1992 South African Grand Prix

Lore & Background

Nigel Mansell dominated the weekend in his Williams-Renault, taking pole position, fastest lap and leading every lap of the race en route to victory for the second time in his career. Mansell's teammate, Riccardo Patrese, asserted the dominance of the car by completing a 1–2 finish. Ayrton Senna completed the podium for the McLaren team. This was the first post-apartheid South African Grand Prix, the last running of the race having been in 1985 (also won by Mansell driving a Williams, but with a Honda turbo-engine) during Premier P. W. Botha's state of emergency. It was held on a revised Kyalami circuit, which used only a small part of the old layout.

In Their Own Story

The Kyalami sun hammered down on the tarmac, turning the air into a shimmering haze. Inside the cockpit of the orange-and-white MP4/7A, Ayrton Senna felt the familiar vibration of the Honda V12 singing its high-pitched aria. The Williams cars ahead were faster in a straight line, their active suspension eating up the bumps with mechanical indifference, but here, on the twisting back straights and through the fast corners, the gap narrowed. Senna's hands moved with fluid precision, downshifting early, feeling the rear end step out just enough to rotate the car. He wasn't fighting the car; he was dancing with it. As he approached the final sector, the Williams of Mansell began to pull away on the straight, but Senna knew the rhythm of Kyalami better than anyone. With a burst of throttle that sent a plume of tire smoke into the dry African air, he held his line, the engine screaming in protest, refusing to let the new era pass him by without one final roar.

Reader's Guide

Pre-race: As the revised Kyalami circuit was new to the Formula One calendar, there were two acclimatization sessions held on the Thursday before the Grand Prix weekend. A pre-qualifying session was to be held on Friday morning to eliminate two cars, allowing the other thirty to take part in the main qualifying sessions on Friday afternoon and Saturday. The entrants required to take part in pre-qualifying included the Larrousse team with their new Venturi LC92 chassis, driven by Bertrand Gachot and Ukyo Katayama; one car from each of the Fondmetal and Footwork teams (Andrea Chiesa and Michele Alboreto respectively); and two cars from the new Andrea Moda team. Andrea Moda, owned by Andrea Sassetti, had bought the Coloni team. They signed Alex Caffi and Enrico Bertaggia, and brought the Judd-engined Andrea Moda C4B to South Africa. A stewards' meeting on Thursday afternoon ruled that Andrea Moda was a new team, not a continuation of Coloni, and were therefore liable to pay a $100,000 guarantee. Failure to pay meant exclusion from the event. Sassetti appealed, but Andrea Moda's exclusion meant that pre-qualifying was cancelled. Qualifying: Mansell took pole position with a time almost three-quarters of a second faster than Senna in second, and over a second and a half faster than Patrese in fourth. Berger was third in the other McLaren. Jean Alesi was fifth, Michael Schumacher sixth, Karl Wendlinger seventh, Martin Brundle eighth, Ivan Capelli ninth, and Andrea de Cesaris tenth. Three debutants failed to qualify: Paul Belmondo, Andrea Chiesa, and Giovanna Amati. They were joined by Stefano Modena. Of the other two debutants, Katayama was 18th and Christian Fittipaldi 20th. Race: Mansell led from lights to flag, finishing nearly 25 seconds ahead of Patrese. Martin Brundle spun off on the first lap but continued until his clutch failed. Senna drove well to ensure he remained on the podium with a 1991 car. Schumacher finished fourth after Jean Alesi retired with engine failure on lap 41. Berger finished fifth, the last driver on the lead lap. Johnny Herbert finished sixth and took the final point for Lotus after Andrea de Cesaris retired when his Ilmor engine failed on lap 42.

Did You Know?

• Nigel Mansell led every lap of the race.
• This was the first post-apartheid South African Grand Prix.
• The race was held on a revised Kyalami circuit that used only a small part of the old layout.
• Andrea Moda was excluded from the event, leading to the cancellation of pre-qualifying.