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1989 Belgian Grand Prix

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1989 Belgian Grand Prix
Race 11 of 16 in the 1989 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date 27 August 1989
Official name XLVII Grand Prix de Belgique
Location Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
Francorchamps, Wallonia, Belgium[1]
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 6.940 km (4.312 miles)
Distance 44 laps, 305.360 km (189.741 miles)
Weather Wet, cloudy, cool
Pole position
Driver McLaren-Honda
Time 1:50.867
Fastest lap
Driver France Alain Prost McLaren-Honda
Time 2:11.571 on lap 44
Podium
First McLaren-Honda
Second McLaren-Honda
Third Ferrari
Lap leaders

The 1989 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Spa-Francorchamps on 27 August 1989. It was the eleventh race of the 1989 Formula One World Championship.

The 44-lap race was won from pole position by Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna, driving a McLaren-Honda. Senna finished just ahead of French teammate Alain Prost, with Briton Nigel Mansell third in a Ferrari. The win, Senna's fifth of the season, moved him to within 11 points of Prost in the Drivers' Championship. James Hunt was absent from BBC commentary for this race due to illness, leaving Murray Walker to commentate the majority of the race alone with cameo appearances from Johnny Herbert and Martin Brundle.

Qualifying

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Pre-qualifying report

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In the Friday morning pre-qualifying session, an Onyx topped the time sheets for the fifth Grand Prix in succession. Stefan Johansson was again comfortably fastest by over a second, and his team-mate Bertrand Gachot also pre-qualified in third. The other two pre-qualifiers were the Larrousse-Lola cars of Michele Alboreto in second, and Philippe Alliot in fourth.

Those failing to proceed to the main qualifying sessions included both Osellas; Nicola Larini and Piercarlo Ghinzani close together in fifth and sixth. Roberto Moreno was seventh in his Coloni, with the AGS of Gabriele Tarquini eighth. The struggling Zakspeed drivers were ninth and tenth, Bernd Schneider marginally faster than Aguri Suzuki. The other AGS of Yannick Dalmas was next, ahead of Gregor Foitek, driving the older EuroBrun ER188B after the new car had not been successful. Foitek quit the team after this Grand Prix, to be replaced by their 1988 driver Oscar Larrauri. Bottom of the time sheets was the second Coloni of debutant Enrico Bertaggia, who was unable to put a proper timed lap together. He was replacing Pierre-Henri Raphanel, who had left Coloni to join Rial after Volker Weidler had quit the team.[2]

Pre-qualifying classification

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Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap
1 36 Sweden Stefan Johansson Onyx-Ford 1:56.279
2 29 Italy Michele Alboreto Lola-Lamborghini 1:57.509 +1.230
3 37 Belgium Bertrand Gachot Onyx-Ford 1:57.720 +1.441
4 30 France Philippe Alliot Lola-Lamborghini 1:57.748 +1.469
5 17 Italy Nicola Larini Osella-Ford 1:58.065 +1.786
6 18 Italy Piercarlo Ghinzani Osella-Ford 1:58.209 +1.930
7 31 Brazil Roberto Moreno Coloni-Ford 1:58.650 +2.371
8 40 Italy Gabriele Tarquini AGS-Ford 1:59.432 +3.153
9 34 West Germany Bernd Schneider Zakspeed-Yamaha 2:00.713 +4.434
10 35 Japan Aguri Suzuki Zakspeed-Yamaha 2:00.757 +4.478
11 41 France Yannick Dalmas AGS-Ford 2:02.205 +5.926
12 33 Switzerland Gregor Foitek EuroBrun-Judd 2:02.767 +6.488
13 32 Italy Enrico Bertaggia Coloni-Ford 2:21.709 +25.430

Qualifying report

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Ayrton Senna gained pole position ahead of his teammate.

Ayrton Senna took his eighth pole position of the season by nearly six-tenths of a second from McLaren teammate Alain Prost, with almost a further second back to Gerhard Berger in the Ferrari in third. The two Williams were fourth and fifth with Thierry Boutsen, in his home race, ahead of Riccardo Patrese, followed by Nigel Mansell in the second Ferrari. Alessandro Nannini was seventh in the Benetton, over two seconds behind Mansell, and the top ten was completed by Stefano Modena in the Brabham, Maurício Gugelmin in the March and Derek Warwick in the Arrows.

The major talking point, however, was the failure of both Nelson Piquet and Satoru Nakajima to qualify, the first time in the Lotus team's history that neither of its cars had qualified.

All the times were determined in the second qualifying session, after the first had taken place in wet conditions.

Qualifying classification

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Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap
1 1 Brazil Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 2:11.171 1:50.867
2 2 France Alain Prost McLaren-Honda 2:12.721 1:51.463 +0.596
3 28 Austria Gerhard Berger Ferrari 2:11.102 1:52.391 +1.524
4 5 Belgium Thierry Boutsen Williams-Renault 2:13.030 1:52.786 +1.919
5 6 Italy Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault 2:12.581 1:52.875 +2.008
6 27 United Kingdom Nigel Mansell Ferrari 2:12.042 1:52.898 +2.031
7 19 Italy Alessandro Nannini Benetton-Ford 2:14.117 1:55.075 +4.208
8 8 Italy Stefano Modena Brabham-Judd 2:19.161 1:55.642 +4.775
9 15 Brazil Maurício Gugelmin March-Judd 2:16.401 1:55.729 +4.862
10 9 United Kingdom Derek Warwick Arrows-Ford 2:13.005 1:55.864 +4.997
11 30 France Philippe Alliot Lola-Lamborghini 2:14.357 1:55.890 +5.023
12 21 Italy Alex Caffi Dallara-Ford 2:17.604 1:55.892 +5.025
13 20 Italy Emanuele Pirro Benetton-Ford 2:15.068 1:55.902 +5.035
14 23 Italy Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 2:15.515 1:56.115 +5.248
15 36 Sweden Stefan Johansson Onyx-Ford 2:17.329 1:56.129 +5.262
16 4 United Kingdom Johnny Herbert Tyrrell-Ford 2:17.714 1:56.248 +5.381
17 25 France René Arnoux Ligier-Ford 2:14.344 1:56.251 +5.384
18 22 Italy Andrea de Cesaris Dallara-Ford 2:17.512 1:56.257 +5.390
19 16 Italy Ivan Capelli March-Judd 2:15.863 1:56.291 +5.424
20 7 United Kingdom Martin Brundle Brabham-Judd 2:18.663 1:56.327 +5.460
21 3 United Kingdom Jonathan Palmer Tyrrell-Ford 2:18.405 1:56.600 +5.733
22 29 Italy Michele Alboreto Lola-Lamborghini 2:17.240 1:56.616 +5.749
23 37 Belgium Bertrand Gachot Onyx-Ford 2:18.151 1:56.716 +5.849
24 10 United States Eddie Cheever Arrows-Ford 2:14.641 1:56.748 +5.881
25 24 Spain Luis Pérez-Sala Minardi-Ford 2:18.907 1:56.957 +6.090
26 26 France Olivier Grouillard Ligier-Ford 2:18.175 1:57.027 +6.160
27 12 Japan Satoru Nakajima Lotus-Judd 2:13.677 1:57.251 +6.384
28 11 Brazil Nelson Piquet Lotus-Judd 2:14.358 1:57.771 +6.904
29 38 West Germany Christian Danner Rial-Ford 2:20.503 2:00.247 +9.380
30 39 France Pierre-Henri Raphanel Rial-Ford 2:21.180 2:02.937 +12.070

Race

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Race report

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Ayrton Senna ahead of Alain Prost at the race start. Behind, Gerhard Berger, Thierry Boutsen and Nigel Mansell running wide.

The race was delayed for some time due to the wet conditions. At the start, Senna led the way from Prost and Berger. Mansell managed to pass both Williams on the grass on the run to La Source hairpin to claim fourth position by the first corner. Johnny Herbert retired when he spun off on lap 4 in his first race for Tyrrell. René Arnoux then retired in the pit lane on lap 5 after a collision with the Lola of Philippe Alliot at La Source. Early on, Berger pressured Prost but was unable to find a way through. Senna comfortably led from start to finish in conditions similar to those in which he won his first Belgian Grand Prix in 1985. Behind him, Berger suffered his tenth consecutive retirement of the season when he spun out on lap 10, leaving Prost to fend off a charging Mansell who, in his efforts to pass the McLaren, made a number of unorthodox moves at the exit of La Source in an attempt to gain a better run at the McLaren through Eau Rouge and on to the long uphill straight. Senna eased up in the last few laps, allowing Prost and Mansell to finish within two seconds of him. Boutsen finished fourth in his 100th race. Johnny Herbert, in his first race for Tyrrell (replacing Jean Alesi who was busy competing in the F3000 championship), said during the BBC commentary that in order to see the car in front it was necessary to press the helmet visor against the lens of the rear-facing visibility light from the car in front. Unusually, Eddie Cheever received the black and white warning flag for 'unsportsmanlike behaviour' for his alleged baulking of Mansell.[3]

Race classification

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Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell at the podium
Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 1 Brazil Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 44 1:40:54.196 1 9
2 2 France Alain Prost McLaren-Honda 44 + 1.304 2 6
3 27 United Kingdom Nigel Mansell Ferrari 44 + 1.824 6 4
4 5 Belgium Thierry Boutsen Williams-Renault 44 + 54.408 4 3
5 19 Italy Alessandro Nannini Benetton-Ford 44 + 1:08.805 7 2
6 9 United Kingdom Derek Warwick Arrows-Ford 44 + 1:18.316 10 1
7 15 Brazil Maurício Gugelmin March-Judd 43 + 1 lap 9  
8 36 Sweden Stefan Johansson Onyx-Ford 43 + 1 lap 15  
9 23 Italy Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 43 + 1 lap 14  
10 20 Italy Emanuele Pirro Benetton-Ford 43 + 1 lap 13  
11 22 Italy Andrea de Cesaris Dallara-Ford 43 + 1 lap 18  
12 16 Italy Ivan Capelli March-Judd 43 + 1 lap 19  
13 26 France Olivier Grouillard Ligier-Ford 43 + 1 lap 26  
14 3 United Kingdom Jonathan Palmer Tyrrell-Ford 42 + 2 laps 21  
15 24 Spain Luis Pérez-Sala Minardi-Ford 41 + 3 laps 25  
16 30 France Philippe Alliot Lola-Lamborghini 39 Engine 11  
Ret 10 United States Eddie Cheever Arrows-Ford 38 Wheel 24  
Ret 37 Belgium Bertrand Gachot Onyx-Ford 21 Spun off 23  
Ret 6 Italy Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault 20 Collision 5  
Ret 29 Italy Michele Alboreto Lola-Lamborghini 19 Collision 22  
Ret 21 Italy Alex Caffi Dallara-Ford 13 Spun off 12  
Ret 7 United Kingdom Martin Brundle Brabham-Judd 12 Brakes 20  
Ret 28 Austria Gerhard Berger Ferrari 9 Spun off 3  
Ret 8 Italy Stefano Modena Brabham-Judd 9 Handling 8  
Ret 25 France René Arnoux Ligier-Ford 4 Collision damage 17  
Ret 4 United Kingdom Johnny Herbert Tyrrell-Ford 3 Spun off 16  
DNQ 12 Japan Satoru Nakajima Lotus-Judd        
DNQ 11 Brazil Nelson Piquet Lotus-Judd        
DNQ 38 West Germany Christian Danner Rial-Ford        
DNQ 39 France Pierre-Henri Raphanel Rial-Ford        
DNPQ 17 Italy Nicola Larini Osella-Ford        
DNPQ 18 Italy Piercarlo Ghinzani Osella-Ford        
DNPQ 31 Brazil Roberto Moreno Coloni-Ford        
DNPQ 40 Italy Gabriele Tarquini AGS-Ford        
DNPQ 34 West Germany Bernd Schneider Zakspeed-Yamaha        
DNPQ 35 Japan Aguri Suzuki Zakspeed-Yamaha        
DNPQ 41 France Yannick Dalmas AGS-Ford        
DNPQ 33 Switzerland Gregor Foitek EuroBrun-Judd        
DNPQ 32 Italy 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. ^ "1989 Belgian GP". Motor Sport. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  2. ^ Walker, Murray (1989). Murray Walker's Grand Prix Year. First Formula Publishing. pp. 93–100. ISBN 1-870066-22-7.
  3. ^ Murray Walker's 1989 Grand Prix Year, First Frost 1989, p.100
  4. ^ "1989 Belgian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  5. ^ a b "Belgium 1989 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 13 March 2019.


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1989 Hungarian Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1989 season
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1989 Italian Grand Prix
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1988 Belgian Grand Prix
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1990 Belgian Grand Prix