1986 British Grand Prix

  1986 British Grand Prix

Race details
Race 9 of 16 in the 1986 Formula One season
Date	July 13, 1986
Official name	XXXIX Shell Oils British Grand Prix
Location	Brands Hatch, Kent, Great Britain
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	3.703 km (2.301 mi)
Distance	75 laps, 277.725 km (172.575 mi)
Weather	Sunny
Pole position
Driver	Nelson Piquet	Williams-Honda
Time	1:06.961
Fastest lap
Driver	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Honda
Time	1:09.593 on lap 69
Podium
First	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Honda
Second	Nelson Piquet	Williams-Honda
Third	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG

McLaren pits

Ayrton Senna in a Lotus 98T

The 1986 British Grand Prix (formally the XXXIX Shell Oils British Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held at Brands Hatch on July 13, 1986. It was the ninth race of the 1986 Formula One season. It was the last Formula One race held at Brands Hatch, from 1987 onwards all British Grand Prix would be held at Silverstone.

Jacques Laffite broke both legs during a multi-car pile up at the start, leading to his retirement from Grand Prix racing. Despite the crash happening just past the pits, the first doctor on the scene happened to be British driver Jonathan Palmer, who has started the race in 22nd place on the grid. A qualified GP before taking up motor racing in 1978, Palmer stopped his Zakspeed just past Laffite's crashed Ligier-Renault, jumped out and raced to assist the injured Frenchman. The race had been Laffite's record equalling start for most Formula One career starts. It was also the second British Grand Prix in succession at Brands Hatch that had seen the end of a drivers' career due to leg injuries suffered in a crash after Johnny Cecotto's career had ended during practice for the 1984 British Grand Prix when he smashed both of his ankles. All agreed though that the circuit itself was not to blame for either crash, and both Cecotto and Laffite went on to successful careers in international Touring car racing once they recovered from their injuries.

The pile-up included a significant number of cars which blocked the track entirely. The race was stopped without any drivers completing a single lap and was restarted over an hour later as Laffite had been airlifted to Sidcup Hospital and the race could not be restarted without the medical helicopter in attendance. This was fortunate for Nigel Mansell whose Williams-Honda had a driveshaft failure at the first start, but was allowed to restart as there had not been a lap completed. Lucky also for Mansell was that the spare Williams was Piquet's for the weekend and the team had time to change the settings on the car to suit the Englishman.

Mansell went on to win against a depleted grid in the team's spare car, which had been set up for team mate Nelson Piquet as it was his for the weekend. Mansell defeated Piquet in a straight fight, leading the Brazilian home by 5.574 seconds, much to the delight of the 110,000+ crowd in attendance. Reigning World Champion Alain Prost finished 3rd in his McLaren-TAG, one lap down on the Williams pair.

The race was the first time in 1986 since his car crash in France that had left him a paraplegic before the start of the season that Frank Williams had appeared in the Williams pits. It was also the first Williams 1-2 result of the season.

The international motorsports governing body at the time, FISA, had instituted a policy of long-term contracts with circuits. Brands Hatch was perceived as a poorer facility, and it did have very little run-off and room to expand, something Silverstone as a former World War II airfield had in acres. Silverstone and the BRDC had signed a seven-year contract with Formula 1 and FISA at some point in 1986, to run from 1987 to 1993.^[1]

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Q1	Q2	Gap
1	6	Nelson Piquet	Williams-Honda	1:07.690	1:06.961	—
2	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Honda	1:08.818	1:07.399	+0.438
3	12	Ayrton Senna	Lotus-Renault	1:09.042	1:07.524	+0.563
4	20	Gerhard Berger	Benetton-BMW	1:09.916	1:08.196	+1.235
5	2	Keke Rosberg	McLaren-TAG	1:09.479	1:08.477	+1.516
6	1	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG	1:09.779	1:09.334	+2.373
7	19	Teo Fabi	Benetton-BMW	1:11.819	1:09.409	+2.448
8	25	René Arnoux	Ligier-Renault	1:09.971	1:09.543	+2.582
9	8	Derek Warwick	Brabham-BMW	1:12.403	1:10.209	+3.248
10	11	Johnny Dumfries	Lotus-Renault	1:10.304	1:10.583	+3.343
11	3	Martin Brundle	Tyrrell-Renault	1:11.432	1:10.334	+3.373
12	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	1:11.662	1:10.338	+3.377
13	18	Thierry Boutsen	Arrows-BMW	1:12.333	1:10.941	+3.980
14	15	Alan Jones	Lola-Ford	1:12.060	1:11.121	+4.160
15	7	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham-BMW	1:12.513	1:11.267	+4.306
16	4	Philippe Streiff	Tyrrell-Renault	1:11.682	1:11.450	+4.489
17	16	Patrick Tambay	Lola-Ford	1:13.376	1:11.458	+4.497
18	28	Stefan Johansson	Ferrari	1:11.500	1:11.568	+4.539
19	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Renault	1:12.715	1:12.281	+5.320
20	24	Alessandro Nannini	Minardi-Motori Moderni	1:12.848	1:13.496	+5.887
21	23	Andrea de Cesaris	Minardi-Motori Moderni	1:14.366	1:12.980	+6.019
22	14	Jonathan Palmer	Zakspeed	1:14.678	1:13.009	+6.048
23	17	Christian Danner	Arrows-BMW	1:13.261	1:13.421	+6.300
24	21	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Osella-Alfa Romeo	1:16.440	1:16.134	+9.173
25	29	Huub Rothengatter	Zakspeed		1:16.854	+5.917
26	22	Allen Berg	Osella-Alfa Romeo	1:18.319		+7.738

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Honda	75	1:30:38.471	2	9
2	6	Nelson Piquet	Williams-Honda	75	+ 5.574	1	6
3	1	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG	74	+ 1 Lap	6	4
4	25	René Arnoux	Ligier-Renault	73	+ 2 Laps	8	3
5	3	Martin Brundle	Tyrrell-Renault	72	+ 3 Laps	11	2
6	4	Philippe Streiff	Tyrrell-Renault	72	+ 3 Laps	16	1
7	11	Johnny Dumfries	Lotus-Renault	72	+ 3 Laps	10
8	8	Derek Warwick	Brabham-BMW	72	+ 3 Laps	9
9	14	Jonathan Palmer	Zakspeed	69	+ 6 Laps	22
NC	18	Thierry Boutsen	Arrows-BMW	62	Not Classified	13
Ret	16	Patrick Tambay	Lola-Ford	60	Gearbox	17
Ret	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	51	Turbo	12
Ret	24	Alessandro Nannini	Minardi-Motori Moderni	50	Steering	20
Ret	19	Teo Fabi	Benetton-BMW	45	Fuel system	7
Ret	7	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham-BMW	39	Engine	15
Ret	12	Ayrton Senna	Lotus-Renault	27	Gearbox	3
Ret	29	Huub Rothengatter	Zakspeed	24	Engine	25
Ret	23	Andrea de Cesaris	Minardi-Motori Moderni	23	Electrical	21
Ret	20	Gerhard Berger	Benetton-BMW	22	Electrical	4
Ret	15	Alan Jones	Lola-Ford	22	Throttle	14
Ret	28	Stefan Johansson	Ferrari	20	Engine	18
Ret	2	Keke Rosberg	McLaren-TAG	7	Gearbox	5
Ret	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Renault	0	Collision	19
Ret	17	Christian Danner	Arrows-BMW	0	Collision	23
Ret	21	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Osella-Alfa Romeo	0	Collision	24
Ret	22	Allen Berg	Osella-Alfa Romeo	0	Collision	26
Source:[2]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Nigel Mansell 47 2 Alain Prost 43 3 Ayrton Senna 36 4 Nelson Piquet 29 5 Keke Rosberg 17

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Williams-Honda 76 2 McLaren-TAG 60 3 Lotus-Renault 36 4 Ligier-Renault 25 5 Ferrari 13

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

References

1. "The Brands Hatch & Paul Ricard FAQ". AtlasF1. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
2. "1986 British Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 13 November 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.