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 World Championship for Constructors, which were contested concurrently over a sixteen-race series that commenced on 10 March and ended on 3 November.
This was the first Formula One season in which every result counted towards a driver's championship standing.
Ayrton Senna won his third and last Drivers' Championship, and McLaren-Honda won their fourth consecutive Constructors' Championship. Senna won seven of the sixteen races; his main challenger for the title was Nigel Mansell, who won five races in his first season back at Williams. Alain Prost failed to win a race with Ferrari and was fired before the end of the season due to a dispute with the team. 1991 also saw the debuts of future world champions Michael Schumacher and Mika Häkkinen, as well as the retirement of three-time champion Nelson Piquet.
, this is the last World Championship season to be won by a Brazilian racing driver. It was the last drivers' title won using a Honda-powered car until Max Verstappen in 2021 and the last constructors' title won by a Honda-powered car until the Red Bull Racing RB19 in 2023.
This season was the last time an F1 car with a manual gearbox won the championship, and the last V12-powered car to do so. It was also Pirelli's last season as Formula One's tyre supplier until .
Drivers and constructors The following teams and drivers competed in the 1991 FIA Formula One World Championship.
Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine Tyre No Driver Rounds Honda Marlboro McLaren McLaren-Honda MP4/6 Honda RA121E 3.5 V12 1 Ayrton Senna All 2 Gerhard Berger All Braun Tyrrell Honda Tyrrell-Honda 020 Honda RA101E 3.5 V10 3 Satoru Nakajima All 4 Stefano Modena All Canon Williams Renault Williams-Renault FW14 Renault RS3 3.5 V10 5 Nigel Mansell All 6 Riccardo Patrese All Brabham Yamaha F1 Team Brabham-Yamaha BT59YBT60Y Yamaha OX99 3.5 V12 7 Martin Brundle All 8 Mark Blundell All Footwork Porsche Footwork Ford Footwork-Porsche A11CFA12 Porsche 3512 3.5 V12 9 Michele Alboreto 1–6 10 Alex Caffi 1–4 Stefan Johansson 5–6 Footwork-Ford FA12C 9 Michele Alboreto 7–16 10 Stefan Johansson 7–8 Alex Caffi 9–16 Team Lotus Lotus-Judd 102B Judd EV 3.5 V8 11 Mika Häkkinen All 12 Julian Bailey 1–4 Johnny Herbert 5–8, 11, 13, 15–16 Michael Bartels 9–10, 12, 14 Fondmetal Fondmetal-Ford FA1M-EFomet-1 Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8 14 Olivier Grouillard 1–13 Gabriele Tarquini 14–16 Leyton House Racing Leyton House-Ilmor CG911 Ilmor 2175A 3.5 V10 15 Maurício Gugelmin All 16 Ivan Capelli 1–14 Karl Wendlinger 15–16 AGS AGS-Ford JH25BJH27 Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8 17 Gabriele Tarquini 1–13 Olivier Grouillard 14 18 Stefan Johansson 1–2 Fabrizio Barbazza 3–14 Camel Benetton Ford Benetton-Ford B190BB191 Ford HBA4 3.5 V8Ford HBA5 3.5 V8 19 Roberto Moreno 1–11 12–16 20 Nelson Piquet All BMS Scuderia Italia BMS Dallara-Judd F191 Judd GV 3.5 V10 21 Emanuele Pirro All 22 JJ Lehto All Minardi Team Minardi-Ferrari M191 Ferrari Tipo 037 3.5 V12 23 Pierluigi Martini All 24 Gianni Morbidelli 1–15 Roberto Moreno 16 Équipe Ligier Gitanes Ligier-Lamborghini JS35JS35B Lamborghini LE3512 3.5 V12 25 Thierry Boutsen All 26 Érik Comas All Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 642642/2643 Ferrari Tipo 037 3.5 V12 27 Alain Prost 1–15 Gianni Morbidelli 16 28 Jean Alesi All Larrousse F1 Lola-Ford LC91 Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8 29 Éric Bernard 1–15 Bertrand Gachot 16 30 Aguri Suzuki All Coloni Coloni-Ford C4 Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8 31 Pedro Chaves 1–13 Naoki Hattori 15–16 Team 7Up Jordan Jordan-Ford 191 Ford HBA4 3.5 V8 32 Bertrand Gachot 1–10 Michael Schumacher 11 Roberto Moreno 12–13 Alessandro Zanardi 14–16 33 Andrea de Cesaris All Central Park Modena Team Lambo-Lamborghini 291 Lamborghini LE3512 3.5 V12 34 Nicola Larini All 35 Eric van de Poele AllSources:
Team changes
Jordan Grand Prix debuted in F1 after a successful Formula 3000 campaign. Lotus went back to using Judd V8 power in 1991, after a dismal using the fast but fragile Lamborghini V12 engine Lamborghini took it upon themselves to build a chassis for the 1991 season. When the operations relocated to Modena, Italy, they changed the team's name to Modena. Osella's owner sold his majority shares to the Fondmetal company and the Osella name disappeared from F1. Arrows received an investment from Footwork in 1990 and, for this year, the team was renamed Footwork. The Arrows name returned after a buy-out in . Teams EuroBrun, Onyx and Life withdrew before the 1991 season.
Mid-season changes Footwork moved engine suppliers after six races, going from Porsche to Hart-prepared Cosworth engines. AGS ran out of money and closed its doors two races before the end of the season.
Driver changes
Nigel Mansell moved from Ferrari to Williams, replacing Thierry Boutsen, who went to Ligier. Next to Boutsen was F3000 driver Érik Comas making his Formula 1 debut. Ferrari replaced Mansell with Jean Alesi, after impressing the Italian squad when driving for Tyrrell in . His seat at Tyrrell was filled by Stefano Modena, whose place at Brabham was taken up by sports car driver Mark Blundell. Jordan hired Bertrand Gachot and Andrea de Cesaris as their first pair of drivers. Gachot promoted from Coloni, de Cesaris from Scuderia Italia. Coloni hired British Formula 3000 champion Pedro Chaves, while Scuderia Italia hired JJ Lehto. Lotus hired British Formula 3 champion Mika Häkkinen. Beside him, Julian Bailey returned to F1 after three years. Lamborghini entered Formula 1 with a self-designed chassis, after spending two years as an engine supplier. They hired Eric van de Poele, runner-up in the 1990 International Formula 3000 Championship, and ex-Ligier driver Nicola Larini. AGS replaced Yannick Dalmas with experienced driver Stefan Johansson.
Mid-season changes Future champion Michael Schumacher made his debut with Jordan in the Belgian Grand Prix, replacing Bertrand Gachot when he was given an 18-month prison sentence for assault which he appealed and was released two months later. Eddie Jordan paid $150,000 to Mercedes-Benz, since the German was under contract with their sports cars team. He outqualified veteran Andrea de Cesaris and moved up to the Benetton team just one race later. Benetton's driver Roberto Moreno was paid off to make room, but was offered Schumacher's seat at Jordan. However, he was replaced after two races by rising F3000 star Alessandro Zanardi. He ended the season at Minardi, to fill in for Gianni Morbidelli. Morbidelli's services were required by Ferrari at the Australian Grand Prix after they fired Alain Prost. Before the Canadian Grand Prix, Julian Bailey was replaced at Lotus with Johnny Herbert. On the weekends that Herbert was engaged in the Japanese F3000 series, Michael Bartels filled the seat. Bertrand Gachot returned to F1 for the last race of the season, replacing Éric Bernard at Larrousse. At the struggling Leyton House Racing team, Karl Wendlinger made his debut, bringing a sum of money with him, during the Japanese Grand Prix in place of long-serving Ivan Capelli. Three races from the end of the season, Olivier Grouillard at Fondmetal switched seats with Gabriele Tarquini at AGS. Unfortunately, AGS closed operations just one race later. Stefan Johansson drove just two races for AGS before being replaced with Fabrizio Barbazza. Later in the season, Johansson drove four races for Footwork, as a temporary replacement for Alex Caffi, who was injured in a road accident. Coloni driver Pedro Chaves left the team failing to pre-qualify for 13 Grands Prix. He was replaced by 1990 Japanese Formula 3 champion Naoki Hattori.
Calendar Round Grand Prix Circuit Date 1 United States Grand Prix Phoenix Street Circuit, Phoenix, Arizona 10 March 2 Brazilian Grand Prix Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo 24 March 3 San Marino Grand Prix Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola 28 April 4 Monaco Grand Prix Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo 12 May 5 Canadian Grand Prix Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montréal 2 June 6 Mexican Grand Prix Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City 16 June 7 French Grand Prix Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, Magny-Cours 7 July 8 British Grand Prix Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone 14 July 9 German Grand Prix Hockenheimring, Hockenheim 28 July 10 Hungarian Grand Prix Hungaroring, Mogyoród 11 August 11 Belgian Grand Prix Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot 25 August 12 Italian Grand Prix Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza 8 September 13 Portuguese Grand Prix Autódromo do Estoril, Estoril 22 September 14 Spanish Grand Prix Circuit de Catalunya, Montmeló 29 September 15 Japanese Grand Prix Suzuka International Racing Course, Suzuka 20 October 16 Australian Grand Prix Adelaide Street Circuit, Adelaide 3 NovemberSources:
Calendar changes The French Grand Prix was moved from Circuit Paul Ricard to Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours. The Spanish Grand Prix was moved from Circuito de Jerez to Circuit de Catalunya.
Regulation changes
Technical regulations Four regulation changes were made to reduce aerodynamic efficiency and overall grip:Tanaka, Hiromasa. Transition of Regulation and Technology in Formula One. Honda R&D Technical Review 2009 - F1 Special (The Third Era Activities), 2009, p. 8. The front wing was narrowed from to . The front overhang was reduced from to . The rear overhang was reduced from to . The rubbing strips on the front wing had to be raised so that, from the front of the car to the front axle centrline, no part was closer than to the ground.
On the topic of safety, the FIA would perform more stringent testing of the survival cell, including seat belts, fuel tanks and rollbar.
The minimum weight (without driver) was raised from to .
Sporting regulations The winning driver was now awarded 10 points instead of 9 as previously. More significantly, points from all races would now count towards the drivers' championship, instead of only each driver's best eleven results as previously.
Race-by-race
Race 1: USA
The season started off at the Phoenix street circuit that had a modified layout to make it more of a challenge to drivers. Senna took pole ahead of Prost, Patrese, Mansell, Piquet and Alesi. At the start, Senna and Prost maintained their places while Mansell sliced ahead of Patrese and Piquet lost out to Alesi and Berger. The order at the end of lap 1 was: Senna, Prost, Mansell, Patrese, Alesi and Berger.
Early on, as Senna was pulling away from Prost, Alesi got past Patrese for fourth. However, Patrese repassed him on lap 16 and closed up on Mansell. He attacked on lap 22 but shot into an escape road and rejoined behind Alesi and Berger. He quickly closed up on them with Berger attacking Alesi but unable to pass. Patrese passed Berger on lap 34. On the next lap, Mansell's gearbox failed and soon afterward, on lap 36, Berger had fuel pump trouble, which forced him to retire. Patrese then passed Alesi who pitted on lap 43. He closed in on Prost and the Ferrari pitted on lap 46, with right rear troubles putting him down to seventh.