1991 German Grand Prix

Championship standings

After eight rounds, Senna leads Mansell by 18 points — 51 to 33. Patrese is third with 22, Prost fourth with 21.

Previous race

At Silverstone, Mansell took pole, led every lap, and set fastest lap — a grand slam on home ground in front of an enormous crowd. Senna ran out of fuel on the final lap and was classified fourth. On his slowing-down lap, Mansell stopped beside Senna’s stranded McLaren and drove him back to the pits with Senna perched on the car.

Between-race developments

Senna spent a night in hospital in Mannheim after crashing during testing the week before the race. A tyre failure at the end of a long straight caused the car to launch fifteen feet into the air and overturn; he suffered neck and chest bruising. The pre-qualifying group has been reshuffled at the season’s midpoint: Jordan and Dallara, having both scored points, are now exempt; Brabham, AGS, and Footwork must now pre-qualify. At Lotus, Michael Bartels replaces Johnny Herbert, who has Japanese Formula 3000 commitments. Alex Caffi has returned at Footwork. Satoru Nakajima has announced he will retire at the end of the season.

Milestones

This is the first German Grand Prix to be held since the reunification of Germany.

Practice

Érik Comas suffered a heavy accident at the Ostkurve chicane in Saturday practice. The Ligier driver was unhurt, but the incident raised questions about the safety of the second chicane.