1992 Australian Grand Prix
# 1992 Australian Grand Prix

The 1992 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Adelaide on 8 November 1992. It was the sixteenth and final race of the 1992 Formula One World Championship.

The 81-lap race was won by Austrian driver Gerhard Berger, driving a McLaren-Honda. Berger won by 0.7 seconds from German Michael Schumacher in a Benetton-Ford, with Schumacher's British teammate Martin Brundle third. Nigel Mansell, in what was intended to be his final Formula One race before his move to IndyCars for 1993, took pole position in his Williams-Renault and led until Brazilian Ayrton Senna, in the other McLaren-Honda, collided with him while attempting to overtake him, eliminating them both.

Brundle (who spent 1993 with Ligier), Berger (who returned to Ferrari) and Riccardo Patrese (who joined Benetton) were among the many drivers for whom this was the final race with their current teams, while for Jan Lammers, Stefano Modena, Maurício Gugelmin and Olivier Grouillard it was the last Grand Prix of their careers.

This was McLaren's final race using Honda engines until 2015. The company ceased their full factory involvement in the sport following this race, although the Mugen arm of the company continued. They returned in 2000 as engine supplier to BAR.

This Grand Prix also proved to be the last for the March team.

## Qualifying

### Qualifying report

Nigel Mansell took pole position in his Williams-Renault by nearly half a second from Ayrton Senna in the McLaren-Honda. It was Mansell's 14th pole position of the season, surpassing the 13 achieved by Senna in both 1988 and 1989. Their respective teammates, Riccardo Patrese and Gerhard Berger, were third and fourth, followed by Michael Schumacher in the Benetton and Jean Alesi in the Ferrari. Completing the top ten were Andrea de Cesaris in the Tyrrell, Martin Brundle in the second Benetton, Érik Comas in the Ligier and Mika Häkkinen in the Lotus.

### Qualifying classification

| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Q1 | Q2 | Gap |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 5 | Nigel Mansell | Williams-Renault | 1:13.732 | 1:15.133 | |
| 2 | 1 | Ayrton Senna | McLaren-Honda | 1:14.202 | 1:14.416 | +0.470 |
| 3 | 6 | Riccardo Patrese | Williams-Renault | 1:14.370 | 1:15.895 | +0.638 |
| 4 | 2 | Gerhard Berger | McLaren-Honda | 1:15.114 | 1:15.688 | +1.382 |
| 5 | 19 | Michael Schumacher | Benetton-Ford | 1:15.210 | 1:16.613 | +1.478 |
| 6 | 27 | Jean Alesi | Ferrari | 1:16.091 | 1:17.213 | +2.359 |
| 7 | 4 | Andrea de Cesaris | Tyrrell-Ilmor | 1:16.440 | 1:17.333 | +2.708 |
| 8 | 20 | Martin Brundle | Benetton-Ford | 1:16.562 | 1:17.674 | +2.830 |
| 9 | 26 | Érik Comas | Ligier-Renault | 1:16.727 | 1:17.856 | +2.995 |
| 10 | 11 | Mika Häkkinen | Lotus-Ford | 1:16.863 | 1:17.868 | +3.131 |
| 11 | 9 | Michele Alboreto | Footwork-Mugen-Honda | 1:16.937 | 1:17.621 | +3.205 |
| 12 | 12 | Johnny Herbert | Lotus-Ford | 1:16.944 | 1:18.099 | +3.212 |
| 13 | 3 | Olivier Grouillard | Tyrrell-Ilmor | 1:17.037 | 1:19.017 | +3.305 |
| 14 | 22 | Pierluigi Martini | Dallara-Ferrari | 1:17.047 | 1:18.043 | +3.315 |
| 15 | 32 | Stefano Modena | Jordan-Yamaha | 1:17.231 | 1:18.790 | +3.499 |
| 16 | 24 | Gianni Morbidelli | Minardi-Lamborghini | 1:17.333 | 1:19.661 | +3.601 |
| 17 | 23 | Christian Fittipaldi | Minardi-Lamborghini | 1:17.367 | 1:19.441 | +3.635 |
| 18 | 10 | Aguri Suzuki | Footwork-Mugen-Honda | 1:17.409 | 1:19.589 | +3.677 |
| 19 | 28 | Nicola Larini | Ferrari | 1:17.465 | 1:18.618 | +3.733 |
| 20 | 33 | Maurício Gugelmin | Jordan-Yamaha | 1:17.805 | 1:19.735 | +4.073 |
| 21 | 29 | Bertrand Gachot | Venturi-Lamborghini | 1:17.808 | 1:18.477 | +4.076 |
| 22 | 25 | Thierry Boutsen | Ligier-Renault | 1:17.957 | 1:17.976 | +4.225 |
| 23 | 17 | Emanuele Naspetti | March-Ilmor | 4:23.313 | 1:18.099 | +4.367 |
| 24 | 21 | JJ Lehto | Dallara-Ferrari | 1:18.565 | 1:18.891 | +4.833 |
| 25 | 16 | Jan Lammers | March-Ilmor | 3:10.720 | 1:18.843 | +5.111 |
| 26 | 30 | Ukyo Katayama | Venturi-Lamborghini | 1:18.862 | 1:20.306 | +5.130 |
| Source: |||||||

## Race

### Race report

Nicola Larini started this race from the back of the grid. A first-lap collision between the Tyrrell of Olivier Grouillard and the Dallara of Pierluigi Martini had eliminated both drivers on the same lap. The order of the top six at the end of the first lap was Mansell, Senna, Patrese, Berger, Schumacher and Alesi. Mansell as usual was unable to pull away, whilst Senna in second tried his hardest to pass the Williams on lap 8, but was unable to do so. Gugelmin for the second race running had spun out and crashed by lap 9.

Senna ran wide and allowed Mansell to retain the lead. The order of the top two remained the same until lap 19 when they collided at the Mistral hairpin; Senna attempted to overtake Mansell but crashed into the rear of the Williams (eliminating both drivers). This allowed Riccardo Patrese to take the lead from lap 20 in the remaining Williams, but was under enormous pressure from Gerhard Berger who was a close second. Berger, like Senna, attempted to pass the Williams on the outside but ran wide. Berger pitted for fresh tyres on lap 35, as did Michael Schumacher in the leading Benetton five laps later; the German rejoined four seconds behind Berger.

Martin Brundle was able to pass Jean Alesi in the leading Ferrari for third during their pit-stops. Patrese lead by 20 seconds over Berger by the end of lap 50 until his engine failed on the next lap. Thus allowing Berger to take the lead and hold on to the lead for the remaining 31 laps and took the eighth victory of his career ahead of a hard-charging Schumacher by less than a second. The order of the top six was Berger winning ahead of, Michael Schumacher, Brundle, Alesi, Thierry Boutsen and Stefano Modena in the Jordan.

Jordan scored their only point of the season with Stefano Modena, while Thierry Boutsen (who won here in 1989) scored his only 1992 season points, and the last points of his career. Benetton's double podium finish ensured that they scored points in every round, as Benetton were the first team to score points in every round of a season since Lotus in 1963.

### Race classification

| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 2 | Gerhard Berger | McLaren-Honda | 81 | 1:46:54.786 | 4 | 10 |
| 2 | 19 | Michael Schumacher | Benetton-Ford | 81 | + 0.741 | 5 | 6 |
| 3 | 20 | Martin Brundle | Benetton-Ford | 81 | + 54.156 | 8 | 4 |
| 4 | 27 | Jean Alesi | Ferrari | 80 | + 1 lap | 6 | 3 |
| 5 | 25 | Thierry Boutsen | Ligier-Renault | 80 | + 1 lap | 22 | 2 |
| 6 | 32 | Stefano Modena | Jordan-Yamaha | 80 | + 1 lap | 15 | 1 |
| 7 | 11 | Mika Häkkinen | Lotus-Ford | 80 | + 1 lap | 10 | |
| 8 | 10 | Aguri Suzuki | Footwork-Mugen-Honda | 79 | + 2 laps | 18 | |
| 9 | 23 | Christian Fittipaldi | Minardi-Lamborghini | 79 | + 2 laps | 17 | |
| 10 | 24 | Gianni Morbidelli | Minardi-Lamborghini | 79 | + 2 laps | 16 | |
| 11 | 28 | Nicola Larini | Ferrari | 79 | + 2 laps | 19 | |
| 12 | 16 | Jan Lammers | March-Ilmor | 78 | + 3 laps | 25 | |
| 13 | 12 | Johnny Herbert | Lotus-Ford | 77 | + 4 laps | 12 | |
| Ret | 21 | JJ Lehto | Dallara-Ferrari | 70 | Gearbox | 24 | |
| Ret | 17 | Emanuele Naspetti | March-Ilmor | 55 | Gearbox | 23 | |
| Ret | 29 | Bertrand Gachot | Venturi-Lamborghini | 51 | Fuel system | 21 | |
| Ret | 6 | Riccardo Patrese | Williams-Renault | 50 | Engine | 3 | |
| Ret | 30 | Ukyo Katayama | Venturi-Lamborghini | 35 | Differential | 26 | |
| Ret | 4 | Andrea de Cesaris | Tyrrell-Ilmor | 29 | Engine | 7 | |
| Ret | 5 | Nigel Mansell | Williams-Renault | 18 | Collision | 1 | |
| Ret | 1 | Ayrton Senna | McLaren-Honda | 18 | Collision | 2 | |
| Ret | 33 | Maurício Gugelmin | Jordan-Yamaha | 7 | Spun off | 20 | |
| Ret | 26 | Érik Comas | Ligier-Renault | 4 | Engine | 9 | |
| Ret | 9 | Michele Alboreto | Footwork-Mugen-Honda | 0 | Engine | 11 | |
| Ret | 22 | Pierluigi Martini | Dallara-Ferrari | 0 | Accident | 14 | |
| Ret | 3 | Olivier Grouillard | Tyrrell-Ilmor | 0 | Accident | 13 | |
| Source: ||||||||

## Championship standings after the race

* Bold text indicates the World Champions.

| Pos | Driver | Points |
| - | - | - |
| 1 | Nigel Mansell | 108 |
| 2 | Riccardo Patrese | 56 |
| 3 | Michael Schumacher | 53 |
| 4 | Ayrton Senna | 50 |
| 5 | Gerhard Berger | 49 |
| Source: |||
| Pos | Constructor | Points |
| 1 | Williams-Renault | 164 |
| 2 | McLaren-Honda | 99 |
| 3 | Benetton-Ford | 91 |
| 4 | Ferrari | 21 |
| 5 | Lotus-Ford | 13 |
| Source: |||

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