1986 French Grand Prix
# 1986 French Grand Prix

The 1986 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Paul Ricard on 6 July 1986. It was the eighth race of the 1986 Formula One World Championship.

Following Elio de Angelis's fatal testing crash on the full 5.81-kilometre (3.61 mi) circuit two months previously, a decision was made to use the shorter, 3.812-kilometre (2.369 mi) "Club" circuit for this race and for future F1 races (up to and including 1990). This eliminated the high-speed Verrerie bends, where de Angelis had crashed, and reduced the length of the Mistral straight from 1.8 km (1.1 mi) to 1 km (0.62 mi). Nonetheless, the cars still recorded speeds of over 330 km/h (205 mph) on the straight.

The 80-lap race was won by Nigel Mansell, driving a Williams-Honda. It was Mansell's third victory of the season. Alain Prost finished second in a McLaren-TAG, with Nelson Piquet third in the other Williams-Honda. Ayrton Senna took pole position in his Lotus-Renault, but crashed at Signes early in the race after sliding on oil laid by Andrea de Cesaris's failed Minardi.

This race marked Scuderia Ferrari's 400th start in a World Championship event as a team.

## Classification

### Qualifying

| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Q1 | Q2 | Gap |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 12 | Ayrton Senna | Lotus-Renault | 1:06.526 | 1:06.807 | |
| 2 | 5 | Nigel Mansell | Williams-Honda | 1:06.755 | 1:09.899 | +0.229 |
| 3 | 6 | Nelson Piquet | Williams-Honda | 1:06.797 | 1:07.184 | +0.271 |
| 4 | 25 | René Arnoux | Ligier-Renault | 1:07.114 | 1:07.075 | +0.549 |
| 5 | 1 | Alain Prost | McLaren-TAG | 1:07.270 | 1:07.266 | +0.740 |
| 6 | 27 | Michele Alboreto | Ferrari | 1:07.365 | 1:09.161 | +0.839 |
| 7 | 2 | Keke Rosberg | McLaren-TAG | 1:07.545 | 1:08.175 | +1.019 |
| 8 | 20 | Gerhard Berger | Benetton-BMW | 1:07.835 | 1:07.554 | +1.028 |
| 9 | 19 | Teo Fabi | Benetton-BMW | 1:08.703 | 1:07.818 | +1.292 |
| 10 | 28 | Stefan Johansson | Ferrari | 1:07.874 | 1:08.881 | +1.348 |
| 11 | 26 | Jacques Laffite | Ligier-Renault | 1:07.913 | 1:08.288 | +1.387 |
| 12 | 11 | Johnny Dumfries | Lotus-Renault | 1:09.477 | 1:08.544 | +2.018 |
| 13 | 16 | Patrick Tambay | Lola-Ford | 1:09.108 | 1:08.616 | +2.090 |
| 14 | 8 | Derek Warwick | Brabham-BMW | 1:09.471 | 1:08.905 | +2.379 |
| 15 | 3 | Martin Brundle | Tyrrell-Renault | 1:09.044 | 1:10.293 | +2.518 |
| 16 | 7 | Riccardo Patrese | Brabham-BMW | 1:09.624 | 1:09.436 | +2.910 |
| 17 | 4 | Philippe Streiff | Tyrrell-Renault | 1:09.935 | 1:09.700 | +3.174 |
| 18 | 17 | Christian Danner | Arrows-BMW | 1:09.737 | 1:10.614 | +3.211 |
| 19 | 24 | Alessandro Nannini | Minardi-Motori Moderni | 1:09.792 | 1:10.630 | +3.266 |
| 20 | 15 | Alan Jones | Lola-Ford | 1:09.929 | 1:10.733 | +3.403 |
| 21 | 18 | Thierry Boutsen | Arrows-BMW | 1:09.987 | 1:28.882 | +3.461 |
| 22 | 14 | Jonathan Palmer | Zakspeed | 1:10.305 | 1:10.511 | +3.779 |
| 23 | 23 | Andrea de Cesaris | Minardi-Motori Moderni | 1:11.483 | 1:21.859 | +4.957 |
| 24 | 29 | Huub Rothengatter | Zakspeed | 1:12.940 | 1:12.163 | +5.637 |
| 25 | 21 | Piercarlo Ghinzani | Osella-Alfa Romeo | 1:14.496 | 1:12.443 | +5.917 |
| 26 | 22 | Allen Berg | Osella-Alfa Romeo | 1:18.866 | 1:14.264 | +7.738 |

### Race

| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 5 | Nigel Mansell | Williams-Honda | 80 | 1:37:19.272 | 2 | 9 |
| 2 | 1 | Alain Prost | McLaren-TAG | 80 | + 17.128 | 5 | 6 |
| 3 | 6 | Nelson Piquet | Williams-Honda | 80 | + 37.545 | 3 | 4 |
| 4 | 2 | Keke Rosberg | McLaren-TAG | 80 | + 48.703 | 7 | 3 |
| 5 | 25 | René Arnoux | Ligier-Renault | 79 | + 1 Lap | 4 | 2 |
| 6 | 26 | Jacques Laffite | Ligier-Renault | 79 | + 1 Lap | 11 | 1 |
| 7 | 7 | Riccardo Patrese | Brabham-BMW | 78 | + 2 Laps | 16 | |
| 8 | 27 | Michele Alboreto | Ferrari | 78 | + 2 Laps | 6 | |
| 9 | 8 | Derek Warwick | Brabham-BMW | 77 | + 3 Laps | 14 | |
| 10 | 3 | Martin Brundle | Tyrrell-Renault | 77 | + 3 Laps | 15 | |
| 11 | 17 | Christian Danner | Arrows-BMW | 76 | + 4 Laps | 18 | |
| NC | 18 | Thierry Boutsen | Arrows-BMW | 67 | + 13 Laps | 21 | |
| Ret | 16 | Patrick Tambay | Lola-Ford | 64 | Brakes | 13 | |
| Ret | 11 | Johnny Dumfries | Lotus-Renault | 56 | Engine | 12 | |
| Ret | 14 | Jonathan Palmer | Zakspeed | 46 | Engine | 22 | |
| Ret | 4 | Philippe Streiff | Tyrrell-Renault | 43 | Fire | 17 | |
| Ret | 29 | Huub Rothengatter | Zakspeed | 32 | Accident | 24 | |
| Ret | 22 | Allen Berg | Osella-Alfa Romeo | 25 | Turbo | 26 | |
| Ret | 20 | Gerhard Berger | Benetton-BMW | 22 | Gearbox | 8 | |
| Ret | 19 | Teo Fabi | Benetton-BMW | 7 | Engine | 9 | |
| Ret | 28 | Stefan Johansson | Ferrari | 5 | Turbo | 10 | |
| Ret | 12 | Ayrton Senna | Lotus-Renault | 3 | Accident | 1 | |
| Ret | 21 | Piercarlo Ghinzani | Osella-Alfa Romeo | 3 | Accident | 25 | |
| Ret | 24 | Alessandro Nannini | Minardi-Motori Moderni | 3 | Accident | 19 | |
| Ret | 23 | Andrea de Cesaris | Minardi-Motori Moderni | 3 | Turbo | 23 | |
| Ret | 15 | Alan Jones | Lola-Ford | 2 | Accident | 20 | |
| Source: ||||||||

## Championship standings after the race

| Pos | Driver | Points |
| - | - | - |
| 1 | Alain Prost | 39 |
| 2 | Nigel Mansell | 38 |
| 3 | Ayrton Senna | 36 |
| 4 | Nelson Piquet | 23 |
| 5 | Keke Rosberg | 17 |
| Source: |||
| Pos | Constructor | Points |
| 1 | Williams-Honda | 61 |
| 2 | McLaren-TAG | 56 |
| 3 | Lotus-Renault | 36 |
| 4 | Ligier-Renault | 22 |
| 5 | Ferrari | 13 |
| Source: |||

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