1986 San Marino Grand Prix
# 1986 San Marino Grand Prix

The 1986 San Marino Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Imola on 27 April 1986. The race was the third round of the year's World Championship. As with the previous year's event, fuel consumption was a big issue, changing the points finishers in the closing laps.

The Autodromo Dino Ferrari had received safety upgrades from the previous year, including slight track modifications after the Variante Alta chicane and extended runoff areas at the Rivazza complex.

Alain Prost (McLaren-TAG) dominated the race after Ayrton Senna (Lotus-Renault) and Nigel Mansell (Williams-Honda) retired early, before almost running out of fuel, three corners from the chequered flag. Frantically weaving the car back and forth to slosh the last drops of fuel into the pickup, he managed to keep it running just long enough to creep over the line and win the race (his McLaren teammate Keke Rosberg was classified 5th despite running dry 2 laps from the finish, a problem attributed to Rosberg using too much boost). Nelson Piquet brought his Williams home in second place only 7.645 seconds behind Prost, while Austrian Gerhard Berger finished third to score his and the Benetton team's first Formula One podium finish.

## Classification

### Qualifying

| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Q1 | Q2 | Gap |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 12 | Ayrton Senna | Lotus-Renault | 1:25.050 | 1:25.286 | — |
| 2 | 6 | Nelson Piquet | Williams-Honda | 1:25.890 | 1:25.569 | +0.519 |
| 3 | 5 | Nigel Mansell | Williams-Honda | 1:26.752 | 1:26.159 | +1.109 |
| 4 | 1 | Alain Prost | McLaren-TAG | 1:26.273 | 1:26.176 | +1.126 |
| 5 | 27 | Michele Alboreto | Ferrari | 1:26.428 | 1:26.263 | +1.213 |
| 6 | 2 | Keke Rosberg | McLaren-TAG | 1:26.956 | 1:26.835 | +1.335 |
| 7 | 28 | Stefan Johansson | Ferrari | 1:27.497 | 1:27.009 | +1.959 |
| 8 | 25 | René Arnoux | Ligier-Renault | 1:28.362 | 1:27.403 | +2.353 |
| 9 | 20 | Gerhard Berger | Benetton-BMW | 1:28.559 | 1:27.444 | +2.394 |
| 10 | 19 | Teo Fabi | Benetton-BMW | 1:29.328 | 1:27.538 | +2.488 |
| 11 | 16 | Patrick Tambay | Lola-Hart | 1:29.665 | 1:27.860 | +2.810 |
| 12 | 18 | Thierry Boutsen | Arrows-BMW | 1:29.931 | 1:28.022 | +2.972 |
| 13 | 3 | Martin Brundle | Tyrrell-Renault | 1:29.687 | 1:28.329 | +3.279 |
| 14 | 26 | Jacques Laffite | Ligier-Renault | 1:28.411 | 1:28.389 | +3.339 |
| 15 | 17 | Marc Surer | Arrows-BMW | 1:30.156 | 1:28.637 | +3.587 |
| 16 | 7 | Riccardo Patrese | Brabham-BMW | 1:30.641 | 1:28.828 | +3.778 |
| 17 | 11 | Johnny Dumfries | Lotus-Renault | 1:29.244 | 1:26.607 | +4.194 |
| 18 | 24 | Alessandro Nannini | Minardi-Motori Moderni | 1:29.985 | 1:29.244 | +4.194 |
| 19 | 8 | Elio de Angelis | Brabham-BMW | 1:30.881 | 1:29.713 | +4.663 |
| 20 | 14 | Jonathan Palmer | Zakspeed | 1:33.352 | 1:30.024 | +4.974 |
| 21 | 15 | Alan Jones | Lola-Ford | 1:30.087 | 1:30.517 | +5.037 |
| 22 | 4 | Philippe Streiff | Tyrrell-Renault | 1:30.123 | 1:32.358 | +5.073 |
| 23 | 23 | Andrea de Cesaris | Minardi-Motori Moderni | 1:31.956 | 1:30.131 | +5.081 |
| 24 | 29 | Huub Rothengatter | Zakspeed | 1:40.903 | 1:31.953 | +6.903 |
| 25 | 22 | Christian Danner | Osella-Alfa Romeo | 1:37.485 | 1:33.806 | +8.756 |
| 26 | 21 | Piercarlo Ghinzani | Osella-Alfa Romeo | 1:34.461 | | +9.411 |

### Race

| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 1 | Alain Prost | McLaren-TAG | 60 | 1:32:28.408 | 4 | 9 |
| 2 | 6 | Nelson Piquet | Williams-Honda | 60 | + 7.645 | 2 | 6 |
| 3 | 20 | Gerhard Berger | Benetton-BMW | 59 | + 1 Lap | 9 | 4 |
| 4 | 28 | Stefan Johansson | Ferrari | 59 | + 1 Lap | 7 | 3 |
| 5 | 2 | Keke Rosberg | McLaren-TAG | 58 | Out of Fuel | 6 | 2 |
| 6 | 7 | Riccardo Patrese | Brabham-BMW | 58 | Out of Fuel | 16 | 1 |
| 7 | 18 | Thierry Boutsen | Arrows-BMW | 58 | + 2 Laps | 12 | |
| 8 | 3 | Martin Brundle | Tyrrell-Renault | 58 | + 2 Laps | 13 | |
| 9 | 17 | Marc Surer | Arrows-BMW | 57 | + 3 Laps | 15 | |
| 10 | 27 | Michele Alboreto | Ferrari | 56 | Turbo | 5 | |
| Ret | 21 | Piercarlo Ghinzani | Osella-Alfa Romeo | 52 | Out of Fuel | 26 | |
| Ret | 25 | René Arnoux | Ligier-Renault | 46 | Wheel | 8 | |
| Ret | 4 | Philippe Streiff | Tyrrell-Renault | 41 | Transmission | 22 | |
| Ret | 19 | Teo Fabi | Benetton-BMW | 39 | Engine | 10 | |
| Ret | 14 | Jonathan Palmer | Zakspeed | 38 | Brakes | 20 | |
| Ret | 22 | Christian Danner | Osella-Alfa Romeo | 31 | Electrical | 25 | |
| Ret | 15 | Alan Jones | Lola-Ford | 28 | Overheating | 21 | |
| Ret | 23 | Andrea de Cesaris | Minardi-Motori Moderni | 20 | Engine | 23 | |
| Ret | 8 | Elio de Angelis | Brabham-BMW | 19 | Engine | 19 | |
| Ret | 26 | Jacques Laffite | Ligier-Renault | 14 | Transmission | 14 | |
| Ret | 12 | Ayrton Senna | Lotus-Renault | 11 | Wheel Bearing | 1 | |
| Ret | 5 | Nigel Mansell | Williams-Honda | 8 | Engine | 3 | |
| Ret | 11 | Johnny Dumfries | Lotus-Renault | 8 | Wheel Bearing | 17 | |
| Ret | 29 | Huub Rothengatter | Zakspeed | 7 | Turbo | 24 | |
| Ret | 16 | Patrick Tambay | Lola-Hart | 5 | Engine | 11 | |
| Ret | 24 | Alessandro Nannini | Minardi-Motori Moderni | 0 | Accident | 18 | |
| Source: ||||||||

## Championship standings after the race

| Pos | Driver | Points |
| - | - | - |
| 1 | Ayrton Senna | 15 |
| 1 | Nelson Piquet | 15 |
| 3 | Alain Prost | 13 |
| 4 | Nigel Mansell | 6 |
| 5 | Gerhard Berger | 6 |
| Source: |||
| Pos | Constructor | Points |
| 1 | Williams-Honda | 21 |
| 2 | McLaren-TAG | 18 |
| 3 | Lotus-Renault | 15 |
| 4 | Benetton-BMW | 8 |
| 5 | Ligier-Renault | 7 |
| Source: |||

* Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
