1992 French Grand Prix

The 1992 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Magny-Cours on 5 July 1992. It was the eighth race of the 1992 Formula One World Championship.

1992 French Grand Prix
Race 8 of 16 in the 1992 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date 5 July 1992
Official name Rhône-Poulenc Grand Prix de France
Location Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours
Magny-Cours, France
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.250 km (2.651 mi)
Distance 69 laps, 293.250 km (182.938 mi)
Scheduled distance 72 laps, 306.000 km (190.892 mi mi)
Weather Dry, then raining
Pole position
Driver
Williams-Renault
Time 1:13.864
Fastest lap
Driver Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault
Time 1:17.070 on lap 37
Podium
First
Williams-Renault
Second
Williams-Renault
Third
Benetton-Ford

The 69-lap race was won by Nigel Mansell, driving a Williams-Renault, after he started from pole position. Mansell took his sixth victory of the season by 46 seconds from teammate Riccardo Patrese, who led the first 18 laps. Martin Brundle finished third in a Benetton-Ford.

Pre-race

The usual Friday morning pre-qualifying session was cancelled when the Andrea Moda Formula team failed to arrive at the circuit. The team's transporter had been stuck in traffic due to a blockade by French lorry drivers, and although all the other teams had also been affected, Andrea Moda were the only team to fail to arrive.[1][2] The remaining four cars in the pre-qualifying pool therefore progressed automatically to the main qualifying sessions.[3]

Qualifying

Qualifying report

Both Williams cars qualified ahead of the McLarens with Nigel Mansell in pole position ahead of his teammate Riccardo Patrese, Ayrton Senna, Gerhard Berger, Michael Schumacher and Frenchman Jean Alesi.

Qualifying classification
PosNoDriverConstructorQ1Q2Gap
1 5 Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault 1:15.047 1:13.864
2 6 Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault 1:15.551 1:14.332 +0.468
3 1 Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 1:16.892 1:15.199 +1.335
4 2 Gerhard Berger McLaren-Honda 1:16.944 1:15.316 +1.452
5 19 Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 1:16.969 1:15.569 +1.705
6 27 Jean Alesi Ferrari 1:17.686 1:16.118 +2.254
7 20 Martin Brundle Benetton-Ford 1:17.638 1:16.151 +2.287
8 28 Ivan Capelli Ferrari 1:18.152 1:16.443 +2.579
9 25 Thierry Boutsen Ligier-Renault 1:18.179 1:16.806 +2.942
10 26 Érik Comas Ligier-Renault 1:17.637 1:16.938 +3.074
11 11 Mika Häkkinen Lotus-Ford 1:18.327 1:16.999 +3.135
12 12 Johnny Herbert Lotus-Ford 1:18.168 1:17.257 +3.393
13 29 Bertrand Gachot Venturi-Lamborghini 1:18.864 1:17.442 +3.578
14 9 Michele Alboreto Footwork-Mugen-Honda 1:19.291 1:17.508 +3.644
15 10 Aguri Suzuki Footwork-Mugen-Honda 1:19.022 1:17.548 +3.684
16 24 Gianni Morbidelli Minardi-Lamborghini 1:19.110 1:17.667 +3.803
17 21 JJ Lehto Dallara-Ferrari 1:19.279 1:17.677 +3.813
18 30 Ukyo Katayama Venturi-Lamborghini 1:19.819 1:17.709 +3.845
19 4 Andrea de Cesaris Tyrrell-Ilmor 1:20.029 1:17.868 +4.004
20 32 Stefano Modena Jordan-Yamaha 1:18.905 1:17.901 +4.037
21 16 Karl Wendlinger March-Ilmor 1:18.596 1:17.937 +4.073
22 3 Olivier Grouillard Tyrrell-Ilmor 1:19.204 1:17.989 +4.125
23 15 Gabriele Tarquini Fondmetal-Ford 1:19.146 1:17.993 +4.129
24 33 Maurício Gugelmin Jordan-Yamaha 1:19.574 1:18.337 +4.473
25 22 Pierluigi Martini Dallara-Ferrari 1:18.634 1:18.586 +4.722
26 14 Andrea Chiesa Fondmetal-Ford 1:19.835 1:18.701 +4.837
27 17 Paul Belmondo March-Ilmor 1:19.963 1:19.354 +5.490
28 23 Christian Fittipaldi Minardi-Lamborghini 1:20.062 no time +6.198
29 7 Eric van de Poele Brabham-Judd 1:21.594 1:20.139 +6.275
30 8 Damon Hill Brabham-Judd 1:21.412 1:22.495 +7.548
Source:[4][5][6]

Race

Race report

At the start, Patrese got by Mansell while Berger got ahead of Senna and Martin Brundle was able to sneak by Alesi. At the Adelaide hairpin, Schumacher tried to pass Senna but instead hit him, taking Senna out and forcing himself to pit. Meanwhile, Patrese and Mansell were side by side but Patrese kept the lead. Patrese led Mansell, Berger, Brundle, Alesi and Häkkinen.

Nothing changed until lap 11 when Berger's engine failed. Soon afterwards it began to rain so heavily that the race was stopped. After some time the rain decreased and the grid formed up again. The race would be decided on the aggregate times of both parts of the race. Patrese took the lead again with Alesi getting ahead of Mika Häkkinen's Lotus as well. Mansell tried to pass his teammate again but Patrese defended and once again kept the lead. Further back, Schumacher again tried too hard, hitting Stefano Modena in the Jordan, dropping out of the race with a broken front suspension. Patrese led Mansell, Brundle, Alesi, Häkkinen and Comas on aggregate. Patrese then waved Mansell through on track and soon Mansell got ahead on aggregate. When Patrese was quizzed after the race on whether team orders existed in the Williams team he refused to comment.

It began to rain again and everyone pitted for wets with Alesi leaving the change too late and dropping down to sixth. His engine failed on lap 61. Mansell won with Patrese making it a Williams 1-2 ahead of Brundle, Häkkinen, Comas and Herbert. This was Brundle's first podium; he had been disqualified from his podium finish at the 1984 Detroit Grand Prix.

Thus, at the halfway stage of the season, Mansell led the championship with 66 points compared to Patrese's 34. Schumacher was third with 26, Senna was fourth with 18, Berger was fifth with 18, Alesi was sixth with 11, Brundle was seventh with nine and Alboreto was eighth with five. In the constructors championship, Williams had 100 points and were well ahead of the field: McLaren were second with 36, Benetton were third with 35 and Ferrari were fourth with 13.

Due to his sabbatical from Formula One in 1992, the race was only the second time since he first appeared on the podium for his home race in 1981 that Alain Prost was not on the podium for the French Grand Prix. Prost had won the French GP in 1981, 1983, 1988, 1989 and 1990. He was second in 1982, 1986 and 1991, and finished third in 1985 and 1987. The only podium he missed from 1981-1991 was at Dijon in 1984 when he finished seventh after problems with a loose wheel.

Race classification
PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
1 5 Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault 69 1:38:08.459 1 10
2 6 Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault 69 + 46.447 2 6
3 20 Martin Brundle Benetton-Ford 69 + 1:12.579 7 4
4 11 Mika Häkkinen Lotus-Ford 68 + 1 lap 11 3
5 26 Érik Comas Ligier-Renault 68 + 1 lap 10 2
6 12 Johnny Herbert Lotus-Ford 68 + 1 lap 12 1
7 9 Michele Alboreto Footwork-Mugen-Honda 68 + 1 lap 14
8 24 Gianni Morbidelli Minardi-Lamborghini 68 + 1 lap 16
9 21 JJ Lehto Dallara-Ferrari 67 + 2 laps 17
10 22 Pierluigi Martini Dallara-Ferrari 67 + 2 laps 25
11 3 Olivier Grouillard Tyrrell-Ilmor 66 + 3 laps 22
Ret 27 Jean Alesi Ferrari 61 Engine 6
Ret 4 Andrea de Cesaris Tyrrell-Ilmor 51 Spun off 19
Ret 30 Ukyo Katayama Venturi-Lamborghini 49 Engine 18
Ret 25 Thierry Boutsen Ligier-Renault 46 Spun off 9
Ret 28 Ivan Capelli Ferrari 38 Engine 8
Ret 16 Karl Wendlinger March-Ilmor 33 Gearbox 21
Ret 32 Stefano Modena Jordan-Yamaha 25 Engine 20
Ret 10 Aguri Suzuki Footwork-Mugen-Honda 20 Spun off 15
Ret 19 Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 17 Collision 5
Ret 2 Gerhard Berger McLaren-Honda 10 Engine 4
Ret 15 Gabriele Tarquini Fondmetal-Ford 6 Throttle 23
Ret 1 Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 0 Collision 3
Ret 29 Bertrand Gachot Venturi-Lamborghini 0 Collision 13
Ret 33 Maurício Gugelmin Jordan-Yamaha 0 Collision 24
Ret 14 Andrea Chiesa Fondmetal-Ford 0 Collision 26
DNQ 17 Paul Belmondo March-Ilmor
DNQ 23 Christian Fittipaldi Minardi-Lamborghini
DNQ 7 Eric van de Poele Brabham-Judd
DNQ 8 Damon Hill Brabham-Judd
Source:[7]

Championship standings after the race
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
gollark: I hope my internet radio station™ didn't break.
gollark: At last I have my mildly lower latency network link and large monitor.
gollark: Back now, muahahaha.
gollark: Scotland has the same gun laws as England, silly. Possibly stricter ones.
gollark: 5 minutes from arriving at home.

References
  1. McCarthy, Perry (2003). Flat Out, Flat Broke. Haynes. pp. 190–191. ISBN 1 84425 018 0.
  2. "French GP, 1992". grandprix.com. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  3. Walker, Murray (1992). Murray Walker's 1992 Grand Prix Year. Hazleton Publishing. pp. 69–76. ISBN 0 905138 99 6.
  4. "Rhone Poulenc French Grand Prix - QUALIFYING 1". formula1.com. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
  5. "Rhone Poulenc French Grand Prix - QUALIFYING 2". formula1.com. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
  6. "Rhone Poulenc French Grand Prix - OVERALL QUALIFYING". formula1.com. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
  7. "1992 French Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 3 November 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  8. "France 1992 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
Previous race:
1992 Canadian Grand Prix		 FIA Formula One World Championship
1992 season		 Next race:
1992 British Grand Prix
Previous race:
1991 French Grand Prix		 French Grand Prix Next race:
1993 French Grand Prix
Awards
Preceded by
1991 French Grand Prix		 Formula One Promotional Trophy
for Race Promoter
1992		 Succeeded by
1993 European Grand Prix
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