The 1992 German Grand Prix was a

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

motor race held at the

Hockenheimring The Hockenheimring, officially Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg () is a motor racing circuit situated in the Rhine valley near the town of Hockenheim in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located on the Bertha Benz Memorial Route. Amongst other mot ...

Hockenheim Hockenheim () is a town in northwest Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about 20 km south of Mannheim and 10 km west of Walldorf. It is located in the Upper Rhine Plain, Upper Rhine valley on the tourist theme routes "Baden Asparagus Route" ( ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

on 26 July 1992. It was the tenth race of the

1992 Formula One World Championship The 1992 Formula One World Championship was the 46th season of Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1992 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1992 Formula One World Champions ...

. The 45-lap race was won from

pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the ra ...

by Briton

Nigel Mansell Nigel Ernest James Mansell (; born 8 August 1953) is a British former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Mansell won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with Williams, and won 31 Grands Prix across 15 seasons ...

, driving a Williams-

Renault Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English), is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company curr ...

, with Brazilian

Ayrton Senna Ayrton Senna da Silva (; 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Senna won three Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles with McLaren, and—at the time of his death—held ...

second in a

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited ( ) is a British auto racing, motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. The team is a subsidiary of the McLaren Group, which owns a majority of the team. McLaren is best known a ...

Honda commonly known as just Honda, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate automotive manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in October 1946 by Soichiro Honda, Honda has bee ...

and local driver

Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher (; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to and from to . Schumacher won a record-setting seven Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, tied by Lewis Hamilton in ...

third in a Benetton- Ford.

Pre-race

The Ostkurve chicane was modified for this race from a quick left-right gap into a turning sequence, after there were safety concerns with the chicane the previous year, when Érik Comas had a major accident there in his Ligier.

Qualifying

Pre-qualifying report

The Friday morning pre-qualifying session again followed the familiar pattern, with the Andrea Moda cars failing to pre-qualify. Gabriele Tarquini was fastest in the session for Fondmetal, just ahead of Larrousse driver Bertrand Gachot. Just over eight tenths of a second slower was Gachot's team-mate

Ukyo Katayama is a Japanese former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Katayama participated in 97 Grands Prix, debuting at the 1992 South African Grand Prix, making him the sport's most experienced Japanese driv ...

, with Fondmetal's

Andrea Chiesa Andrea Chiesa (born 6 May 1964) is a former Formula One driver from Switzerland. He participated in 10 Grands Prix, debuting on 1 March 1992. Career Chiesa began racing in 1980 with karts, and continued to cars in 1985, competing in Italian For ...

, back in the newer GR02, the fourth and final pre-qualifier. Andrea Moda's Roberto Moreno was fifth fastest as usual, although on this occasion he was much closer to Chiesa, just 0.376 of a second slower despite an engine failure.

Perry McCarthy Perry Edward McCarthy (born 3 March 1961) is a British racing driver, who drove for the Andrea Moda Formula, Andrea Moda team in Formula One in , though never making it into a race, before moving into Sportscar racing, sportscars, including dri ...

had managed one lap and was slowest, but his time was deleted after he missed a weightcheck and was excluded.

Pre-qualifying classification

Qualifying report

qualified on pole position, ahead of Riccardo Patrese and

. Stefano Modena, Eric van de Poele,

and Damon Hill were the four drivers who did not qualify for the race. For Chiesa, it proved to be the last time he took part in a Grand Prix event, as he was replaced for the next race at the Fondmetal team by van de Poele.

Qualifying classification

Race

Race report

At the start, Mansell took an early lead from teammate Patrese, with Senna in third. Mansell made a scheduled pitstop and quickly caught Senna, who chose to run the race without a pitstop. Aguri Suzuki spun off at the Sachs Kurve on lap 2. Ukyo Katayama also retired after spinning off only seven laps later, and Gerhard Berger retired in the pits with electrical problems on lap 17 as he had a long stop for tyres. On lap 19, Mansell cut the corner at the OstKurve chicane, exited faster, and passed Senna on the following straight. Mansell was not penalised. Meanwhile further back, Ivan Capelli retired with engine trouble on lap 22, as did both the Lotus cars of Mika Häkkinen and

Johnny Herbert John Paul Herbert (born 25 June 1964) is a British former racing driver and broadcaster. He competed in Formula One from to , winning three Formula One Grands Prix over a 12-season career. In endurance racing, Herbert won the 24 Hours of Le ...

, retiring with the same problems by lap 24. On the last lap, Riccardo Patrese spun off whilst trying to pass Ayrton Senna for second position. He was ultimately classified in eighth position. Mansell held on for the race victory, ahead of Senna in second, whose McLaren car ran out of fuel shortly after crossing the finish line and Michael Schumacher in third. Mansell tied the record from Ayrton Senna in 1988 for most wins in a season with eight, accomplished in only ten races.

dropped out of title contention at this race, although it seemed inevitable that only Mansell would be Driver's Champion anyway – he clinched the title at the next race in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

Race classification

Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings ;Constructors' Championship standings *

References

* {{F1GP 90-99

German Grand Prix The German Grand Prix () was a motor race that took place most years since 1926, with 75 races having been held. The race has been held at only three venues throughout its history: the Nürburgring in Rhineland-Palatinate, Hockenheimring in B ...

German Grand Prix Grand Prix