» F1 Rewind: Senna clinches his final title

Senna celebrates his third championship title

Today’s ‘F1 Rewind’ feature marks the twentieth anniversary of Ayrton Senna claiming his third and final World Championship crown, with the great Brazilian achieving the feat when his championship rival Nigel Mansell spun his Williams off into the gravel early in the race.

Coming into the penultimate round of the 1991 season, Mansell (69 points) needed to win to keep his championship hopes alive, while Senna (85 points) simply needed to finish ahead of Mansell. But with Senna having not won since the Belgian Grand Prix, and Williams having won each of the three previous races, there was still everything to play for.

Senna’s cause was helped by McLaren claiming a front-row lockout in qualifying, with Gerhard Berger enjoying a late-season qualifying surge to claim pole by 0.198 seconds from Senna. Mansell would start from the second row, sharing it with Alain Prost.

Acting as the hare for Mansell to chase, Berger led away from pole while Senna slotted into second place, keeping Mansell at bay and away from the lead he so desperately coveted.

After hounding Senna for nine laps, Mansell was beginning to look for a way by the Brazilian. But on the tenth lap, he carried too much speed into Turn 1, ran wide on the exit kerbing and slid straight into the gravel. His race was over, and Senna was the 1991 World Champion.

But the race wasn’t over yet. Now free of Mansell, Senna began his chase of Berger, who had overcooked his tyres trying to build a gap over the Senna-Mansell battle.

On Lap 18, Berger let Senna by, and the pair sauntered to a McLaren 1-2, trading fastest laps as they went.

Further down the order, Michael Schumacher (after suffering a huge smash in qualifying) had taken his Benetton into the points and was hotly pursued by Pierluigi Martini in the Minardi, but both would retire with mechanical gremlins in the closing stages.

This left Martin Brundle to claim a plucky fifth in his Brabham, the last ever points for the team.

In the closing stages, Berger dropped back as his Honda engine began to sound rough, but on the final lap, Senna moved over for his team-mate within sight of the finish line, a perhaps disingenuous way of thanking the Austrian for playing the role of dutiful number-two all season.

The closing laps of the 1991 Japanese GP, where Senna claimed his third F1 crown

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1991 Japanese Formula 1 Grand Prix – Final Classification (53 laps):

	Driver	Team	Laps	Result	Grid
1.	Gerhard Berger	McLaren – Honda V12 MP4/6	53	1:32:10.695	1
2.	Ayrton Senna	McLaren – Honda V12 MP4/6	53	+ 0.344	2
3.	Riccardo Patrese	Williams – Renault V10 FW14B	53	+ 56.731	5
4.	Alain Prost	Scuderia Ferrari V12 643	53	+ 1:20.761	4
5.	Martin Brundle	Brabham – Yamaha V12 BT60Y	52	1 lap behind	19
6.	Stefano Modena	Tyrrell – Honda V10 021	52	1 lap behind	14
7.	Nelson Piquet	Benetton – Ford V8 B191	52	1 lap behind	10
8.	Maurício Gugelmin	Leyton House – Ilmor V10 CG911	52	1 lap behind	18
9.	Thierry Boutsen	Ligier – Lamborghini V12 JS35B	52	1 lap behind	17
10.	Alex Caffi	Footwork – Cosworth V8 FA12C	51	2 laps behind	26
11.	Olivier Grouillard	Fondmetal Cosworth V8 F1	50	3 laps behind	24

	NOT CLASSIFIED
DNF.	Érik Comas	Ligier – Lamborghini V12 JS35B	41	Alternator	20
DNF.	Pierluigi Martini	Minardi – Ferrari V12 M191	39	Clutch	7
DNF.	Michael Schumacher	Benetton – Ford V8 B191	34	Engine	9
DNF.	Johnny Herbert	Lotus – Judd V8 102B	31	Engine	23
DNF.	Satoru Nakajima	Tyrrell – Honda V10 021	30	Suspension	15
DNF.	Aguri Suzuki	Lola – Cosworth V8 91	26	Electrical	25
DNF.	Gianni Morbidelli	Minardi – Ferrari V12 M191	15	Wheel	8
DNF.	Nigel Mansell	Williams – Renault V10 FW14B	9	Spin	3
DNF.	Alessandro Zanardi	Jordan – Cosworth V8 191	7	Gearbox	13
DNF.	Mika Häkkinen	Lotus – Judd V8 102B	4	Spin	21
DNF.	Andrea de Cesaris	Jordan – Cosworth V8 191	1	Collision	11
DNF.	JJ Lehto	Dallara – Judd V10 191	1	Collision	12
DNF.	Emanuele Pirro	Dallara – Judd V10 191	1	Collision	16
DNF.	Karl Wendlinger	Leyton House – Ilmor V10 CG911	1	Collision	22
DNF.	Jean Alesi	Scuderia Ferrari V12 643	0	Engine	6

	NON-QUALIFIERS
DNQ.	Michele Alboreto	Footwork – Cosworth V8 FA12C
DNQ.	Nicola Larini	Modena – Lamborghini V12 291
DNQ.	Eric van de Poele	Modena – Lamborghini V12 291
DNQ.	Éric Bernard	Lola – Cosworth V8 91		Injured
NPQ.	Mark Blundell	Brabham – Yamaha V12 BT60Y
NPQ.	Naoki Hattori	Coloni – CosworthV8 C4

	FASTEST LAP
	Ayrton Senna	McLaren – Honda V12 MP4/6	39	1:41.532