1992 Australian Grand Prix Explained

Type:F1
Grand Prix:Australian
Country:Australia
Date:8 November
Year:1992
Race No:16
Season No:16
Official Name:LVII Australian Grand Prix
Course:Temporary street circuit
Location:Adelaide Street Circuit
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Course Mi:2.362
Course Km:3.780
Distance Laps:81
Distance Mi:191.322
Distance Km:306.180
Weather:Cloudy
Pole Driver:Nigel Mansell
Pole Team:Williams-Renault
Pole Country:GBR
Pole Time:1:13.732
Fast Driver:Michael Schumacher
Fast Country:GER
Fast Team:Benetton-Ford
Fast Time:1:16.078
Fast Lap:68
First Driver:Gerhard Berger
First Country:AUT
First Team:McLaren-Honda
Second Driver:Michael Schumacher
Second Team:Benetton-Ford
Second Country:GER
Third Driver:Martin Brundle
Third Team:Benetton-Ford
Third Country:GBR

The 1992 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Adelaide on 8 November 1992. It was the sixteenth and final race of the 1992 Formula One World Championship.

The 81-lap race was won by Austrian driver Gerhard Berger, driving a McLaren-Honda. Berger won by 0.7 seconds from German Michael Schumacher in a Benetton-Ford, with Schumacher's British teammate Martin Brundle third. Nigel Mansell, in what was intended to be his final Formula One race before his move to IndyCars for 1993, took pole position in his Williams-Renault and led until Brazilian Ayrton Senna, in the other McLaren-Honda, collided with him while attempting to overtake him, eliminating them both.

Brundle (who spent 1993 with Ligier), Berger (who returned to Ferrari) and Riccardo Patrese (who joined Benetton) were among the many drivers for whom this was the final race with their current teams, while for Jan Lammers, Stefano Modena, Maurício Gugelmin and Olivier Grouillard it was the last Grand Prix of their careers.

This was McLaren's final race using Honda engines until 2015. The company ceased their full factory involvement in the sport following this race, although the Mugen arm of the company continued. They returned in as engine supplier to BAR.

This Grand Prix also proved to be the last for the March team.

Qualifying

Qualifying report

Nigel Mansell took pole position in his Williams-Renault by nearly half a second from Ayrton Senna in the McLaren-Honda. It was Mansell's 14th pole position of the season, surpassing the 13 achieved by Senna in both and .[1] Their respective teammates, Riccardo Patrese and Gerhard Berger, were third and fourth, followed by Michael Schumacher in the Benetton and Jean Alesi in the Ferrari. Completing the top ten were Andrea de Cesaris in the Tyrrell, Martin Brundle in the second Benetton, Érik Comas in the Ligier and Mika Häkkinen in the Lotus.

Qualifying classification

Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap
15data-sort-value="man" Nigel MansellWilliams-Renault1:13.7321:15.133
21data-sort-value="sen" Ayrton SennaMcLaren-Honda1:14.2021:14.416+0.470
36data-sort-value="pat" Riccardo PatreseWilliams-Renault1:14.3701:15.895+0.638
42data-sort-value="ber" Gerhard BergerMcLaren-Honda1:15.1141:15.688+1.382
519data-sort-value="sch" Michael SchumacherBenetton-Ford1:15.2101:16.613+1.478
627data-sort-value="ale" Jean AlesiFerrari1:16.0911:17.213+2.359
74data-sort-value="ces" Andrea de CesarisTyrrell-Ilmor1:16.4401:17.333+2.708
820data-sort-value="bru" Martin BrundleBenetton-Ford1:16.5621:17.674+2.830
9 26data-sort-value="com" Érik ComasLigier-Renault1:16.7271:17.856+2.995
1011data-sort-value="hak" Mika HäkkinenLotus-Ford1:16.8631:17.868+3.131
119data-sort-value="alb" Michele AlboretoFootwork-Mugen-Honda1:16.9371:17.621+3.205
1212data-sort-value="her" Johnny HerbertLotus-Ford1:16.9441:18.099+3.212
133data-sort-value="gro" Olivier GrouillardTyrrell-Ilmor1:17.0371:19.017+3.305
1422data-sort-value="mar" Pierluigi MartiniDallara-Ferrari1:17.0471:18.043+3.315
1532data-sort-value="mod" Stefano ModenaJordan-Yamaha1:17.2311:18.790+3.499
1624data-sort-value="mor" Gianni MorbidelliMinardi-Lamborghini1:17.3331:19.661+3.601
1723data-sort-value="fit" Christian FittipaldiMinardi-Lamborghini1:17.3671:19.441+3.635
1810data-sort-value="suz" Aguri SuzukiFootwork-Mugen-Honda1:17.4091:19.589+3.677
1928data-sort-value="lar" Nicola LariniFerrari1:17.4651:18.618+3.733
2033data-sort-value="gug" Maurício GugelminJordan-Yamaha1:17.8051:19.735+4.073
2129data-sort-value="gac" Bertrand GachotVenturi-Lamborghini1:17.8081:18.477+4.076
2225data-sort-value="bou" Thierry BoutsenLigier-Renault1:17.9571:17.976+4.225
2317data-sort-value="nas" Emanuele NaspettiMarch-Ilmor4:23.3131:18.099+4.367
2421data-sort-value="leh" JJ LehtoDallara-Ferrari1:18.5651:18.891+4.833
2516data-sort-value="lam" Jan LammersMarch-Ilmor3:10.7201:18.843+5.111
2630data-sort-value="kat" Ukyo KatayamaVenturi-Lamborghini1:18.8621:20.306+5.130
Source:[2] [3] [4]

Race

Race report

Nicola Larini started this race from the back of the grid. A first-lap collision between the Tyrrell of Olivier Grouillard and the Dallara of Pierluigi Martini had eliminated both drivers on the same lap. The order of the top six at the end of the first lap was Mansell, Senna, Patrese, Berger, Schumacher and Alesi. Mansell as usual was unable to pull away, whilst Senna in second tried his hardest to pass the Williams on lap 8, but was unable to do so. Gugelmin for the second race running had spun out and crashed by lap 9.

Senna ran wide and allowed Mansell to retain the lead. The order of the top two remained the same until lap 19 when they collided at the Mistral hairpin; Senna attempted to overtake Mansell but crashed into the rear of the Williams (eliminating both drivers). This allowed Riccardo Patrese to take the lead from lap 20 in the remaining Williams, but was under enormous pressure from Gerhard Berger who was a close second. Berger, like Senna, attempted to pass the Williams on the outside but ran wide. Berger pitted for fresh tyres on lap 35, as did Michael Schumacher in the leading Benetton five laps later; the German rejoined four seconds behind Berger.

Martin Brundle was able to pass Jean Alesi in the leading Ferrari for third during their pit-stops. Patrese led by 20 seconds over Berger by the end of lap 50 until his engine failed on the next lap. Thus allowing Berger to take the lead and hold on to the lead for the remaining 31 laps and took the eighth victory of his career ahead of a hard-charging Schumacher by less than a second. The order of the top six was Berger winning ahead of, Michael Schumacher, Brundle, Alesi, Thierry Boutsen and Stefano Modena in the Jordan.

Jordan scored their only point of the season with Stefano Modena, while Thierry Boutsen (who won here in 1989) scored his only 1992 season points, and the last points of his career. Benetton's double podium finish ensured that they scored points in every round, as Benetton were the first team to score points in every round of a season since Lotus in 1963.

Race classification

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
12 Gerhard BergerMcLaren-Honda811:46:54.786410
219 Michael SchumacherBenetton-Ford81+ 0.74156
320 Martin BrundleBenetton-Ford81+ 54.15684
427 Jean AlesiFerrari80+ 1 lap63
525 Thierry BoutsenLigier-Renault80+ 1 lap222
632 Stefano ModenaJordan-Yamaha80+ 1 lap151
711 Mika HäkkinenLotus-Ford80+ 1 lap10
810 Aguri SuzukiFootwork-Mugen-Honda79+ 2 laps18
923 Christian FittipaldiMinardi-Lamborghini79+ 2 laps17
1024 Gianni MorbidelliMinardi-Lamborghini79+ 2 laps16
1128 Nicola LariniFerrari79+ 2 laps19
1216 Jan LammersMarch-Ilmor78+ 3 laps25
1312 Johnny HerbertLotus-Ford77+ 4 laps12
Ret21 JJ LehtoDallara-Ferrari70Gearbox24
Ret17 Emanuele NaspettiMarch-Ilmor55Gearbox23
Ret29 Bertrand GachotVenturi-Lamborghini51Fuel system21
Ret6 Riccardo PatreseWilliams-Renault50Engine3
Ret30 Ukyo KatayamaVenturi-Lamborghini35Differential26
Ret4 Andrea de CesarisTyrrell-Ilmor29Engine7
Ret5 Nigel MansellWilliams-Renault18Collision1
Ret1 Ayrton SennaMcLaren-Honda18Collision2
Ret33 Maurício GugelminJordan-Yamaha7Spun off20
Ret26 Érik ComasLigier-Renault4Engine9
Ret9 Michele AlboretoFootwork-Mugen-Honda0Engine11
Ret22 Pierluigi MartiniDallara-Ferrari0Accident14
Ret3 Olivier GrouillardTyrrell-Ilmor0Accident13

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
PosDriverPoints
1 Nigel Mansell108
2 Riccardo Patrese56
3 Michael Schumacher53
4 Ayrton Senna50
5 Gerhard Berger49
Source:[5]
Constructors' Championship standings
PosConstructorPoints
1 Williams-Renault164
2 McLaren-Honda99
3 Benetton-Ford91
4 Ferrari21
5 Lotus-Ford13
Source:

References

Notes and References

  1. News: Dornin . Tim . 8 November 1992 . Mansell takes pole . . Sydney, New South Wales . . 65 . "In what should be his Formula One swansong, Mansell yesterday clinched his 14th pole position of 1992 – a record eclipsing the previous best season's tally held by Ayrton Senna.".
  2. Web site: Foster's Australian Grand Prix - QUALIFYING 1. formula1.com . 15 September 2017.
  3. Web site: Foster's Australian Grand Prix - QUALIFYING 2. formula1.com . 15 September 2017.
  4. Web site: Foster's Australian Grand Prix - OVERALL QUALIFYING. formula1.com . 15 September 2017.
  5. Web site: Australia 1992 - Championship • STATS F1 . statsf1.com . 6 March 2019.