1992 South African Grand Prix

Entrants

The season opener doubles as the first post-apartheid South African Grand Prix, the last running of the race having been in 1985 during Prime Minister P. W. Botha’s state of emergency. As the revised Kyalami circuit is new to the Formula One calendar, two acclimatization sessions are held on the Thursday before the main weekend.

The Andrea Moda team, which purchased the Coloni operation, is excluded from the event before pre-qualifying begins. Stewards rule that Andrea Moda bought Coloni’s cars and facilities but not its Formula One entry, making it a new team liable for the $100,000 new-entrant guarantee under Article 41 of the Sporting Regulations. Team owner Andrea Sassetti disputes the ruling and lodges an appeal, but non-payment means exclusion. With only four cars remaining in the pre-qualifying pool, the session is cancelled.

Five debutants are entered: Ukyo Katayama in the Venturi Larrousse, Christian Fittipaldi at Minardi, Giovanna Amati and Eric van de Poele in the two Brabhams, Paul Belmondo in the second March, and Andrea Chiesa in the Fondmetal. Three fail to qualify — Belmondo, Chiesa, and Amati. Stefano Modena also fails to qualify in the Jordan, whose Yamaha engine suffers reliability problems. Katayama qualifies 18th and Fittipaldi 20th.

Qualifying

Mansell takes pole by almost three-quarters of a second from Senna in second, with Berger third and Patrese fourth. Alesi qualifies fifth in the Ferrari as the only other driver within two seconds of Mansell’s time. Schumacher is sixth in his Benetton.