1992 Monaco Grand Prix

Championship standings

Mansell leads the championship by 26 points after five wins from five starts, with Patrese second on 24 points. Schumacher holds third with 20 points. Reigning champion Senna is only fourth, having accumulated just eight points from the opening five races.

Previous race

Mansell took his fifth consecutive win at Imola, leading every lap. Senna finished third but was unable to get out of his car after the chequered flag due to physical discomfort suffered throughout the race. Schumacher spun out on lap 21 after contact with the tyre wall, and both Berger and Alesi were eliminated in a collision at Tosa on lap 40, each side blaming the other.

Entrants

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo publicly announced that Ivan Capelli’s position within the team was “safe” in response to criticism from the Italian Autosprint magazine about Capelli’s performances. Autosport reported on Thursday that Capelli was “about to be replaced” according to Italian rumours, and Ferrari’s admission that test driver Gianni Morbidelli had conducted most of their Imola testing before Monaco — while the team stated Capelli had been “on holiday,” which Capelli denied — had done little to ease the speculation. Morbidelli starts from the pit lane after his car fails to start on the formation lap.

Lotus brings a second new 107 chassis for Häkkinen at Monaco; only one had been available for Herbert at San Marino.

Monaco’s last eight winners have all been either Senna or Prost, and Mansell is seeking his first victory here.

Practice

Qualifying at Monaco runs over two one-hour sessions — Thursday afternoon and Saturday afternoon — with the fastest time from either session counting for the grid. Thursday practice runs beforehand.

During Thursday qualifying, Berger’s front suspension broke at the Massenet corner, sending him into the barriers heavily. Berger commented: “I was really pushing hard and the car just didn’t turn into the corner. I think something may have broken. It was a big shunt. I’m surprised I wasn’t hurt.” Alesi spun and was forced onto used tyres in the spare car. Patrese was impeded by Bertrand Gachot on a qualifying lap and went to the Larrousse pit to confront him physically.

On Saturday morning, Martini crashed in the tunnel during practice, causing damage to the barrier that took 40 minutes to repair and delayed the start of Saturday qualifying by 30 minutes. During Sunday’s warm-up, Aguri Suzuki crashed at Tabac and was taken to hospital for checks, but was later pronounced fit to race.

Qualifying

Mansell went fastest on Saturday with a 1:19.495, which he later described as “a totally clear lap,” claiming his sixth consecutive pole. Patrese qualifies second. Senna is third despite spinning into the tyre barrier at Mirabeau and losing his rear wing. Roberto Moreno pre-qualifies for the first time this season for Andrea Moda, qualifying 26th — reportedly causing “rejoicing” in the Andrea Moda pit.