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Date
May 13, 1990

Pole Position
Ayrton Senna

Fastest Lap
Alessandro Nannini

Autosprint magazine about this race

We saw some drivers changes in the San Marino Grand Prix. David Brabham went to drive for the Brabham team. Gregor Foitek replaced Stefan Johansson at Onyx. Emanuele Pirro was back again and Bruno Giacomelli also returned for replace Gary Brabham in the Life team.

We had a fantastic battle for the pole position between the Mc Laren drivers (Ayrton Senna and Gerhard Berger). Ayrton won the battle and got another pole. Riccardo got the third position and his team mate, Thierry Boutsen, the fourth position. The third row was dominated by the Ferrari drivers (Nigel Mansell and Alain Prost).

The circuit was crowded on race day, many fans from all the world went to the track. At the start Berger passed Senna, Boutsen also had a great start. Gerhard had some gear problems, then Senna and Boutsen passed him. While they're fighting for the first place, in the midfield Satoru Nakajima and Ivan Capelli had an accident. Nakajima hit Capelli's car. The Tyrrell had a violent crash into the wall, but fortunately the drivers didn't get hurt.

Senna spun at Rivazza corner and retired from the race. Boutsen took the lead with Senna's retirement. Berger and Patrese had the second and third positions, respectively.

On lap 18 Boutsen went to the boxes with a blown engine. Berger was the race leader. Mansell passed Patrese and would fight with Berger for the first place. Nigel tried to pass Berger in the 36th lap getting on the grass, but this action caused Mansell's spin, retiring him from the battle. Nigel returned to the track but after some time he retired from the race with a blown engine. Berger continued in first, but Patrese was very close.

On lap 51 Patrese passed Berger and won the race, his first win in seven years (Riccardo's last win was in South Africa in 1983). Berger finished in the second place and Alessandro Nannini finished in third.

Riccardo's comments

Preview: "At Imola we experience all the problems in one race that we can find in a whole season. If the car goes well at Imola it usually goes well everywhere, so after our very encouraging tests there it looks good for us."

Friday: "It was a good day because I tried everything - hard tyres, soft tyres, brakes, the engine. Of course here it is quite easy because after three testing session we know everything about the car. I have to say I am quite pleased with my car, the engine is performing very well and also I think the crucial point was the brakes and they seem better with some new modifications. Overall I am quite happy and feel prepared for the race."

Saturday: "I did my best, I drove at the limit and the limit is twenty four. I think the car is well prepared for the race, and because of that I am confident we can have a good Grand Prix. More than that I cannot say because we have to check how competitive we are against the opposition in the race."

Race: "Because I didn't have a fantastic start I decided to save my car for the end of the race and it was the right choice. With 20 laps to go I started to push very hard and the car was perfect and I was able to catch and overtake Gerhard without any problems. I did drop back from him at one point because I got close to him, but coming out to the Rivazza corner my car went a bit sideways and I got some dirt on my tyres, so for a couple of laps I had to clean my tyres. The car performed perfectly, and especially the brakes which were the main concern. Obviously I am very happy."

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