The 1990 Italian Grand Prix (formally the Coca-Cola 61º Gran Premio d'Italia) was a

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

motor race held at

Monza Monza (, ; ; , locally ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the Lambro, River Lambro, a tributary of the Po (river), River Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the province of Mo ...

on 9 September 1990. It was the twelfth race of the 1990 Formula One World Championship. The race was the 60th

Italian Grand Prix The Italian Grand Prix () is the fifth oldest national Grand Prix motor racing, motor racing Grand Prix (after the French Grand Prix, the United States Grand Prix, the Spanish Grand Prix and the Russian Grand Prix), having been held since 1921 ...

and the 55th to be held at Monza. The 53-lap race was won by Brazilian driver

Ayrton Senna Ayrton Senna da Silva (; 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Senna won three Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles with McLaren, and—at the time of his death—held ...

, driving a

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited ( ) is a British auto racing, motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. The team is a subsidiary of the McLaren Group, which owns a majority of the team. McLaren is best known a ...

Honda commonly known as just Honda, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate automotive manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in October 1946 by Soichiro Honda, Honda has bee ...

. Senna took

pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the ra ...

, led every lap and set the fastest race lap, thus achieving a Grand Slam. Senna's Driver's Championship rival, Frenchman

Alain Prost Alain Marie Pascal Prost (; born 24 February 1955) is a French former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Nicknamed "the Professor", Prost won four Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles and� ...

, finished second in his

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded in 1939 by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), the company built Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, its first car in 1940, adopted its current name in 1945, and be ...

, some six seconds behind, with Senna's Austrian teammate

Gerhard Berger Gerhard Berger (; born 27 August 1959) is an Austrian former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Berger won 10 Formula One Grands Prix across 14 seasons. Berger competed in Formula One for 14 seasons, ...

third. The win enabled Senna to extend his lead over Prost in the Drivers' Championship to 16 points with four races remaining.

Qualifying

Pre-qualifying report

The Friday morning pre-qualifying session at Monza followed a similar pattern to the previous race at

Spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa health treatments are known as balneotherapy. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters and hot springs goes back to pre ...

, with the same four drivers progressing to the main qualifying sessions.

Olivier Grouillard Olivier Grouillard (; born 2 September 1958) is a French racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to , and IndyCar in 1993. Born in Fenouillet, Haute-Garonne, Grouillard started kart racing from the age of fourteen competing in event ...

was fastest again in the

Osella Osella is an Italian racing car manufacturer and former Formula One team. They participated in 132 List of Formula One Grands Prix, Grands Prix between 1980 and 1990. They achieved two points finishes and scored five world championship points. ...

, his tenth pre-qualification from twelve attempts.

Bertrand Gachot Bertrand Jean Gachot (; born 23 December 1962) is a Belgian and French former racing driver and businessman, who competed in Formula One from to . In endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing, Gachot won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in with ...

achieved his best pre-qualifying position of the season so far in second place in the Coloni, his second success at this stage. The AGS cars both pre-qualified again in third and fourth, with

Gabriele Tarquini Gabriele Tarquini (born 2 March 1962) is an Italian former racing driver, who competed in Formula One between and , and World Touring Car from to 2021. In touring car racing, Tarquini won the World Touring Car Championship in with SEAT; ...

outpacing

Yannick Dalmas Yannick Dalmas (; born 28 July 1961) is a former racing driver from France. He won the 24 Hours of Le Mans four times (in 1992, 1994, 1995 and 1999), each with different teams. Prior to this, he participated in 49 Formula One Grands Prix, debuti ...

this time. Therefore the same three cars missed out on pre-qualification, namely the two

EuroBrun EuroBrun Racing was a Swiss-Italian Formula One constructor based in Senago, Milan, Italy. They participated in 46 Grands Prix between 1988 and 1990, with an Italian license, entering a total of 76 cars. Background The team was a combination o ...

s and the

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

. Fifth again was the EuroBrun of

Roberto Moreno Roberto Pupo Moreno (born 11 February 1959), usually known as Roberto Moreno and also as Pupo Moreno, is a Brazilian former auto racing, racing driver. He participated in 75 Formula One Grands Prix, achieved 1 podium, and scored a total of 15 c ...

, just under six tenths of a second slower than Dalmas, although

Claudio Langes Claudio Langes (born 4 August 1961) is a former racing driver from Italy. In 1978 he won the Italian 125 cc go-kart championship. In subsequent years he competed in Formula 3 and in Formula 3000, where his best result was a second place at Pergu ...

was nearly 6.5 seconds further adrift in the sister car.

Bruno Giacomelli Bruno Giacomelli (; born 10 September 1952) is an Italian former racing driver, who competed in Formula One between and . Giacomelli won one of the two 1976 British Formula 3 Championships and the Formula Two championship. From to , Giacome ...

was 20 seconds further behind in the Life, having only managed two laps at the team's home event before a substantial engine failure. It was the last appearance for their unusual, but hugely underdeveloped

W12 engine A W12 engine is a twelve-cylinder piston engine where either three banks of four cylinders, or four banks of three cylinders are arranged in a W configuration around a common crankshaft. W12 engines with three banks of four cylinders were used b ...

Pre-qualifying classification

Qualifying report

Qualifying classification

Race

Race report

Near the end of the first lap,

Derek Warwick Derek Stanley Arthur Warwick (born 27 August 1954) is a British former racing driver, who competed in Formula One between and . In endurance racing, Warwick won the World Sportscar Championship and 24 Hours of Le Mans, both in 1992 with Peuge ...

ran wide at the Parabolica, his Lotus hitting the guard rail at around and flipping upside down. Warwick clambered out of the car unhurt.Warwick Flips at Monza and Walks Away – 1990 Italian GP
/ref> The race was stopped on the second lap and restarted over the original distance, with Warwick taking the spare car and eventually retiring with a clutch failure. Jean Alesi became the first retirement as he went off Variante del Rettifilo on lap 5 and hit the wall, as the Lotus of Martin Donnelly had a dramatic engine failure at the start of lap 14. And Alboreto in the Arrows spun off at Ascari with only 1 lap to go.

Race classification

Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings ;Constructors' Championship standings *

References

{{F1GP 90-99

Italian Grand Prix

Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural ''Grands Prix'') most commonly refers to: * Grand Prix motor racing, a form of motorsport competition ** List of Formula One Grands Prix, an auto-racing championship *** Monaco Grand Prix, the most prestigious ...