Ayrton Senna has won the third and final F1 drivers’ championship on this day in 1991 after beating Nigel Mansell in Williams at Suzuka, who was his only opponent in the battle for the championship.
The 1991 Japanese Grand Prix was the 15th of 16 races of the championship and fight for the drivers’ championship was still open. It was the fifth consecutive year that the championship was decided on the famous Suzuka circuit.
After controversial championship deciding races in 1989. and 1990. when Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost collided, this time it was Senna versus Mansell at the same track.
In Japan was also elected the new president of the FISA (today’s FIA) Max Mosley who replaced Jean-Marie Balestre.
Nigel Mansell retired from the 1991 Japanese GP after just 10 lapsMansell in his Williams FW14 with Renault’s 3.5-liter V1o engine should win to stay in the hunt for the title in the final race of the season in Australia.
Senna in his McLaren MP4/6 with Honda’s 3.5-liter V12 engine should finish ahead of Mansell to secured the third title.
McLaren secured the front row with Gerhard Berger qualified on the pole and Ayrton Senna in second place, 0.198 behind the Austrian. The third was Mansell (+0.222 s) and the fourth was Alain Prost (+1.970 s).
At the start of the race Berger retained the lead, but Senna blocked Mansell as British driver did to him a month ago in Portugal. Andrea de Cesaris spun in his Jordan and Wendlinger, Pirro and Lehto not managed to escape and they all retired.
Berger has built a lead and Mansell continued to press Senna until lap 10 when he made a mistake in the first corner, spun and retired stuck in a sand trap.
After Mansell retired, Senna and Berger brought home 1-2 for McLaren. Berger initially let his team mate through, but Senna slows down in the final lap and allows Berger to win the first race for McLaren, sixth in his F1 career (from total of ten).
Senna’s start from the second on the grid was his 75th start from the front row, Berger secured his 25th podiumand and Karl Wendlinger drove his first F1 race for Leyton House Racing.
STARTING GRID
| 1 | 2 | Gerhard Berger | McLaren/Honda | 1:34.700 | – |
| 2 | 1 | Ayrton Senna | McLaren/Honda | 1:34.898 | 0.198 |
| 3 | 5 | Nigel Mansell | Williams/Renault | 1:34.922 | 0.222 |
| 4 | 27 | Alain Prost | Ferrari | 1:36.670 | 1.970 |
| 5 | 6 | Riccardo Patrese | Williams/Renault | 1:36.882 | 2.182 |
| 6 | 28 | Jean Alesi | Ferrari | 1:37.140 | 2.440 |
| 7 | 23 | P.Martini | Minardi/Ferrari | 1:38.154 | 3.454 |
| 8 | 24 | G.Morbidelli | Minardi/Ferrari | 1:38.248 | 3.548 |
| 9 | 19 | M.Schumacher | Benetton/Ford | 1:38.363 | 3.663 |
| 10 | 20 | Nelson Piquet | Benetton/Ford | 1:38.614 | 3.914 |
| 11 | 33 | A.de Cesaris | Jordan/Ford | 1:38.842 | 4.142 |
| 12 | 22 | J J Lehto | Dallara/Judd | 1:38.911 | 4.211 |
| 13 | 32 | A.Zanardi | Jordan/Ford | 1:38.923 | 4.223 |
| 14 | 4 | Stefano Modena | Tyrrell/Honda | 1:38.926 | 4.226 |
| 15 | 3 | Satoru Nakajima | Tyrrell/Honda | 1:39.118 | 4.418 |
| 16 | 21 | Emanuele Pirro | Dallara/Judd | 1:39.238 | 4.538 |
| 17 | 25 | Thierry Boutsen | Ligier/Lamborghini | 1:39.499 | 4.799 |
| 18 | 15 | M.Gugelmin | Leyton House/Ilmor | 1:39.518 | 4.818 |
| 19 | 7 | Martin Brundle | Brabham/Yamaha | 1:39.697 | 4.997 |
| 20 | 26 | Érik Comas | Ligier/Lamborghini | 1:39.820 | 5.120 |
| 21 | 11 | Mika Häkkinen | Lotus/Judd | 1:40.024 | 5.324 |
| 22 | 16 | Karl Wendlinger | Leyton House/Ilmor | 1:40.092 | 5.392 |
| 23 | 12 | Johnny Herbert | Lotus/Judd | 1:40.170 | 5.470 |
| 24 | 14 | G.Tarquini | Fondmetal/Ford | 1:40.184 | 5.484 |
| 25 | 30 | Aguri Suzuki | Lola/Ford | 1:40.255 | 5.555 |
| 26 | 10 | Alex Caffi | Footwork/Ford | 1:40.402 | 5.702 |
| Not qualified | |||||
| 27 | 9 | Michele Alboreto | Footwork/Ford | 1:40.844 | 6.144 |
| 28 | 34 | Nicola Larini | Lambo/Lamborghini | 1:42.493 | 7.793 |
| 29 | 35 | E.van de Poele | Lambo/Lamborghini | 1:42.724 | 8.024 |
| 30 | 29 | Éric Bernard | Lola/Ford | – | – |
| Not pre-qualified | |||||
| 31 | 8 | Mark Blundell | Brabham/Yamaha | 1:44.004 | 9.304 |
| 32 | 31 | Naoki Hattori | Coloni/Ford | 2:00.035 | 25.335 |
RACE RESULTS
| 1 | 2 | Gerhard Berger | McLaren/Honda | 53 | 1:32:10.695 | |
| 2 | 1 | Ayrton Senna | McLaren/Honda | 53 | 1:32:11.039 | 0.344 |
| 3 | 6 | Riccardo Patrese | Williams/Renault | 53 | 1:33:07.426 | 56.731 |
| 4 | 27 | Alain Prost | Ferrari | 53 | 1:33:31.456 | 1:20.761 |
| 5 | 7 | Martin Brundle | Brabham/Yamaha | 52 | 1:32:31.328 | 1 Lap |
| 6 | 4 | Stefano Modena | Tyrrell/Honda | 52 | 1:32:40.012 | 1 Lap |
| 7 | 20 | Nelson Piquet | Benetton/Ford | 52 | 1:33:12.946 | 1 Lap |
| 8 | 15 | M.Gugelmin | Leyton House/Ilmor | 52 | 1:33:21.857 | 1 Lap |
| 9 | 25 | Thierry Boutsen | Ligier/Lamborghini | 52 | 1:33:52.660 | 1 Lap |
| 10 | 10 | Alex Caffi | Footwork/Ford | 51 | 1:32:26.214 | 2 Laps |
| 11 | 14 | G.Tarquini | Fondmetal/Ford | 50 | 1:32:27.808 | 3 Laps |
| (11) | 26 | Érik Comas | Ligier/Lamborghini | 41 | 1:14:27.713 | Alternator |
| (5) | 23 | P.Martini | Minardi/Ferrari | 39 | 1:09:41.729 | Electrical |
| (6) | 19 | M.Schumacher | Benetton/Ford | 34 | 1:00:56.810 | Engine |
| (11) | 12 | Johnny Herbert | Lotus/Judd | 31 | 56:16.612 | Engine |
| (11) | 3 | Satoru Nakajima | Tyrrell/Honda | 30 | 54:29.154 | Spun off |
| (17) | 30 | Aguri Suzuki | Lola/Ford | 26 | 52:16.388 | Engine |
| (17) | 24 | G.Morbidelli | Minardi/Ferrari | 15 | 27:54.403 | Wheel |
| (3) | 5 | Nigel Mansell | Williams/Renault | 9 | 15:59.421 | Spun off |
| (9) | 32 | A.Zanardi | Jordan/Ford | 7 | 12:46.157 | Gearbox |
| (18) | 11 | Mika Häkkinen | Lotus/Judd | 4 | 7:36.572 | Engine |
| (9) | 33 | A.de Cesaris | Jordan/Ford | 1 | 1:57.393 | Collision |
| (10) | 22 | J J Lehto | Dallara/Judd | 1 | 1:58.100 | Collision |
| (12) | 21 | Emanuele Pirro | Dallara/Judd | 1 | 1:58.757 | Collision |
| (18) | 16 | Karl Wendlinger | Leyton House/Ilmor | 1 | 2:02.942 | Collision |
| 28 | Jean Alesi | Ferrari | 0 | – | Engine | |
Fastest lap: Ayrton Senna – 1:41.532 (lap 39)
DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER 15/16 RACES
| 1 | Ayrton Senna | 91 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | – | 4 | 4 | 3 | – | 10 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 6 |
| 2 | Nigel Mansell | 69 | – | – | – | 6 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 6 | – | 10 | – | 10 | – |
| 3 | Riccardo Patrese | 52 | – | 6 | – | – | 4 | 10 | 2 | – | 6 | 4 | 2 | – | 10 | 4 | 4 |
| 4 | Gerhard Berger | 41 | – | 4 | 6 | – | – | – | – | 6 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 3 | – | – | 10 |
| 5 | Alain Prost | 34 | 6 | 3 | – | 2 | – | – | 6 | 4 | – | – | – | 4 | – | 6 | 3 |
| 6 | Nelson Piquet | 25 | 4 | 2 | – | – | 10 | – | – | 2 | – | – | 4 | 1 | 2 | – | – |
| 7 | Jean Alesi | 21 | – | 1 | – | 4 | – | – | 3 | – | 4 | 2 | – | – | 4 | 3 | – |
| 8 | Stefano Modena | 10 | 3 | – | – | – | 6 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 |
| 9 | Andrea de Cesaris | 9 | – | – | – | – | 3 | 3 | 1 | – | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 10 | Roberto Moreno | 8 | – | – | – | 3 | – | 2 | – | – | – | – | 3 | – | – | ||
| 11 | Pierluigi Martini | 6 | – | – | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | – | – |
| 12 | J J Lehto | 4 | – | – | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 13 | Bertrand Gachot | 4 | – | – | – | – | 2 | – | – | 1 | 1 | – | |||||
| 13 | Michael Schumacher | 4 | – | 2 | 1 | 1 | – | ||||||||||
| 15 | Satoru Nakajima | 2 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 15 | Mika Häkkinen | 2 | – | – | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 15 | Martin Brundle | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 |
| 18 | Aguri Suzuki | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 18 | Julian Bailey | 1 | – | – | 1 | – | |||||||||||
| 18 | Emanuele Pirro | 1 | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 18 | Éric Bernard | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 18 | Ivan Capelli | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | |
| 18 | Mark Blundell | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – |
CONSTRUCTORS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
| 1 | McLaren/Honda | 132 | 10 | 14 | 16 | 10 | – | 4 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 13 | 16 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 16 |
| 2 | Williams/Renault | 121 | – | 6 | – | 6 | 5 | 16 | 12 | 10 | 16 | 10 | 2 | 10 | 10 | 14 | 4 |
| 3 | Ferrari | 55 | 6 | 4 | – | 6 | – | – | 9 | 4 | 4 | 2 | – | 4 | 4 | 9 | 3 |
| 4 | Benetton/Ford | 37 | 4 | 2 | – | 3 | 10 | 2 | – | 2 | – | – | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | – |
| 5 | Jordan/Ford | 13 | – | – | – | – | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 6 | Tyrrell/Honda | 12 | 5 | – | – | – | 6 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 |
| 7 | Minardi/Ferrari | 6 | – | – | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | – | – |
| 8 | Dallara/Judd | 5 | – | – | 4 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 9 | Lotus/Judd | 3 | – | – | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 9 | Brabham/Yamaha | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | 2 |
| 11 | Lola/Ford | 2 | 1 | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 12 | Leyton House/Ilmor | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – |
