Leyton House - 1990 Season

1990 Season

1990 proved to be a disaster from the beginning. The Leyton House CG901 chassis was unreliable and through the first six races of the season, the team had failed to score a single point and had failed to qualify numerous times; both Gugelmin and Capelli recorded DNQs for the Brazilian and Mexican Grands Prix (with Gugelmin also failing to qualify for the Monaco and the Canadian races). However at the race after the Mexico disaster, the French Grand Prix both cars not only qualified, but ran first and second for a period until Gugelmin's engine blew. Capelli actually led for much of the remainder of the race, before being caught by the eventual winner Alain Prost; still Capelli finished second, his only points finish and the team's only podium finish of the season. Gugelmin scored his only points of the season (and the last of his Formula 1 career) in the 1990 Belgian Grand Prix, leaving Capelli in the hated 7th place.

Off the track, managing director Ian Phillips contracted meningitis and left his post after the Brazilian Grand Prix. Team manager Harry Mandel also resigned and technical director Adrian Newey was fired. Several other engineers, brought over from March Engineering, also departed that year.

The team originally finished 7th in the Constructors' Championship, but were later promoted to 6th due to the fact that Larrousse (irregularly) used Lola chassis.

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