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1992 Japanese Grand Prix

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1992 Japanese Grand Prix
Race 15 of 16 in the 1992 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date 25 October 1992
Official name XVIII Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix
Location Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka, Japan
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.860 km (3.641[1] miles)
Distance 53 laps, 310.580 km (192.985 miles)
Weather Dry, warm, cloudy
Attendance 332,000[2]
Pole position
Driver Williams-Renault
Time 1:37.360
Fastest lap
Driver United Kingdom Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault
Time 1:40.646 on lap 44
Podium
First Williams-Renault
Second McLaren-Honda
Third Benetton-Ford
Lap leaders

The 1992 Japanese Grand Prix (formally the XVIII Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held at Suzuka on 25 October 1992. It was the fifteenth race of the 1992 Formula One World Championship.

The 53-lap race was won by Italian driver Riccardo Patrese, driving a Williams-Renault. It was Patrese's sixth and final Grand Prix victory, and the last win for an Italian driver for over a decade, until Giancarlo Fisichella won the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix. Austrian Gerhard Berger finished second in a McLaren-Honda, with Englishman Martin Brundle third in a Benetton-Ford.

Pre-race

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Two driver changes took place before the race: Ferrari replaced Ivan Capelli with their test driver Nicola Larini, while Karl Wendlinger left March to join Sauber's preparatory program ahead of the Swiss team's debut in 1993. His place was taken by Jan Lammers, making his first F1 start for over 10 years.[3]

Qualifying

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Qualifying report

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In qualifying, Williams' Nigel Mansell took his 13th pole position of the season, equalling the record set by Ayrton Senna in 1988 and 1989. Team-mate Riccardo Patrese was alongside him on the front row, while the McLarens of Senna and Gerhard Berger filled the second row. Michael Schumacher in the Benetton was fifth, followed by the two Lotuses of Johnny Herbert and Mika Häkkinen. The top ten was completed by Érik Comas in the Ligier, Andrea de Cesaris in the Tyrrell and Thierry Boutsen in the second Ligier.

Qualifying classification

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Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap
1 5 United Kingdom Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault 1:37.360 2:07.703 no time
2 6 Italy Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault 1:38.219 2:13.971 +0.859
3 1 Brazil Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 1:38.375 no time +1.015
4 2 Austria Gerhard Berger McLaren-Honda 1:40.296 no time +2.936
5 19 Germany Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 1:40.922 11:12.418 +3.562
6 12 United Kingdom Johnny Herbert Lotus-Ford 1:41.030 no time +3.670
7 11 Finland Mika Häkkinen Lotus-Ford 1:41.415 no time +4.055
8 26 France Érik Comas Ligier-Renault 1:42.187 no time +4.827
9 4 Italy Andrea de Cesaris Tyrrell-Ilmor 1:42.361 no time +5.001
10 25 Belgium Thierry Boutsen Ligier-Renault 1:42.428 no time +5.068
11 28 Italy Nicola Larini Ferrari 1:42.488 no time +5.128
12 23 Brazil Christian Fittipaldi Minardi-Lamborghini 1:42.617 no time +5.257
13 20 United Kingdom Martin Brundle Benetton-Ford 1:42.626 no time +5.266
14 24 Italy Gianni Morbidelli Minardi-Lamborghini 1:42.627 2:10.260 +5.267
15 27 France Jean Alesi Ferrari 1:42.824 no time +5.464
16 10 Japan Aguri Suzuki Footwork-Mugen-Honda 1:43.029 no time +5.669
17 32 Italy Stefano Modena Jordan-Yamaha 1:43.117 2:19.944 +5.757
18 29 France Bertrand Gachot Venturi-Lamborghini 1:43.156 no time +5.796
19 22 Italy Pierluigi Martini Dallara-Ferrari 1:43.251 no time +5.891
20 30 Japan Ukyo Katayama Venturi-Lamborghini 1:43.488 5:40.775 +6.128
21 3 France Olivier Grouillard Tyrrell-Ilmor 1:43.941 no time +6.581
22 21 Finland JJ Lehto Dallara-Ferrari 1:44.037 no time +6.677
23 16 Netherlands Jan Lammers March-Ilmor 1:44.075 no time +6.715
24 9 Italy Michele Alboreto Footwork-Mugen-Honda 1:44.149 2:25.413 +6.789
25 33 Brazil Maurício Gugelmin Jordan-Yamaha 1:44.253 no time +6.893
26 17 Italy Emanuele Naspetti March-Ilmor 1:47.303 no time +9.943
Source:[4][5][6]

Race

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Race report

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Mansell made a fast start and at the end of the first lap led Patrese by three seconds. Senna held on to third before becoming the race's first retirement on lap 3 with an engine failure. Meanwhile, Larini, who had qualified 11th, stalled on the grid and fell to last, while Boutsen's gearbox failed on lap 4. Olivier Grouillard in the second Tyrrell spun off and crashed at Spoon curve on lap 7.

Berger made an early pit stop and rejoined the race in sixth place, behind Schumacher and the two Lotuses. On lap 13, Schumacher retired with gearbox failure, his only mechanical retirement of the year; Herbert's gearbox also failed two laps later. After the mid-race pit stops for tyres, Mansell retained a comfortable lead over Patrese, while Berger moved ahead of Häkkinen into third and Martin Brundle, who had only qualified 13th in the second Benetton, moved up to fifth ahead of Comas and de Cesaris. Maurício Gugelmin in the second Jordan had also spun off the track and crashed at 130R leaving debris on the track by lap 23.

On lap 36, Mansell slowed and Patrese moved ahead. The following lap, Comas retired with an engine failure. The two Venturi Larousse cars collided at the chicanes as they were both on lap 40 at the time as Bertrand Gachot hit his Japanese teammate Ukyo Katayama and went off into the gravel trap, who managed to carry on and pit in for fresh tyres (despite making contact). On lap 45, both Mansell and Häkkinen suffered engine failures of their own; this moved Berger and Brundle into second and third respectively. Patrese cruised to his sixth and final Grand Prix victory, finishing 13 seconds ahead of Berger with Brundle a further minute back; the top six was completed by de Cesaris, Jean Alesi in the second Ferrari and Christian Fittipaldi, who scored his first point in Formula One and the only point of the season for the Minardi team.

Race classification

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Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 6 Italy Riccardo Patrese Williams-Renault 53 1:33:09.533 2 10
2 2 Austria Gerhard Berger McLaren-Honda 53 + 13.729 4 6
3 20 United Kingdom Martin Brundle Benetton-Ford 53 + 1:15.503 13 4
4 4 Italy Andrea de Cesaris Tyrrell-Ilmor 52 + 1 lap 9 3
5 27 France Jean Alesi Ferrari 52 + 1 lap 15 2
6 23 Brazil Christian Fittipaldi Minardi-Lamborghini 52 + 1 lap 12 1
7 32 Italy Stefano Modena Jordan-Yamaha 52 + 1 lap 17
8 10 Japan Aguri Suzuki Footwork-Mugen-Honda 52 + 1 lap 16
9 21 Finland JJ Lehto Dallara-Ferrari 52 + 1 lap 22
10 22 Italy Pierluigi Martini Dallara-Ferrari 52 + 1 lap 19
11 30 Japan Ukyo Katayama Venturi-Lamborghini 52 + 1 lap 20
12 28 Italy Nicola Larini Ferrari 52 + 1 lap 11
13 17 Italy Emanuele Naspetti March-Ilmor 51 + 2 laps 26
14 24 Italy Gianni Morbidelli Minardi-Lamborghini 51 + 2 laps 14
15 9 Italy Michele Alboreto Footwork-Mugen-Honda 51 + 2 laps 24
Ret 5 United Kingdom Nigel Mansell Williams-Renault 44 Engine 1
Ret 11 Finland Mika Häkkinen Lotus-Ford 44 Engine 7
Ret 29 France Bertrand Gachot Venturi-Lamborghini 39 Collision/Spun off 18
Ret 26 France Érik Comas Ligier-Renault 36 Engine 8
Ret 16 Netherlands Jan Lammers March-Ilmor 27 Clutch 23
Ret 33 Brazil Maurício Gugelmin Jordan-Yamaha 22 Spun off 25
Ret 12 United Kingdom Johnny Herbert Lotus-Ford 15 Gearbox 6
Ret 19 Germany Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 13 Gearbox 5
Ret 3 France Olivier Grouillard Tyrrell-Ilmor 6 Spun off 21
Ret 25 Belgium Thierry Boutsen Ligier-Renault 3 Gearbox 10
Ret 1 Brazil Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 2 Engine 3
Source:[7]

Championship standings after the race

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  • Bold text indicates the World Champions.
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

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  1. ^ "1992 Japanese Grand Prix | Motorsport Database".
  2. ^ "Formula 1 Honda Japanese Grand Prix 2022 – Media Kit" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 5 October 2022. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  3. ^ "Jan Lammers - Biography". Formula One Rejects. Archived from the original on 21 March 2013. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  4. ^ "Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix - QUALIFYING 1". formula1.com. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  5. ^ "Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix - QUALIFYING 2". formula1.com. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  6. ^ "Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix - OVERALL QUALIFYING". formula1.com. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  7. ^ "1992 Japanese Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 3 November 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  8. ^ a b "Japan 1992 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 4 March 2021.


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1992 Portuguese Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1992 season
Next race:
1992 Australian Grand Prix
Previous race:
1991 Japanese Grand Prix
Japanese Grand Prix Next race:
1993 Japanese Grand Prix