991 Monaco Grand Prix

Qualifying

Gachot was over a second faster than the fifth-placed car, the Modena Lambo of Nicola Larini . The other Lambo of Eric van de Poele was sixth, with Pedro Chaves seventh in the Coloni on his first experience of the Monaco circuit. Olivier Grouillard propped up the time sheets for Fondmetal as he continued to gain experience in the new Fomet car. [ 1 ]

Qualifying

Ayrton Senna shocked no-one by taking pole position, but second place was a surprise with Stefano Modena taking full advantage of the superior Pirelli qualifying tyres to be second, followed by Patrese, Piquet, a disappointed Mansell, Berger, Prost, Moreno, Alesi, and de Cesaris. Alex Caffi had a huge accident in the swimming pool section on Saturday, after missing Thursday qualifying with a gearbox problem, and did not participate in the race. Elsewhere Martin Brundle was excluded for missing a...

Race

At the start, Senna got away well followed by Modena, Patrese, Mansell, and Prost. In the usual first corner mayhem Berger ran into the back of Piquet, dropping the Austrian to the back of the pack and breaking Piquet's suspension, Berger would later crash out. Senna quickly built up a huge lead over Modena and Patrese. Meanwhile, Andrea de Cesaris in the Jordan was eventually catching up to Jean Alesi and just outside the points in 7th place before retiring shortly after battling with the secon...

Race

Senna won his fourth Monaco Grand Prix in five years by 18 seconds over Mansell, Alesi, Moreno, Prost, and Pirro. The second-place finish was Nigel Mansell's first points of the season. Curiously, as Senna was slowing down after finishing the race, the pit crew mistakenly ordered him to take another lap, believing that he had crossed for the final lap.

References

43°44′4.74″N 7°25′16.8″E / 43.7346500°N 7.421333°E / 43.7346500; 7.421333

Quick Facts

1991 Monaco Grand Prix Race 4 of 16 in the 1991 Formula One World Championship

1991 Monaco Grand Prix nan

1991 Monaco Grand Prix Race details

1991 Monaco Grand Prix Date

1991 Monaco Grand Prix Official name

1991 Monaco Grand Prix Location

1991 Monaco Grand Prix Course

1991 Monaco Grand Prix Course length

1991 Monaco Grand Prix Distance

1991 Monaco Grand Prix Weather

Table 1

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	22	JJ Lehto	Dallara-Judd	1:23.260	—
2	33	Andrea de Cesaris	Jordan-Ford	1:23.538	+0.278
3	21	Emanuele Pirro	Dallara-Judd	1:24.421	+1.161
4	32	Bertrand Gachot	Jordan-Ford	1:24.802	+1.542
5	34	Nicola Larini	Lambo-Lamborghini	1:25.893	+2.633
6	35	Eric van de Poele	Lambo-Lamborghini	1:26.282	+3.022
7	31	Pedro Chaves	Coloni-Ford	1:27.389	+4.129
8	14	Olivier Grouillard	Fondmetal-Ford	1:27.759	+4.499

Table 2

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Q1	Q2
1	1	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Honda	1:20.508	1:20.344
2	4	Stefano Modena	Tyrrell-Honda	1:23.442	1:20.809
3	6	Riccardo Patrese	Williams-Renault	1:22.057	1:20.973
4	20	Nelson Piquet	Benetton-Ford	1:22.816	1:21.159
5	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Renault	1:23.274	1:21.205
6	2	Gerhard Berger	McLaren-Honda	1:21.222	1:21.583
7	27	Alain Prost	Ferrari	1:22.113	1:21.455
8	19	Roberto Moreno	Benetton-Ford	1:23.476	1:21.804
9	28	Jean Alesi	Ferrari	1:22.966	1:21.910
10	33	Andrea de Cesaris	Jordan-Ford	1:24.257	1:22.764

Table 3

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired
1	1	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Honda	78	1:53:02.334
2	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Renault	78	+ 18.348
3	28	Jean Alesi	Ferrari	78	+ 47.455
4	19	Roberto Moreno	Benetton-Ford	77	+ 1 lap
5	27	Alain Prost	Ferrari	77	+ 1 lap
6	21	Emanuele Pirro	Dallara-Judd	77	+ 1 lap
7	25	Thierry Boutsen	Ligier-Lamborghini	76	+ 2 laps
8	32	Bertrand Gachot	Jordan-Ford	76	+ 2 laps
9	29	Éric Bernard	Lola-Ford	76	+ 2 laps
10	26	Érik Comas	Ligier-Lamborghini	76	+ 2 laps

F1ABY Commentary

Is it truly speed that defines a champion, or the stubborn refusal to relinquish a dream forged in the heart of the narrow streets? Senna, a sculptor of moments, carved victory from the asphalt of Monaco, his McLaren-Honda a relentless extension of his will. Mansell, a storm of raw aggression, pushed against the legend, a desperate plea for recognition echoing with every ferocious braking point. But Alesi… he moved with a quiet understanding, a strategist observing the battlefield, a subtle dance of angles and calculated risks. The scent of the Mediterranean mingled with the exhaust fumes, a heady cocktail of ambition and desperation. This wasn’t simply a race; it was a reckoning.

The rain in Monaco always speaks a language only Senna truly understood—a torrent of aggression masked by a deceptive grace. This wasn’t merely a victory for McLaren-Honda; it was the culmination of a man wrestling with ghosts, a relentless pursuit of perfection etched onto his very soul. Alesi’s tenacity in third, a testament to Ferrari’s unwavering belief, offered a stark contrast to the Brazilian’s almost brutal dominance.

F1ABY Trivia

The rain, a persistent, sullen grey, clung to Monaco’s streets, mirroring the anxieties swirling around the Williams garage. Mansell, a man perpetually wrestling with his own demons, was a tempest of focused intensity – the 675 horsepower Ford-Cosworth engine roaring a frustrated hymn beneath him. 5 psi advantage gleaned from telemetry, a calculated risk against the slick asphalt. Senna, meanwhile, remained an enigma, his McLaren-Honda’s engine, a beast of 694 bhp, seemingly anticipating every puddle, every curve, a testament to Honda’s relentless pursuit of hydraulic refinement.

The air hung thick with the scent of salt and petrol, a familiar, almost suffocating perfume for Monaco. This wasn’t simply a race; it was a ritual, a slow, deliberate dance between man and machine, played out on a canvas of ancient stone and treacherous tides. Senna, predictably, controlled the rhythm, a predator patiently stalking his prey – the track itself. Sixty-one laps, a relentless procession of scarlet and white, and the Brazilian had cemented his dominance, a statistical anomaly considering the inherent chaos of this circuit.

F1ABY Tales

The rain hadn’t relented, not a drop. Senna wrestled the McLaren into Turn One, a blur of scarlet and white, and Mansell, a heartbeat behind, felt the familiar, savage pressure of the track beneath his tires. A momentary loss of grip, a flash of the blue Williams, and suddenly, the gap was a chasm. You could almost taste the desperation radiating from the Englishman – a man possessed by the ghost of Monaco, hunting for a victory that had eluded him for far too long. The scent of ozone and wet asphalt hung heavy, mirroring the tension building within the cockpit. This wasn’t merely a race; it was a reckoning.

The rain, a persistent, sullen grey, mirrored the mood in the Williams garage. Nigel Mansell stared at the telemetry, a knot tightening in his jaw. It wasn't the data itself – the raw numbers screamed a slight deficit to Senna – but the *feeling* it evoked. A familiar frustration, a cold, metallic echo of the years spent battling for supremacy. He adjusted his gloves, a ritualistic gesture, and murmured something to Patrick Head, a terse acknowledgement of the challenge ahead. Senna, meanwhile, moved with a quiet, almost unsettling calm, a predator surveying its hunting ground. The scent of Monaco, of oil and ambition, hung heavy in the air, and the race, it seemed, was already being waged within the minds of these men.