1989 was expected to be another season of success for McLaren, following on from their ultra-dominant 1988 season in which they won all but one of sixteen races, giving Ayrton Senna his first World Championship. However in the opening round in Brazil, Senna retired after a first-corner collision with Gerhard Berger’s Ferrari, and team-mate Alain Prost could only manage second behind the second Ferrari of Nigel Mansell. It was a victory against all odds for Mansell as the Ferrari was under-prepared and not expected to last more than a handful of laps due to poor reliability in testing. As the teams arrived in San Marino for round two, the local masses of Ferrari fans were hoping for a continuing of good fortune for the Scuderia.
1989 San Marino Grand Prix
The prayers of the Tifosi went unheeded as Senna and Prost locked-out the front row, with the Brazilian’s time over one-and-a-half seconds faster than Mansell’s third place time. The Williams cars of Riccardo Patrese and Thierry Boutsen qualified fourth and sixth, sandwiching Berger in fifth.
Senna got a good getaway and led from Prost, who had to defend his second place from Mansell going into Tosa. Mansell soon found himself battling to keep his third place from Patrese as both McLarens began to pull away into the distance. At the beginning of lap four, just behind the Mansell-Patrese battle, fifth-placed Berger’s Ferrari failed to negotiate the notoriously-dangerous Tamburello corner and at some 180mph, the car hit the concrete barrier. As the car came to a rest, the fuel tanks ruptured and the car was engulfed in flames. Due to the speed and efficiency of the fire crews, the flames were extinguished within twenty seconds. The race was stopped while Berger received treatment. The Austrian only suffered a broken rib and minor burns to his hands, and would only miss one race.
At the restart, Prost got the jump on Senna but Senna gained momentum towards Villeneuve and dived down the inside of his team-mate at Tosa. The McLarens soon pulled away from the rest of the field, leaving the next three cars – Patrese, the Benetton of Alessandro Nannini and Mansell – to jostle for the final podium place. The battle did not last long, however, as both Patrese and Mansell retired, with timing belt and gearbox issues respectively.
Senna took the win, approximately forty seconds from Prost, the only car that finished on the same lap. Nannini held on to his third place ahead of Boutsen. Mansell’s retirement did not hamper British interest, as Derek Warwick finished fifth in the Arrows, and Jonathan Palmer took the final points place in his Brabham.
The manoeuvre by Senna on Prost at Tosa was judged by Prost to be a reneging on a deal that whoever led into turn one would be allowed to stay ahead. Senna countered that the deal was not valid for the restart, therefore he had done nothing wrong. It has been said that this particular incident was the beginning of the infamous rivalry between the two drivers that lasted until Prost’s retirement from Formula 1 in 1993.
Prost’s two second place finishes gave him a three point lead over Senna after the race. McLaren led the constructor’s standings from Ferrari by twelve points going into round three at Monaco.
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