Calendar 1991 Australia

[Norine Wiltshire]

The1991 Formula One Season was the 42nd edition of the Formula One World Championship, organised by the Fdration Internationale de l'Automobile. A sixteen round calendar saw Ayrton Senna take seven wins on his way to a third World Championship, after a mid-season challenge by Nigel Mansell. McLaren-Honda won the Constructors' Championship through Senna and Gerhard Berger's efforts, although it was widely acknowledged that the Williams FW14 was the stronger car.

Senna's title came through his early form, as he won the first four races from pole while the Williams cars suffered numerous issues with their experimental semi-automatic gearboxes. Riccardo Patrese and Mansell then began a run of form to challenge the McLarens, with Mansell ultimately bettering Patrese in pace, although luck was in short supply for both. Yet, Senna remained largely untouchable, taking a further three wins to keep Mansell at bay before claiming the title with a race to spare at the 1991 Japanese Grand Prix.

It was an unusual season in weather terms too, as almost all of the race weekends were affected by rain in at least one session. This ultimately resulted in a record breaking race at the Australian Grand Prix, as a storm caused the race to stop after only fourteen laps, making it the shortest ever F1 level race. It was also one of only three times in F1 history where half points were awarded.

The race also saw the emergence of a new generation of drivers and teams, including two future World Champions. Finn Mika Hkkinen started the season at Team Lotus, and scored his first points in his third start, although numerous issues prevented him from scoring again. Jordan Grand Prix also made a name for themselves during their dbut year, claiming fifth place and getting involved in a legal battle over the other dbuting future star, Michael Schumacher. Also joining the F1 fray were the Modena Team, who used Lamborghini built cars and engines, although they did not score any points.

The closing stages of the season also saw casualties and retirements among the old guard, most notably by Nelson Piquet, who retired with three World Championships, and 204 Grand Prix starts. AGS also withdrew their entries near the end of the season, while Satoru Nakajima called time on his career. Alain Prost, meanwhile, was fired by Ferrari for his year of complaining, and opted to take a break from F1 in 1992.

The biggest driver change in the winter of 1990 was the return of Nigel Mansell to Williams and "Red Five", partnering Riccardo Patrese. He left Ferrari, who drafted in Sicilian Jean Alesi to replace him, while the Championship winners McLaren retained Ayrton Senna and Gerhard Berger. Team Lotus, meanwhile, signed up rookie Mika Hkkinen and Julian Bailey as their main drivers, after a severe injury to Martin Donnelly at the 1990 Spanish Grand Prix ruled him out for the season.

The winter saw five drivers leave Formula One to be replaced by five dbutantes. There were also two returning drivers, as well as eight inter-team changes in the four months between the Australian and US Grand Prix.

There were also numerous mid-season changes in the new season, as various injuries, suspensions and sponsorship issues affected the ability for drivers to compete. The full list is shown below, broken up by each race change:

A sixteen race calendar for the 1991 was unveiled by FISA in the weeks prior to the start of the season, with the United States Grand Prix kicking off the new year in March.[1] The season would go on until November, with the city of Adelaide hosting the final race of the season, the Australian Grand Prix.[1] Trips to South America and Asia were also scheduled, along with the traditional European races dominating the mid season.[1] There were two new circuits for the teams to negotiate, with the Spanish Grand Prix set to be held at the new Circuit de Catalunya after a visit to Magny-Cours in France in June.[1]

There were no new additions to the calendar between the 1990 and 1991 seasons, with all of the races held in the exact same order. The only difference between the two calendars were the venues, where two new circuits replaced two future test venues. Magny-Cours was chosen to host the French Grand Prix, with Paul Ricard falling out of favour, while Jerez was deemed too dangerous by the FIA after Martin Donnelly crashed heavily at the circuit, replaced by the brand new Circuit de Catalunya.

1991 proved to be one of the least controversial seasons in Formula One history, as Ayrton Senna won the Championship at a relative canter. The season also saw the election of a new president of FISA, as Max Mosley ousted Jean-Marie Balestre, a significant feat given that Mosley had been the legal advisor to FOCA during their dispute with FISA during the 1982 season.

The biggest news stories from the winter of 1990 surrounded two new entrants to the Championship, as well as a few high profile moves. As Nigel Mansell returned to Williams, Jordan Grand Prix and Team Modena joined the Championship, replacing three fallen teams, EuroBrun Racing, Onyx and Life. Eddie Jordan's team showed early promise, with Gary Anderson designing what was widely regarded as the prettiest car of 1991, while Modena hired Lamborghini to design a chassis and engine for them.

McLaren, meanwhile, looked on course to dominate the season, with engine partner Honda handing them their newest and strongest engine for the season. Ferrari hired a promising youngster in Jean Alesi to try to counter the British team, while Benetton retained the two Brazilians they had in Roberto Moreno and veteran Nelson Piquet. Elsewhere, Osella evolved into Fondmetal, Arrows were re-branded as Footwork, while Leyton House completed their three year take over of March.

Pre-qualifying was to become a key feature of the weekend, as the FIA deemed that only 30 cars could use any circuit at any time. Therefore, the two newest teams in Jordan and Modena would join Dallara, Coloni and Fondmetal in a one off session before each race weekend to determine who would be able to enter the qualifying session.[2] The entry for pre-qualifying would be based on performance over the last half-season, with a review scheduled after the 1991 British Grand Prix.[2]

There were also changes to the points scoring system, as a win was now made to be worth ten points, rather than nine as it had traditionally been.[2] This created a four point gap to second to encourage more battles for the win, while there were also changes to the Championship scoring system.[2] Since 1985, the best eleven results of each driver were taken into account, but from 1991 onwards, all their results would come into account, as the FIA attempted to avoid the calculated manoeuvres that had dominated the conclusion of the previous two championships in Japan.[2]

It was an electric start from Ayrton Senna, as the all conquering Brazilian took pole and victory in Phoenix to begin his title defence perfectly.[2] Having qualified a second quicker than his arch rival Alain Prost, Senna made a perfect start and remained untroubled in the two hour race, with the Frenchman taking second, and Nelson Piquet claiming third.[2] The two Tyrrell-Hondas claimed fourth and fifth, Stefano Modena ahead of Satoru Nakajima, while Aguri Suzuki claimed the final point in sixth, a lap down.[2]

The race had seen action early on provided by Riccardo Patrese, who had battled everyone from team mate Nigel Mansell in third to Gerhard Berger in sixth.[2] But the Williams FW14 had been fitted with an innovative new semi-automatic gearbox, which had not completed a session in race conditions, and would ultimately leave both Patrese and Mansell on the side lines.[2] Patrese's car was left abandoned in the middle of the track, before Roberto Moreno collected it a lap later, putting both cars over to one side of the track.[2]

It was almost a case of deja-vu in Brazil, as Ayrton Senna completed another dominant weekend to take both pole and the win, the first time he had triumphed at his home race.[3] An emotional Senna claimed his first Brazilian Grand Prix on his eighth attempt, despite a late shower and gearbox issues affecting his McLaren in the late stages of the race.[3] Nigel Mansell looked to be on the verge of beating him for a time, until he was stabbed in the back by his gearbox instead.[3]

Riccardo Patrese could also have snatched the victory away from Senna, although the timing of the rain was enough to halt Patrese's charge on the ailing McLaren in the closing stages, leaving the Italian a frustrated second.[3] Gerhard Berger claimed the final podium spot from the two Ferraris, with Alain Prost asserting his dominance over Jean Alesi early on, as Nelson Piquet forced his Benetton between them late on to take fifth.[3]

Ayrton Senna almost suffered a shock in qualifying, as his 55th career pole was nearly snatched away by Riccardo Patrese in the dying seconds of the session.[4] But, it was the Brazilian's day, and on Sunday another dominant display earned him his third win of the season, after benefitting from a misfire in the Italian's car which ultimately ended his race.[4] The race had started in wet conditions, which had also benefitted Senna personally when arch rival Alain Prost slid of the track on the formation lap.[4]

As Senna claimed another victory, Gerhard Berger made it a McLaren-Honda one-two for the first time in 1991, while the field was stunned by JJ Lehto, who put the Dallara on the podium.[4] It had been a late race charge by the Finn, who benefitted from retirements as well as a brilliant move on Roberto Moreno to take his podium.[4] Pierluigi Martini claimed fourth for Minardi after a quiet race, while Mika Hkkinen secured two points in only his third race.[4] It was also a good day for Julian Bailey in the second Lotus-Judd, as he claimed the first point of his F1 career, despite he and team mate Hakkinen using the uncompetitive Lotus 91.[4]

The title of Mr. Monaco had been earned by Ayrton Senna through his three previous victories in the principality, and his fourth victory on the streets of Monte Carlo was assured virtually from the start.[5] The Brazilian, starting as ever from pole, cleared the first corner to pull well ahead of second placed Stefano Modena, while Gerhard Berger and Nelson Piquet came to blows.[5] Modena ran in second until an infamous incident with Pierluigi Martini put him down the order, ultimately allowing Nigel Mansell and Jean Alesi to take the podium.[5]

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