Williams dominated the 1991 Mexican Grand Prix, with its two drivers Nigel Mansell and Riccardo Patrese battling for the race victory.
It was the penultimate F1 race to take place at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez before the Mexican Grand Prix was removed from the calendar. However, it returns this weekend.
During the build-up to the race, Ayrton Senna suffered a big crash at the famous Peraltada and rolled his McLaren. Fortunately he emerged unscathed from the Friday crash but he was already racing with injuries after needing stitches following a jet-ski accident.
Senna qualified for the race in third place, half a second behind Patrese in the lead Williams. Mansell completed the front row, which was locked out by his team for the second consecutive race. Behind, Jean Alesi was fourth for Ferrari and Gerhard Berger was fifth in the second McLaren.
The race itself needed three starts after a marshal ran onto the track at the first attempt, thinking he had seen a fire at the back of JJ Lehto’s car. The next failed start was due to a stall for Oliver Grouillard, but finally the race got underway in Mexico.
Patrese dropped to fourth after a poor getaway, promoting Mansell to first place. Alesi and Senna ran second and third for a time but the two quickly swapped positions. Berger was eliminated from the running after an engine failure on lap five.
With Mansell clear out front, Patrese started to make progress. He passed Alesi for third and then out-braked Senna for second into the opening corner. Engine overheating concerns led to Mansell dropped back and into the clutches of Patrese.
The two battled for position, with Patrese attempting to pass his team-mate several times but without success. However, he eventually found his way through and Mansell dropped back towards the chasing pack. When the issues faded, the British driver was able to make up the gap.
However, Patrese had things covered, taking victory by just 1.3 seconds from Mansell, claiming a 1-2 result for Williams. Senna bounced back from his Friday troubles to finish third but he was over one minute off the top two drivers.
Andrea de Cesaris was fourth for Jordan despite a problem causing him to stop close to the finish line on the last lap. He ended up pushing his car past the chequered flag but the stewards decided that no rules had been broken and he maintained the place. Roberto Moreno was fifth for Benetton and Eric Bernard completed the top six.
It was a race with many retirements. Just 12 drivers were classified and big names like Berger, Alesi, Nelson Piquet and Alain Prost all failed to finish.
 |
| © Williams Martini Racing |
During the build-up to the race, Ayrton Senna suffered a big crash at the famous Peraltada and rolled his McLaren. Fortunately he emerged unscathed from the Friday crash but he was already racing with injuries after needing stitches following a jet-ski accident.
Senna qualified for the race in third place, half a second behind Patrese in the lead Williams. Mansell completed the front row, which was locked out by his team for the second consecutive race. Behind, Jean Alesi was fourth for Ferrari and Gerhard Berger was fifth in the second McLaren.
The race itself needed three starts after a marshal ran onto the track at the first attempt, thinking he had seen a fire at the back of JJ Lehto’s car. The next failed start was due to a stall for Oliver Grouillard, but finally the race got underway in Mexico.
Patrese dropped to fourth after a poor getaway, promoting Mansell to first place. Alesi and Senna ran second and third for a time but the two quickly swapped positions. Berger was eliminated from the running after an engine failure on lap five.
 |
| © Williams Martini Racing |
With Mansell clear out front, Patrese started to make progress. He passed Alesi for third and then out-braked Senna for second into the opening corner. Engine overheating concerns led to Mansell dropped back and into the clutches of Patrese.
The two battled for position, with Patrese attempting to pass his team-mate several times but without success. However, he eventually found his way through and Mansell dropped back towards the chasing pack. When the issues faded, the British driver was able to make up the gap.
However, Patrese had things covered, taking victory by just 1.3 seconds from Mansell, claiming a 1-2 result for Williams. Senna bounced back from his Friday troubles to finish third but he was over one minute off the top two drivers.
Andrea de Cesaris was fourth for Jordan despite a problem causing him to stop close to the finish line on the last lap. He ended up pushing his car past the chequered flag but the stewards decided that no rules had been broken and he maintained the place. Roberto Moreno was fifth for Benetton and Eric Bernard completed the top six.
It was a race with many retirements. Just 12 drivers were classified and big names like Berger, Alesi, Nelson Piquet and Alain Prost all failed to finish.
No comments:
Post a Comment