1986 Spanish Grand Prix

The 1986 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Jerez on 13 April 1986. This was the first Formula One Spanish Grand Prix since the 1981 race was held at Jarama.

1986 Spanish Grand Prix
Race 2 of 16 in the 1986 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date	13 April 1986
Official name	Gran Premio Tio Pepe de España
Location	Circuito Permanente de Jerez, Spain
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	4.218 km (2.62 miles)
Distance	72 laps, 303.696 km (188.74 miles)
Weather	Warm, dry and sunny
Pole position
Driver	Ayrton Senna	Lotus-Renault
Time	1:21.605
Fastest lap
Driver	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Honda
Time	1:27.176 on lap 65
Podium
First	Ayrton Senna	Lotus-Renault
Second	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Honda
Third	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG
Lap leaders

This race featured a 3 car battle for the lead over the last half of the race. Ayrton Senna (Lotus-Renault), Nigel Mansell (Williams-Honda) and reigning World Champion Alain Prost (McLaren-TAG) all had opportunities to take the win, with close nose to tail racing around the circuit. Once Mansell pitted for fresh tyres he charged back into the fight making up over 19 seconds in the final 10 laps on his fresh rubber. It was not quite sufficient to take the win, but it was very close with Senna and Mansell taking the chequered flag almost side by side, Senna only 0.014 s in front of Mansell in one of the closest finishes in Formula One history. This was the third-closest finish in Formula One history, after Mansell's spectacular charge allowed him to pull alongside Senna on the final straight.^[1]

In an interview after the race, Mansell said he had no problems with Senna's defensive driving (blocking) at the end of the race when the Williams was clearly the quicker car, saying that Senna was entitled to protect his lead. He then jokingly added that the finish was so close they should give them both 71⁄2 points each (which is the average between the winner's 9 points and second place's 6).^[2]

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Q1	Q2	Gap
1	12	Ayrton Senna	Lotus-Renault	1:21.605	1:21.924	—
2	6	Nelson Piquet	Williams-Honda	1:23.097	1:22.431	+0.826
3	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Honda	1:23.024	1:22.576	+0.971
4	1	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG	1:23.702	1:22.886	+1.281
5	2	Keke Rosberg	McLaren-TAG	1:23.948	1:23.004	+1.399
6	25	René Arnoux	Ligier-Renault	1:24.566	1:24.274	+2.669
7	20	Gerhard Berger	Benetton-BMW	1:24.501	1:25.235	+2.896
8	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Renault	1:24.817	1:25.863	+3.212
9	19	Teo Fabi	Benetton-BMW	1:25.052	1:26.196	+3.447
10	11	Johnny Dumfries	Lotus-Renault	1:29.093	1:25.107	+3.502
11	28	Stefan Johansson	Ferrari	1:25.466	1:25.655	+3.861
12	3	Martin Brundle	Tyrrell-Renault	1:25.831	1:41.631	+4.226
13	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	1:26.554	1:26.094	+4.489
14	7	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham-BMW	1:26.231	1:29.911	+4.626
15	8	Elio de Angelis	Brabham-BMW	1:27.300	1:26.550	+4.945
16	14	Jonathan Palmer	Zakspeed	1:27.600	1:26.918	+5.313
17	15	Alan Jones	Lola-Hart	1:28.645	1:26.946	+5.341
18	16	Patrick Tambay	Lola-Hart	1:27.045	1:26.992	+5.387
19	18	Thierry Boutsen	Arrows-BMW	1:28.812	1:27.169	+5.564
20	4	Philippe Streiff	Tyrrell-Renault	1:27.637	1:28.086	+6.032
21	21	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Osella-Alfa Romeo	1:28.894	1:28.423	+6.818
22	17	Marc Surer	Arrows-BMW	1:28.803	1:28.443	+6.838
23	22	Christian Danner	Osella-Alfa Romeo	1:29.046		+7.441
24	23	Andrea de Cesaris	Minardi-Motori Moderni	1:29.195	17:53.811	+7.590
25	24	Alessandro Nannini	Minardi-Motori Moderni		1:30.062	+8.457

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Tyre	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Pts
1	12	Ayrton Senna	Lotus-Renault	G	72	1:48:47.735	1	9
2	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Honda	G	72	+ 0.014	3	6
3	1	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG	G	72	+ 21.552	4	4
4	2	Keke Rosberg	McLaren-TAG	G	71	+ 1 lap	5	3
5	19	Teo Fabi	Benetton-BMW	P	71	+ 1 lap	9	2
6	20	Gerhard Berger	Benetton-BMW	P	71	+ 1 lap	7	1
7	18	Thierry Boutsen	Arrows-BMW	G	68	+ 4 laps	19
8	16	Patrick Tambay	Lola-Hart	G	66	+ 6 laps	18
Ret	11	Johnny Dumfries	Lotus-Renault	G	52	Gearbox	10
Ret	3	Martin Brundle	Tyrrell-Renault	G	41	Engine	12
Ret	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Renault	P	40	Halfshaft	8
Ret	17	Marc Surer	Arrows-BMW	G	39	Fuel system	22
Ret	6	Nelson Piquet	Williams-Honda	G	39	Engine	2
Ret	8	Elio de Angelis	Brabham-BMW	P	29	Gearbox	15
Ret	25	René Arnoux	Ligier-Renault	P	29	Halfshaft	6
Ret	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	G	22	Wheel bearing	13
Ret	4	Philippe Streiff	Tyrrell-Renault	G	22	Engine	20
Ret	22	Christian Danner	Osella-Alfa Romeo	P	14	Engine	23
Ret	28	Stefan Johansson	Ferrari	G	11	Brakes	11
Ret	21	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Osella-Alfa Romeo	P	10	Engine	21
Ret	7	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham-BMW	P	8	Gearbox	14
Ret	23	Andrea de Cesaris	Minardi-Motori Moderni	P	1	Differential	24
Ret	14	Jonathan Palmer	Zakspeed	G	0	Collision	16
Ret	15	Alan Jones	Lola-Hart	G	0	Collision	17
DNS	24	Alessandro Nannini	Minardi-Motori Moderni	P	0	Differential	25
Source:[3][4]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Ayrton Senna 15 2 Nelson Piquet 9 3 Nigel Mansell 6 4 Jacques Laffite 4 4 Alain Prost 4 Source:[5]

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

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