The 1986 Italian Grand Prix was a

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

motor race Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

held at

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...

on 7 September 1986. It was the thirteenth race of the

1986 Formula One World Championship The 1986 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 40th season of Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1986 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1986 Formula One World Champi ...

. The 51-lap race was won by Brazilian driver

Nelson Piquet Nelson Piquet Souto Maior (, born 17 August 1952) is a Brazilian retired racing driver and businessman. Since his retirement, Piquet, a three-time World Champion, has been ranked among the greatest Formula One (F1) drivers in various motorspo ...

, driving a Williams-

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

. Piquet's British teammate and Drivers' Championship rival,

Nigel Mansell Nigel Ernest James Mansell, (; born 8 August 1953) is a British retired racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship (1992) and the CART Indy Car World Series ( 1993). Mansell was the reigning F1 champion when he moved over ...

, finished second, with Swede

Stefan Johansson Stefan Nils Edwin Johansson (born 8 September 1956) is a Swedish racing driver who drove in Formula One for both Ferrari and McLaren, among other teams. Since leaving Formula One he has won the 1997 24 Hours of Le Mans and raced in a number o ...

third in a

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...

. The other two championship challengers, Frenchman

Alain Prost Alain Marie Pascal Prost (; born 24 February 1955) is a French retired racing driver and Formula One team owner. A four-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, from 1987 until 2001 he held the record for most Grand Prix victories until Mich ...

and Brazilian

Ayrton Senna Ayrton Senna da Silva (; 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver who won the Formula One List of Formula One World Drivers' Champions, World Drivers' Championship in , , and . Senna is one of three Formula One drivers fro ...

, both failed to finish, Senna suffering a transmission failure in his

Lotus Lotus may refer to: Plants *Lotus (plant), various botanical taxa commonly known as lotus, particularly: ** ''Lotus'' (genus), a genus of terrestrial plants in the family Fabaceae **Lotus flower, a symbolically important aquatic Asian plant also ...

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...

at the very start of the race and Prost being disqualified halfway through for illegally switching to his spare

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...

- TAG after the start of the formation lap. The win moved Piquet into second place in the Drivers' Championship, five points behind Mansell and three ahead of Prost, with three races remaining.

Qualifying report

During the second qualifying session at Monza, the Benetton- BMW of

Gerhard Berger Gerhard Berger (born 27 August 1959) is an Austrian former Formula One racing driver. He competed in Formula One for 14 seasons, twice finishing 3rd overall in the championship ( and ), both times driving for Ferrari. He won ten Grands Prix, ach ...

was recorded as being the fastest car along the start-finish straight, with a top speed of . He was followed by four more BMW-powered cars: teammate

Teo Fabi Teodorico Fabi (born 9 March 1955) is an Italian former racing driver. He competed in Formula One and sports car racing, and claimed pole position in his rookie year at the 1983 Indianapolis 500. Teo is the older brother of former Formula One d ...

, the

Brabham Brabham () is the common name for Motor Racing Developments Ltd., a British racing car manufacturer and Formula One racing team. Founded in 1960 by Australian driver Jack Brabham and British-Australian designer Ron Tauranac, the team won four ...

s of

Derek Warwick Derek Stanley Arthur Warwick (born 27 August 1954) is a British former professional racing driver from England, who lives in Jersey. He raced for many years in Formula One, collecting four podiums but never winning a Grand Prix. He did, however, ...

and

Riccardo Patrese Riccardo Gabriele Patrese (born 17 April 1954) is an Italian former racing driver, who raced in Formula One from to . He became the first Formula One driver to achieve 200 Grand Prix starts when he appeared at the 1990 British Grand Prix, an ...

, and the Arrows of

Thierry Boutsen Thierry Marc Boutsen (born 13 July 1957) is a Belgian former racing driver who raced for the Arrows, Benetton, Williams, Ligier and Jordan teams in Formula One. He competed in 164 World Championship Grands Prix (163 starts), winning three rac ...

. The fastest non-BMW powered car was the Williams-

, with a top speed slower than that of Berger. Despite this, Berger could only qualify fourth, while Fabi took his second consecutive pole position.

lined up alongside Fabi on the front row, despite being nearly half a second slower in his

- TAG and recording a top speed over slower than Berger's. Drivers' Championship leader Mansell was third, ahead of Berger, while Brazilian pair

(

) and

(Williams-Honda) made up the third row. The top 10 was completed by Warwick,

Keke Rosberg Keijo Erik Rosberg (born 6 December 1948), known as "Keke" (), is a Finnish former racing driver and winner of the Formula One World Championship. He was the first Finnish driver to compete regularly in the series, as well as the first Finnish ...

in the second McLaren,

Michele Alboreto Michele Alboreto (; 23 December 1956 – 25 April 2001) was an Italian racing driver. He was runner up to Alain Prost in the 1985 Formula One World Championship, as well as winning the 1997 24 Hours of Le Mans and 2001 12 Hours of Sebring spo ...

in the

and Patrese; Alboreto's position was notable as he had missed the first day of qualifying after injuring his arm in a motorcycle crash. The race saw the debut of local driver

Alex Caffi Alessandro "Alex" Caffi (born 18 March 1964) is an Italian racing driver, former Formula One driver, and team owner. He participated in 75 Grands Prix, debuting on 7 September 1986. In 2006 he raced in the inaugural season of the Grand Prix Mast ...

, deputising for

Allen Berg Allen Bernard Berg (born August 1, 1961) is a Canadian former racing driver who raced for the Osella team in Formula One. Racing career Berg was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. He began in karting in 1978 and switched to cars when he was 20 ...

Osella Osella is an Italian racing car manufacturer and former Formula One team. They participated in 132 Grands Prix between 1980 and 1990. They achieved two points finishes and scored five championship points. Early days Named after its founder V ...

, as well as the debut of the French AGS team, whose

Motori Moderni Motori Moderni was a Formula One engine manufacturer from 1985 through 1987. It was established by the experienced Italian engine designer Carlo Chiti. Chiti, a former Alfa Romeo Formula One chief engineer, formed Motori Moderni to make turbocha ...

-powered JH21C was driven by another local driver,

Ivan Capelli Ivan Franco Capelli (born 24 May 1963) is an Italian former Formula One driver. He participated in 98 Grands Prix, debuting on 6 October 1985. He achieved three podiums, and scored a total of 31 championship points. From 1998 until 2017 he was a ...

. With the number of entries increased to 27 at both this race and the next race in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

FISA The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 ("FISA" , ) is a United States federal law that establishes procedures for the physical and electronic surveillance and the collection of "foreign intelligence information" between "foreign pow ...

decided to allow all the cars to start. Caffi was the beneficiary of this decision, starting 27th behind Capelli and Osella teammate

Piercarlo Ghinzani Piercarlo Ghinzani (born 16 January 1952) is a former racing driver from Italy. He currently manages his own racing team, Team Ghinzani, which was created in 1992 and is currently involved in several Formula Three championships. Early career Bef ...

.1986 Italian Grand Prix - Turbos and Tantrums
/ref>

Qualifying classification

Race report

Following problems at the start of the formation lap, pole position man Teo Fabi was forced to start from the back of the grid and Alain Prost, alongside him on the front row, had to start from the pit lane in the spare car. At the green light, Gerhard Berger took the lead, but on lap eight lost positions to first Mansell, Piquet, and an on-form Alboreto in the Ferrari. Ayrton Senna was out with a broken gearbox at the start. Alboreto looked to be in challenging the Williams duo for the lead having overtaken Rosberg, Arnoux and Berger before spinning at the exit of the first chicane. Like the British Grand Prix, the race became a close fight between the two Williams drivers, but this time Piquet hunted down his teammate British driver Nigel Mansell to take the victory. Piquet defeated Mansell in a straight fight, leading the Briton home by 9.828 seconds. The Brazilian managed to pass Mansell at the Curva Grande to go on and claim his fourth win of the season. Behind, Fabi and Prost had charged from the rear and by lap 12 were running 8th and 9th. Prost was disqualified for changing cars after the start of the formation lap- which was illegal, but his engine blew up a lap after he was flagged anyway. Johansson charged early in the race, passing Rosberg and Arnoux on lap five to go on to finish third.

Race classification

Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings ;Constructors' Championship standings *

References

{{F1GP 80-89

Italian Grand Prix The Italian Grand Prix ( it, Gran Premio d'Italia) is the fifth oldest national Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix (after the French Grand Prix, the United States Grand Prix, the Spanish Grand Prix and the Russian Grand Prix), having been he ...

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

Italian Grand Prix September 1986 sports events in Europe