1992 South African Grand Prix

South Africa  1992 South African Grand Prix
Race details
Race 1 of 16 in the 1992 Formula One season

Circuit Kyalami in South Africa
Date 1 March 1992
Official name Yellow Pages South African Grand Prix
Location Kyalami Circuit Gauteng, South Africa
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.261 km (2.648 mi)
Distance 72 laps, 306.792 km (190.66 mi)
Weather Hot, dry and dull
Pole position
Driver Williams-Renault
Time 1:15.486
Fastest lap
Driver United Kingdom Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault
Time 1:17.578 on lap 70
Podium
First Williams-Renault
Second Williams-Renault
Third McLaren-Honda

The 1992 South African Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Kyalami circuit in Midrand, South Africa on 1 March 1992. It was the opening round of the 1992 Formula One season and was contested over 72 laps. It was the 32nd South African Grand Prix, and the 22nd as part of the World Championship. Nigel Mansell dominated the weekend in his new Williams FW14, taking pole position, fastest lap and leading every lap of the race en route to victory for the second time in his career. Mansell's team-mate, Riccardo Patrese, asserted the dominance of the car by completing a 1-2 finish. Ayrton Senna completed the podium for the McLaren team.

Formula One returned to post-apartheid South Africa which had not hosted a Grand Prix since the controversial 1985 event, held during Premier P.W. Botha's state of emergency. It returned to a new Kyalami circuit, which had a different layout and the circuit used part of the old layout.

Report

Qualifying

Mansell took pole position by almost three-quarters of a second from Senna, and set a lap time over 1.5 seconds faster than his team-mate Patrese. Senna completed the front-row in an updated MP4/6B as the team's 1992 chassis would not be ready until the Brazilian Grand Prix, the third race of the season. Nevertheless, Berger also managed to set a time quicker than that of Patrese's meaning he started the race from third position, and the Italian in fourth. Jean Alesi's Ferrari was the only other car capable of staying within two seconds of Mansell, as the Frenchman secured a fifth place grid slot on the same row as Michael Schumacher in his Benetton, starting only his first full season. Karl Wendlinger did well to position his March up in seventh place, when his team-mate Paul Belmondo could only muster 27th place. Wendlinger was ahead of Schumacher's team-mate Martin Brundle, who had qualified eighth, and the other Ferrari of Ivan Capelli, who was ninth. Andrea de Cesaris completed the top ten in his Tyrrell in a time over three seconds behind Mansell's. Stefano Modena failed to qualify the Jordan Yamaha, partly because of big problems with the reliability of the Yamaha engine, which, according to then BBC commentator Murray Walker, was grenading itself.

Race

The race was a fairly uneventful start to the season as Mansell lead the race from lights to flag. Even Patrese, who turned out to be Mansell's closest challenger for the victory, finished a distant 25 seconds behind him. Senna drove well to ensure he remained in the podium places with a 1991 car, as did Schumacher, who gained from his qualifying position to complete the race in fourth place. Berger finished in fifth place and nearly 40 seconds behind his team-mate; he was the last driver to finish the race on the lead lap. Johnny Herbert finished in sixth place and took the final point for Lotus.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap
1 5 United Kingdom Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault 1:15.486
2 1 Brazil Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 1:16.227 +0.741
3 2 Austria Gerhard Berger McLaren-Honda 1:16.672 +1.186
4 6 Italy Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault 1:16.989 +1.503
5 27 France Jean Alesi Ferrari 1:17.208 +1.722
6 19 Germany Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 1:17.635 +2.149
7 16 Austria Karl Wendlinger March-Ilmor 1:18.115 +2.629
8 20 United Kingdom Martin Brundle Benetton-Ford 1:18.327 +2.841
9 28 Italy Ivan Capelli Ferrari 1:18.387 +2.901
10 4 Italy Andrea de Cesaris Tyrrell-Ilmor 1:18.544 +3.058
11 12 United Kingdom Johnny Herbert Lotus-Ford 1:18.626 +3.140
12 3 France Olivier Grouillard Tyrrell-Ilmor 1:18.749 +3.263
13 26 France Érik Comas Ligier-Renault 1:19.200 +3.714
14 25 Belgium Thierry Boutsen Ligier-Renault 1:19.296 +3.810
15 15 Italy Gabriele Tarquini Fondmetal-Ford 1:19.305 +3.819
16 10 Japan Aguri Suzuki Footwork-Mugen-Honda 1:19.532 +4.046
17 9 Italy Michele Alboreto Footwork-Mugen-Honda 1:19.571 +4.085
18 30 Japan Ukyo Katayama Larrousse-Lamborghini 1:19.621 +4.135
19 24 Italy Gianni Morbidelli Minardi-Lamborghini 1:19.636 +4.150
20 23 Brazil Christian Fittipaldi Minardi-Lamborghini 1:19.641 +4.155
21 11 Finland Mika Häkkinen Lotus-Ford 1:19.672 +4.186
22 29 France Bertrand Gachot Larrousse-Lamborghini 1:20.039 +4.553
23 33 Brazil Maurício Gugelmin Jordan-Yamaha 1:20.120 +4.634
24 21 Finland JJ Lehto Dallara-Ferrari 1:20.126 +4.640
25 22 Italy Pierluigi Martini Dallara-Ferrari 1:20.203 +4.717
26 7 Belgium Eric van de Poele Brabham-Judd 1:20.488 +5.002
27 17 France Paul Belmondo March-Ilmor 1:20.580 +5.094
28 14 Switzerland Andrea Chiesa Fondmetal-Ford 1:21.209 +5.723
29 32 Italy Stefano Modena Jordan-Yamaha 1:21.494 +6.008
30 8 Italy Giovanna Amati Brabham-Judd 1:24.405 +8.919

Race

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 5 United Kingdom Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault 72 1:36:45.320 1 10
2 6 Italy Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault 72 +24.360 4 6
3 1 Brazil Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 72 +34.675 2 4
4 19 Germany Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 72 +47.863 6 3
5 2 Austria Gerhard Berger McLaren-Honda 72 +1:13.634 3 2
6 12 United Kingdom Johnny Herbert Lotus-Ford 71 +1 lap 11 1
7 26 France Érik Comas Ligier-Renault 71 +1 lap 13  
8 10 Japan Aguri Suzuki Footwork-Mugen-Honda 70 +2 Laps 16  
9 11 Finland Mika Häkkinen Lotus-Ford 70 +2 Laps 21  
10 9 Italy Michele Alboreto Footwork-Mugen-Honda 70 +2 Laps 17  
11 33 Brazil Maurício Gugelmin Jordan-Yamaha 70 +2 Laps 23  
12 30 Japan Ukyo Katayama Larrousse-Lamborghini 68 +4 Laps 18  
13 7 Belgium Eric van de Poele Brabham-Judd 68 +4 Laps 26  
Ret 3 France Olivier Grouillard Tyrrell-Ilmor 62 Engine 12  
Ret 25 Belgium Thierry Boutsen Ligier-Renault 60 Fuel System 14  
Ret 22 Italy Pierluigi Martini Dallara-Ferrari 56 Clutch 25  
Ret 24 Italy Gianni Morbidelli Minardi-Lamborghini 55 Engine 19  
Ret 21 Finland JJ Lehto Dallara-Ferrari 44 Gearbox 24  
Ret 23 Brazil Christian Fittipaldi Minardi-Lamborghini 43 Alternator 20  
Ret 4 Italy Andrea de Cesaris Tyrrell-Ilmor 41 Engine 10  
Ret 27 France Jean Alesi Ferrari 40 Engine 5  
Ret 28 Italy Ivan Capelli Ferrari 28 Engine 9  
Ret 15 Italy Gabriele Tarquini Fondmetal-Ford 23 Engine 15  
Ret 16 Austria Karl Wendlinger March-Ilmor 13 Overheating 7  
Ret 29 France Bertrand Gachot Larrousse-Lamborghini 8 Steering 22  
Ret 20 United Kingdom Martin Brundle Benetton-Ford 1 Clutch 8  
DNQ 17 France Paul Belmondo March-Ilmor    
DNQ 14 Switzerland Andrea Chiesa Fondmetal-Ford    
DNQ 32 Italy Stefano Modena Jordan-Yamaha    
DNQ 8 Italy Giovanna Amati Brabham-Judd      
EX 34 Italy Alex Caffi Andrea Moda-Judd      
EX 35 Italy Enrico Bertaggia Andrea Moda-Judd      
Source:[1]

Notes

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 United Kingdom Nigel Mansell 10
2 Italy Riccardo Patrese 6
3 Brazil Ayrton Senna 4
4 Germany Michael Schumacher 3
5 Austria Gerhard Berger 2

Constructors' Championship standings
Pos Constructor Points
1 United Kingdom Williams-Renault 16
2 United Kingdom McLaren-Honda 6
3 United Kingdom Benetton-Ford 3
4 United Kingdom Lotus-Ford 1

References

  1. "1992 South African Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 3 November 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  2. "Andrea Moda - Full Profile". Archived from the original on 13 May 2008. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
Previous race:
1991 Australian Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1992 season
Next race:
1992 Mexican Grand Prix
Previous race:
1985 South African Grand Prix
South African Grand Prix Next race:
1993 South African Grand Prix
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