Motor car race
The
1992 Japanese Grand Prix
(formally the
XVIII Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix
) was a
Formula One
motor race held at
Suzuka
on 25 October 1992. It was the fifteenth race of the
1992 Formula One World Championship
.
The 53-lap race was won by Italian driver
Riccardo Patrese
, driving a
Williams
-
Renault
. It was Patrese's sixth and final Grand Prix victory, and the last win for an Italian driver for over a decade, until
Giancarlo Fisichella
won the
2003 Brazilian Grand Prix
. Austrian
Gerhard Berger
finished second in a
McLaren
-
Honda
, with Englishman
Martin Brundle
third in a
Benetton
-
Ford
.
Pre-race
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Two driver changes took place before the race:
Ferrari
replaced
Ivan Capelli
with their test driver
Nicola Larini
, while
Karl Wendlinger
left
March
to join
Sauber
's preparatory program ahead of the Swiss team's debut in 1993. His place was taken by
Jan Lammers
, making his first F1 start for over 10 years.
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Qualifying
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Qualifying report
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In qualifying,
Williams
'
Nigel Mansell
took his 13th pole position of the season, equalling the record set by
Ayrton Senna
in
1988
and
1989
. Team-mate
Riccardo Patrese
was alongside him on the front row, while the
McLarens
of Senna and
Gerhard Berger
filled the second row.
Michael Schumacher
in the
Benetton
was fifth, followed by the two
Lotuses
of
Johnny Herbert
and
Mika Hakkinen
. The top ten was completed by
Erik Comas
in the
Ligier
,
Andrea de Cesaris
in the
Tyrrell
and
Thierry Boutsen
in the second Ligier.
Qualifying classification
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Race
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Race report
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Mansell made a fast start and at the end of the first lap led Patrese by three seconds. Senna held on to third before becoming the race's first retirement on lap 3 with an engine failure. Meanwhile, Larini, who had qualified 11th, stalled on the grid and fell to last, while Boutsen's gearbox failed on lap 4.
Olivier Grouillard
in the second Tyrrell spun off and crashed at Spoon curve on lap 7.
Berger made an early pit stop and rejoined the race in sixth place, behind Schumacher and the two Lotuses. On lap 13, Schumacher retired with gearbox failure, his only mechanical retirement of the year; Herbert's gearbox also failed two laps later. After the mid-race pit stops for tyres, Mansell retained a comfortable lead over Patrese, while Berger moved ahead of Hakkinen into third and
Martin Brundle
, who had only qualified 13th in the second Benetton, moved up to fifth ahead of Comas and de Cesaris.
Mauricio Gugelmin
in the second Jordan had also spun off the track and crashed at 130R leaving debris on the track by lap 23.
On lap 36, Mansell slowed and Patrese moved ahead. The following lap, Comas retired with an engine failure. The two Venturi Larousse cars collided at the chicanes as they were both on lap 40 at the time as
Bertrand Gachot
hit his Japanese teammate
Ukyo Katayama
and went off into the gravel trap, who managed to carry on and pit in for fresh tyres (despite making contact). On lap 45, both Mansell and Hakkinen suffered engine failures of their own; this moved Berger and Brundle into second and third respectively. Patrese cruised to his sixth and final Grand Prix victory, finishing 13 seconds ahead of Berger with Brundle a further minute back; the top six was completed by de Cesaris,
Jean Alesi
in the second Ferrari and
Christian Fittipaldi
, who scored his first point in Formula One and the only point of the season for the
Minardi
team.
Race classification
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Championship standings after the race
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- Bold text
indicates the World Champions.
- Drivers' Championship standings
|
- Constructors' Championship standings
|
- Note
: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References
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