1992 Spanish Grand Prix

The 1992 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 3 May 1992 at the Circuit de Catalunya, Montmeló. The 65-lap race was the fourth round of the 1992 Formula One World Championship and was won by Nigel Mansell driving a Williams-Renault and scoring the third grand chelem of his career.

1992 Spanish Grand Prix
Race 4 of 16 in the 1992 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date 3 May 1992
Official name Gran Premio Tío Pepe de España
Location Circuit de Catalunya, Montmeló, Catalonia, Spain[1]
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.747 km (2.950 miles)
Distance 65 laps, 308.555 km (191.727 miles)
Weather Dry at start, wet later
Attendance 28,000
Pole position
Driver Williams-Renault
Time 1:20.190
Fastest lap
Driver United Kingdom Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault
Time 1:42.503 on lap 10
Podium
First Williams-Renault
Second Benetton-Ford
Third Ferrari
Lap leaders

The race was also advertised as the Grand Prix of the Olympic Games. The race was moved up from its former September date, and held just months before the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.

Qualifying

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Pre-qualifying report

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The Friday morning pre-qualifying session was a similar story to the previous session in Brazil. The Andrea Moda cars were well behind the performance of the other entrants in the session, who all pre-qualified easily. Perry McCarthy had regained his Super Licence so was able to compete for the team alongside Roberto Moreno. Team boss Andrea Sassetti had been approached by Enrico Bertaggia, whom Sassetti had sacked after the Mexican Grand Prix, but who now wanted to return to the team with $1 million in sponsorship. Sassetti wanted to fire McCarthy and rehire Bertaggia, but was told that the team had already reached its maximum number of driver changes for the season, so was forced to retain McCarthy.[2][3]

In the session itself, Bertrand Gachot was again fastest for Larrousse, less than a tenth of a second faster than Michele Alboreto in the Footwork. Third was Gachot's team-mate Ukyo Katayama, 1.4 seconds ahead of the last pre-qualifier, Andrea Chiesa in the Fondmetal.

McCarthy took to the track for Andrea Moda, but his engine cut out just four metres after the pitlane exit line.[2][4] Moreno managed three laps in his car before it also suffered an engine failure. McCarthy's car was brought back for Moreno to use, but the Brazilian was still unable to pre-qualify.[4]

Pre-qualifying classification

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Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap
1 29   Bertrand Gachot Venturi-Lamborghini 1:26.032
2 9   Michele Alboreto Footwork-Mugen-Honda 1:26.120 +0.088
3 30   Ukyo Katayama Venturi-Lamborghini 1:26.484 +0.452
4 14   Andrea Chiesa Fondmetal-Ford 1:27.902 +1.870
5 34   Roberto Moreno Andrea Moda-Judd 1:37.155 +11.123
6 35   Perry McCarthy Andrea Moda-Judd no time

Qualifying report

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Damon Hill, son of former world champion Graham Hill, made his debut with Brabham, replacing Giovanna Amati who was dismissed from the team, but did not qualify for the race. As in the three previous races, Mansell qualified in pole position, ahead of Michael Schumacher, Ayrton Senna, Riccardo Patrese, Ivan Capelli and Martin Brundle.

Qualifying classification

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Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap
1 5   Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault 1:20.190 1:46.737
2 19   Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 1:21.195 No time +1.005
3 1   Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 1:21.209 1:46.581 +1.019
4 6   Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault 1:21.534 No time +1.344
5 28   Ivan Capelli Ferrari 1:22.413 1:52.319 +2.223
6 20   Martin Brundle Benetton-Ford 1:22.529 No time +2.339
7 2   Gerhard Berger McLaren-Honda 1:22.711 1:46.062 +2.521
8 27   Jean Alesi Ferrari 1:22.746 1:45.903 +2.556
9 16   Karl Wendlinger March-Ilmor 1:23.121 No time +2.931
10 26   Érik Comas Ligier-Renault 1:23.593 1:50.914 +3.403
11 4   Andrea de Cesaris Tyrrell-Ilmor 1:23.723 1:49.847 +3.533
12 21   JJ Lehto Dallara-Ferrari 1:24.054 1:54.117 +3.864
13 22   Pierluigi Martini Dallara-Ferrari 1:24.236 1:54.590 +4.046
14 25   Thierry Boutsen Ligier-Renault 1:24.583 1:56.313 +4.393
15 3   Olivier Grouillard Tyrrell-Ilmor 1:24.608 1:51.606 +4.418
16 9   Michele Alboreto Footwork-Mugen-Honda 1:24.634 1:48.366 +4.444
17 33   Maurício Gugelmin Jordan-Yamaha 1:24.671 1:50.598 +4.481
18 15   Gabriele Tarquini Fondmetal-Ford 1:24.800 1:57.115 +4.610
19 10   Aguri Suzuki Footwork-Mugen-Honda 1:24.940 No time +4.750
20 14   Andrea Chiesa Fondmetal-Ford 1:24.963 No time +4.773
21 11   Mika Häkkinen Lotus-Ford 1:25.202 No time +5.012
22 23   Christian Fittipaldi Minardi-Lamborghini 1:25.315 1:54.122 +5.125
23 17   Paul Belmondo March-Ilmor 1:25.467 No time +5.277
24 29   Bertrand Gachot Venturi-Lamborghini 1:25.700 1:54.108 +5.510
25 24   Gianni Morbidelli Minardi-Lamborghini 1:25.786 1:58.389 +5.596
26 12   Johnny Herbert Lotus-Ford 1:25.786 No time +5.596
27 30   Ukyo Katayama Venturi-Lamborghini 1:25.932 No time +5.742
28 7   Eric van de Poele Brabham-Judd 1:26.880 3:23.215 +6.690
29 32   Stefano Modena Jordan-Yamaha 1:27.480 1:54.443 +7.290
30 8   Damon Hill Brabham-Judd 1:27.763 No time +7.573
Sources:[5][6][7]

Race

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Race report

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At the start of the race, in damp conditions, Patrese got by Schumacher and Senna. Ferrari driver Jean Alesi made a good start from 8th on the grid to third into the first corner on the first lap, forcing other drivers to take defensive actions and drop back. Senna dropped from third all the way to seventh. But, he recovered two positions to fifth during the first lap. The order was: Mansell, Patrese, Alesi, Schumacher, Senna and Capelli.

Andrea de Cesaris became the first retirement in the Tyrrell with an engine problem on lap 3 where he retired in the pits. Brundle meanwhile had spun off on the main straight into retirement with a clutch problem by lap 5. Schumacher attacked and passed Alesi on lap 7. Berger tried to do the same but tipped Alesi into a spin, putting the Frenchman behind Senna and Capelli as well. By, now the rain intensified, and Patrese spun off on lap 20 while trying to lap a backmarker. This put Mansell ahead of Schumacher, Senna, Berger, Capelli and Alesi. Maurício Gugelmin had spun into the pit wall on lap 25 meaning more disaster for the Jordan team, as he was the only one to qualify for the race.

Alesi pitted for fresh tyres halfway through the race, and soon began to charge up through the field as the rain intensified despite making contact with both Gerhard Berger in the McLaren and Mika Häkkinen in the Lotus forcing the Finn to spin off the track whilst trying to lap him, who eventually retired after 56 laps from spinning off. He cruised past Berger for fourth and began to close in quickly on Senna and Schumacher. With two laps to go Senna spun off and into the wall trying to lap Martini, although he was still classified 9th; he had already spun and recovered a few laps earlier. At the same time, Capelli spun off as well (The Italian was classified 10th).

Mansell continued his perfect record in 1992 with his fourth win of the season from Schumacher, Alesi, Berger, Alboreto and Pierluigi Martini, but for the first time in the season his Williams team did not score a 1-2 finish. Martin Brundle scored his fourth consecutive retirement of the season in his Benetton, it was proven to be a clutch failure by lap 2 causing the Benetton to eventually spin into retirement on lap 5.

Race classification

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Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 5   Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault 65 1:56:10.674 1 10
2 19   Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 65 + 23.914 2 6
3 27   Jean Alesi Ferrari 65 + 26.462 8 4
4 2   Gerhard Berger McLaren-Honda 65 + 1:20.647 7 3
5 9   Michele Alboreto Footwork-Mugen-Honda 64 + 1 lap 16 2
6 22   Pierluigi Martini Dallara-Ferrari 63 + 2 laps 13 1
7 10   Aguri Suzuki Footwork-Mugen-Honda 63 + 2 laps 19
8 16   Karl Wendlinger March-Ilmor 63 + 2 laps 9
9 1   Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 62 Spun off 3
10 28   Ivan Capelli Ferrari 62 Spun off 5
11 23   Christian Fittipaldi Minardi-Lamborghini 61 + 4 laps 22
12 17   Paul Belmondo March-Ilmor 61 + 4 laps 23
Ret 21   JJ Lehto Dallara-Ferrari 56 Spun off 12
Ret 15   Gabriele Tarquini Fondmetal-Ford 56 Spun off 18
Ret 11   Mika Häkkinen Lotus-Ford 56 Spun off 21
Ret 26   Érik Comas Ligier-Renault 55 Spun off 10
Ret 29   Bertrand Gachot Venturi-Lamborghini 35 Engine 24
Ret 3   Olivier Grouillard Tyrrell-Ilmor 30 Spun off 15
Ret 24   Gianni Morbidelli Minardi-Lamborghini 26 Handling 25
Ret 33   Maurício Gugelmin Jordan-Yamaha 24 Spun off 17
Ret 14   Andrea Chiesa Fondmetal-Ford 22 Spun off 20
Ret 6   Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault 19 Spun off 4
Ret 12   Johnny Herbert Lotus-Ford 13 Spun off 26
Ret 25   Thierry Boutsen Ligier-Renault 11 Engine 14
Ret 20   Martin Brundle Benetton-Ford 4 Spun off/Clutch 6
Ret 4   Andrea de Cesaris Tyrrell-Ilmor 2 Engine 11
DNQ 30   Ukyo Katayama Venturi-Lamborghini
DNQ 7   Eric van de Poele Brabham-Judd
DNQ 32   Stefano Modena Jordan-Yamaha
DNQ 8   Damon Hill Brabham-Judd
DNPQ 34   Roberto Moreno Andrea Moda-Judd
DNPQ 35   Perry McCarthy Andrea Moda-Judd
Source:[8]

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. ^ "1992 Spanish Grand Prix". Motor Sport. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  2. ^ a b "The worst car I ever drove". MotorSport magazine. January 1998. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  3. ^ McCarthy, Perry (2003). Flat Out, Flat Broke. Haynes. pp. 176–177. ISBN 1-84425-018-0.
  4. ^ a b Walker, Murray (1992). Murray Walker's 1992 Grand Prix Year. Hazleton Publishing. pp. 37–44. ISBN 0-905138-99-6.
  5. ^ "Tio Pepe Spanish Grand Prix – Qualifying 1". Formula1.com. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  6. ^ "Tio Pepe Spanish Grand Prix – Qualifying 2". Formula1.com. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  7. ^ "1992 Spanish Grand Prix Classification Qualifying". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  8. ^ "1992 Spanish Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 3 November 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  9. ^ a b "Spain 1992 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.


Previous race:
1992 Brazilian Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1992 season
Next race:
1992 San Marino Grand Prix
Previous race:
1991 Spanish Grand Prix
Spanish Grand Prix Next race:
1993 Spanish Grand Prix