1989 Portuguese Grand Prix

The 1989 Portuguese Grand Prix (formally the XXIII Grande Prémio de Portugal) was a Formula One motor race held at the Autódromo do Estoril in Estoril, Portugal on 24 September 1989. It was the thirteenth race of the 1989 Formula One World Championship.

1989 Portuguese Grand Prix
Race 13 of 16 in the 1989 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date 24 September 1989
Official name XXIII Grande Prémio de Portugal
Location Autódromo do Estoril
Estoril, Portugal
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.350 km (2.703 miles)
Distance 71 laps, 308.850 km (191.910 miles)
Weather Hot, dry, sunny
Pole position
Driver McLaren-Honda
Time 1:15.468
Fastest lap
Driver Austria Gerhard Berger Ferrari
Time 1:18.986 on lap 49
Podium
First Ferrari
Second McLaren-Honda
Third Onyx-Ford
Lap leaders

The 71-lap race was won by Austrian driver Gerhard Berger, driving a Ferrari, with Frenchman Alain Prost second in a McLaren-Honda and Swede Stefan Johansson third in an Onyx-Ford. Prost's teammate and Drivers' Championship rival, Brazilian Ayrton Senna, retired following a collision with the Ferrari of Briton Nigel Mansell, who had been black-flagged for reversing in the pit lane. As a result, Prost moved 24 points clear of Senna in the championship with three races remaining.

As well as Johansson taking Onyx's only podium finish, the race also saw Italian Pierluigi Martini lead for one lap – the first and only time the Minardi team led a Formula One race – and ten drivers from ten different teams finish in the top ten places. The race was also Prost's 150th Grand Prix start and the last start for the Coloni team, though it would continue in F1 until the end of 1991.

Qualifying

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Pre-qualifying report

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Onyx returned to the top of the Friday morning time sheets as Stefan Johansson was fastest by half a second. His new team-mate was Finnish driver JJ Lehto, who had replaced Bertrand Gachot since the last race, after Gachot openly criticised the team and was fired. In his first Formula One event, Lehto just missed out on pre-qualification after a suspension failure during the session, leaving him fifth. The Larrousse-Lola cars both pre-qualified again, with Philippe Alliot second and Michele Alboreto fourth. The other driver to go through to the main qualifying sessions was Roberto Moreno in third place in the Coloni.[1]

Yannick Dalmas had originally pre-qualified in third place in his AGS, but was excluded from the session and his times were deleted, after mistakenly using the wrong tyres. Also excluded was Osella driver Nicola Larini, for missing a weight check, although he had already failed to pre-qualify, being only ninth fastest.[1]

The other drivers who failed to proceed any further included the other Osella of Piercarlo Ghinzani, who outpaced his team-mate in sixth, and Oscar Larrauri, despite an improvement to seventh in the EuroBrun. Eighth was Gabriele Tarquini in the other AGS, ahead of the Zakspeeds of Aguri Suzuki and Bernd Schneider. Slowest by nearly four seconds was the second Coloni of Enrico Bertaggia, the third time in a row the Italian had been bottom of the time sheets.[1]

Pre-qualifying classification

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Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap
1 36   Stefan Johansson Onyx-Ford 1:18.623
2 30   Philippe Alliot Lola-Lamborghini 1:19.164 +0.541
3 31   Roberto Moreno Coloni-Ford 1:19.780 +1.157
4 29   Michele Alboreto Lola-Lamborghini 1:19.869 +1.246
5 37   JJ Lehto Onyx-Ford 1:20.880 +2.257
6 18   Piercarlo Ghinzani Osella-Ford 1:21.021 +2.398
7 33   Oscar Larrauri EuroBrun-Judd 1:21.326 +2.703
8 40   Gabriele Tarquini AGS-Ford 1:21.881 +3.258
9 35   Aguri Suzuki Zakspeed-Yamaha 1:24.116 +5.493
10 34   Bernd Schneider Zakspeed-Yamaha 1:24.732 +6.109
11 32   Enrico Bertaggia Coloni-Ford 1:28.526 +9.903
EX 41   Yannick Dalmas AGS-Ford
EX 17   Nicola Larini Osella-Ford

Qualifying report

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Qualifying saw McLaren's Ayrton Senna take his tenth pole position of the season, with the Ferrari of Gerhard Berger alongside him on the front row. Nigel Mansell took third in the other Ferrari, with Alain Prost fourth in the other McLaren. Pierluigi Martini impressed by qualifying fifth in his Minardi, ahead of the two Williams of Riccardo Patrese and Thierry Boutsen in sixth and eighth respectively, with Alex Caffi seventh in the Dallara. The top ten was completed by Luis Pérez-Sala in the second Minardi and Martin Brundle in the Brabham. Further down the grid, Stefan Johansson took 12th in his Onyx after setting the fastest time in pre-qualifying, while another pre-qualifier, Roberto Moreno, took 15th, the best-ever grid position for the Coloni team.

This was Christian Danner's last Formula One qualifying attempt as he was fired by Rial after this race.[2]

The Minardi, Dallara, Brabham and Coloni teams all had their tyres supplied by Pirelli, whose special qualifying tyres were generally regarded as being superior to those of Goodyear. However, Goodyear's race tyres were still acknowledged as being superior to Pirelli's.[3]

Qualifying classification

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Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap
1 1   Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 1:15.496 1:15.468
2 28   Gerhard Berger Ferrari 1:16.799 1:16.059 +0.591
3 27   Nigel Mansell Ferrari 1:17.387 1:16.193 +0.725
4 2   Alain Prost McLaren-Honda 1:17.336 1:16.204 +0.736
5 23   Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 1:16.938 1:17.161 +1.470
6 6   Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault 1:17.281 1:17.852 +1.813
7 21   Alex Caffi Dallara-Ford 1:18.623 1:17.661 +2.193
8 5   Thierry Boutsen Williams-Renault 1:17.801 1:17.888 +2.333
9 24   Luis Pérez-Sala Minardi-Ford 1:17.844 1:18.305 +2.376
10 7   Martin Brundle Brabham-Judd 1:17.874 1:17.995 +2.406
11 8   Stefano Modena Brabham-Judd 1:18.589 1:18.093 +2.625
12 36   Stefan Johansson Onyx-Ford 1:19.281 1:18.105 +2.637
13 19   Alessandro Nannini Benetton-Ford 1:18.115 1:18.359 +2.647
14 15   Maurício Gugelmin March-Judd 1:18.124 1:18.277 +2.656
15 31   Roberto Moreno Coloni-Ford 1:18.196 1:20.512 +2.728
16 20   Emanuele Pirro Benetton-Ford 1:18.340 1:18.328 +2.860
17 30   Philippe Alliot Lola-Lamborghini 1:19.306 1:18.386 +2.918
18 3   Jonathan Palmer Tyrrell-Ford 1:19.172 1:18.404 +2.936
19 22   Andrea de Cesaris Dallara-Ford 1:18.442 1:18.511 +2.974
20 11   Nelson Piquet Lotus-Judd 1:18.482 1:18.682 +3.014
21 29   Michele Alboreto Lola-Lamborghini 1:18.563 1:18.846 +3.095
22 9   Derek Warwick Arrows-Ford 1:18.711 1:18.892 +3.243
23 25   René Arnoux Ligier-Ford 1:18.767 1:19.979 +3.299
24 16   Ivan Capelli March-Judd 1:19.079 1:18.785 +3.317
25 12   Satoru Nakajima Lotus-Judd 1:19.278 1:19.165 +3.697
26 10   Eddie Cheever Arrows-Ford 1:19.247 1:20.006 +3.779
27 4   Johnny Herbert Tyrrell-Ford 1:19.515 1:19.264 +3.796
28 26   Olivier Grouillard Ligier-Ford 1:19.605 1:19.436 +3.968
29 39   Pierre-Henri Raphanel Rial-Ford No time 1:21.435 +5.967
30 38   Christian Danner Rial-Ford 1:21.678 1:22.423 +6.210

Race

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Race report

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Berger had a great start and managed to overtake Senna. Mansell was in third followed by Prost, Martini and Patrese. Berger quickly opened a lead while Senna was trying to keep Mansell behind. Then Mansell finally managed to overtake Senna and started to catch Berger. As the two Ferraris caught up with the slower cars and were starting to lap them, Mansell managed to overtake Berger. Positions at lap 24 were: Mansell, Berger, Senna and Prost. Prost was the first of the leaders to pit for new tyres from fourth position. He was quickly followed by Berger on lap 35 and then by Senna. Then came the crucial moment of the race. Mansell came into the pits slightly too fast, locked his tyres and missed his pit box by a few metres. Although his pit crew moved down the pit lane to try to change his tyres where he had stopped, Mansell engaged reverse gear and drove backwards the short distance into the correct spot, despite the Ferrari mechanics signalling to him to not reverse the car. After the leaders went to pit for tyres, Martini led a lap in the Minardi, the only time in F1 history that a Minardi car was at the front leading. Mansell was down in fourth. Berger, Senna and Mansell quickly overtook Martini and Mansell closed on Senna. However, as driving a car in reverse in the pit lane was expressly forbidden (the pit crew may legally push a car backwards), Mansell was given the black disqualification flag. At the start of lap 48, approaching Turn 1 even while the black flag was being waved at him Mansell tried to overtake Senna, the cars collided and both drivers were out. This damaged Senna's title chances, especially since rival Alain Prost came in second place. The race was won by Berger ahead of Prost, with Stefan Johansson a surprising third in the underfunded Onyx; the Swede did not make a pit-stop at any stage of the race and was initially on course for fifth place until both Williams-Renault entries were pulled out with overheating issues. It turned out to be Johansson's final career podium.

As of 2024, Johansson's podium remains the last for a Swede driver in Formula One.

Race classification

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Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 28   Gerhard Berger Ferrari 71 1:36:48.546 2 9
2 2   Alain Prost McLaren-Honda 71 + 32.637 4 6
3 36   Stefan Johansson Onyx-Ford 71 + 55.325 12 4
4 19   Alessandro Nannini Benetton-Ford 71 + 1:22.369 13 3
5 23   Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 70 + 1 lap 5 2
6 3   Jonathan Palmer Tyrrell-Ford 70 + 1 lap 18 1
7 12   Satoru Nakajima Lotus-Judd 70 + 1 lap 25  
8 7   Martin Brundle Brabham-Judd 70 + 1 lap 10  
9 30   Philippe Alliot Lola-Lamborghini 70 + 1 lap 17  
10 15   Maurício Gugelmin March-Judd 69 + 2 laps 14  
11 29   Michele Alboreto Lola-Lamborghini 69 + 2 laps 21  
12 24   Luis Pérez-Sala Minardi-Ford 69 + 2 laps 9  
13 25   René Arnoux Ligier-Ford 69 + 2 laps 23  
14 8   Stefano Modena Brabham-Judd 69 + 2 laps 11  
Ret 6   Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault 60 Overheating 6  
Ret 5   Thierry Boutsen Williams-Renault 60 Overheating 8  
Ret 1   Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 48 Collision 1  
DSQ 27   Nigel Mansell Ferrari 48 Reversed in pits (Collision) 3  
Ret 9   Derek Warwick Arrows-Ford 37 Accident 22  
Ret 11   Nelson Piquet Lotus-Judd 33 Collision 20  
Ret 21   Alex Caffi Dallara-Ford 33 Collision 7  
Ret 20   Emanuele Pirro Benetton-Ford 29 Suspension 16  
Ret 16   Ivan Capelli March-Judd 25 Engine 24  
Ret 10   Eddie Cheever Arrows-Ford 24 Spun off 26  
Ret 22   Andrea de Cesaris Dallara-Ford 17 Electrical 19  
Ret 31   Roberto Moreno Coloni-Ford 11 Electrical 15  
DNQ 4   Johnny Herbert Tyrrell-Ford    
DNQ 26   Olivier Grouillard Ligier-Ford    
DNQ 39   Pierre-Henri Raphanel Rial-Ford    
DNQ 38   Christian Danner Rial-Ford    
DNPQ 41   Yannick Dalmas AGS-Ford    
DNPQ 37   JJ Lehto Onyx-Ford    
DNPQ 18   Piercarlo Ghinzani Osella-Ford    
DNPQ 33   Oscar Larrauri EuroBrun-Judd    
DNPQ 40   Gabriele Tarquini AGS-Ford    
DNPQ 17   Nicola Larini Osella-Ford    
DNPQ 35   Aguri Suzuki Zakspeed-Yamaha    
DNPQ 34   Bernd Schneider Zakspeed-Yamaha    
DNPQ 32   Enrico Bertaggia Coloni-Ford        
Source:[4]

Championship standings after the race

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  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

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  1. ^ a b c Walker, Murray (1989). Murray Walker's Grand Prix Year. First Formula Publishing. pp. 109–116. ISBN 1-870066-22-7.
  2. ^ "Rial". grandprix.com. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  3. ^ Roebuck, Nigel; Henry, Alan (1989). Naismith, Barry (ed.). "Round 13: Portugal The Incidental Winner". Grand Prix. 5. Glen Waverley, Victoria, Australia: Garry Sparke & Associates: 126. ISBN 0-908081-99-5.
  4. ^ "1989 Portuguese Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  5. ^ a b "Portugal 1989 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.


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1989 Italian Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1989 season
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1989 Spanish Grand Prix
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1988 Portuguese Grand Prix
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1990 Portuguese Grand Prix