The 1980s Overview:

The decade began with the rise of turbo cars and perfection of aerodynamics and ended with the banishment of one and the strong regulation of the other. New engine suppliers like BMW and Honda came into the sport and were able to challenge Renault and Ferrari for championships. New heros were made in the likes of Senna, Prost, Berger, Piquet, and Mansell though they still had to fight with the old guard of people like Lauda. This decade also saw the largest number of teams fighting to get into Formula One with some never even making it into a race but showing up to try anyways. Formula One also, under the guidence of Brabham owner Bernie Ecclestone, started down the road the the buisness giant it is today.

The Tracks of the 1980s:

Notes: The San Marino Grand Prix is not actually held in San Marino as Imola is in Italy, same as with the Swiss Grand Prix in 1982 where Dijon-Prenois is actually in France. Also the European Grand Prix was held at Brands Hatch in 1983 and 85 and at the new Nurburgring in 1984. The tracks used for the European Grand Prix may be found listed under the country they are located in. Take into account also that the Spanish Grand Prix of 1980 and the South African Grand Prix of 1981 were deemed non-point events after the fact by FISA.

1980:

The beginning of the new decade was marred by a continuation of the stuggle between FISA (Fêdêration Internationale du Sport Automobile) and FOCA (Formula One Constructor's Association). Ferrari also entered the turbocharged area of engines this year joining Renault which had run them for the past few years. Even with the turbocharged enigne though this was one of Ferrari's worst years as their classic V-12 engine was to big to be able to put in a car designed to take full advantage of the wing car concept. Aerodynamics were even futhrer developed resulting in staggering increases in speed and cornering forces. The cars to beat this year were the Williams, Brabham, and Ligier taking a total of eleven of the thirteen races between them while still using the old standard Ford Cosworht V-8. Renault also notched up three more wins for turbo engines, showing even more potential for this new breed of engines.

The season opened in Argentina Alan Jones won for Willaims over Nelson Piquet in a Brabham, setting up the fight that would last all year. Renault then took the checkered at the hands of René Arnoux at the fast Interlagos track in Brazil where the turbo engine was able to take full advantage of the extra horsepower it had over normaly asperated engines. Second in Brazil was Elio de Angelis giving Lotus what would be their best finish of the season. Arnoux also then took the next race in South Africa, again thanks to the turbo engine because Kyalami is run at an altitude of 1800 meters above sealevel and the thinner air does not affect a turbo enigne as much as it would a normaly asperated engine.

The next race was won by Piquet, giving him his first career win though it was overshadowed by the major accident Clay Regazzoni suffered when the breaks failed on his Ensign MN11 and he crashed, paralyzing him from the waist down. Another first time winner was Didier Pironi who won the following race at Zolder, making three new winners in the past four races. Carlos Reutemann then returned to the top of the podium in the past few years with his only win of the season in Monaco. Also of note at Monaco was what appeared to be a horrific crash that sent Derek Daly flying upidedown over several cars. Nobody was injured however and the ironic thing is that the sponsor of the Tyrrell 010 that Daly was driving was imensely happy with the accident for it resulted in a lot of air time when the crash was shown in slow motion and the sponsor's name was visible.

The next race was to be held in Spain but due to conflict between FISA and FOCA only the drivers supporting F.O.C.A. raced but since FISA was incontrol of the points system the nullified the race and took away all the points making it so the race didn't count at all, though Jones had won it. Jones made up for the brief upset in Spain by winning in France and England before another first time winner, Jacques Laffite, took the checkered at Hockenheim. His success was followed by yet another win for the Renault turbo, this time at the hands of Jean-Pierre Jabouille at the Osterriechring. Piquet won the next race at Zandvoort in what was becoming a close fought season with Jones just bearly leading Piquet in the points. Tragedy then again struck the racing world as Patrick Depailler was killed while testing with the Alfa Romeo Type 179 at Hockenheim.

Ferrari then introduced their new turbo V-6 engine at the Italian Grand Prix, held for the first time since 1949 at a track other than Monza. It was held this year at the Imola circuit and Piquet won, putting him one point ahead of Jones with two races to go. Also at Imola another engine was shown for the first time, the V-8 turbo Alfa Romeo, though it would not race for several years. Bad luck then cought up with Piquet who failed to finish the last two races or the season at Montreal and Watkins Glen and Jones won them both securing his first and only title.

The season finished with three new race winners amongst seven different winners. Seven different men claimed a pole position including Bruno Giacomelli for Alfa Romeo in the last race of the season. Jones finished wiht sixty-seven points to Piquet's fifty-four and Reutemann's fourty-seven. Williams also won it's first constructors title due to the reliablitiy of its car, with atleast one Williams scoring a point in every race but one.

1981:

The competitiveness of the season with six teams and seven drivers winning races was overshadowed again by the magagement conflicts within Formula 1. Even before the season started FOCA had set up their own body called the World Federation of Motorsport and was to offer a World Professional Championship series but the sponsors and tracks along with many teams still sided with FISA and the WFM lasted but a month and all teams again ran under the same championship. This type of political fighting however resulted in the postponement of the first race of the year. Finnaly though some order appeared to be restored when the Concorde Agreement was signed by the teams at Ferrari's headquaters and defined the roled of the FIA, FISA, and FOCA. During the hammering out of the agreement however the South African Grand Prix had been run but its statis was nullified by FISA for only FOCA drivers had raced, so the season eventually stared at the U.S. Grand Prix West.

Williams picked up where it left of last year by taking the frist two places in the first two races with Jones winning at Long Beach and Reutemann winning in Brazil. Piquet then came back to win at the reschedualed Argentine Grand Prix and the new San Marino Grand Prix (held at Imola). Also at Imola it was decided that the hydraulic systems used to lower cars to the ground to take effect of their skirts were legal. These systems allowed teams to get around the new rule stating that skirts must clear the ground by sixty milimeters by using hydraulics to lower the car while in motion to the point where the skirts were almost to the ground again. gaining back much of their effect. Reutemann then won the next race in Belgium and it seemed as if it would be another Brabham and Williams season.

This was not to be the case however, with Gilles Villeneuve giving the new Ferrari turbo it's first win at Monaco then leading one of the most stunning finnishes at the next race in Spain where five cars all finished nose to tail within one point two four seconds of eachother. Renault then won the next race at the hands of thier new driver, a small French man destined for big things, Alain Prost. McLaren then returned to victory with John Watson at the wheel at Silverstone. Piquet finally returned to the top of the finishing order at the German Grand Prix but this would be his last win of the season. Jacques Laffite then won in Austria for Ligier while Alain Prost won the next two races at Zandvoort and Monza racking up his first three wins of his career in six races. Laffite then came back winning in Canada while Jones finnally won another race for Williams at the closing race in Las Vegas.

Though not winning a large amount of races consistancy allowed Piquet to take his first title over Reutemann, Jones, and Laffite. Announced at the end of the season was the entrence of two large German auto companies into Formula 1 with exclusive contracts with teams. Porsche was returning to run a turbo engine with McLaren and BMW was going to supply Brabham for the next season. Along with Ferrari, Renault, and Hart (supplying the Toleman team) this would make a total of four turbo mantufacturers in Formula One for the next season compared to only three conventional engine manufacturers, Ford Cosworth, Alfa Romeo, and Matra. Two other major surprises were told to the world, Niki Lauda would be coming out of retirement to drive the following season for McLaren, and Alan Jones would retire.

1982:

This season was one of the most competitive in Formula One history with eleven drivers winning for seven teams in only sixteen races. Keke Rosberg was eventually crowned champion but he had only won one race. There was again a brief flare-up of conflict between FOCA and FISA over a new practice of using "water-cooled breaks" where a few teams would put large watertanks into the car and then have the water leak out so when it crossed the line it was lighter than the wieghtlimit would allow. Tragedy again would also strike this year, particularly Ferrari, seemingly bad fortunes favorite.

The season started off in South Africa with Alain Prost winning for Renault. A feat he then repeated at the second race in Brazil (this race was also Carlos Reutemann's last race) only after Piquet and Rosberg were disqualified for using the "water-cooled breaks". In protest the FOCA teams boycotted the next race in San Marino which was the scene Didier Pironi's first win in a Ferrari over Villeneuve, though apparently there had been agreement betweent he two before the race which should have resulted in the win going to Villeneuve. During qualifying for the next race Villeneuve was killed in a massive crash when he collided with the slow moving March 821 of Jochen Mass and out of respect Pironi's car was withdrawn. John Watson went on to win the race for McLaren.

Ford powered cars then won the next three races with Ricardo Patrese winning in Monaco, Watson at the new Detroit track, and Piquet in Canada. Of note in the Detroit race was home town favorite Eddie Cheever who finished second. The race in Canada was again marred with tragedy when Pironi stalled his Ferrari on the grid and was rammed by Riccardo Paletti in the Osella FA1C. Paletti was killed instantly. Pironi was unhurt and went on to win the next race at Zandvoot. Lauda made his comback a true show when he went on to win the Brittish Grand Prix in his McLaren. The next race was a Renault sweep on their home track with Arnoux taking first and Prost second though it had been agreed that Prost would win since he was higher in the points. Arnoux's failure to follow orders greatly angered the team.

At this point going into the German Grand Prix Pironi was leading the championship but during practice he was involved in a major crash with Prost that sent him rolling end over end and resulted in serious leg ending injuries. Ferrari did have something to be happy about that weekend with substitute driver Patrick Tambay, replacing Villeneuve, won his first race. The German Grand Prix was also the first time in which a team, Brabham, started their cars on half tanks knowing they would have to pit for fuel in the middle of the race. Elio de Angelis won the next race for Lotus, their first in several seasons, in Austria. Rosberg then won his only race of the season at the French Grand Prix, putting him into the championship lead. Mario Andretti filled in for Pironi at Monza and qualified on pole pleasing the home crowd but in the end it was Anroux in the Renault winning over Tambay and Andretti. At the last race of the season Tyrell was able to steal a win thanks to Michele Alboreto, the first for him and the first for the team since 1978.

Rosberg won his one and only title thanks to his consistan finishing in the points. Other than him no other driver the whole season finished in the points more than seven out of the sixteen races, while Rosberg had points finishes ten times. Ferrari won the World's Manufacturers' Championship, a small consolation for the loss of two drivers and involvement in another fatal crash. The was also the first seasono turbo engines had won the same ammount as normaly asperated engines, eight apiece. The final bolt of tragedy waited lonog to stike this season however. It was announced during winter testing for the following season the the pioneer of aerodynamics, chassis deisign, and founder of Lotus, Colin Bruce Chapman had died at the age of fifty-four of a hart attack.

1983:

Four years since the first turbo win a turbo car takes the title but it is not a Renault but the BMW powered Brabham and the hands of Piquet. Honda and TAG-Porsche introduced their new turbo engines and the Ford Cosworth V-8 had its one hundred and fiftyfith, and final victory. Not bad considering that it was still onle an evolution of the origional engine from 1967. New rules also came into effect which required the underside of cars to be flattened thus eliminating skirts and much of the downforce on the cars making actual wings much more important now.

Nelson Piquet opened the season with a win at his home race, the Brazilian Grand Prix over Niki Lauda had proven his time off had not dulled his edge. John Watson then won the United States Grand Prix West in Long Beach for McLaren starting from the eleventh row of the grid, truely a difficult task on the twist streets. Alain Prost won his home race in France again for the home team of Renault over Piquet and the other Renault driven this year by American Eddie Cheever. Tambay won the San Marino Grand Prix for home favorite Ferrari while Rosberg took the next race in Monaco with his Ford powered Williams, one of the last victories for the normaly asperated engine. This also made five different winners from five different teams in five races showing jsut how competative Formula 1 had become.

The first repeat winner of the year was Alain Prost who won on the now shortened Spa-Francorchamps circuit which had been cut practicaly in half from its former length. The next race was held on the street circuit in Detroit and was the scene of the last victory for the Ford Cosworth V-8. Michele Alboreto won in his Tyrell giving Ford a sweep of all the street races of the year. Arnoux won the following race in Montreal at the wheel of his new drive at Ferrari making him the seventh different winner in eight races. Arnoux and Prost then alternated wins for the next four races with Arnoux winning at Hockenheim and Zandvoort wish Prost winning at Silverstone (run between Montral and Hockenheim) and in Austria (run before Zandvoort). It looked as if Prost was set to take his first title in his career but at the end of the season the Brabham BMW came into power sweeping the last three races with Piquet winning at Monza and Brands Hatch and Patrese winning at Kyalami.

This late season charge coupled with his reliablity and Prost's misfortune late season allowed Piquet to steal the title by just two points over Prost with the Ferraris of Arnoux and Tambay behind. At the end of the season almost every team that could afford to went turbo for the turbo engines were now developing clost to (or over) eight hundred horsepower where as a normaly asperated engine might be able to produce five hundred and fifty if lucky. At the end of the season also it was announced that Prost would be leaving Renault due to team conflicts and joining McLaren who had a new car and the new TAG-Porsche engine, a promizing combonation.

1984:

The new McLaren MP4/2 dominated the season taking thirteen of the seventeen races. Also by this point every team by Tyrrell had gone to the turbo engines and thier massive ammounts of horsepower. Pitstops for fuel were also done away with for this year and the fuel capacity of the tanks were reduced making gas milage even more important. The championship was however the closest in history with Niki Lauda completing his comeback by winning the title by half a point over Alain Prost in the other McLaren.

The season opened with the Brazilian Grand Prix and win for Prost. Along with Prost's win came the first victims of the new fuel limitations when most of the field either ran out of gas or were forced to slow down extremely to make it to the finnish of the race. South Africa was the scene of the next race and Lauda's first season sucess. Ferrari then took their only win of the year at Zolder with Michele Alboreto driving the winning car. The end of the next race was dramatic with many of the leading cars running out of gas at Imola with Prost taking the win over Arnoux in a Ferrari and de Angelis in the new Renault Lotus, which had actually run out of fuel and costed across the line. Lauda then won in France but the next race was woon by Prost under much controversy. The Monaco Grand Prix was called prematurely due to weather and so only half points were awarded to the finishers so instead of nine points Prost revieved four and a half for the win. The controversy came from the fact that Jackie Ickx, former driver and now race stwerd for the event, was accused of ending the race in Porsche's favor (Porshce powered Prost's car) because he used to drive for Porsche and if it had not been called a new yound driver named Ayrton Senna, who was flying through the field and was about to pass prost, would have claimed an upset victory in a Hart powered Toleman.

The next two races in North America, held in Montreal and Detroit, fell to Piquet in the generaly unreliable Brabham BMW machine. Dallas was the next city to hold a race and this new steet circuit was in extremely poor condition. Keke Rosberg took his only win of the season and the only win for the Honda powered Williams. The last seven of the races were domniated by McLaren with Lauda winning at Brands Hatch and the Osterreichring (his first homw victory), and Monza and Prost won at Hockenheim, the Nurburgring, Zandvoort, and Estoril.

Due to the race being called in Monaco Prost ended up only half a point behind Lauda who claimed his third title. Some consolation to Prost was however a new record for wins in a single season, seven. Third in the championship was the surprise Elio de Angelis in the Lotus Renaut which was never fast enough to win races but was reliable enough to finish in the points more than any other car. McLaren also duely took home the manufactures title for the year with their stunning twelve race winning car. Also at the end of the season all teams switched to turbo engines and a small new team that was to become not a strength in Formula One but a presence appeared, Minardi.

1985:

This season saw, for the first time, a French champion, Alain Prost. Winning five races, only failing to finish four out of the sixteen, and having podium placings in all races he finished but one. Lotus and Williams finally returned to previous form this year also taking seven races between them. Brabham and BMW had begun to slip off form with the BMW engine becoming less and less reliable. Horsepower figures for the top engines also began to approach insane figures of one thousand one hundred horsepower in qualifying and nine hundred horsepower in racing conditions. This season was also Niki Lauda's last for at the end of the season he retired for the second and the final time.

The season opened in Brazil with Alain Prost taking the victory carrying the momentum over from last season. Senna then won the next race at Estoril in the rain and in only his second race in his new ride at Lotus, the team finnaly returning to consistant winning form again. Elio de Angelis then continued for Lotus by taking the checkered at Imola though he won more by reliablity and luck for both Sefan Johansson's Ferrari and Senna ran out of fuel while leading and Prost's car when weighed after the race was two kilograms under the five hundred and fourty kilogram limit so he was disqualified moving de Angelis up to the win. Prost got his revenge however at the next race in Monaco over Michele Alboreto who already had three second place finishing this season.

Alboreto finnaly took his first win of the season in Canada. There was then a breif period of no wins for McLarent with Rosberg winning in Detroit in a Williams Honda and Piquet winning in France in the new Brabham. Prost then came back strong at Silverstone by winning the race and lapping the entire field. Alboreto then struck back with a win at the Nurburgring, though it would be his last win of the season. McLaren then won the next thre races with Prost winning in Austria, Lauda taking his last win at Zandvoort, and Prost winning again at Monza. Senna then won the next race held in Belgium ahead of Nigel Mansell in a Williams. Mansell would go on to win his first race next time out at one of his home tracks, Brands Hatch. He also won after that in South Africa with his teammate Rosberg taking the final race of the season in Australia.

Prost claimed his first wolrd title, and the first ever for France this season. Nigel Mansell ended his season on a high note and would attempt to continue his form at Williams with new teammate Piquet who was joining Williams after Rosberg left to fill Lauda's spot at McLaren. Renault also surprised the racing world by announcing it would be leaving Formula One as a factory team and would only supply engines until 1987 to a select few teams such as Lotus. Alfa Romeo also decided to take a break for the next season deciding to return in 1987 with a new four-cylinder engine.

1986:

The Williams Honda team comes into it's own this season and captures nine races between it's drivers and it takes the constructors title. Prost in a McLaren however is able to take the title from the Williams drivers due to his amazing reliabilty. Nigel Mansell finsished second behind Prost by two points while taking home five wins and two poles, capitalizing on his successes last year. Ferrari and Brabham struggled while the former Toleman team now known as Benetton Formula Ltd. (the team having been bought by the giant clothing comapny) with BMW had its first of many successes this season. Fuel capacity was also reduced further to one hundred and ninty-five liters making milage even more important.

Nelson Piquet had a present prize when he won the first race of the season in his home country of Brazil in his first drive for Williams. Senna then took the next race at the ne Jerez circuit by only half a car's length over Mansell. Prost then won the next two races Imola, with his car running out of fuel on the final lap, and in Monaco. Shortly after Monaco tragedy struck the Formula One again when Elio de Angelis was killed in a testing incident in the Brabham, after which the Paul Ricard circuit where he was testing was shortened. The next seven races were controlled by the Williams drivers with mansel winning two in a row in Belgium and Canada, Senna scoring an upset win in Detroit, then Mansell winning two more in France and England before Piquet took his turn by taking the wins at Hockenheim and the new Hungaroring. During the race at Hockenheim was the first time that both McLarens failed to finish due to fuel problems, Prost stopping only about one hundred meters from the finish. Also at Hockenheim it was announced that Rosberg was retiring at the end of the season and that Honda would be powering Lotus next season.

Prost finnaly returned to the winners cirlce in Austria where the new Benetton team found speed and both drivers led the race. Williams cars won the next two races with Piquet winning in Italy and Mansell in Portugal. In the second to last race of the season a new driver and team claimed a win, Gerhard Berger driving for Benetton won in Mexico and amazingly the team never once had to stop to change the Pirelli tires on the car. A whole race without a single stop for tires is truely astounding. Prost won the final race of the year in Austrailia giving him his second title.

Prost however owed his title to luck for Mansell had been leading the race and on his way to the title when his tire blew near the end of the race. This was McLaren's third strait drivers title but the constructors title went to the powerful Williams team that claimed nine victories total this season. BMW decided at the end of the season to continue in Formula One despite it's previous plan to retire and would continue to provide enigines for Brabham for the following season.

1987:

This season began the demise of the turbo engine in Formula One. Turbo engine still won every single race but now they had pop-off valves, a device designed to reduce the power of a turbocharged engine, and new regulations for normaly asperated engines came into effect allowing three point five liter engines and if the car used a normaly asperated engine they were also allowed a lower weight for the car. Also this year the first Concorde Agreement was signed betweent the teams and the FIA. This Agreement settled the distribution of television money, track contracts, rules and regulatioons, and travel money. This agreement basicaly ended the major disputes between the FIA and FOCA and would be in effect until 1991. Also in the news was the fact that Fiat had bought Alfa Romeo and would be ending Alfa Romeo's engine program because Fiat did not want more competition for its other Formula One team Ferrari.

The season opener in Brazil was won by Prost in convincing fashion over Nelson Piquet. Piquet then was forced to miss the next race at Imola after a heavy crash so he ended up in the announcers booth calling his teammate Nigel Mansell's victory over Senna in the new Lotus. The new Lotus was the first Formula One car to use computer coontroled active suspension designed to help keep the car to the road. Prost returned to the winners place on the podium the next time out in Belgium after a crash elimnated Mansell and Senna. Also in Belgium is was announced that Lamborghini would be building a Formula One engine for the next season and that it would a be a normaly asperated V-12. Senna then won the next race in Monaco giving the new Lotus and active suspension their first race win. Senna then made it two in a row by taking the street race in Detroit for Lotus too.

Next it was Mansell's turn to win two in a row by taking the checkered in France and England. In England it was a Honda top four with Williams cars taking the first two places followed by both Lotus cars. After Maneslls two wins Piquet continued the Williams success by taking the win in Germany and Hungary. Mansell then took the next race held in Austria which had to be restarted two times due to accidents at the start. Also in Austria McLaren driver Stefan Johansson was lucky to escape injury in practice when he ran into, of all things to hit in a Formula One car, a deer. The next race at Monza saw the debut of the Williams with active suspension and Piquet drove it to victory on its first time out. Monza was also the scene of the announcement that Honda would no longer supply Williams starting next season and that instead they would supply McLaren and their new driver for the next season, Senna.

Prost finnaly took another win in Portugal, his twentyeith, making him the winningest driver of all time at this point. Portugal was also the first pole since 1985 for Ferrari whos program was starting to come back together. Mansell then returned to the top winning the next to races in Spain and Mexico bringing his total of wins for the season up to six along with eight poles. Going into the second to last race in Japan Mansell still had a chance to catch Piquet for the title but during practice Mansell had a serious crash which sidelined him for the race handing the title to Piquet, his third. Berger went on to win the race for Ferrari, their first win since 1985. Berger also won the last race of the year at Adelaide by qualifying on pole and leading every lap.

Though Mansell had dominated the season in terms of victories and poles his more consistant teammate Piquet was champion due to having finished on the podium elevn times, three of those wins and seven of them second place finishes. The constructors title went to Williams again this year over McLaren and Lotus. The Jim Clark Cup for the highest scoring driver with a normaly asperated engine went to Jonathan Palmer in his Tyrrell. Tyrrell also won the Colin Chapman cup for the highest finishing team with normaly asperated enigines.

1988:

If any season belonged to one team this is it. McLaren, between Prost and Senna, won all but one race that fell to Ferrari when both McLarens failed to finish. Senna won his first title taking home eight first places and thirteen pole postions. Prost took hom a respectable seven wins and two poles. McLaren ended the season with ten one two finishes for the season. The departure of Honda and the choice to use Judd engines dropped Williams down the grid to midfield. Ferrari had developed last years car as well but still was no mach for McLaren.

Prost began McLarens eleven race winning streak at the opener in Brazil ahead of the Ferrari of Gerhard Beger. The McLaren wins then alternated with Senna winning at Imola, Prost in Monacao and Mexico, then back to Senna winning in Montreal and Detroit, then Prost won in France followed by Senna winning then next four races in England, Germany, Hungary, and Belgium. In Italy, one month after Ferrari patriarch Enzo Ferrari had passed away, Ferrari celebrated a one two finish with Berger taking the win ahead of Alboreto. Prost then won the next two races at Estoril and Jerez with Senna returing to the top in Japan before Prost took the final race of the year in Australia.

The season was a complete blowout with McLaren taking the constructors title with a record one hundred and ninety-nine points for the team. Next closest was Ferrari with only sixty-five. This was also to be the last year of turbocharged engines as they would not be allowed next season so every team that had used turbo engines this season would be forced to adapt. Also this season the Minardi team scored its first points after several years of trying with Andrea de Cesaris taking fourth and Pierluigi Martini taking sixth in Detroit.

1989:

This season saw the return of normaly asperated three point five liter engines as the standard. Ford returned to the winners circle for the first time since 1983 but Honda was still the engine to beat with taking ten wins this season. Renault also returned to contest the new engine formula and won two races in the Williams chassis. This season also saw the greatest amount of participation in Formula One with twenty team and thirty-nine drivers attemtping to make the twenty-six starting positions. This made prequalifying sessions necessary to narrow the field down.

The season opened with the surprise win in Brazil by Nigel Mansell in the new Ferrari with a semi-automatic gearbox that nobody expect to survive race conditions. A surprise third place in Brazil was hometown driver Mauricio Gugelmin bring the Judd powered March team their only points of the year. The next race at Imola was the scene of a firey crash for Gerhard Beger who was lucky to be resced and would onle miss one race. Imola was also a McLaren sweep with Senna winning ahead of Prost. This began a three race winning streak for Senna when he also picekd up the win in Monaco and Mexico. Prost then came back and won the first race held on the streets of Pheonix in Arizona. Rain then struck in Canada and Thierry Boutsen was able to give the Williams Renault its first victory of the season when Senna dropped out due to engine troubles.

McLaren then had another run of three victories with Prost taking the checkered in France and England and Senna winning in the rain in Germany. Of note in France was the appearence of a new driver for Tyrell by the name of Jean Alesi who would win the European Formula 3000 Championship this year and would also score his frist Formula One points with a fourth in his first race. Hungary was the scene of an epic duel when Mansell who had only qualified midfield in the Ferrari fought his was up through the field on the twisty circuit and eventualy passed Senna for his second win of the season. Senna again showed his ability to master wet conditions and won in Belgium but Prost followed with a win at Monza ahead of Berger who finnaly scored some points after ten retirements for the season. Berger continued his newfound success with a win at Estoril and a second in the next race in Spain behind Senna.

Alessandro Nannini got his first win in the Benneton Ford under strange circumstances in Japan. Senna, who needed to win in Japan and in the final race in Austrailia to take the title collided with Prost going into a chicane and Prost got out of his car figuring he was champion. Senna had his car push-started and rejoined the race, eventualy fighting his way back to what he thought was a win. After the race he was disqualified and when McLaren protested to the FIA the FIA brought to mention all of Senna's previous contact related incidents during the year, of which there had been many, and fined Senna one hundred thousand dollars American and placed a six month suspened ban on him. Nannini was confirmed winner after the appeal. Thierry Boutsen scored his second win of the season in torential rain at Adelaide after most other cars had crashed out in the dismal conditions.

Prost claimed his third world title due to his consitancy and Senna had to be content with six wins and thirteen poles for the season. It was also announced that next season Prost and Berger would be switching postions with the Frenchman going the the now reliable Ferrari team in hopes of securing a title with them. Lamborghini was hoping for better luck next season after only scoring one point in their debut season and most of the other teams were hoping also to close the gap to the top teams of McLaren, Ferrari, Williams, and Benneton which dominated every race.