Report
The race saw four drivers replaced by drivers making their first Formula One start: Jean Alesi replaced Michele Alboreto at Tyrrell after a rumored contract dispute (Alboreto was personally sponsored by Marlboro and team boss Ken Tyrrell had signed their rival Camel as the team's major sponsor). Éric Bernard replaced Yannick Dalmas at Larrousse after it was discovered that Dalmas was still suffering the affects of Legionnaires' disease., Martin Donnelly replaced Derek Warwick at Arrows for one race after Warwick injured his back in a Kart race, and McLaren test driver Emanuele Pirro replaced Johnny Herbert at Benetton after it was decided Herbert needed more recovery time from his injuries suffered in 1988. For the first time both Onyx cars qualified for a Grand Prix, Bertrand Gachot and Stefan Johansson dominating pre-qualifying before surprising many by qualifying 11th and 13th respectively.
Dalmas' team mate Philippe Alliot had been sacked by the Larrousse team after Canadian Grand Prix, but was re-hired and took his place in France. Alliot responded by qualifying a career high 7th, only 1.3 seconds slower than pole man Alain Prost.
The race is most famous for the multiple collision involving Nigel Mansell, Maurício Gugelmin and other cars on the first lap, which resulted in a restart. All of the drivers involved took the restart; some in spare cars. Alain Prost won the race for McLaren-Honda ahead of Nigel Mansell who started from the pitlane in a car set up for his teammate Gerhard Berger. Berger, who raced the team's spare car after a small oil leek was discovered in his race car (which Mansell used to finish 2nd), again fell foul of the Ferrari's transmission with clutch failure leading to his 6th retirement of the season, leaving him with no points yet scored. Jean Alesi took 4th place and scored points on his F1 debut. Olivier Grouillard scored his only F1 point on home tarmac, Stefan Johansson scored the Onyx team's first points, and Gugelmin set his first fastest lap, although he was not classified at the finish. Twelve cars failed to finish the race, seven of them with engine failures.
One who failed to finish, or start as it was, was World Champion Ayrton Senna, his McLaren's differential failed as the cars got away for the second start. It was the third Grand Prix in succession where Senna had retired due to mechanical failure. Prost's second win for the season gave him an 11 point lead over Senna in the Drivers' Championship. The race was Alain Prost's third win on home soil after wins at Paul Ricard in 1983 for Renault and 1988 for McLaren.
Read more about this topic: 1989 French Grand Prix
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