1986 San Marino Grand Prix

The 1986 San Marino Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Imola on 27 April 1986. The race was the third round of the year's World Championship. As with the previous year's event, fuel consumption was a big issue, changing the points finishers in the closing laps.

1986 San Marino Grand Prix
Race 3 of 16 in the 1986 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date	April 27, 1986
Official name	6º Gran Premio di San Marino
Location	Autodromo Dino Ferrari, Imola, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	5.040 km (3.131 miles)
Distance	60 laps, 302.4 km (187.86 miles)
Weather	Overcast, warm
Pole position
Driver	Ayrton Senna	Lotus-Renault
Time	1:25.050[1]
Fastest lap
Driver	Nelson Piquet	Williams-Honda
Time	1:28.667 on lap 57[2]
Podium
First	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG
Second	Nelson Piquet	Williams-Honda
Third	Gerhard Berger	Benetton-BMW
Lap leaders

The Autodromo Dino Ferrari had received safety upgrades from the previous year, including slight track modifications after the Variante Alta chicane and extended runoff areas at the Rivazza complex.

Alain Prost (McLaren-TAG) dominated the race after Ayrton Senna (Lotus-Renault) and Nigel Mansell (Williams-Honda) retired early, before almost running out of fuel, three corners from the chequered flag. Frantically weaving the car back and forth to slosh the last drops of fuel into the pickup, he managed to keep it running just long enough to creep over the line and win the race (his McLaren teammate Keke Rosberg was classified 5th despite running dry 2 laps from the finish, a problem attributed to Rosberg using too much boost). Nelson Piquet brought his Williams home in second place only 7.645 seconds behind Prost, while Austrian Gerhard Berger finished third to score his and the Benetton team's first Formula One podium finish.

This race saw the long awaited debut of Ford's replacement for the old Cosworth DFV in the form of a new 900 bhp (671 kW; 912 PS), turbocharged V6 engine designed by Keith Duckworth who had also designed the DFV. In its debut race in the also new Lola THL2 and driven by 1980 World Champion Alan Jones, the new Cosworth built Ford qualified in 21st place and completed 28 laps in the race before Jones was forced to retire with overheating.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Q1	Q2	Gap
1	12	Ayrton Senna	Lotus-Renault	1:25.050	1:25.286	—
2	6	Nelson Piquet	Williams-Honda	1:25.890	1:25.569	+0.519
3	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Honda	1:26.752	1:26.159	+1.109
4	1	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG	1:26.273	1:26.176	+1.126
5	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	1:26.428	1:26.263	+1.213
6	2	Keke Rosberg	McLaren-TAG	1:26.956	1:26.835	+1.335
7	28	Stefan Johansson	Ferrari	1:27.497	1:27.009	+1.959
8	25	René Arnoux	Ligier-Renault	1:28.362	1:27.403	+2.353
9	20	Gerhard Berger	Benetton-BMW	1:28.559	1:27.444	+2.394
10	19	Teo Fabi	Benetton-BMW	1:29.328	1:27.538	+2.488
11	16	Patrick Tambay	Lola-Hart	1:29.665	1:27.860	+2.810
12	18	Thierry Boutsen	Arrows-BMW	1:29.931	1:28.022	+2.972
13	3	Martin Brundle	Tyrrell-Renault	1:29.687	1:28.329	+3.279
14	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Renault	1:28.411	1:28.389	+3.339
15	17	Marc Surer	Arrows-BMW	1:30.156	1:28.637	+3.587
16	7	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham-BMW	1:30.641	1:28.828	+3.778
17	11	Johnny Dumfries	Lotus-Renault	1:29.244	1:26.607	+4.194
18	24	Alessandro Nannini	Minardi-Motori Moderni	1:29.985	1:29.244	+4.194
19	8	Elio de Angelis	Brabham-BMW	1:30.881	1:29.713	+4.663
20	14	Jonathan Palmer	Zakspeed	1:33.352	1:30.024	+4.974
21	15	Alan Jones	Lola-Ford	1:30.087	1:30.517	+5.037
22	4	Philippe Streiff	Tyrrell-Renault	1:30.123	1:32.358	+5.073
23	23	Andrea de Cesaris	Minardi-Motori Moderni	1:31.956	1:30.131	+5.081
24	29	Huub Rothengatter	Zakspeed	1:40.903	1:31.953	+6.903
25	22	Christian Danner	Osella-Alfa Romeo	1:37.485	1:33.806	+8.756
26	21	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Osella-Alfa Romeo	1:34.461		+9.411

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	1	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG	60	1:32:28.408	4	9
2	6	Nelson Piquet	Williams-Honda	60	+ 7.645	2	6
3	20	Gerhard Berger	Benetton-BMW	59	+ 1 Lap	9	4
4	28	Stefan Johansson	Ferrari	59	+ 1 Lap	7	3
5	2	Keke Rosberg	McLaren-TAG	58	Out of Fuel	6	2
6	7	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham-BMW	58	Out of Fuel	16	1
7	18	Thierry Boutsen	Arrows-BMW	58	+ 2 Laps	12
8	3	Martin Brundle	Tyrrell-Renault	58	+ 2 Laps	13
9	17	Marc Surer	Arrows-BMW	57	+ 3 Laps	15
10	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	56	Turbo	5
Ret	21	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Osella-Alfa Romeo	52	Out of Fuel	26
Ret	25	René Arnoux	Ligier-Renault	46	Wheel	8
Ret	4	Philippe Streiff	Tyrrell-Renault	41	Transmission	22
Ret	19	Teo Fabi	Benetton-BMW	39	Engine	10
Ret	14	Jonathan Palmer	Zakspeed	38	Brakes	20
Ret	22	Christian Danner	Osella-Alfa Romeo	31	Electrical	25
Ret	15	Alan Jones	Lola-Ford	28	Overheating	21
Ret	23	Andrea de Cesaris	Minardi-Motori Moderni	20	Engine	23
Ret	8	Elio de Angelis	Brabham-BMW	19	Engine	19
Ret	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Renault	14	Transmission	14
Ret	12	Ayrton Senna	Lotus-Renault	11	Wheel Bearing	1
Ret	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Honda	8	Engine	3
Ret	11	Johnny Dumfries	Lotus-Renault	8	Wheel Bearing	17
Ret	29	Huub Rothengatter	Zakspeed	7	Turbo	24
Ret	16	Patrick Tambay	Lola-Hart[1]	5	Engine	11
Ret	24	Alessandro Nannini	Minardi-Motori Moderni	0	Accident	18
Source:[3]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Ayrton Senna 15 1 Nelson Piquet 15 3 Alain Prost 13 4 Nigel Mansell 6 5 Gerhard Berger 6 Source:[4]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Williams-Honda 21 2 McLaren-TAG 18 3 Lotus-Renault 15 4 Benetton-BMW 8 5 Ligier-Renault 7 Source:[4]

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.