Date June 10, 1990 Course length 4.390 km (2.728 mi) | Course Partial street circuit | |
Location Circuit Gilles Villeneuve
Montreal, Quebec, Canada Distance 70 laps, 307.300 km (190.947 mi) Weather Warm, cloudy, track damp but drying | ||
The 1990 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 10 June 1990 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. It was the 28th Canadian Grand Prix and the 12th to be held at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. The race was held over 70 laps of the four kilometre circuit for a race distance of 307 kilometres.
Contents
The race was won for the second time by Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna driving a McLaren MP4/5B. It was Senna's third win for the season having won the season-opening United States Grand Prix and the Monaco Grand Prix just two weeks earlier. Senna won by ten seconds over fellow Brazilian Nelson Piquet who drove a Benetton B190. Three second further back in third was British driver Nigel Mansell driving a Ferrari 641.
The win allowed Senna to gain a twelve-point lead in the drivers' championship over his McLaren team mate Gerhard Berger. His nearest competitive rival, Ferrari driver Alain Prost had less than half of Senna's points.
Race report
In a race with a McLaren front row, the team looked strong. Senna maintained the lead coming into the first corner with Berger second, but the Austrian was deemed to have jumped the start. A few laps into the race it was announced that Berger would have a one-minute penalty added to his race time. As a consequence, after a round of pitstops for new tyres, Senna allowed his teammate to pass him going into the hairpin so that the Austrian could set about gaining time in relation to his competitors.
The weather conditions were moist, making for a mildly slippery track. This caused spins from many. Thierry Boutsen, the 1989 winner, spun mid-race while trying to pass Prost while approaching a corner, and clouted into the Ligier of Nicola Larini as he spun.
Nannini spun off the track into a tire wall. Shortly afterward on lap 26, Jean Alesi lost control while challenging another car and spun into the same tire barrier, ending up on top of Nannini's abandoned Benetton B190. The Benetton was written off when hit by the Tyrrell, leaving team mechanics with a massive rebuild before the next race in Mexico.
In the end, Berger had crossed the line first but was assessed a one-minute penalty for a jumped start. Races at that point in time included the amount of time to finish the race as part of the final scoring, with penalties assessed to that effect. Piquet finished second after a determined battle with the two Ferraris where he forced his way past Prost's Ferrari going into the hairpin. It was the Benetton driver's first podium finish since the 1988 Australian Grand Prix. Prost was later passed at the same place by teammate Mansell who went on to finish third. Berger also beat Prost by taking 4th despite his penalty.