The second race of the 1991 season sees the Formula 1 Circus engaged in Brazil. It is the home race for Ayrton Seine, an almost cursed grand prix, because the Brazilian has never managed to triumph in front of his fans. The season for him and McLaren started very well in Phoenix, where despite no winter preparations, the first victory of the year arrived.
The Brazilian stage has been held in Sao Paulo since 1990 after the works of arrangement of the circuit which lasted about a decade which led it to have what, except for very slight modifications, is still the modern configuration. The nightmare of bad weather is looming over the race weekend: it has been raining for a week in Sao Paulo, there are death tolls and missing persons in the state and the public transport strike has further increased the inconvenience in the city.
But the arrival of Formula 1 brings smiles back to the thousands of spectators who flock to the circuit to acclaim their idol, Ayrton Senna, who celebrates his 31st birthday on Thursday. The victory in Phoenix lifted spirits at McLaren and showed that the MP4/6 is the car to beat again this season. In Brazil, in very different track and environmental conditions, the car is expected to go through the litmus test and there is a certain expectation among the rivals to understand if 1991 will also be a year in which they will have to act as spectators. The most interested is certainly Alain Prost, second with Ferrari in 1990, who is said to “very curious to see what will happen. It is clear that if McLaren were to confirm the supremacy of Phoenix, we will have to run for cover. But I am calm and quite optimistic”. The peace of mind can also derive from the fact that his Red won the previous edition.
Rain also hits the first day of testing at Interlagos. In the first qualifying session, Senna sets the best time in 18”711, ahead of Alesi’s Ferrari by six tenthsvery convinced of his possibilities for Saturday: “I did that time using race tires and in traffic. I stopped for a long time in the pits to change some settings and when I went out on track I did a lap too slow. So I took the checkered flag to my face that indicated the end of practice. I don’t know if I’ll be able to get pole position, but I can assure you that there will be a good fight to start first on tomorrow’s grid”. In the provisional second row, there are Berger at eight tenths, Mansell in a Williams who wants to be the protagonist and Prost at 1”3. For the Frenchman, there were a few too many problems during the day, with the rain complicating the set-up tests and a capricious engine on his car which forced him to take the reserve one which was not properly adjusted.
On Saturday the track conditions improve and the Williams appear. Senna is confirmed in the lead, with a time of 1’16”392, ahead of Patrese by 383 thousandths and Mansell by 0”451. Fourth is Berger, however 1”079 behind. The Ferraris collapsed, taking a seat in the third row with Alesi ahead of Prost. The fourth row is all Brazilian, with Piquet and Gugelmin, ahead of Modena and Gachot. For Ayrton it is pole position number 54, the fifth in Brazil, the second of the season.
The race confirms that Ferrari is unable to fight for victory and that Williams is the closest car to McLaren, despite not yet optimal reliability. A fragility that also manifests Ayrton’s MP/6, which from the 28th lap begins to argue with the gearbox. He first loses fourth gear, then third and fifth and finds himself with only sixth gear seven laps from the end. Winning in these conditions would be impossible for another driver, not for Magic, who with a devastating effort manages to take the race home, thanks also to the retirement of Mansell, the closest of his pursuers.
At lap 26 Mansell enters the pits but his stop extends for a good 13” causing him to lose two squares, immediately recovered with the stops by Patrese and Alesi, but above all other seconds from Senna, who supplies without setbacks and who on the 30th lap starts to have a good lead of seven seconds but also to suffer the first problems with the gearbox, while the others may already be reported missing, with Piquet overtaking Patrese for third position. However, the glory for the Brazilian lasted only five laps, because in the 34th lap Williams put him on the main straight and returned to the podium. Berger also sees himself again, overtaking Alesi and climbing to sixth place behind Prost, who took full advantage of the pit stop game and gained two positions. Ferrari proved to be a car that was not very kind to the tires, and exactly 19 laps after the first stop, Prost had to stop again and returned to 7th, followed five laps later by his teammate who slipped behind him. Up front, meanwhile, Mansell is making a comeback on Senna and has moved to just 3”.
Senna’s escape seems to be nearing its conclusion, but Mansell asked too much of the tires of her FW14 and at 50th she had to stop again, falling 30” from the Brazilian while maintaining second place. Behind him, Berger overtook Piquet who lost fourth place before pitting to change tires and rejoining behind Prost but ahead of Alesi, who was lapped by Senna. With ten laps to go, Senna saw his advantage reduced to 20” but if his change, even in mid-serve, resists, Mansell’s gives way and the Englishman, after a spin, has to retire. Senna is first with a 36” lead over Patrese. But the emotions aren’t over yet: while the sky begins to give the first drops of rain, Senna loses all the gears and is forced to face the last laps with only sixth gear: Patrese recovers easily: at 65th he is 20” behind gap, he recovers six on lap 66, five on lap 67, the rain increases and that will be enough for Senna: the Brazilian crosses the finish line 3” on the Paduan’s Williams, who returns to the podium after his victory at Imola the previous year; third is Berger at 5″, 4th Prost at 18″, sixth Piquet at 22″ and sixth Alesi at 23″, again in the points after thirteen races.
Senna is a mask of pain. Her screams on the radio broadcast by Rete Globo are indescribable. Senna was unable to even reach the pits: having stopped on the side of the track to collect the Brazilian flag, the McLaren restarted only with the push of the marshals who waved the Brazilian flag in the middle of the track instead of the yellow danger ones. A few hundred meters ahead, but Senna is still stationary. The doctors’ car also rushes to the scene and gives him first aid, while one of the marshals, who has received Ayrton’s helmet in his hand, raises it in the sky in front of the now mad audience in the stands. Struggling out of the cockpit, Senna gets into the medical car and reaches the pitlane. Supported by Ron Dennis, he joins Patrese, Berger and Ecclestone who are waiting for him on the podium, where, staggering, he tries to wave the Brazilian flag, but his shoulders and arms are so contracted that when he is handed the cup he will not be able to lift it, almost it gets out of hand, and only after a few persistent, painful attempts, will he be able to make the crazed torcida that acclaims him explode even more.
While Senna is enjoying his triumph, declarations of a completely different tenor arrive from the Cavallino. Alesi speaks of an undriveable car and of “frame not in place” with empty tanks, Prost is even heavier: “For me, not only the chassis was wrong, but also the engine. On occasion it misfired and top speed was limited, so much so that I couldn’t pass Piquet. Sure, I’m a little disappointed, but not downcast. We need to roll up our sleeves, we have a month to spare, not everything is compromised”. He doesn’t know which way to turn Fiorio: “We can’t understand. We weren’t bad on Friday. On Saturday Prost could have set a time very close to that of the Williams. The morning’s free practice had gone very well, we were confident. During the race, everything changed. Tomorrow we’ll sit around a table and look for explanations. Then there will be two test sessions at Imola during which we will introduce innovations in all sectors, engine, chassis, aerodynamics”.
In the press room, however, Senna’s words echoed. “A very difficult race, to remember together with my first victory in Portugal in 1985 and the first world championship”. Ayrton explains how success matured and where he found the strength not to give up: “I had shifting problems since the middle of the race and at the end I was only in sixth gear. I had to slow down from 300 to 70 km/h in the hairpin bends without any engine braking which actually pushed me. I had to push harder than expected because Mansell was constantly attacking me. I had never suffered like this: I found within me a strength that certainly came from God. I screamed and asked him for a victory that I deserved. I dedicate this success to him. After the arrival I was upset, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry”.
With 20 points in two races, McLaren confirming itself as the car to beat, the closest rival is Alain Prost, 11 lengths behind, Mansell, the toughest opponent in Brazil, is still zero points. “I’ve never had such an advantage after two rides”, admits Senna, who however does not want to talk about the downhill world championship: “But the world championship is very long. You will see that there will be many race winners. Williams is competitive and Ferrari will also come. You have to work to stay ahead”.
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