Whereas the Melbourne street circuit at Albert Park was formally the official curtain raiser for this F1 season, back in 1990 it was on the streets of Adelaide where the highly anticipated Formula One calendar climaxed.
To put the race into context, the previous Grand Prix in Japan caused uproar amongst drivers and fans alike.
For the third year running the Drivers’ Championship had been fought between two contenders: Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna.
After Senna had secured his 51st career pole, the issues began to surface. The McLaren-Honda driver was furious that pole was situated on the dirtier right hand side of the track, meaning less traction off the grid and not having the benefit of the racing line he felt pole position had earned. Therefore he demanded that pole was re-situated on the left and, after getting early consent from the FIA officials the decision was later overruled and pole remained on the right.
Upon this decision Senna vowed that if Prost got the advantage into turn one, he would never make the first corner.
That’s exactly what happened.
Senna rammed Prost off the track and into the tyre wall, thus ending the Frenchman’s hopes of chasing down his rival’s points tally.
So, although coming into Australia, Senna had, somewhat controversially, clinched the Drivers’ Championship after furore in Suzuka, the drama was far from finalised. The 1990 Australian Grand Prix turned out to be one of the most spectacular races of all time.
It was a McLaren one-two, Senna claiming yet another pole, with Gerhard Berger 2nd. The two Ferrari drivers were in behind them, Nigel Mansell getting the better of his aggrieved team-mate Alain Prost, who had refused to take part in two photo shoots in the aftermath of Japan. The Benetton-Ford drivers, who played a part in the race, claimed 7th and 8th on the grid, Nelson Piquet the faster of the two.
In dry conditions on the 4th November the final race day of the 1990 calendar began.
After a valiant effort in vain from Prost, trying to leapfrog Berger off the grid the top four remained the same after two corners, Senna pulling out a nice lead in the early stages. But, it was the Brazilian veteran Piquet who got the best start and took advantage of this to move up into 5th.
Next it was Mansell’s turn to gain. On lap two Berger missed a gear and Mansell took full advantage to secure 2nd behind Senna.
On the same lap, Piquet reinforced his fine start by making the most of a slipstream opportunity behind Alain Prost on the home straight to pass him up the inside of turn one and claim 4th.
The Benetton-Ford was the fastest car in a straight line during the practice sessions and Piquet repeatedly proved this dominating pace. This time it was Gerhard Berger at his mercy down the home straight on lap six, who again was overtaken into turn one to move Piquet into a podium spot.
Meanwhile at the front of the pack Senna had managed to maintain a decent two and a half second cushion over Mansell for much of the race.
But, you would be a fool to suggest that the early enthralling drama was over.
A seven second gap had materialised between Mansell in 2nd and Piquet in 3rd. But the Benetton driver’s consistency paid great dividends. A Mansell mistake breached the buffer, making him Piquet’s prey as the Benetton eased past him up the inside of the straight coming into the chicane on lap 44.
Mansell was experiencing braking issues, however and after the necessary pit stop he re-joined in 5th.
For a man who was, just two races previously, considering retirement, Mansell began to show the determination that had earned him a contract with the ever improving Williams team for the 1991 season. Fighting back from his technical issue he took advantage of Berger running very wide to claim 4th, but later had to retake the position again on lap 58.
Lap 62 and the drama escalated. Senna, who looked to be comfortably ahead and would go on to take the Championship in style, putting to bed the Suzuka controversy, crashed. The McLaren driver seemed to suffer from suspension failure, veering wide off the track and straight into the tyre wall. Piquet leads.
Mansell, on fresher tires, continued his charge, taking team-mate Prost on the home straight to move into second and a mistake from Piquet meant it was his turn to be the prey with just six laps remaining.
One second separated the two drivers on the final lap of a captivating season.
Lapped traffic closed the gap even more and down the straight the experienced Piquet held the inside line as Mansell intelligently used the slipstream behind the lapped car to have a go into one of the final turns. Piquet pulled back in. Mansell pulled out of the slipstream and darted down the inside. Incredibly tight, but Piquet held his nerve to take the corner well just inches ahead of the Ferrari and clinch victory in Adelaide.
A truly superb drive.
An unbelievably magnificent F1 Grand Prix.
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