1989 Monaco Grand Prix
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 3 of 16 in the 1989 Formula One season | |||
 |
|||
| Date | 7 May 1989 | ||
| Official name | XLVII Grand Prix Automobile de Monaco | ||
| Location |
Circuit de Monaco Monte Carlo |
||
| Course | Temporary street circuit | ||
| Course length | 3.328 km (2.068 mi) | ||
| Distance | 77 laps, 256.256 km (159.230 mi) | ||
| Weather | Warm, dry, sunny | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | McLaren-Honda | ||
| Time | 1:22.308 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 Alain Prost
|
McLaren-Honda | |
| Time | 1:25.501 on lap 59 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | McLaren-Honda | ||
| Second | McLaren-Honda | ||
| Third | Brabham-Judd | ||
The 1989 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monaco on 7 May 1989. It was the third race of the 1989 Formula One season.
The field was one fewer in Monaco as Ferrari had decided not to run a second car to replace Gerhard Berger, who was injured in an accident at Imola. Elsewhere Tyrrell had new cars that looked promising. Ayrton Senna was on pole by a full second over teammate Alain Prost with Thierry Boutsen sharing row two with the surprisingly competitive Brabham of Martin Brundle. Nigel Mansell was fifth followed by Derek Warwick, Riccardo Patrese, Stefano Modena, Alex Caffi, and Andrea de Cesaris. The Coloni team got both its cars into a race for the only time, allowing driver Pierre-Henri Raphanel to make his Grand Prix debut.
What made the qualifying laps of Brundle, Modena and Caffi all the more impressive was that each driver had to go through pre-qualifying to get there. And Brundle had only just scraped through pre-qualifying by 0.021 seconds. It was at this race that many in the paddock started noticing that the Pirelli qualifying tyres were superior to Goodyear's (the Brabhams and Caffi's Dallara ran on Pirelli rubber).
At the start Senna got away brilliantly and Prost could do nothing but slot into second on the tight circuit where pole position counts more than at any other circuit. The McLarens proceeded to pull away from the field as usual while behind them Williams were in all sorts of trouble, as both Boutsen and Patrese had to stop for new rear wings. Nigel Mansell went out on lap 20 with more gearbox issues for Ferrari and one of the talking points of the race came on lap 33 when de Cesaris attempted to pass Nelson Piquet at Loews Hairpin. The predictable accident occurred and some choice words were exchanged between the two drivers (while still in their respective cars) and a huge traffic jam was caused. Brundle was looking good until he had to stop for a new battery and dropped back to seventh.
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