Canadian GP 1991

JUNE 2, 1991

Canadian GP, 1991

There were big changes happening at Ferrari with Sporting Director Cesare Fiorio having been fired after the Monaco GP (as a result of a public rift with driver Alain Prost). Fiorio was replaced by Piero Lardi Ferrari. There were also changes at Benetton with technical director John Barnard falling out with team boss Flavio Briatore and leaving. Gordon Kimball was appointed technical director instead. Alex Caffi was out of action with Footwork after breaking his jaw in a road accident and his place was taken by Stefan Johansson, while Julian Bailey stood down at Lotus and was replaced by Johnny Herbert.

In qualifying in Canada Riccardo Patrese took pole position from his Williams-Renault team mate Nigel Mansell. Ayrton Senna was third in his McLaren while Alain Prost was fourth in the Ferrari. Roberto Moreno (Benetton) was fifth with Gerhard Berger (McLaren) sixth, Jean Alesi (Ferrari) seventh and Nelson Piquet (Benetton) eighth. The top 10 was rounded off by Stefano Modena's Tyrrell-Honda and the fastest of the pre-qualifiers Emanuele Pirro in his Dallara.

The system of pre-qualifying was developed in response to the increasing number of teams competing in Formula 1. It was decided that 30 cars were the maximum safe limit to compete for 26 grid places. The cars which had to pre-qualify were decided at the beginning and the midpoint of each season. The 26 cars which had achieved the best results in the previous two-half seasons automatically entered official qualifying for the race. All the other cars had to pre-qualify for the 4 other slots available for official qualifying. Those that failed to pre-qualify just went home.

At the start Mansell took the lead from Patrese and the pair ran in 1-2 formation for the first 40 laps. Eventually Patrese had a puncture and had to pit and so dropped to third place behind Piquet. Mansell continued to lead in dominant fashion until the very last lap when, waving to the crowd, he allowed the revs to drop too low and the car stalled. With no power to drive the hydraulic system he could not select a gear. He was out with less than a lap to go. Mansell's old rival Piquet swept to a joyous victory while Modena was a delighted second. Patrese was third with Andrea de Cesaris and Bertrand Gachot in the Jordans fourth and fifth and Mansell classified sixth. Of the rest the McLarens and Ferraris all went out with mechanical trouble.

POSNODRIVERENTRANTLAPSTIME/RETIREMENTQUAL POS
20 Nelson Piquet Benetton-Cosworth  69 1h38m51.490s  
Stefano Modena Tyrrell-Honda  69 1h39m23.322s  
Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault  69 1h39m33.707s  
33 Andrea de Cesaris Jordan-Cosworth  69 1h40m11.700s  11 
32 Bertrand Gachot Jordan-Cosworth  69 1h40m13.841s  14 
6r Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault  68 Gearbox/engine 
23 Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ferrari  68  18 
26 Erik Comas Ligier-Lamborghini  68  26 
21 Emanuele Pirro Dallara-Judd  68  10 
10 Satoru Nakajima Tyrrell-Honda  67  12 
15 Mauricio Gugelmin Leyton House-Ilmor  61 Engine 23 
22 JJ Lehto Dallara-Judd  50 Engine 17 
10 Stefan Johansson Footwork-Porsche  48 Gearbox/engine 25 
16 Ivan Capelli Leyton House-Ilmor  42 Engine 13 
28 Jean Alesi Ferrari  34 Engine 
29 Eric Bernard Lola-Cosworth  29 Transmission 19 
27 Alain Prost Ferrari  27 Gearbox 
25 Thierry Boutsen Ligier-Lamborghini  27 Engine 16 
Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda  25 Alternator 
11 Mika Hakkinen Lotus-Judd  21 Spin 24 
Martin Brundle Brabham-Yamaha  21 Engine 20 
24 Gianni Morbidelli Minardi-Ferrari  20 Spin 15 
19 Roberto Moreno Benetton-Cosworth  10 Spin/suspension 
Gerhard Berger McLaren-Honda  Electronics 
30 Aguri Suzuki Lola-Cosworth  Fuel Line/fire 22 
Michele Alboreto Footwork-Porsche  Throttle Jammed Engine 21 
nq 18 Fabrizio Barbazza AGS-Cosworth    27 
nq 17 Gabriele Tarquini AGS-Cosworth    28 
nq Mark Blundell Brabham-Yamaha    29 
nq 12 Julian Bailey Lotus-Judd    30 
npq 14 Olivier Grouillard Fomet-Cosworth    31 
npq 34 Nicola Larini Lamborghini    32 
npq 35 Eric van de Poele Lamborghini    33 
npq 31 Pedro Chaves Coloni-Cosworth    34