The 1991 Hungarian 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 held at

Hungaroring The Hungaroring is a motorsport racetrack in Mogyoród, Pest County, Hungary where the Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix is held. In 1986, it became the location of the first Formula One Grand Prix behind the Iron Curtain. Bernie Ecclestone w ...

on 11 August 1991. It was the tenth race of the

1991 Formula One World Championship The 1991 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 45th season of FIA Formula One motor racing and the 42nd season of the Formula One World Championship. It featured the 1991 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1991 Formula One ...

. The 77-lap race was won from pole position by

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

, driving a McLaren-

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 producti ...

, with the Williams-

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 manufacture ...

s of Nigel Mansell 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, and ...

second and third respectively.

Qualifying

Pre-qualifying report

In the Friday morning pre-qualifying session, a Brabham topped the time sheets for the second Grand Prix in succession. However, this time it was

Mark Blundell Mark Blundell (born 8 April 1966) is a British racing driver who competed in Formula One for four seasons, sports cars, and CART. He won the 1992 24 Hours of Le Mans. He was a Formula One presenter for the British broadcaster ITV until the en ...

who was fastest, over 1.4 seconds faster than his team-mate

Martin Brundle Martin John Brundle (born 1 June 1959) is a British former racing driver, best known as a Formula One driver and as a commentator for ITV Sport from 1997 to 2008, the BBC from 2009 to 2011, and Sky Sports since 2012. Brundle contested the 1 ...

in second. Third was

Olivier Grouillard Olivier Grouillard (born 2 September 1958) is a racing driver from France. He started racing go-karts from the age of fourteen competing in events such as the Volant Elf. He progressed to Formula Renault winning the title before Grouillard compet ...

for

Fondmetal Fondmetal S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of alloy wheels, founded in 1972 by Gabriele Rumi. A Formula One constructor of the same name, also owned by Rumi, competed in the and seasons, scoring no championship points. The company also spon ...

, the third time the Frenchman had pre-qualified this season. The fourth pre-qualifier was

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 Footwork. The four entrants who failed to pre-qualify were, unusually, within two seconds of the slowest pre-qualifier. Fifth was

Gabriele Tarquini Gabriele Tarquini (born 2 March 1962) is an Italian racing driver. He participated in 78 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on May 3, 1987. He scored a single championship point, and holds the record for the most failed attempts to qualify. He h ...

in the AGS, less than two tenths of a second slower than Alboreto.

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 Mas ...

was sixth in the other Footwork, 1.4 seconds behind Tarquini. Just a tenth further back was the other AGS of Fabrizio Barbazza, who was only two tenths faster than the Coloni of

Pedro Chaves Pedro António Matos Chaves (; born 27 February 1965) is a Portuguese racing driver. Chaves was the second Portuguese Formula Ford Champion, in 1986, starting an international career in 1987 in the British Formula Ford Championship. In 1990 ...

. It was the Portuguese driver's tenth failure to pre-qualify from ten attempts this season.

Pre-qualifying classification

Qualifying report

Nigel Mansell and Williams were on a roll as Formula One arrived in Hungary, while

and

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 Micha ...

were ordered by FISA to work out their differences following their confrontation in the German Grand Prix. Senna was also angry with his McLaren team after he had run out of fuel in the two previous races, losing valuable points to Mansell. During the practice session, McLaren made the first test for the semi-automatic gearbox on their car. Senna proceeded to dominate qualifying, taking pole by over a second from

, Mansell, Prost,

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 ...

Jean Alesi Jean Alesi (born Giovanni Alesi, 11 June 1964) is a French professional racing driver of Italian origin. After successes in minor categories, notably winning the 1989 Formula 3000 Championship, his Formula One career included spells at Tyrrell ...

Emanuele Pirro Emanuele Pirro (born 12 January 1962) is an Italian racing driver who has raced in Formula One, touring cars and in endurance races such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans which he has won a total of five times. Two times Italian Karting Champion (19 ...

Stefano Modena Stefano Modena (born 12 May 1963) is a former racing driver from Italy. He participated in 81 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on November 15, 1987. He achieved 2 podiums, and scored a total of 17 championship points. Career Modena was born in ...

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 ...

, and

Qualifying classification

Race

Race report

At the start, Senna and Patrese both got away well, but Senna managed to keep the lead, with Mansell, Prost, Berger, and Alesi rounding out the top six. Mansell followed and hounded his teammate, but Senna was unable to pull out a significant gap. Meanwhile, Prost's day ended early with an engine failure, just adding to the misery that was the 1991 season for the three-time champion. Mansell eventually got past Patrese and set off after Senna, but on a track that is not conducive to passing, he had to settle for second. Senna duly won from Mansell, Patrese, Berger, Alesi, and Capelli. Senna now led the world championship by 12 points as the teams packed up and headed to Belgium. Senna dedicated this victory to the late

Soichiro Honda was a Japanese engineer and industrialist. In 1948, he established Honda Motor Co., Ltd. and oversaw its expansion from a wooden shack manufacturing bicycle motors to a multinational automobile and motorcycle manufacturer. Early years Honda ...

, founder of Honda, who died days before the Grand Prix weekend.

Race classification

Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings ;Constructors' Championship standings *

References

* {{F1GP 90-99 Hungarian Grand Prix Hungarian Grand Prix Grand Prix Hungarian Grand Prix