1991 United States Grand Prix

Entrants

Jordan Grand Prix make their Formula 1 debut at Phoenix, running Andrea de Cesaris and Bertrand Gachot. Mika Häkkinen races in Formula 1 for the first time, lining up for Lotus.

Track changes

The Phoenix street circuit has been given a modified layout for 1991, designed to provide a greater challenge to drivers.

Milestones

This is the first Formula 1 race in which a win earns ten points rather than nine, and the first in which every result counts — there are no dropped scores across the sixteen-race season.

In the two previous seasons the championship was decided when Senna and Prost tangled at Suzuka: in 1989 as teammates, in 1990 with Prost now at Ferrari. The controversy surrounding the 1990 incident has built considerable anticipation for their rematch.

McLaren arrived having completed only one brief pre-season test, with both race cars finished at around 4 am on the Friday of race weekend. The Ferraris are expected to be the strongest challenger, though the V12 engine and seven-speed semi-automatic gearbox are not ideally suited to the tight turns and short straights of the street circuit.