The 1990 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 44th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1990 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1990 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were contested concurrently over a sixteen-race series that commenced on 11 March and ended on 4 November. Ayrton Senna won the Drivers' Championship for the second time, and McLaren-Honda won their third consecutive Constructors' Championship.
The championship featured a dramatic battle between Senna and former teammate Alain Prost, who had made the switch to Ferrari. Prost mounted Ferrari's first title challenge for several years, and led the championship after three consecutive mid-season wins. Senna fought back strongly and went into the penultimate round at the Suzuka circuit in Japan with a nine-point lead over Prost. There, Senna took pole position only for Prost to beat him off the line; the Brazilian driver then drove into the Frenchman at the first corner, putting both out and thus settling the championship in Senna's favour. This was the second year in succession that the two drivers had collided at Suzuka. Senna admitted the following year that the collision was deliberate, as he was furious that Prost had been able to start on the clean side of the grid and had decided that he was not going to allow the Frenchman to 'make the corner' should he lose the start. Significantly, 1990 would be the last season in which drivers would be able drop their worst scores from their official championship points score as from the following season all of a driver's results across the championship season would count towards the official classification in the drivers' championship.https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/how-a-1960s-points-rule-could-reshape-the-2025-title-battle/10755879/
Drivers and constructors The following teams and drivers competed in the 1990 FIA Formula One World Championship.
Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine Tyre No Driver Rounds Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 641 Ferrari Tipo 036 3.5 V12Ferrari Tipo 037 3.5 V12 1 Alain Prost All 2 Nigel Mansell All Tyrrell Racing Organisation Tyrrell-Ford 018019 Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8 3 Satoru Nakajima All 4 Jean Alesi All Canon Williams Williams-Renault FW13B Renault RS2 3.5 V10 5 Thierry Boutsen All 6 Riccardo Patrese All Motor Racing Developments Brabham-Judd BT58BT59 Judd EV 3.5 V8 7 Gregor Foitek 1–2 David Brabham 3–16 8 Stefano Modena All Footwork Arrows Ford Arrows-Ford A11A11B Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8 9 Michele Alboreto All 10 Bernd Schneider 1, 14 Alex Caffi2–13, 15–16 Camel Team Lotus Lotus-Lamborghini 102 Lamborghini LE3512 3.5 V12 11 Derek Warwick All 12 Martin Donnelly 1–14 Johnny Herbert 15–16 Fondmetal Osella Osella-Ford FA1MFA1ME Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8 14 Olivier Grouillard All Leyton House Racing Leyton House-Judd CG901 Judd EV 3.5 V8 15 Maurício Gugelmin All 16 Ivan Capelli All AGS AGS-Ford JH24JH25 Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8 17 Gabriele Tarquini All 18 Yannick Dalmas All Benetton Formula Benetton-Ford B189BB190 Ford HBA4 3.5 V8 19 Alessandro Nannini 1–14 Roberto Moreno 15–16 20 Nelson Piquet All BMS Scuderia Italia Dallara-Ford F190 Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8 21 Gianni Morbidelli 1–2 Emanuele Pirro 3–16 22 Andrea de Cesaris All SCM Minardi Team Minardi-Ford M189M190 Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8 23 Pierluigi Martini All 24 Paolo Barilla 1–14 Gianni Morbidelli 15–16 Équipe Ligier Gitanes Ligier-Ford JS33B Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8 25 Nicola Larini All 26 Philippe Alliot All Honda Marlboro McLaren McLaren-Honda MP4/5B Honda RA100E 3.5 V10 27 Ayrton Senna All 28 Gerhard Berger All ESPO Larrousse F1 Lola-Lamborghini LC89BLC90 Lamborghini LE3512 3.5 V12 29 Éric Bernard All 30 Aguri Suzuki All Subaru Coloni Racing Coloni Racing Subaru Coloni C3B Subaru 1235 3.5 F12 31 Bertrand Gachot 1–8 Coloni-Ford C3C Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8 9–16 EuroBrun Racing EuroBrun-Judd ER189B Judd CV 3.5 V8 33 Roberto Moreno 1–14 34 Claudio Langes 1–14 Onyx Grand Prix Monteverdi Formula One Onyx-Ford ORE-1ORE-1B Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8 35 Stefan Johansson 1–2 Gregor Foitek 3–10 36 JJ Lehto 1–10 Life Racing Engines Life L190 Life F35 3.5 W12 39 Gary Brabham 1–2 Bruno Giacomelli 3–12 Life-Judd Judd CV 3.5 V8 13–14Sources:
Team changes The teams Rial and Zakspeed left Formula One after the season. March's main sponsor Leyton House completed their takeover of the team and officially registered as a new constructor. Life entered the sport, trying to market their unconventional W12 engine. Lotus took on Lamborghini as their engine supplier. Coloni struck a deal with Subaru and sold 51% of its shares to the Japanese car manufacturer.
Mid-season changes Faced with disappointing results in the first six races of the year, highly regarded designer Adrian Newey was fired from the Leyton House team. The Subaru flat-12 engine supplied to Coloni was not producing more than and the chassis was overweight by some . Good results stayed away and Subaru withdrew their ownership. By the German Grand Prix, Coloni had arranged a supply of Ford-Cosworth engines. The Life W12 engine was equally unsuccessful and the team switched to a Judd V8 engine before the Portuguese Grand Prix. Onyx folded after ten races, and EuroBrun and Life after fourteen of the sixteen races.
Driver changes Nine drivers had left the grid, compared to the last race of the season, amongst them were Eddie Cheever, embarking on a successful career in IndyCar racing, and René Arnoux, who retired. Alain Prost moved to Ferrari as a result of his stressful rivalry with his teammate Ayrton Senna and an overall unhappy year at McLaren, despite winning the 1989 championship. Gerhard Berger moved to McLaren to complete the switch. Triple world champion Nelson Piquet moved away from Lotus, having endured two disappointing seasons and getting the news of the new Lamborghini supply contract. Piquet's contract turned out to be incentive-based: he would be paid US$100,000 for every point scored, though he was also paid a season retainer. The other Lotus driver, Satoru Nakajima, moved to Tyrrell over the winter, replacing Jonathan Palmer, who was signed as McLaren's test driver. Lotus attracted Derek Warwick from Arrows and promoted their test driver Martin Donnelly. Three drivers made their debuts at the start of the season: Paolo Barilla at Minardi, Claudio Langes at EuroBrun and Gary Brabham at Life. Gianni Morbidelli became the fourth when he was needed as a stand-in (see Mid-season changes).
Another eight driver switches had happened over the winter, within the lower-ranking teams.
Mid-season changes Due to a pre-season cycling accident, Alex Caffi was forced to sit out the opening race, with Bernd Schneider filling the gap. Gary Brabham quit the Life team when seeing that no improvement in form was to be expected. Bruno Giacomelli took his place, having last raced in F1 in . Gary's brother David Brabham signed with Brabham, the team owned by their father and triple world champion Jack Brabham. However, he requested to skip the first two races to prepare himself. Gregor Foitek stood in for him. Then, without missing a race, Foitek moved over to Onyx, after driver Stefan Johansson had fallen out with new team owner Peter Monteverdi. Gianni Morbidelli stood in for Emanuele Pirro at Scuderia Italia for the first two races of the season. He also replaced Paolo Barilla at Minardi for the final two races, and stayed with the team until the end of . Lotus's test driver Johnny Herbert stepped up to the racing seat after Donnelly suffered a career-ending crash in the Spanish Grand Prix. When EuroBrun folded, Roberto Moreno found a new home in Benetton, after their driver Alessandro Nannini was involved in a helicopter crash. Moreno drove two races in 1990 and stayed with the team over the next year.
Calendar Round Grand Prix Circuit Date 1 United States Grand Prix Phoenix Street Circuit, Phoenix, Arizona 11 March 2 Brazilian Grand Prix Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo 25 March 3 San Marino Grand Prix Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola 13 May 4 Monaco Grand Prix Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo 27 May 5 Canadian Grand Prix Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal 10 June 6 Mexican Grand Prix Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City 24 June 7 French Grand Prix Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet 8 July 8 British Grand Prix Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone 15 July 9 German Grand Prix Hockenheimring, Hockenheim 29 July 10 Hungarian Grand Prix Hungaroring, Mogyoród 12 August 11 Belgian Grand Prix Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot 26 August 12 Italian Grand Prix Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza 9 September 13 Portuguese Grand Prix Autódromo do Estoril, Estoril 23 September 14 Spanish Grand Prix Circuito de Jerez, Jerez de la Frontera 30 September 15 Japanese Grand Prix Suzuka International Racing Course, Suzuka 21 October 16 Australian Grand Prix Adelaide Street Circuit, Adelaide 4 November
Calendar change The United States Grand Prix was moved from June to March to become the first round.
The Brazilian Grand Prix was returned to the Interlagos Circuit for the first time since 1980, with a shorter track layout after a major renovation of the facility.
The Canadian Grand Prix was moved to be before the Mexican Grand Prix.
Regulation changes Three regulation changes occurred before the 1990 season, all from the aspect of driver safety:
Technical regulations Larger rear-view mirrors Quick-release steering wheel mandatory
Sporting and event regulations All marshals and medical staff must practice driver extrication exercises.
Season report
Race 1: USA
The first race of the year was held on an angular street circuit in Phoenix, Arizona, USA; the race became the season opener so it could be held in cooler and much more pleasant weather, avoiding the degree heat that made conditions very difficult at the previous race in Phoenix, which took place in June 1989. Unexpected rain in qualifying led to a grid with Gerhard Berger on pole position with Pierluigi Martini second in the Minardi, Andrea de Cesaris third in the Dallara, Jean Alesi fourth in the Tyrrell, Ayrton Senna down in fifth and Nelson Piquet sixth. Alesi took the lead at the start ahead of Berger, de Cesaris, Senna, Martini and Piquet.
Alesi pulled away and Berger was dropping back Senna passed de Cesaris. Berger hit a wall on lap 9 forcing him to pit. He charged back but later retired with clutch problems. Alesi was 8.2 seconds ahead but Senna started to reel him in. Senna attacked on lap 34 but Alesi defended and kept the lead. Senna overtook Alesi one lap later and pulled away to win. Both Ferraris retired with Alain Prost retiring on lap 21 with an oil leak and Nigel Mansell on lap 49 with clutch problems. After that, Thierry Boutsen passed Piquet to take third with Stefano Modena's Brabham and Satoru Nakajima's Tyrrell getting the final points.
Race 2: Brazil
The Brazilian Grand Prix had returned to the Interlagos Autodrome in São Paulo for the first time since 1980, having been at the Jacarepagua Riocentro Autodrome in Rio de Janeiro for 9 previous seasons consecutively, and 1978. The circuit had been shortened from 4.9 mi (7.9 km) to 2.6 mi (4.2 km).
During qualifying, Senna and Berger were 1–2 with Boutsen and Patrese 3–4 and the Ferraris of Nigel Mansell and Alain Prost behind them. At the start, Senna led Berger, Boutsen, Prost, Patrese and Mansell. Boutsen passed Berger early on but could not keep up with Senna.