1991 French Grand Prix
507th World Championship race, 41st World Championship French Grand Prix, 1st World Championship race at Magny-Cours
Fact File
| Date: | Sunday, 7 July 1991 |
|---|---|
| Winner: |  Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault |
| Pole position: |  Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault |
| Fastest lap: | Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault |
| Circuit: | Magny-Cours, 72 laps |
| Round: | 7 of 16 |
Race Result
| Pos | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | +3 | Nigel Mansell | Williams-Renault | 72 | 1hr 38m 00.056s | 10 |
| 2 |  Alain Prost | Ferrari | 72 | +5.003s | 6 | |
| 3 |  Ayrton Senna | McLaren-Honda | 72 | +34.934s | 4 | |
| 4 | +2 | Jean Alesi | Ferrari | 72 | +35.920s | 3 |
| 5 | -4 | Riccardo Patrese | Williams-Renault | 71 | +1 lap | 2 |
| 6 | +7 | Andrea de Cesaris | Jordan-Ford Cosworth | 71 | +1 lap | 1 |
| 7 | +2 | Mauricio Gugelmin | Leyton House-Ilmor | 70 | +2 laps (10.000s) | |
| 8 | -1 | Nelson Piquet | Benetton-Ford Cosworth | 70 | +2 laps | |
| 9 | +3 | Pierluigi Martini | Minardi-Ferrari | 70 | +2 laps | |
| 10 | +10 | Johnny Herbert | Lotus-Judd | 70 | +2 laps | |
| 11 | +3 | Erik Comas | Ligier-Lamborghini | 70 | +2 laps | |
| 12 | +4 |  Thierry Boutsen | Ligier-Lamborghini | 69 | +3 laps | |
| R | Roberto Moreno | Benetton-Ford Cosworth | 63 | DNF | ||
| R | Stefano Modena | Tyrrell-Honda | 57 | DNF | ||
| R | Olivier Grouillard | Fondmetal-Ford Cosworth | 47 | DNF | ||
| R | Eric Bernard | Lola-Ford Cosworth | 43 | DNF | ||
| R |  JJ Lehto | Dallara-Judd | 39 | DNF | ||
| R | Mark Blundell | Brabham-Yamaha | 36 | DNF | ||
| R |  Aguri Suzuki | Lola-Ford Cosworth | 32 | DNF | ||
| R | Michele Alboreto | Footwork-Ford Cosworth | 31 | DNF | ||
| R | Martin Brundle | Brabham-Yamaha | 21 | DNF | ||
| R | Satoru Nakajima | Tyrrell-Honda | 12 | DNF | ||
| R | Gianni Morbidelli | Minardi-Ferrari | 8 | DNF | ||
| R | Ivan Capelli | Leyton House-Ilmor | 7 | DNF | ||
| R |  Gerhard Berger | McLaren-Honda | 6 | DNF | ||
| R | Bertrand Gachot | Jordan-Ford Cosworth | 0 | DNF |
- Mauricio Gugelmin was given a 10-second time penalty for a dangerous manoeuvre.
Starting Grid
- Highlight: race winner
- Highlight: second place
- Highlight: third place
Qualifying Result
| Pos | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riccardo Patrese | Williams-Renault | 1:14.559 | |
| 2 | Alain Prost | Ferrari | 1:14.789 | 0.230 |
| 3 | Ayrton Senna | McLaren-Honda | 1:14.857 | 0.298 |
| 4 | Nigel Mansell | Williams-Renault | 1:14.895 | 0.336 |
| 5 | Gerhard Berger | McLaren-Honda | 1:15.376 | 0.817 |
| 6 | Jean Alesi | Ferrari | 1:15.877 | 1.318 |
| 7 | Nelson Piquet | Benetton-Ford Cosworth | 1:16.816 | 2.257 |
| 8 | Roberto Moreno | Benetton-Ford Cosworth | 1:16.961 | 2.402 |
| 9 | Mauricio Gugelmin | Leyton House-Ilmor | 1:17.015 | 2.456 |
| 10 | Gianni Morbidelli | Minardi-Ferrari | 1:17.020 | 2.461 |
| 11 | Stefano Modena | Tyrrell-Honda | 1:17.114 | 2.555 |
| 12 | Pierluigi Martini | Minardi-Ferrari | 1:17.149 | 2.590 |
| 13 | Andrea de Cesaris | Jordan-Ford Cosworth | 1:17.163 | 2.604 |
| 14 | Erik Comas | Ligier-Lamborghini | 1:17.504 | 2.945 |
| 15 | Ivan Capelli | Leyton House-Ilmor | 1:17.533 | 2.974 |
| 16 | Thierry Boutsen | Ligier-Lamborghini | 1:17.775 | 3.216 |
| 17 | Mark Blundell | Brabham-Yamaha | 1:17.836 | 3.277 |
| 18 | Satoru Nakajima | Tyrrell-Honda | 1:18.144 | 3.585 |
| 19 | Bertrand Gachot | Jordan-Ford Cosworth | 1:18.150 | 3.591 |
| 20 | Johnny Herbert | Lotus-Judd | 1:18.185 | 3.626 |
| 21 | Olivier Grouillard | Fondmetal-Ford Cosworth | 1:18.210 | 3.651 |
| 22 | Aguri Suzuki | Lola-Ford Cosworth | 1:18.224 | 3.665 |
| 23 | Eric Bernard | Lola-Ford Cosworth | 1:18.540 | 3.981 |
| 24 | Martin Brundle | Brabham-Yamaha | 1:18.826 | 4.267 |
| 25 | Michele Alboreto | Footwork-Ford Cosworth | 1:18.846 | 4.287 |
| 26 | JJ Lehto | Dallara-Judd | 1:19.267 | 4.708 |
| Did not qualify | ||||
| 27 | Mika Hakkinen | Lotus-Judd | 1:19.491 | 4.932 |
| 28 | Fabrizio Barbazza | AGS-Ford Cosworth | 1:20.110 | 5.551 |
| 29 | Gabriele Tarquini | AGS-Ford Cosworth | 1:20.262 | 5.703 |
| 30 |  Stefan Johansson | Footwork-Ford Cosworth | 1:21.000 | 6.441 |
| Did not pre-qualify | ||||
| 31 | Emanuele Pirro | Dallara-Judd | 1:20.539 | 5.980 |
| 32 | Nicola Larini | Lamborghini | 1:20.628 | 6.069 |
| 33 | Eric van de Poele | Lamborghini | 1:21.304 | 6.745 |
| 34 |  Pedro Chaves | Coloni-Ford Cosworth | 1:22.229 | 7.670 |
Championship Standings
How the championship standings stood post-race.
Driver
| Pos | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ayrton Senna | 48 |
| 2 | Nigel Mansell | 23 |
| 3 | Riccardo Patrese | 22 |
| 4 | Alain Prost | 17 |
| 5 | Nelson Piquet | 16 |
| 6 | Gerhard Berger | 10 |
| 7 | Stefano Modena | 9 |
| 8 | Jean Alesi | 8 |
| 9 | Andrea de Cesaris | 7 |
| 10 | Roberto Moreno | 5 |
| 11 | JJ Lehto | 4 |
| 12 | Pierluigi Martini | 3 |
| 13 | Satoru Nakajima | 2 |
| = | Mika Hakkinen | 2 |
| = | Bertrand Gachot | 2 |
| 16 | Aguri Suzuki | 1 |
| = | Julian Bailey | 1 |
| = | Emanuele Pirro | 1 |
| = | Eric Bernard | 1 |
Statistics & Milestones
- Wins
- Driver: 17th for Nigel Mansell
- Constructor: 46th for Williams
- Podiums
- Driver: 91st for Alain Prost, 60th for Ayrton Senna, 40th for Nigel Mansell
- Constructor: 346th for Ferrari, 215th for McLaren, 122nd for Williams
- Poles
- Driver: 6th for Riccardo Patrese
- Constructor: 34th for Williams
- Fastest laps
- Driver: 20th for Nigel Mansell
- Constructor: 51st for Williams
- Front row starts
- Driver: 68th for Alain Prost EQUALLED RECORD (shared with Ayrton Senna), 15th for Riccardo Patrese
- Win & fastest lap
- Driver: 7th for Nigel Mansell