1990 FIA Formula One World Championship

The 1990 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 44th season of FIA Formula One motor racing, which commenced on 11 March 1990 and ended on 4 November after sixteen races. Ayrton Senna won the Drivers' Championship for the second time, and McLaren-Honda won their third consecutive Constructors' Championship.

The championship featured a dramatic battle between Senna and former team-mate Alain Prost, who had made the switch to Ferrari. Prost mounted Ferrari's first title challenge for several years, and led the championship after three consecutive mid-season wins. Senna fought back strongly and went into the penultimate round at the Suzuka circuit in Japan with a nine-point lead over Prost. There, Senna took pole position only for Prost to beat him off the line; the Brazilian driver then drove into the Frenchman at the first corner, putting both out and thus settling the championship in Senna's favour. This was the second year in succession that the two drivers had collided at Suzuka. Senna admitted the following year that the collision was deliberate, as he was furious that Prost had been able to start on the clean side of the grid and had decided that he was not going to allow the Frenchman to 'make the corner' should he lose the start.

The following teams and drivers competed in the 1990 FIA Formula One World Championship.

McLaren retained 1988 champion Ayrton Senna, now partnered by Gerhard Berger. Ferrari signed reigning World Champion Alain Prost, Senna's great rival and former team-mate, to partner Nigel Mansell. The other main team, Williams, retained their 1989 pairing of Thierry Boutsen and Riccardo Patrese. Benetton retained Alessandro Nannini, now in his third year with the team, and signed triple world champion Nelson Piquet, who had had two disappointing years at Lotus in 1988 and 1989. Piquet's contract turned out to be incentive-based: he would be paid US$100,000 for every point scored, though he was also paid a season retainer.

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