1989 Mexican Grand Prix

Championship standings

Senna leads the championship after back-to-back wins at San Marino and Monaco. McLaren’s dominance has reasserted itself following Ferrari’s sole win in Brazil, though the 640’s semi-automatic gearbox continues to cause reliability problems.

Previous race

At Monaco, Senna won by nearly a full minute over Prost, who lost over 20 seconds in a single lap when René Arnoux ignored blue flags ahead of him and Prost was unable to pass the Ligier for several laps. Stefano Modena finished third for Brabham on its return to Formula One — the team’s last podium. Alex Caffi was fourth for Dallara, both he and the team scoring their first-ever points. Mansell was out on lap 20 with more gearbox trouble.

Entrants

Gerhard Berger returns to the Ferrari cockpit despite continued pain in his fingers following his Imola accident. He admits that without the 640’s semi-automatic gearbox — removing the need to change gears with his sore hands — he would not have been able to race. Nicola Larini had been on standby to replace Berger at Ferrari had he not recovered in time.

Senna takes his 33rd career pole position, equalling the long-standing record held by Jim Clark.