1992 Portuguese Grand Prix Explained

Type:F1
Country:Portugal
Grand Prix:Portuguese
Official Name:XXI Grande Premio SG Gigante de Portugal
Date:27 September
Year:1992
Race No:14
Season No:16
Location:Autódromo do Estoril, Estoril, Portugal
Course Mi:2.703
Course Km:4.349
Distance Laps:71
Distance Mi:191.913
Distance Km:308.779
Weather:Dry, sunny, windy
Pole Driver:Nigel Mansell
Pole Team:Williams-Renault
Pole Time:1:13.041
Pole Country:United Kingdom
Fast Driver:Ayrton Senna
Fast Team:McLaren-Honda
Fast Time:1:16.272
Fast Country:Brazil
Fast Lap:66
First Driver:Nigel Mansell
First Country:United Kingdom
First Team:Williams-Renault
Second Driver:Gerhard Berger
Second Country:Austria
Second Team:McLaren-Honda
Third Driver:Ayrton Senna
Third Country:Brazil
Third Team:McLaren-Honda

The 1992 Portuguese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Autódromo do Estoril on 27 September 1992. It was the fourteenth race of the 1992 Formula One World Championship.

The 71-lap race was won from pole position by Briton Nigel Mansell, driving a Williams-Renault. In the process, Mansell set new records for the most wins (nine) and the most points (108) in one season. McLaren-Honda drivers, Austrian Gerhard Berger and Brazilian Ayrton Senna, finished second and third respectively.

Pre-race

The Fondmetal team did not arrive in Estoril for the race, suffering financial problems. Team boss Gabriele Rumi attempted to bring in paydriver Giuseppe Bugatti to help ease the team's cashflow problems but this was not enough to allow the team to race.[1] Although they hoped at the time to return for the final two races of the season in Japan and Australia, they ultimately proved unable to do so. This was the third race in succession where a team exited Formula One, after Brabham and Andrea Moda at the previous two races. Brabham had also hoped to return as the team was put up for sale, but before this weekend their full withdrawal was announced.[2]

Fondmetal's absence meant that there were only 26 cars on the entry list, so this Grand Prix was the first since 1987 in which all cars automatically qualified for the race, regardless of qualifying lap times.

Qualifying

Qualifying report

The top six on the grid lined up in pairs, with the Williams, McLaren and Benetton drivers occupying the first three rows. Nigel Mansell took pole from Riccardo Patrese, with Ayrton Senna, Gerhard Berger, Michael Schumacher and Martin Brundle lining up behind.

Qualifying classification

Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap
15data-sort-value="man" Nigel MansellWilliams-Renault1:13.0411:13.961
26data-sort-value="pat" Riccardo PatreseWilliams-Renault1:13.6721:14.305+0.631
31data-sort-value="sen" Ayrton SennaMcLaren-Honda1:15.3431:14.258+1.217
42data-sort-value="ber" Gerhard BergerMcLaren-Honda1:15.1171:15.068+2.027
519data-sort-value="sch" Michael SchumacherBenetton-Ford1:15.3561:15.890+2.315
620data-sort-value="bru" Martin BrundleBenetton-Ford1:16.7961:16.084+3.043
711data-sort-value="hak" Mika HäkkinenLotus-Ford1:16.1731:16.213+3.132
89data-sort-value="alb" Michele AlboretoFootwork-Mugen-Honda1:16.2821:17.109+3.241
912data-sort-value="her" Johnny HerbertLotus-Ford1:16.7551:16.628+3.587
1027data-sort-value="ale" Jean AlesiFerrari1:16.9371:16.884+3.843
1125data-sort-value="bou" Thierry BoutsenLigier-Renault1:17.3321:16.930+3.889
124data-sort-value="ces" Andrea de CesarisTyrrell-Ilmor1:17.3561:17.240+4.199
1329data-sort-value="gac" Bertrand GachotVenturi-Lamborghini1:17.6241:17.250+4.209
1426data-sort-value="com" Érik ComasLigier-Renault1:17.3841:17.264+4.223
153data-sort-value="gro" Olivier GrouillardTyrrell-Ilmor1:17.5121:17.277+4.236
1628data-sort-value="cap" Ivan CapelliFerrari1:18.0301:17.287+4.246
1710data-sort-value="suz" Aguri SuzukiFootwork-Mugen-Honda1:17.3611:17.675+4.320
1824data-sort-value="mor" Gianni MorbidelliMinardi-Lamborghini1:17.9731:17.387+4.346
1921data-sort-value="leh" JJ LehtoDallara-Ferrari1:17.8471:17.474+4.433
2033data-sort-value="gug" Maurício GugelminJordan-Yamaha1:17.9491:17.631+4.590
2122data-sort-value="mar" Pierluigi MartiniDallara-Ferrari1:17.6611:18.676+4.620
2216data-sort-value="wen" Karl WendlingerMarch-Ilmor1:18.0601:18.445+5.019
2317data-sort-value="nas" Emanuele NaspettiMarch-Ilmor1:18.0921:18.531+5.051
2432data-sort-value="mod" Stefano ModenaJordan-Yamaha1:18.3181:19.314+5.277
2530data-sort-value="kat" Ukyo KatayamaVenturi-Lamborghini1:36.2241:18.592+5.551
2623data-sort-value="fit" Christian FittipaldiMinardi-Lamborghini1:18.6151:18.823+5.574
Source:[3] [4] [5]

Race

Race report

The race is often remembered for the accident between Berger and Mansell's Williams team-mate Riccardo Patrese. Intending to make a pit stop, Berger moved towards the right side of the track at the beginning of the start/finish straight, with Patrese following in his slipstream. Failing to realise Berger's intentions, Patrese swerved to avoid him, but his right front wheel hit Berger's left rear and the Williams was launched into the air, almost hitting a pedestrian bridge over the track. Patrese escaped the accident shaken but unhurt, and neither driver was punished by the stewards. The debris from the crash, however, caused numerous other incidents, with Michael Schumacher and Pierluigi Martini suffering punctures, and JJ Lehto suffering slight injury as the driveshaft of the Williams went through the undertray of his Dallara, hitting him on the leg and eventually being forced to retire after 51 laps.

This race was the last time a Honda-powered car set the fastest lap until Fernando Alonso repeated the achievement in the 2016 Italian Grand Prix, and the last time McLaren would score a double points result with Honda engines until the 2015 Hungarian Grand Prix.

Race classification

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
15 Nigel MansellWilliams-Renault711:34:46.659110
22 Gerhard BergerMcLaren-Honda71+ 37.53346
31 Ayrton SennaMcLaren-Honda70+ 1 lap34
420 Martin BrundleBenetton-Ford70+ 1 lap63
511 Mika HäkkinenLotus-Ford70+ 1 lap72
69 Michele AlboretoFootwork-Mugen-Honda70+ 1 lap81
719 Michael SchumacherBenetton-Ford69+ 2 laps5
825 Thierry BoutsenLigier-Renault69+ 2 laps11
94 Andrea de CesarisTyrrell-Ilmor69+ 2 laps12
1010 Aguri SuzukiFootwork-Mugen-Honda68+ 3 laps17
1117 Emanuele NaspettiMarch-Ilmor68+ 3 laps23
1223 Christian FittipaldiMinardi-Lamborghini68+ 3 laps26
1332 Stefano ModenaJordan-Yamaha68+ 3 laps24
1424 Gianni MorbidelliMinardi-Lamborghini68+ 3 laps18
Ret21 JJ LehtoDallara-Ferrari51Physical19
Ret16 Karl WendlingerMarch-Ilmor48Gearbox22
Ret26 Érik ComasLigier-Renault47Engine14
Ret30 Ukyo KatayamaVenturi-Lamborghini46Spun off25
Ret6 Riccardo PatreseWilliams-Renault43Collision2
Ret22 Pierluigi MartiniDallara-Ferrari43Puncture21
Ret28 Ivan CapelliFerrari34Engine16
Ret3 Olivier GrouillardTyrrell-Ilmor27Gearbox15
Ret29 Bertrand GachotVenturi-Lamborghini25Engine13
Ret33 Maurício GugelminJordan-Yamaha19Electrical20
Ret27 Jean AlesiFerrari12Spun off10
Ret12 Johnny HerbertLotus-Ford2Accident9

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
PosDriverPoints
1 Nigel Mansell108
2 Ayrton Senna50
3 Michael Schumacher47
4 Riccardo Patrese46
5 Gerhard Berger33
Source:[6]
Constructors' Championship standings
PosConstructorPoints
1 Williams-Renault154
2 McLaren-Honda83
3 Benetton-Ford77
4 Ferrari16
5 Lotus-Ford13
Source:

References

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Giuseppe Bugatti . 12 December 2014 . 11 June 2020 . Old Racing Cars.
  2. Book: Walker, Murray . 1992 . Murray Walker's 1992 Grand Prix Year . Hazleton Publishing . 117–124 . 0-905138-99-6.
  3. Web site: SG Gigante Portuguese Grand Prix - QUALIFYING 1 . formula1.com . 14 September 2017.
  4. Web site: SG Gigante Portuguese Grand Prix - QUALIFYING 2 . formula1.com . 14 September 2017.
  5. Web site: SG Gigante Portuguese Grand Prix - OVERALL QUALIFYING . formula1.com . 14 September 2017.
  6. Web site: Portugal 1992 - Championship • STATS F1 . www.statsf1.com . 20 March 2019.