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The 1986 Brazilian Grand Prix, otherwise known as the XV Grande Prêmio do Brasil, was the opening race of the 1986 FIA Formula One World Championship, staged at the Jacarepaguá Circuit on the 23 March 1986.[1] The race, which was the first in which naturally aspirated cars were banned, would see Nelson Piquet claim victory on his debut for Williams-Honda.[1]

Indeed, Piquet's move was one of a number made during a turbulent winter, with the Brazilian joining Nigel Mansell.[1] Furthermore, the closing of Renault and Alfa Romeo's respective factory teams over the winter had left a number of drivers without seats, with Derek Warwick the biggest victim when his move to Lotus-Renault was blocked by their new lead driver Ayrton Senna.[1]

Having wielded his political power effectively over the winter, Senna proved that he was the right driver for the Ethel squad to back when he swept to pole during qualifying.[1] He would be joined on an all-Brazilian front row by the aforementioned Piquet, while Mansell beat new Ligier-Renault employee René Arnoux to third.[1] Defending Champion Alain Prost, meanwhile, would start the season from ninth behind his new teammate Keke Rosberg.[1]

It was Mansell who made the best start on raceday, although he soon found himself skating towards the barriers as Senna refused to give the Brit any room through the first corner.[1] As such it was Senna who led the field on the opening tour, while Mansell was left to climb out of his shattered Williams.[1]

In contrast new teammate Piquet would show that discretion was the better part of valour, and duly eased past Senna without too much issue on lap three.[1] With that the two time Champion simply disappeared up the road from his compatriot, and would only lose the lead again when he stopped for fresh tyres.[1]

Senna was therefore left to fend off a charging Prost, who would duly pass the #12 Lotus and claim the lead once Piquet stopped, only to retire with an engine failure mid-race.[1] The returning Arnoux duly inherited third once the final stops were made, although he was steadily being caught by teammate Jacques Laffite, and Lotus debutante Johnny Dumfries.[1]

A second round of stops would not significantly re-shape the order, although Dumfries was to be hobbled by an electrical fault that Lotus were unable to cure.[1] Indeed, the Scotsman came in so suddenly that his pit crew mistakenly put Senna's tyres on his car, and hence lost more time when they changed back to his proper set, without fixing his issue.[1]

Out front, meanwhile, there would be no stopping Piquet, with the Brazilian cruising home to claim victory in front of a jubilant home crowd.[1] Senna was half a minute behind in second, while Laffite overhauled Arnoux in the closing stages to complete the podium.[1]

Background[]

Entry list[]

The full entry list for the 1986 Brazilian Grand Prix is outlined below:

No. Driver Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine Model Tyre
1 France Alain Prost United Kingdom Marlboro McLaren International McLaren MP4/2C TAG Porsche TTE PO1 1.5 V6t G
2 Finland Keke Rosberg United Kingdom Marlboro McLaren International McLaren MP4/2C TAG Porsche TTE PO1 1.5 V6t G
3 United Kingdom Martin Brundle United Kingdom Data General Team Tyrrell Tyrrell 014 Renault EF15 1.5 V6t G
4 France Philippe Streiff United Kingdom Data General Team Tyrrell Tyrrell 014 Renault EF15 1.5 V6t G
5 United Kingdom Nigel Mansell United Kingdom Canon Williams Honda Team Williams FW11 Honda RA166E 1.5 V6t G
6 Brazil Nelson Piquet United Kingdom Canon Williams Honda Team Williams FW11 Honda RA166E 1.5 V6t G
7 Italy Riccardo Patrese United Kingdom Motor Racing Developments Ltd. Brabham BT55 BMW M12/13 1.5 L4t P
8 Italy Elio de Angelis United Kingdom Motor Racing Developments Ltd. Brabham BT55 BMW M12/13 1.5 L4t P
9 New Zealand Mike Thackwell United Kingdom RAM Racing for Australia RAM 03B Hart 415T 1.5 L4t P
11 United Kingdom Johnny Dumfries United Kingdom John Player Special Team Lotus Lotus 98T Renault EF15B 1.5 V6t G
12 Brazil Ayrton Senna United Kingdom John Player Special Team Lotus Lotus 98T Renault EF15B 1.5 V6t G
14 United Kingdom Jonathan Palmer West Germany West Zakspeed Racing Zakspeed 861 Zakspeed 1500/4 1.5 L4t G
15 Australia Alan Jones United States Team Haas (USA) Ltd. Lola THL1 Hart 415T 1.5 L4t G
16 France Patrick Tambay United States Team Haas (USA) Ltd. Lola THL1 Hart 415T 1.5 L4t G
17 Switzerland Marc Surer United Kingdom Barclay Nordica Arrows BMW Arrows A8 BMW M12/13 1.5 L4t G
18 Belgium Thierry Boutsen United Kingdom Barclay Nordica Arrows BMW Arrows A8 BMW M12/13 1.5 L4t G
19 Italy Teo Fabi United Kingdom Benetton Formula Ltd. Benetton B186 BMW M12/13 1.5 L4t P
20 Austria Gerhard Berger United Kingdom Benetton Formula Ltd. Benetton B186 BMW M12/13 1.5 L4t P
21 Italy Piercarlo Ghinzani Italy Osella Squadra Corse Osella FA1F Alfa Romeo 890T 1.5 L4t P
22 West Germany Christian Danner Italy Osella Squadra Corse Osella FA1G Alfa Romeo 890T 1.5 L4t P
23 Italy Andrea de Cesaris Italy Minardi F1 Team Minardi M185B Motori Moderni 615-90 1.5 V6t P
24 Italy Alessandro Nannini Italy Minardi F1 Team Minardi M185B Motori Moderni 615-90 1.5 V6t P
25 France René Arnoux France Equipe Ligier Ligier JS27 Renault EF4B 1.5 V6t P
26 France Jacques Laffite France Equipe Ligier Ligier JS27 Renault EF15 1.5 V6t P
27 Italy Michele Alboreto Italy Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC Ferrari F186 Ferrari 032 1.5 V6t G
28 Sweden Stefan Johansson Italy Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC Ferrari F186 Ferrari 032 1.5 V6t G
Source:[2]

Practice Overview[]

Qualifying[]

Friday Qualifying[]

Saturday Qualifying[]

Qualifying Results[]

The full qualifying results for the 1986 Brazilian Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Time Gap
Q1 Q2
1 12 Brazil Ayrton Senna United Kingdom Lotus-Renault 1:26.893 1:25.501
2 6 Brazil Nelson Piquet United Kingdom Williams-Honda 1:26.266 1:26.755 +0.765s
3 5 United Kingdom Nigel Mansell United Kingdom Williams-Honda 1:27.406 1:26.749 +1.248s
4 25 France René Arnoux France Ligier-Renault 1:30.563 1:27.133 +1.632s
5 26 France Jacques Laffite France Ligier-Renault 1:30.175 1:27.190 +1.689s
6 27 Italy Michele Alboreto Italy Ferrari 1:30.156 1:27.485 +1.984s
7 2 Finland Keke Rosberg United Kingdom McLaren-TAG Porsche 1:28.763 1:27.705 +2.204s
8 28 Sweden Stefan Johansson Italy Ferrari 1:30.363 1:27.711 +2.210s
9 1 France Alain Prost United Kingdom McLaren-TAG Porsche 1:28.467 1:28.099 +2.598s
10 7 Italy Riccardo Patrese United Kingdom Brabham-BMW 1:29.294 +3.793s
11 11 United Kingdom Johnny Dumfries United Kingdom Lotus-Renault 1:30.452 1:29.503 +4.002s
12 19 Italy Teo Fabi United Kingdom Benetton-BMW 1:31.138 1:29.748 +4.247s
13 16 France Patrick Tambay United States Lola-Hart 1:31.429 1:30.594 +5.093s
14 8 Italy Elio de Angelis United Kingdom Brabham-BMW 1:31.682 1:31.074 +5.573s
15 18 Belgium Thierry Boutsen United Kingdom Arrows-BMW 1:32.911 1:31.244 +5.743s
16 20 Austria Gerhard Berger United Kingdom Benetton-BMW 1:31.653 1:31.313 +5.812s
17 3 United Kingdom Martin Brundle United Kingdom Tyrrell-Renault 1:32.983 1:32.009 +6.508s
18 4 France Philippe Streiff United Kingdom Tyrrell-Renault 1:35.669 1:32.388 +6.887s
19 15 Australia Alan Jones United States Lola-Hart 1:33.664 1:33.236 +7.735s
20 17 Switzerland Marc Surer United Kingdom Arrows-BMW 1:33.781 1:34.144 +8.280s
21 14 United Kingdom Jonathan Palmer West Germany Zakspeed 1:35.199 1:33.784 +8.283s
22 23 Italy Andrea de Cesaris Italy Minardi-Motori Moderni 1:37.835 1:34.646 +9.145s
23 21 Italy Piercarlo Ghinzani Italy Osella-Alfa Romeo 1:38.165 1:35.980 +10.479s
24 22 West Germany Christian Danner Italy Osella-Alfa Romeo 1:39.389 1:36.558 +11.057s
25 24 Italy Alessandro Nannini Italy Minardi-Motori Moderni 1:40.739 1:37.466 +11.965s
WD* 9 New Zealand Mike Thackwell United Kingdom RAM-Hart Withdrawn
Source:[3][4][5]
  • T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car to set their best time in that session.
  • Bold indicates a driver's best/qualifying time.
  • * Thackwell's entry was withdrawn after RAM failed to arrive.[6]

Grid[]

Pos. Pos.
Driver Driver
______________
Row 1 ______________ 1
2 Ayrton Senna
Nelson Piquet ______________
Row 2 ______________ 3
4 Nigel Mansell
René Arnoux ______________
Row 3 ______________ 5
6 Jacques Laffite
Michele Alboreto ______________
Row 4 ______________ 7
8 Keke Rosberg
Stefan Johansson ______________
Row 5 ______________ 9
10 Alain Prost
Riccardo Patrese ______________
Row 6 ______________ 11
12 Johnny Dumfries
Teo Fabi ______________
Row 7 ______________ 13
14 Patrick Tambay
Elio de Angelis ______________
Row 8 ______________ 15
16 Thierry Boutsen
Gerhard Berger ______________
Row 9 ______________ 17
18 Martin Brundle
Philippe Streiff ______________
Row 10 ______________ 19
20 Alan Jones
Marc Surer ______________
Row 11 ______________ 21
22 Jonathan Palmer
Andrea de Cesaris ______________
Row 12 ______________ 23
24 Piercarlo Ghinzani
Christian Danner ______________
Row 13 ______________ 25
26 Alessandro Nannini
______________

Race[]

Report[]

Results[]

The full results for the 1986 Brazilian Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 6 Brazil Nelson Piquet United Kingdom Williams-Honda 61 1:39:32.583 2 9
2 12 Brazil Ayrton Senna United Kingdom Lotus-Renault 61 +34.827s 1 6
3 26 France Jacques Laffite France Ligier-Renault 61 +59.759s 5 4
4 25 France René Arnoux France Ligier-Renault 61 +1:28.429 4 3
5 3 United Kingdom Martin Brundle United Kingdom Tyrrell-Renault 60 +1 Lap 17 2
6 20 Austria Gerhard Berger United Kingdom Benetton-BMW 59 +2 Laps 16 1
7 4 France Philippe Streiff United Kingdom Tyrrell-Renault 59 +2 Laps 18
8 8 Italy Elio de Angelis United Kingdom Brabham-BMW 58 +3 Laps 14
9 11 United Kingdom Johnny Dumfries United Kingdom Lotus-Renault 58 +4 Laps 11
10 19 Italy Teo Fabi United Kingdom Benetton-BMW 56 +5 Laps 12
Ret 18 Belgium Thierry Boutsen United Kingdom Arrows-BMW 37 Exhaust 15
Ret 27 Italy Michele Alboreto Italy Ferrari 35 Fuel system 6
Ret 1 France Alain Prost United Kingdom McLaren-TAG Porsche 30 Engine 9
Ret 22 West Germany Christian Danner Italy Osella-Alfa Romeo 29 Engine 24
Ret 28 Sweden Stefan Johansson Italy Ferrari 26 Brakes 8
Ret 16 France Patrick Tambay United States Lola-Hart 24 Battery 13
Ret 7 Italy Riccardo Patrese United Kingdom Brabham-BMW 21 Water leak 10
Ret 14 United Kingdom Jonathan Palmer West Germany Zakspeed 20 Engine 21
Ret 17 Switzerland Marc Surer United Kingdom Arrows-BMW 19 Engine 20
Ret 24 Italy Alessandro Nannini Italy Minardi-Motori Moderni 18 Clutch 25
Ret 23 Italy Andrea de Cesaris Italy Minardi-Motori Moderni 16 Turbo 22
Ret 21 Italy Piercarlo Ghinzani Italy Osella-Alfa Romeo 16 Engine 23
Ret 2 Finland Keke Rosberg United Kingdom McLaren-TAG Porsche 6 Engine 7
Ret 15 Australia Alan Jones United States Lola-Hart 5 Injection 19
Ret 5 United Kingdom Nigel Mansell United Kingdom Williams-Honda 0 Accident 3
WD 9 New Zealand Mike Thackwell United Kingdom RAM-Hart
Source:[6]
  • T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car.

Milestones[]

Standings[]

Victory at the opening race of the season left Nelson Piquet, unsurprisingly, at the head of the Championship, the Brazilian's win on home soil earning him nine points. Ayrton Senna, meanwhile, would kick off his bid for a maiden crown with second, while Jacques Laffite claimed third. René Arnoux, meanwhile, would start the season with a fourth place finish for the third consecutive season, with Martin Brundle and Gerhard Berger the only other scorers.

It was a more complicated picture in the Constructors Championship after the opening race, with Williams-Honda only holding a two point lead. Indeed, a third and fourth place finish for Ligier-Renault meant that they scored seven points at the opening race, leaving them a point clear of Lotus-Renault in third. Tyrrell-Renault and Benetton-BMW were the only other scorers.

World Championship for Drivers
Pos. Driver Pts. +/-
1 Brazil Nelson Piquet 9
2 Brazil Ayrton Senna 6
3 France Jacques Laffite 4
4 France René Arnoux 3
5 United Kingdom Martin Brundle 2
6 Austria Gerhard Berger 1
World Championship for Constructors
Pos. Team Pts. +/-
1 United Kingdom Williams-Honda 9
2 France Ligier-Renault 7
3 United Kingdom Lotus-Renault 6
4 United Kingdom Tyrrell-Renault 2
5 United Kingdom Benetton-BMW 1

Only point scoring drivers and constructors are shown.

References[]

Images and Videos:

References:

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 'Brazilian GP, 1986', grandprix.com, (Inside F1 Inc., 2015), http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr421.html, (Accessed 27/03/2019)
  2. 'Brazil 1986: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1986/bresil/engages.aspx, (Accessed 27/03/2019)
  3. '15. Grande Premio do Brasil de Formula 1 - QUALIFYING 1', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2019), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1986/races/498/brazil/qualifying-1.html, (Accessed 27/03/2019)
  4. '15. Grande Premio do Brasil de Formula 1 - QUALIFYING 2', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2019), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1986/races/498/brazil/qualifying-2.html, (Accessed 27/03/2019)
  5. 'Brazil 1986: Qualifications', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1986/bresil/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 27/03/2019)
  6. 6.0 6.1 'Brazil 1986: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1986/bresil/classement.aspx, (Accessed 30/01/2019)
  7. 7.0 7.1 '1986 Brazilian GP', chicanef1.com, (Chicane F1, 2015), http://www.chicanef1.com/racetit.pl?year=1986&gp=Brazilian%20GP&r=1, (Accessed 27/03/2019)
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 '1. Brazil 1986', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), http://www.statsf1.com/en/1986/bresil.aspx, (Accessed 27/03/2019)
V T E 1986 Formula One Season
Teams McLaren • Tyrrell • Williams • Brabham • Lotus • Zakspeed • Lola • Arrows • Benetton • Osella • Minardi • Ligier • Ferrari • AGS
Engines Alfa Romeo • BMW • Ferrari • Ford • Hart • Honda • Motori Moderni • Renault • TAG • Zakspeed
Drivers Prost • 2 Rosberg • 3 Brundle • 4 Streiff • 5 Mansell • 6 Piquet • 7 Patrese • 8 De Angelis • 8 Warwick • 11 Dumfries • 12 Senna • 14 Palmer • 29 Rothengatter • 15 Jones • 16 Tambay • 16 Cheever • 17 Surer • 17 Danner • 18 Boutsen • 19 Fabi • 20 Berger • 21 Ghinzani • 22 Danner • 22 Berg • 22 Caffi • 23 De Cesaris • 24 Nannini • 25 Arnoux • 26 Laffite • 26 Alliot • 27 Alboreto • 28 Johansson • 31 Capelli
Other Drivers Barilla
Cars Williams FW11 • McLaren MP4/2C • Lotus 98T • Ferrari F1/86 • Ligier JS27 • Benetton B186 • Tyrrell 014 • Tyrrell 015 • Lola THL1 • Lola THL2 • Brabham BT55 • Arrows A8 • Arrows A9 • Zakspeed 861 • Minardi M185B • Minardi M186 • Osella FA1G • Osella FA1F • Osella FA1H • AGS JH21C
Tyres Goodyear • Pirelli
Races Brazil • Spain • San Marino • Monaco • Belgium • Canada • Detroit • France • Britain • Germany • Hungary • Austria • Italy • Portugal • Mexico • Australia
See also 1985 Formula One Season • 1987 Formula One Season • Category
V T E Brazil Brazilian Grand Prix
Circuits Interlagos (1972–1977, 1979–1980, 1990–2019), Jacarepaguá (1978, 1981–1989)
Interlagos1990
Races (Brazilian GP) 197319741975197619771978197919801981198219831984198519861987198819891990199119921993199419951996199719981999200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020
Non-Championship Race 1972
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