1990 San Marino Grand Prix

Previous race

At Interlagos, Prost won his 40th Grand Prix and his first for Ferrari. Senna led until he collided with former team-mate Satoru Nakajima while lapping him, requiring a nose change that dropped him to third. Boutsen’s pit stop went badly wrong — with failing brakes he couldn’t stop the car and hit mechanics and tyre equipment — and he dropped to 11th before recovering to fifth.

Championship standings

Senna leads with 13 points. Prost is second on 9, with Berger, Alesi and Boutsen level on 6 points.

Between-race developments

There is a six-week gap since Brazil, with several significant driver changes. At Brabham, Swiss driver Gregor Foitek has been replaced by David Brabham — the youngest son of team founder Sir Jack Brabham — who requested to skip the first two races to prepare himself. Foitek moves over to Onyx after their driver Stefan Johansson fell out with new team owner Peter Monteverdi. Gary Brabham quit the Life team, describing it as “totally disorganised and unprofessional”; veteran Bruno Giacomelli takes his seat, having last raced in Formula One in 1983. Emanuele Pirro returns to the Dallara squad, having missed the first two races due to hepatitis.

Entrants

Several teams have unveiled new cars. The Tyrrell 019 — designed by Harvey Postlethwaite — draws particular attention as the first Formula One car to feature a “high-nose” design, with downward-extending supports for the front wing.

Practice

In practice, both Alessandro Nannini and Pierluigi Martini crashed heavily. Martini cracked his heel and withdrew from the race.