1991 South African Grand Prix  |
| Date:27-29 Sep 1991, Weather Damp, warm, overcast, drying track |
From this race…
Capelli, Ivan
Capelli indulged in some wheel banging with Emanuele Pirro would see contact between the Leyton House and the Dallara. Capelli’s Leyton House was pitched off the track and into the gravel. Pirro would continue.
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Drivers Points
| Position |
|
Name |
Points |
| 1 |
|
Senna, Ayrton |
9 |
| 2 |
|
Piquet, Nelson |
5 |
| 3 |
|
Mansell, Nigel |
5 |
| 4 |
|
Hakkinen, Mika |
4 |
| 5 |
|
Alesi, Jean |
3 |
| 6 |
|
Morbidelli, Gianni |
1 |
| 7 |
|
Zanardi, Alessandro |
1 |
| 8 |
|
de Cesaris, Andrea |
1 |
| 9 |
|
Capelli, Ivan |
1 |
| 10 |
|
Bernard, Eric |
1 |
|
Constructors Points
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Top 5 drivers before
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Top 5 drivers current
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| Who? |
What |
Points |
Action |
Lap |
| Misc |
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McLaren
|
 |
1 pts
|
A misunderstanding saw the McLaren crew fit a full set of qualifying tires to Senna’s MP4/6 for his first qualifying run on Friday. Senna had wanted a mixed set of D’s and qualifying tyres he was not pleased, especially as his team mate, Berger was on pole and he was third.
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de Cesaris, Andrea (Jordan)
|
 |
1 pts
|
de Cesaris suffered a freak accident in Saturday’s free Practice session. All he did was touch a kerb but the contact severely damaged the monocoque of his race car and he had to switch to the elderly “t” car for the balance of the weekend.
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Senna, Ayrton (McLaren)
|
 |
5 pts
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In the pre-race press conference things were getting a little heated and Jean Marie Balestre stepped in and suggested that Mansell would be closely observed in the race. Mansell leapt to he feet shouting the odds, suggesting that the FISA president should be keeping an eye on Senna rather than him. Senna retorted with rapier venom. He pointed out that Mansell had been involved in more than his fair share of incidents out on the track. Senna rounded off his comments with a few choice words that would have made a nun blush. Then Piquet chipped in asking Monsieur Balestre whether a driver had to be killed before FISA stepped in, making good on their threats to penalise certain, leading drivers. This was all hot stuff hours before the Grand prix start, especially as it was beginning to rain.
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Mansell, Nigel (Williams)
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5 pts
|
In the pre-race press conference things were getting a little heated and Jean Marie Balestre stepped in and suggested that Mansell would be closely observed in the race. Mansell leapt to he feet shouting the odds, suggesting that the FISA president should be keeping an eye on Senna rather than him. Senna retorted with rapier venom. He pointed out that Mansell had been involved in more than his fair share of incidents out on the track. Senna rounded off his comments with a few choice words that would have made a nun blush. Then Piquet chipped in asking Monsieur Balestre whether a driver had to be killed before FISA stepped in, making good on their threats to penalise certain, leading drivers. This was all hot stuff hours before the Grand prix start, especially as it was beginning to rain.
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Piquet, Nelson (Benetton)
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5 pts
|
In the pre-race press conference things were getting a little heated and Jean Marie Balestre stepped in and suggested that Mansell would be closely observed in the race. Mansell leapt to he feet shouting the odds, suggesting that the FISA president should be keeping an eye on Senna rather than him. Senna retorted with rapier venom. He pointed out that Mansell had been involved in more than his fair share of incidents out on the track. Senna rounded off his comments with a few choice words that would have made a nun blush. Then Piquet chipped in asking Monsieur Balestre whether a driver had to be killed before FISA stepped in, making good on their threats to penalise certain, leading drivers. This was all hot stuff hours before the Grand prix start, especially as it was beginning to rain.
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Alesi, Jean (Ferrari)
|
 |
3 pts
|
A weaving start from Alesi on the drying track would result in his team mate, Prost having to back off and drop down to twelfth place as a result. The race stewards duly took note of Alesi dodgy manoeuvrings and he was penalised with a ten-second stop-go penalty, which he served on lap twenty-eight.
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Bernard, Eric (Larrousse)
|
 |
1 pts
|
In the chase down to the first corner there was some jostling lower down the field. An over enthusiastic Eric Bernard rammed Thierry Boutsen’s Liger from behind, pitching it into a spin into the gravel. Both Boutsen and Bernard were out before they had completed a single lap.
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Capelli, Ivan (Leyton House)
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1 pts
|
Capelli indulged in some wheel banging with Emanuele Pirro would see contact between the Leyton House and the Dallara. Capelli’s Leyton House was pitched off the track and into the gravel. Pirro would continue.
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Hakkinen, Mika (Lotus (Team))
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4 pts
|
The race started on a wet track and soon after the race had started, as early as lap three a dry line was appearing and a switch from wet to dry weather tyres was required. Hakkinen did not get into the pits quick enough; he stayed out too long and the levels of grip afforded to him by the wet weather tyres on the drying track was inadequate and he spun of the track and into retirement on lap six.
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Senna, Ayrton (McLaren)
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4 pts
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The tyres that Goodyear initially brought to the race meeting were too hard as its technicians had overestimated the amount of available grip. For Sunday’s race Goodyear brought some softer compound tires. All Goodyear runners used complete sets of the softer tyres except Senna who wanted to use the harder compound on the left-hand side of the car. Goodyear told Senna the harder tyres would not come fast enough to match the soft tyres. They were correct and the tactical error form Senna severely hampered his progress in the race. Coming to the end of lap thirteen the lack of grip that Senna was experiencing caused him to spin. He lost position to Schumacher and Mansell who were following closely. To cap it all Senna reversed dangerously to re-take the track.
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Zanardi, Alessandro (Jordan)
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1 pts
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In the final stages of the race Zanardi in his first ever Formula one race forced his way around the outside of Morbidelli’s Jordan in an audacious move. Morbidelli immediately fought back and the two cars touched. Zanardi continued unharmed but Morbidelli got on to the grass, spun off the track and then back on, only clobber his team mate’s car. Martini was not pleased at all; the left -rear wheel was torn of his sister Minardi. Giancarlo Minardi was not happy both cars out wit less than three laps to run.
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Morbidelli, Gianni (Minardi)
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1 pts
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In the final stages of the race Zanardi in his first ever Formula one race forced his way around the outside of Morbidelli’s Jordan in an audacious move. Morbidelli immediately fought back and the two cars touched. Zanardi continued unharmed but Morbidelli got on to the grass, spun off the track and then back on, only clobber his team mate’s car. Martini was not pleased at all; the left -rear wheel was torn of his sister Minardi. Giancarlo Minardi was not happy both cars out wit less than three laps to run.
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