1989 Monaco Grand Prix

The 1989 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo on 7 May 1989. It was the third race of the 1989 Formula One World Championship. The 77-lap race was won from pole position by Ayrton Senna, driving a McLaren-Honda, with teammate Alain Prost second and Stefano Modena third in a Brabham-Judd.

1989 Monaco Grand Prix
Race 3 of 16 in the 1989 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date 7 May 1989
Official name 47e Grand Prix de Monaco[1]
Location Circuit de Monaco
Monte Carlo
Course Temporary street circuit
Course length 3.328 km (2.068 miles)
Distance 77 laps, 256.256 km (159.230 miles)
Scheduled distance 78 laps, 259.584 km (161.298 miles)
Weather Warm, dry, sunny
Pole position
Driver McLaren-Honda
Time 1:22.308
Fastest lap
Driver France Alain Prost McLaren-Honda
Time 1:25.501 on lap 59
Podium
First McLaren-Honda
Second McLaren-Honda
Third Brabham-Judd
Lap leaders

Qualifying edit

Pre-qualifying report edit

The field was one fewer in Monaco as Ferrari had elected not to run a second car to replace Gerhard Berger, who had been injured in an accident during the last race at Imola. However, unlike the similar situation at the first race in Brazil, no extra pre-qualifier would be allowed through to the main qualifying sessions, which here at Monaco would run with 29 cars.

Brabham again topped the time sheets during the Thursday morning pre-qualifying session, with Stefano Modena fastest, but the Dallara of Alex Caffi was only 0.141 seconds behind. Third was Pierre-Henri Raphanel, who put in a fine performance in his Coloni, pre-qualifying for the first, and ultimately, only time. The fourth pre-qualifier was the other Brabham, driven by Martin Brundle, who edged out the Osella of Piercarlo Ghinzani by just two-hundredths of a second.

Joining Ghinzani on the sidelines were Stefan Johansson in the Onyx, then Nicola Larini in the other Osella, followed by Bernd Schneider in the Zakspeed. Ninth was the other Onyx of Bertrand Gachot, ahead of the sole EuroBrun driven by Gregor Foitek. The Rial of Volker Weidler was eleventh, followed by Aguri Suzuki in the other Zakspeed. Slowest on this occasion was Joachim Winkelhock in the AGS.[2]

Pre-qualifying classification edit

Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap
1 8   Stefano Modena Brabham-Judd 1:26.957
2 21   Alex Caffi Dallara-Ford 1:27.098 +0.141
3 32   Pierre-Henri Raphanel Coloni-Ford 1:27.590 +0.633
4 7   Martin Brundle Brabham-Judd 1:27.774 +0.817
5 18   Piercarlo Ghinzani Osella-Ford 1:27.795 +0.838
6 36   Stefan Johansson Onyx-Ford 1.27.821 +0.864
7 17   Nicola Larini Osella-Ford 1:28.555 +1.598
8 34   Bernd Schneider Zakspeed-Yamaha 1:28.610 +1.653
9 37   Bertrand Gachot Onyx-Ford 1:28.897 +1.940
10 33   Gregor Foitek EuroBrun-Judd 1:29.423 +2.466
11 39   Volker Weidler Rial-Ford 1:29.498 +2.541
12 35   Aguri Suzuki Zakspeed-Yamaha 1:30.528 +2.571
13 41   Joachim Winkelhock AGS-Ford 1:32.274 +4.317

Qualifying report edit

Tyrrell had new cars that looked promising. Ayrton Senna was on pole by a full second over teammate Alain Prost with Thierry Boutsen sharing row two with the surprisingly competitive Brabham of Martin Brundle. Nigel Mansell was fifth followed by Derek Warwick, Riccardo Patrese, Stefano Modena, Alex Caffi, and Andrea de Cesaris.

It was at this race that many in the paddock started noticing that the Pirelli qualifying tyres were superior to Goodyear's (the Brabhams and Caffi's Dallara ran on Pirelli rubber).

Qualifying classification edit

Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap
1 1   Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 1:24.126 1:22.308
2 2   Alain Prost McLaren-Honda 1:24.671 1:23.456 +1.148
3 5   Thierry Boutsen Williams-Renault 1:25.540 1:24.332 +2.024
4 7   Martin Brundle Brabham-Judd 1:26.970 1:24.580 +2.272
5 27   Nigel Mansell Ferrari 1:25.363 1:24.735 +2.427
6 9   Derek Warwick Arrows-Ford 1:26.606 1:24.791 +2.483
7 6   Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault 1:27.138 1:25.021 +2.713
8 8   Stefano Modena Brabham-Judd 1:27.598 1:25.086 +2.778
9 21   Alex Caffi Dallara-Ford 1:27.894 1:25.481 +3.173
10 22   Andrea de Cesaris Dallara-Ford 1:26.617 1:25.515 +3.207
11 23   Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 1:28.469 1:26.288 +3.980
12 4   Michele Alboreto Tyrrell-Ford No time 1:26.388 +4.080
13 40   Gabriele Tarquini AGS-Ford 1:26.603 1:26.422 +4.114
14 15   Maurício Gugelmin March-Judd 1:28.917 1:26.522 +4.214
15 19   Alessandro Nannini Benetton-Ford 1:28.608 1:26.599 +4.291
16 26   Olivier Grouillard Ligier-Ford 1:27.040 1:26.792 +4.484
17 30   Philippe Alliot Lola-Lamborghini 1:26.975 1:26.857 +4.549
18 32   Pierre-Henri Raphanel Coloni-Ford 1:30.264 1:27.011 +4.703
19 11   Nelson Piquet Lotus-Judd 1:29.047 1:27.046 +4.738
20 10   Eddie Cheever Arrows-Ford 1:28.461 1:27.117 +4.809
21 25   René Arnoux Ligier-Ford 1:30.003 1:27.182 +4.874
22 16   Ivan Capelli March-Judd 1:29.800 1:27.302 +4.994
23 3   Jonathan Palmer Tyrrell-Ford 1:29.151 1:27.452 +5.144
24 20   Johnny Herbert Benetton-Ford 1:29.661 1:27.706 +5.398
25 31   Roberto Moreno Coloni-Ford 1:30.209 1:27.721 +5.413
26 24   Luis Pérez-Sala Minardi-Ford 1:28.886 1:27.786 +5.478
27 38   Christian Danner Rial-Ford 1:28.737 1:27.910 +5.602
28 29   Yannick Dalmas Lola-Lamborghini 1:29.794 1:27.946 +5.638
29 12   Satoru Nakajima Lotus-Judd 1:28.568 1:28.419 +6.111

Race edit

Race report edit

 
Pierre-Henri Raphanel made his only Grand Prix start in Monaco, driving for Coloni.

The first start was aborted when Patrese stalled his Williams. At the second start, for which Patrese was relegated to the back of the grid, Senna was first into Sainte-Dévote and Prost could do nothing but slot behind him. The McLarens proceeded to pull away from the field, while behind them Williams were in all sorts of trouble, as both Boutsen and Patrese had to stop for new rear wings. Nigel Mansell went out on lap 20 with more gearbox issues for Ferrari and one of the talking points of the race came on lap 33 when de Cesaris attempted to pass Nelson Piquet at Loews Hairpin. The predictable accident occurred and some choice words were exchanged between the two drivers (while still in their respective cars) and a huge traffic jam was caused. Brundle was looking good until he had to stop for a new battery and dropped back to seventh.

Senna continued to dominate the race while Prost, having been slowed by the Piquet-de Cesaris incident (he lost over 20 seconds to Senna in one lap having to wait for clear road to get moving again), could not recover and finished second behind his team mate. He was also held up for many laps trying to lap the Ligier of former Renault team mate René Arnoux who ignored both his mirrors and the blue flags prompting BBC commentator James Hunt to describe Arnoux's explanation of why he was so slow as "Bullshit" on live television. It was Senna's second win at Monaco and he did it the hard way, his McLaren losing first and second gear later in the race and disguising it to his best so Prost wouldn't react and push for the lead. Modena benefited from Brundle's stop and finished third, scoring his first points in Formula One and Brabham's last podium finish. Alex Caffi, Michele Alboreto, and Brundle, who was promoted to sixth on the final lap as a result of the retirement of Ivan Capelli, completed the point scoring positions. Caffi achieved both his and Dallara's first points.

Race classification edit

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 1   Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 77 1:53:33.251 1 9
2 2   Alain Prost McLaren-Honda 77 + 52.529 2 6
3 8   Stefano Modena Brabham-Judd 76 + 1 lap 8 4
4 21   Alex Caffi Dallara-Ford 75 + 2 laps 9 3
5 4   Michele Alboreto Tyrrell-Ford 75 + 2 laps 12 2
6 7   Martin Brundle Brabham-Judd 75 + 2 laps 4 1
7 10   Eddie Cheever Arrows-Ford 75 + 2 laps 20
8 19   Alessandro Nannini Benetton-Ford 74 + 3 laps 15
9 3   Jonathan Palmer Tyrrell-Ford 74 + 3 laps 23
10 5   Thierry Boutsen Williams-Renault 74 + 3 laps 3
11 16   Ivan Capelli March-Judd 73 Engine 22
12 25   René Arnoux Ligier-Ford 73 + 4 laps 21
13 22   Andrea de Cesaris Dallara-Ford 73 + 4 laps 10
14 20   Johnny Herbert Benetton-Ford 73 + 4 laps 24
15 6   Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault 73 + 4 laps 7
Ret 24   Luis Pérez-Sala Minardi-Ford 48 Overheating 26
Ret 40   Gabriele Tarquini AGS-Ford 46 Electrical 13
Ret 31   Roberto Moreno Coloni-Ford 44 Gearbox 25
Ret 30   Philippe Alliot Lola-Lamborghini 38 Engine 17
Ret 15   Maurício Gugelmin March-Judd 36 Engine 14
Ret 11   Nelson Piquet Lotus-Judd 32 Collision 19
Ret 27   Nigel Mansell Ferrari 30 Gearbox 5
Ret 32   Pierre-Henri Raphanel Coloni-Ford 19 Gearbox 18
Ret 26   Olivier Grouillard Ligier-Ford 4 Gearbox 16
Ret 23   Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 3 Clutch 11
Ret 9   Derek Warwick Arrows-Ford 2 Electrical 6
DNQ 38   Christian Danner Rial-Ford
DNQ 29   Yannick Dalmas Lola-Lamborghini
DNQ 12   Satoru Nakajima Lotus-Judd
DNPQ 18   Piercarlo Ghinzani Osella-Ford
DNPQ 36   Stefan Johansson Onyx-Ford
DNPQ 17   Nicola Larini Osella-Ford
DNPQ 34   Bernd Schneider Zakspeed-Yamaha
DNPQ 37   Bertrand Gachot Onyx-Ford
DNPQ 33   Gregor Foitek EuroBrun-Judd
DNPQ 39   Volker Weidler Rial-Ford
DNPQ 35   Aguri Suzuki Zakspeed-Yamaha
DNPQ 41   Joachim Winkelhock AGS-Ford
Source:[3]

Championship standings after the race edit

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

References edit

  1. ^ "Motor Racing Programme Covers: 1989". The Programme Covers Project. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  2. ^ Walker, Murray (1989). Murray Walker's Grand Prix Year. First Formula Publishing. pp. 29–36. ISBN 1-870066-22-7.
  3. ^ "1989 Monaco Grand Prix". Formula1.com. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  4. ^ a b "Monaco 1989 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 19 March 2019.


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1989 San Marino Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1989 season
Next race:
1989 Mexican Grand Prix
Previous race:
1988 Monaco Grand Prix
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1990 Monaco Grand Prix

43°44′4.74″N 7°25′16.8″E / 43.7346500°N 7.421333°E / 43.7346500; 7.421333