1990-03-25 F90 641 (2) Nigel Mansell BRA - Interlagos 4
The 1990 Brazilian Grand Prix was held at Interlagos, São Paulo on 25 March 1990. It was also the first Brazilian Grand Prix to be held at Interlagos since 1980, following the renovation and shortening of the circuit and the ascendancy of São Paulo driver Ayrton Senna.
Nigel Mansell with this Ferrari F90 641, finished 3rd.
The 71-lap race was won by Alain Prost, driving a Ferrari. Senna took pole position in his McLaren-Honda and led until he collided with Satoru Nakajima in the Tyrrell-Ford, allowing Prost through. Prost took his 40th Grand Prix victory, and his sixth and final Brazilian win, with Senna's teammate Gerhard Berger second and Senna himself recovering to third.
seconds.
After qualifying, Williams driver Thierry Boutsen, himself third on the grid, predicted that the Ferraris on the third row of the grid would be the cars to beat, citing their semi-automatic transmission and its paddle shift which allowed both Alain Prost and Nigel Mansell to keep their hands on the wheel around the bumpy turns at the back of the circuit
On lap eight Boutsen passed Berger for second place, and Prost took the V12 Ferrari past the McLaren driver on lap 17. Mansell pitted on lap 27 for new tyres and also to inspect a broken rollbar, rejoining in 9th place.
Prost was piling on the pressure, and by lap 35 he had climbed to second within 10 seconds of Senna, and was now ahead of Riccardo Patrese, Berger and Nelson Piquet. When Senna came up to lap former Lotus teammate Satoru Nakajima, there was contact and the McLaren had to pit for a new nosecone. He rejoined and challenged hard, but the reduced downforce levels made the car difficult to drive. On lap 66, Patrese retired with a broken oil cooler.
Prost took his 40th victory, and his first for Ferrari, from Berger and the recovering Senna. Mansell finished an excellent fourth, having driven through the field with a broken rollbar. Boutsen finished a creditable fifth and Piquet claimed the final point in front of his home crowd after passing Alesi – who was suffering severe tyre wear after attempting to run non-stop on his Pirellis – on the last lap.
