Date 17 May 1992 | Course length 5.040 km (3.144 mi) | |
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Official name XII Gran Premio Iceberg di San Marino Course Permanent racing facility Distance 60 laps, 302.400 km (188.646 mi) | ||
The 1992 San Marino Grand Prix (formally the XII Gran Premio Iceberg di San Marino) was a Formula One motor race held at Imola on 17 May 1992. The 60-lap race was the fifth round of the 1992 Formula One season and was won by Nigel Mansell driving a Williams-Renault.
Contents
Qualifying
The Andrea Modas of Roberto Moreno and Perry McCarthy were eliminated in pre-qualifying, while the main qualifying session saw the Lotus of Mika Häkkinen, the Fondmetal of Andrea Chiesa, and the Brabhams of Damon Hill and Eric van de Poele eliminated. This would turn out to be the only race of 1992 in which Häkkinen failed to qualify.
Mansell took pole position by over a second from Williams team-mate Riccardo Patrese. The McLarens of Ayrton Senna and Gerhard Berger took up the second row, while the Benettons of Michael Schumacher and Martin Brundle filled the third row. The top ten was completed by the Ferraris of Jean Alesi and Ivan Capelli, the Footwork of Michele Alboreto, and the Ligier of Thierry Boutsen.
Mansell's pole position saw one of Formula One's hottest streaks come to an end, as Senna had taken pole in each of the previous seven races at Imola.
Race
The first start was aborted due to Karl Wendlinger's March stalling; he eventually started the race at the back of the grid. Stefano Modena started from the pit lane in his Jordan.
Mansell led every lap, finishing nearly ten seconds ahead of Patrese. Senna finished third, nearly forty seconds behind Patrese, but was unable to take his place on the podium due to discomfort he suffered all race, and was unable to get out of his car until long after the race ended. Mansell's win continued his perfect start to the 1992 season, with five wins from the opening five races; this broke the record of successive wins from the start of the season set by Senna the previous year.
Brundle finished fourth to pick up his first points of 1992. Alboreto finished fifth, and Pierluigi Martini finished sixth, scoring what would prove to be the Dallara team's last point in Formula One.