Tuesday, 3 April 1990, for Ferrari, just two races from the start of the World Championship, the crucial period of the season begins, the one that could give a decisive turning point in the fight with McLaren and the other rivals. Over a month of rest before the San Marino Grand Prix (13 May), three practice sessions have already been scheduled: from Tuesday to Sunday, from 17 to 21 April, and from 3 to 5 May, always at Imola. This morning and until at least Thursday, Alain Prost is on track. In the test book, electronic material, a new rear suspension, different types of differential, qualifying tires and maybe even something about the new engine. The Frenchman wants to get to the bottom of all the details and problems. Leyton House, McLaren, Williams, and Benetton will also arrive on Wednesday (which, however, will put the new car on the track on Wednesday 11 April at Silverstone). On the first day of practice, bad weather hinders Ferrari. In fact, heavy rain welcomes the team from Maranello to the Romagna circuit. Only a few brief interruptions allow Prost to complete 38 laps (the best in 1'36"35, the track record, set by Senna, is 1'25"050 and dates back to 1986, when the Brazilian competed with the Lotus-Renault equipped with a turbo engine) of which only five-six with the asphalt still wet, but with slick tyres. This is an inconvenience that could continue on Wednesday, as forecasts point to meteorological improvements starting on Thursday. In any case, from Wednesday morning, as mentioned, there will also be McLaren (perhaps with only Berger), Leyton House and Minardi to which Williams should then be added, while Benetton has diverted Nannini to Silverstone. During one of the long stops during the tests, the World Champion states that from the work he hopes to be able to carry out, he hopes to have good indications of possible improvements to the car.
"The circuit is one of the significant ones, and if Ferrari were to win here on May 13th, the meaning would be quite clear. In other words, it would mean that, excluding Monte-Carlo, because it is a street circuit, and Mexico, where the high-altitude track could give us problems, it has the possibility of doing well in all the other race tracks where it will be raced. At Imola it is more important to have a lot of horsepower than an exceptional chassis and the advantage is built with the engine. We have many tests to run. We'll see if, unlike the first day, the weather will give us the chance to complete the program concretely".
In the intentions of the Maranello team, in addition to checking the qualifying tyres, other significant topics are addressed such as electronics (new control units, modified solenoid valves), suspensions, the power of the twelve-cylinder pending the 641/2, renewed in aerodynamics and in the engine, which should make its debut in the second round, from 17 to 21 April 1990. Nigel Mansell is not at Imola, but he is treating bronchitis at home (in the Isle of Man), which had bothered him in Brazil. The Englishman will instead be present in the last round of tests scheduled from 3 to 5 May 1990, just before the tenth edition of the San Marino Grand Prix. Prost should therefore continue until Friday, to be relieved by Morbidelli on Saturday. On Wednesday 4 April 1990, the ski champion, Alberto Tomba, also arrives in Imola to cheer on Ferrari. The ski champion, giving Alain Prost a terrible pat on the back, says:
"You will see that Senna will continue to make mistakes and you will win the World Championship".
The Frenchman is the fastest in a day of testing still interrupted by the rain, posting a time of 1'28"955. But it is not the times that count yet, as much as the tests on the various functions of the car. The McLarens were also on track with Senna and Berger, who actually cannot work much, so the Brazilian is able to answer journalists' questions on current affairs.
"Let's not talk about Interlagos and the incident with Nakajima, the story is now closed. It's better to think about the future I want to face by making fewer mistakes. In any case, I'm satisfied to have collected so many points in the first two races, it had never happened to me in the past".
Speaking of what Prost said on Tuesday, namely that winning on May 13 at Imola would confirm the possibility of Ferrari aiming for victory in the World Championship, Ayrton Senna replies:
"Imola is like many other circuits. However, I agree with what he said, reversing the hypothesis on McLaren which has always been strong here; in fact, I won the last two races on this track. I hope to win the next race as well to repay Ferrari after the success at my home. I was very sorry not to have been able to give my compatriots the Brazilian Grand Prix".
Senna also says that, with the new exhaust system adopted by McLaren, the car has gained stability. As for the 12-cylinder Honda, he thinks it will be possible to see it in the middle of the season, provided that it is able to meet expectations. About his possible passage to the Maranello team in 1991, Senna replies with the usual sentence:
"Ferrari is a milestone for every driver who reaches the top. But that doesn't mean anything, there are no negotiations".
However, a few days earlier, the Brazilian driver had confided to the English newspaper Today that he intended to leave McLaren at the end of the World Championship to go to Ferrari.
"I have to make my decisions calmly, but it's already time to think about next year. When you've been in Formula 1 for a long time, there comes a time when it's natural to consider driving a Ferrari".
Speaking of Ferrari, in 1991 the Maranello team will supply its engines to another team. The team is the Minardi team, small but efficient, which since its foundation (1972, it was called Scuderia del Passatore) has been in the heart of Enzo Ferrari. A surprise for many, actually a careful evaluation of current strategies in Formula 1 already suggested such a solution. First the brief, laconic communication from Maranello:
"An agreement was reached today between Ferrari and Minardi, according to which Minardi will mount Ferrari 12-cylinder engines on its Formula 1 single-seaters for the 1991 racing season".
Then the declarations of Cesare Fiorio, head of Scuderia Ferrari, and Giancarlo Minardi, owner and team manager of the Faenza team. In the past, Ferrari had supplied engines to other companies (to Lancia the 6-cylinder Dino for the Stratos and then an eight-cylinder for the car that raced in the world endurance championship). But in Formula 1 it never happened until now, as the engines from Maranello were not available to anyone. The turning point was caused by the policy that is developing in Formula 1, where McLaren has become co-owner of Tyrrell and Honda will supply its engines to this second team. Furthermore, Ford is preparing to give the engines to other teams in addition to Benetton. Even Renault, after Williams, is thinking of Ligier or another French team. Cesare Fiorio explains:
"Yes, these reasons also prompted us to start this operation. But above all, we wanted to crown a long period of collaboration and esteem with Minardi. We must not forget that the Romagna-based manufacturer had the Ferrari Dino for the Formula 2 single-seater and that in 1975 he was entrusted with a car to participate in two races not valid for the World Championship. At the wheel is Giancarlo Martini, the uncle of Pierluigi, the current Minardi driver".
Fiorio, as is his habit, does not go too far. The engines will be managed by Minardi for a fee (based on market costs), and Ferrari will provide technical assistance and develop the engines such as those for the official team.
The contract is for one year, but it is clear that it foresees a continuation of the collaboration. Minardi will be able to use the new Mugello circuit (owned by Ferrari) for its tests, in an exchange of data and research. It should be remembered that, among other things, the Romagna team uses Pirelli tyres, so there will be an opportunity to make interesting comparisons with the Ferrari Goodyears. The move by the Maranello team should be seen as part of a short-term and medium-term program, aimed at tackling the competition comprehensively. He will have a satellite team, but also an incentive to improve continuously. Giancarlo Minardi, 43, with his legs limp with emotion, but radiant, expresses a few words:
"This was the greatest recognition our team could get. A sign that professionalism and commitment pay off. Now we will have to change our mentality and make further progress. We will have to change our pace".
The novelty finds a generally favourable reception in the Formula 1 environment, especially from the drivers. But while waiting to see what will be called the Minardi-Ferrari on the track next year, there isl the strictly topical nature of the tests in progress. On Thursday, Alain Prost was once again the fastest, dropping to 1'26"46, 0.5 seconds quicker than Senna in the McLaren (1'26"96). And on Friday, the battle of the times will continue, despite the bad weather that will notlet up. Showers reduced tests to a few laps in the late afternoon without, of course, significant results. Ferrari, therefore, decides to extend the tests until Saturday. Among other things, the day of semi-rest allows Alain Prost to rush home to Switzerland, from where he, unfortunately, receives unpleasant news. The son of the French driver, Nicolas, 9, was injured skiing, hurting his leg. For this reason, Prost, after making sure of the boy's condition, will return during the day to resume his work. The engineer Scalabroni, responsible for the Ferrari chassis, says:
"We have to know all the limits of this car in order to have concrete parameter measurements, before putting the substantially modified single seater on the track that we would like to debut in the San Marino Grand Prix. That is why we insist on these tests which are very important".
The forced stop allows the opening of many discussions in the pits. Senna talks at length with Berger, demonstrating that there is complete harmony between the two McLaren drivers right now. The Austrian then talks about the past, present, and future:
"No nostalgia for Ferrari. I'm fine where I am. I have a lot to learn from Senna also because he is logically more integrated than me in the team. The Maranello team has made progress, but I think our Honda engine is still the most powerful. Williams has also grown up. It's not hard to think that this will be a hard-fought championship with more winners than in recent years. But in the end, I think McLaren will be able to bring home another title".
Minardi also worked quite well on the track, in a climate of great euphoria after the agreement for the supply of Ferrari engines, which tested a modified gearbox (with good results). In the finale, with still damp asphalt and treaded tyres, Berger and Morbidelli, the Ferrari test driver, went down. The young man from Pesaro is slightly the fastest: 1'38"06 against 1'38"62 marked by the Austrian driver. On Monday 9 April 1990, in Maranello, peace broke out between McLaren and Ferrari, after the heavy statements by Ron Dennis, managing director of the British team, on the eve of the Brazilian Grand Prix. Dennis had practically accused the Maranello team of unfair competition. Dennis travelled to Maranello where he met with Piero Fusaro and Piero Ferrari, president and vice president of Ferrari at the end of the meeting, Scuderia Ferrari and the McLaren team simultaneously release a press release, in Italian and English, dated Maranello and Woking, the headquarters of the English team, which closes one of the many unpleasant events of this too heated Formula 1. The document, drawn up with the tip of the pen in tones that recall the best diplomacy and that give a glimpse of the best lawyers in the background, is a success for Ferrari and a painful reverse for Dennis.
"At the beginning of the meeting, Mr. Dennis told Mr. Fusaro and Ferrari how regrettable he considered the negative impact caused to Ferrari by the statements he made during an informal press breakfast. After an exchange of views, Mr. Dennis reassured engineer Fusaro that his comments were never aimed at insinuating that Ferrari had acted incorrectly or in a manner aimed at harming the spirit of fair play".
Those who were in Brazil will continue to think differently, but if Dennis says so… Hence, Ferrari's benevolent response (and here it must be recognised that the Maranello team really showed that fair play of which Dennis in Sao Paulo proved that he was not gifted):
"Engineer Fusaro expressed his appreciation for Mr. Dennis' fairness in his approach to this discussion. Piero Fusaro and Ron Dennis then hoped that the spirit of their meeting will continue to characterise the development of relations between the two teams, so that their competition is essentially of a technical and sporting nature, in the best tradition of motorsport".
And finally, in a tone of peace celebration, Ron Dennis invites Fusaro to visit the McLaren headquarters in Woking on the occasion of the British Grand Prix. Naturally, the invitation is accepted. The challenge, therefore, returns to the track, where, obviously, McLaren and Ferrari will be more enemies than before and where the Maranello team takes another success: Prost closes the Imola practice with a record time (1’24”74) which bodes well for the San Marino Grand Prix. On Tuesday, 17 April 1990, the second phase of the tests of the Formula 1 teams opened in Imola in view of the San Marino Grand Prix. Ferrari will only arrive on Wednesday morning with its new car, but McLaren (Senna and Berger), Williams (Patrese and Boutsen), Benetton (Nannini), Tyrrell (Alesi and Nakajima), Arrows (Alboreto and Caffi), Ligier (Alliot and Larini), Lola (Bernard), Leyton March (Gugelmin), Ònyx (Lehto). All these drivers lap with good times. Patrese completes 34 laps, the last one in 1'25"351, and Senna - who comes from Brazil and looks a bit tired - 23 laps (1'26"525). The others, including Berger, Boutsen and Nannini do not go below 1'27"0. Minardi, Scuderia Italia, Osella, Eurobrun and Lotus are also expected. On Wednesday 18 April 1990, around 3,000 Ferrari fans challenged the pouring rain throughout the day to see the new single-seater from Maranello at work. But only shortly after 3:00 p.m., when the sky becomes clear, Nigel Mansell takes the 641/2 onto the track, still wet, i.e. the definitive evolution of the car that took part in the first two races of the World Championship. Widespread applause at every passage of the Englishman who, first with treaded tires and then with slicks, climbs to the top of the timesheets. Until, in the last available minutes, the other drivers (20) present on the second day of free practice went wild in search of the sensational time. And in the end, Riccardo Patrese, with the Williams-Renault, was once again the fastest thanks to a time of 1'25"928, without managing to better the time of 1'25"351 set on Tuesday. Little by little, Mansell is also overtaken by three other riders, Boutsen, Berger and Senna in this order, thus obtaining the fifth-best time (1'28"153). But the Englishman does not appear worried.
"There is still a lot to do. We had made the settings for the car for the rain and when the asphalt dried they were no longer right. In any case, it seems to me that there are some good premises: this Ferrari seems to me to be more manageable, slightly better in corners. For the rest, we are studying the adjustments for engine management, set-ups, and aerodynamics. It will take a few days, hoping it doesn't rain yet, to understand its strengths and weaknesses".
A Ferrari, therefore, still rather mysterious, to be discovered. It will be interesting, after Thursday, which will see Mansell still at work, the comparison with Alain Prost who will start his work on Friday. In fact, the Frenchman holds the unofficial circuit record, set on Sunday 8 April 1990 in 1'02"746. The single seater from Maranello, however, monopolises attention, despite the presence of other new cars such as the Tyrrell 019 with its revolutionary spoiler front, the Benetton (which, however, did only one lap, as it needs set-up work) and the unprecedented Osella designed by Antonio Tomaini.
One notices a sort of pilgrimage to the Ferrari pits, of technicians and drivers. And among those who stay longer, we also note Ayrton Senna, who talks for a good quarter of an hour with Steve Nichols, the designer who was at McLaren until last year and is now responsible for set-up on the track and of the developments for the Maranello test. Enrique Scalabroni, 41, an Argentinian mechanical engineer, is responsible for the latest Ferrari model, but modestly (and with a subtle polemical vein towards his predecessor John Barnard) maintains that it is only an evolution of the previous car.
"The characteristics of this car, which is three years old as a design, do not allow for revolutions. So, we tried to optimise everything that was possible".
What has been done?
"The car has a slimmer nose, and new front air intakes, to try to eliminate the marginal air vortices which were causing some difficulties. We lengthened the side pods and changed the windscreen even if you can't see much by eye. We are also proceeding with the evolution of the suspension and we have a new generation of rear wings whose purpose is to give, in simple terms, more aerodynamic pressure without reducing top speed. A work done with the computer, the wind tunnel, the conceptual study, and the drawing. In my opinion, it should bring good progress, in the order of 5-6% on performance".
Ferrari, as far as is known, has not yet tested the latest version of its 12-cylinder engine which - according to rumours - should reach peaks close to 700 HP. Thursday, 19 April 1990, is a difficult day for Nigel Mansell. The English driver left the track around 5:15 p.m., almost at the end of the third day of practice. After the accident, the British rider was taken to the infirmary and Dr Piana, the same one who first helped Berger last year, after a quick visit diagnosed him with a suspected fracture in his right wrist. The accident occurred while braking, at the entrance to the Rivazza curve, a downhill part of the circuit that then leads into the lower area of the pits. The asphalt was wet from the rain, but in alternating areas, more or less slippery. The new 641/2 starts suddenly in a spin and then hits the protective wall, lashing it with the tip, before continuing the race and ending up on the grass.
"I didn't notice anything. I think there was a puddle of water, and the car took off, out of control. Unfortunately, I wasn't quick enough to take my hands off the wheel, and I suffered a terrible setback".
The car does not report serious damage, apart from the distraction of the front wing and the breakage of the nose. Plain, it is quite puzzling:
"Mansell has a significant contusion to his right wrist. The joint is painful and oedematous (i.e. swollen, ed). I do not exclude a fracture of the distal third of the ulna (one of the two bones of the forearm, the other is the radius, ed). The driver refused a radiological investigation and any form of treatment. I would have recommended a light cast, but he only accepted a bag of ice. If the fracture is confirmed, it will take at least twenty days to heal".
Reaching the Ferrari van, Nigel says:
"I move my fingers well, I don't think I have any fractures. I'm going to the hotel to rest. We'll see what to do tomorrow".
Later, the English driver spoke on the phone with Dr Bartoletti, the racing team's health manager, who advised him to go to Bologna to undergo an X-ray. Mansell instead calls Fiorio in Maranello, asking for permission to return home to the Isle of Man. Ferrari's sporting director gives him permission and on Friday morning, in England, Nigel will undergo more in-depth tests. Before the accident, in the morning, Mansell had released a sibylline statement. To those who asked him what he thought of the rumours circulating these days about the possibility of a future arrival of Senna at Ferrari, he replied:
"I’m not interested I can only say that my intention is to be the first driver in a team, with two cars available".
A declaration that cannot fail to surprise, given that at Ferrari, as the team managers claim, there is no primary role, but the drivers are considered equal. A message addressed to someone? If one wanted to take the phrase literally, one could hypothesise a return of Mansell to Williams. But it must also be said that Ferrari claims to have an option on the driver, so it should be the Maranello team that decides to let him go; otherwise, Nigel would be out for a year. In the meantime, another case was born around Enrique Scalabroni, who on Wednesday let it slip that Barnard's 641 will not be able to give much, and that another model, completely designed by him, will be ready in the autumn. But engineer Castelli specifies that, if it is true that work is being done on a second single-seater, this will be for next year. The tests, still disturbed by the rain, still see the Williams excel, in the period in which the track remained dry. Patrese sets the best time with an excellent 1'25"629, at an average speed of 211.891 km/h. According to his teammate, Thierry Boutsen (1'25"899), then Ayrton Senna (1'26"358), Gerhard Berger (1'26"538), Nigel Mansell (1'26"668) and Pierluigi Martini (1'27"551) with the old Minardi: the new car, the 190, debuted in the afternoon, but under the water, for which any judgement is postponed. The Mansell mystery, his escape to England after the accident on Thursday afternoon, and the refusal of a more in-depth medical examination in Bologna, had a sentimental thrust. The Ferrari driver must have noticed that the blow to his right wrist was not all that serious. The X-rays he underwent on Friday morning in the Isle of Man confirm that it was just a severe contusion and the racer will be able to get back on the wheel early next week at Fiorano, the anniversary of his wedding. He gave his wife a splendid pair of brilliant and ruby earrings. All is well that ends well. However, the controversy still remains, sparked by the English driver himself who said in the morning, speaking of the future and the possible arrival of Senna in Maranello, that he still intends to race next year as the first driver. A position adopted by some teams which gives a primary role to a single rider by providing him with the best equipment and always the spare car. A policy that Ferrari does not willingly adopt, preferring to put its drivers on the same level, assigning the spare single-seater in perfect alternation, one race for each. The sporting director Cesare Fiorio intervenes on the matter:
"Mansell never mentioned this problem to us. When it comes to signings, we'll see if he will carry out such a request. However, it seems to me that it is a bit too soon, and in any case, I don't have the feeling that Nigel suffers from Prost's presence. Nigel will be at Fiorano for a series of tests on Monday or Tuesday".
A quick way to nip the burning discussion in the bud. In the meantime, the tests continued, luckily without rain, with the track drying around midday. The best time is set by the brilliant Jean Alesi with the new Tyrrell 019, who laps in 1'25"251, approaching Prost's unofficial record (1'24"746). Many teams take the opportunity to try different mechanical and aerodynamic solutions, diversifying the work of the drivers. At McLaren and Williams, for example, Berger and Boutsen are thinking about the qualifying set-ups, while Senna (also the protagonist of two harmless spins) and Patrese are busy with a full tank of petrol testing for the race. Prost with the Ferrari 641/2 sets the eighth time, lapping in 1'27"082. But the Frenchman had only planned the comparative simulation of half a Grand Prix (31 laps), which was not concluded due to a gearbox problem. The last day of the week of free practice will take place on Saturday. In addition to the always dreaded McLaren, the first indications are that the shares of Williams will rise at Imola, which has obtained the best partial accelerations so far (a sign that the Renault engines are constantly improving) and of the Tyrrell who confirmed himself as a dangerous outsider.
The second week of free practice at Imola ended on Saturday 21 April 1990. Twelve teams will return to the track from 2 to 5 May 1990 for a final series of tests. This session, tormented by bad weather, highlights the potential of Williams-Renault. Riccardo Patrese once again set the best time, lapping in 1'25"242, at an average speed of 212.853 km/h, surpassing the already excellent result of Alesi (Tyrrell) on Friday, when the Frenchman had shot in 1'25"251. The unofficial circuit record recorded by Prost on 8 April 1990 with a time of 1'24"746 remains unbeaten. Prost, in a moment of pause, referring to Mansell's recent statements, comments sarcastically:
"Oh yes? Does Mansell want a car and a backup car all to himself? Of course, I understand it, if one wants to be a first guide he must have them. For example, I would love to have three cars and three spare cars all for myself".
Then he continues:
"We are working with a lot of petrol on the tyres. We await the new engine which, based on the results of these tests, we will test in the first days of May. Our program was not to obtain a sensational performance but to develop many technical solutions. For example, we have problems with the electronic gearbox: sometimes the gears don't engage. There is also a suspension issue; the rear one, all new, was sent back to Maranello for some structural modifications and so I rode with the old type. I did tests with a full tank, in a race set-up because I was interested in seeing a few things. In short, this 641/2 for the moment is still a laboratory car where old and new mix, there are different solutions, in search of the best. Only in the tests on May 4th and 5th will we be able to shoot in an almost definitive version and chase record performances. Next Tuesday at Fiorano we will do some new tests with the qualifying tyres, but for now, we are in bad shape. Pirelli tyres, on the other hand, continue to make progress. Alesi told me that he gains a second and a half, while I continue to go faster with the race tyres. If things continue like this, I fear there could be some unpleasant surprises on the line-up at Imola. I'm optimistic, I hope everything works out because I know that Maranello is working hard and well, but we're a bit late. The same goes for the engine: it has certainly improved, but there are still many things to fix. A week of testing in which the rain put all the teams in difficulty, but in which some cars and some drivers stood out, confirming the expected progress".
With the Ferrari 641/2, the Transalpine almost simulates a race, completing 46 laps with the best time of 1'27"121. Senna and Berger (who also had engine problems) mostly experimented. Larini destroys his Ligier. Ferrari tests continue at Fiorano on Monday 23 April 1990. After a week of testing at Imola, unfortunately, disturbed by bad weather, Alain Prost and perhaps also Nigel Mansell resumed testing for the final set-up of the 641/ 2 in view of the San Marino Grand Prix, considered an important appointment for the continuation of a season that has already seen the Maranello team achieve an important success in Brazil. The goal is to complete the mosaic of the new single-seater that awaits the installation of the profoundly renewed twelve-cylinder engine (which should be more powerful and flexible) which has been in the making in the Maranello workshops for months. Along with the engine, some modifications to the electronic gearbox are being tested in an attempt to make it faster and more reliable, and to the rear suspension which should ensure better traction of the car itself. These are the indications that Alain Prost has provided in recent days, denouncing a moderate optimism.
"One of the problems still to be solved is that of qualifying, that is, the best use of the soft tyres. Starting from behind in the grid is always a handicap that comes at a high price, especially on certain tracks. If we manage to find the right solution, I am convinced that this year's world championship will reserve us a lot of satisfaction".
The Frenchman says no more, also because his opponents at Imola have also shown that they have made substantial progress. At the forefront were Williams, which with Patrese achieved the best lap times, and the ever more surprising Tyrrell of Jean Alesi which, despite having a less powerful engine (the eight-cylinder Cosworth) showed significant speed qualities, aided by the skill of the young transalpine driver and by the qualities expressed by the Pirelli tires which have improved not only in lap performance but also in race performance. Unfortunately, in the last week, the atmosphere in the Maranello team has been a bit disturbed by the Mansell case. Not so much for the Englishman's accident, which fortunately resolved with a simple bruise on his wrist, as for the attitude of the British rider who has made disconcerting statements, given that the season has just begun, claiming he wants a lead role for the future. As if Mansell was already thinking about next year. And his behaviour was also rather indelicate with the blatant flashback shown for his former team, Williams, with frequent visits to the pits of the English manufacturer, which greatly irritated Patrese and Boutsen and certainly did not please Ferrari. Nigel Mansell, a rider of undoubted value, would do better right now to think only of his current team and to obtain those results that everyone expects from a champion of his calibre. The controversies, the grumbling, are not good for him either, especially when they are not justified. As mentioned, testing will continue on Monday with a great deal of work being done on the Fiorano track by Alain Prost. At the wheel of the Ferrari 641/2, the car that bears the aerodynamic and suspension modifications developed by Enrique Scalabroni, which however does not yet mount the latest version of the 12-cylinder engine, the Frenchman completes 110 laps in the afternoon, almost without stopping, if not to replace the tires and carry out some checks, Prost sets, with qualifying tyres, the time of 1'01"53, a new track record. The previous limit belonged to Nigel Mansell who last year in October set it at 1'02"60. With race tyres, Prost recorded an excellent time of 1'02"70, a sign of the competitiveness of the single seater, naturally based on the parameters that can be obtained on the Maranello team's private circuit. Negative news instead about Mansell's recovery, who should have shown up at Fiorano. The Englishman still has a sore and swollen injured wrist and cannot drive for the moment, but must rest. He preferred to stay at home. The tests, therefore, continue on Tuesday with Alain Prost who will still try to file the times, waiting to be able to have the most powerful engine in the development phase. In the meantime, the Racing Committee of the Fiat group is meeting in Turin with Romiti, Fusaro, Scolari, Razzelli, Fiorio and Lombardi. Above all, the discussions of future plans for Lancia in rallies and Alfa Romeo on the track. The following day, Alain Prost, at the conclusion of Ferrari's private tests on the Fiorano track, narrowed the previous day's record by 0.06 seconds on qualifying tyres, bringing it to 1'01"47. A total of 84 laps, then the tests were interrupted by the rain. During these test sessions, enormous differences emerge - in every aspect - between Alain Prost and Nigel Mansell. A few years later, Steve Nichols will tell the story of it, who landed in Ferrari together with Alain Prost, but also strongly desired by Nigel Mansell, even if, as the weeks went by, the British seem to have begun to be hostile to the engineer, seeing him solely as someone who worked exclusively on Alain Prost's car:
"Nigel had his race engineer, and Prost in turn had his; I was neutral, I wanted both to get the same treatment, but the problem was that I had arrived from McLaren with Prost. Nigel wanted to have little to do with me, as he only considered me as Prost's engineer. I rarely worked with him, in fact, I thought he hated me. It was only years later that I found out that it was he, as well as Alain, who asked for me to be hired. So, the one and only issue was that according to Nigel, I was with Prost. Their working methods were very different: Nigel would arrive, do a few laps, and then start a race simulation. Generally, the test drivers could try their hand at long runs, but Nigel insisted because he could actually go out there, turn off his brain without having to use it too much and do lap after lap, then do a few qualifying laps at the end of the day. The problem is that then we wouldn't have collected anything useful at all. While he was doing this kind of thing, Prost's engineer - Luigi Mazzola - told him: Nigel is half a second faster than you, you have to go on the track and do a fast lap. But Alain Prost replied: Why? It is a waste of time. We have work to do, do some more long runs. But Mazzola replied: No Alain, you have to do a fast lap because Nigel did one, and if you don't do it the team could start gravitating around him, because he's the Lion, etc. Alain Prost rolled his eyes in annoyance, asked for the petrol to be drained from the car, went onto the track, and immediately set a lap faster than half a second compared to Mansell's, to then return to the pits and say: Done, we can go back to work now? While poor Nigel racked his brain and started complaining about political games".
Thursday 3 May 1990, at 6:00 p.m., there is a quarter of an hour left until the end of the tests: the drivers push hard on the accelerator, some looking for a sensational time, others to check if the work done has paid off with hopeful results. Suddenly the loudspeaker announces that the tests are suspended. The people in the pits are surprised. None of the cars pitted. Something serious has happened, and an ambulance leaves. The news arrives shortly after, fragmented. Ivan Capelli's March stopped along the descent of the Acque Minerali, sideways in the middle of the asphalt ribbon. It is bent to one side. Then better information arrives: Capelli is not seriously injured, however, he was rushed to the Imola hospital, where a few minutes later the journalists find the twenty-seven-year-old Italian driver lying on a stretcher. He is still in a bit of shock, but he is about to be discharged. Radiographic examinations exclude fractures. Only cervical rachialgia (i.e. severe pain), bruises and lacerations to the right knee and fibula. Capelli wears a large collar and his limb is immobilised. The prognosis is six days, maybe he will make it to race the San Marino Grand Prix, with practice starting on Friday 11 May 1990. Talking about the results of the practice, the best time, once again, is obtained by Riccardo Patrese with the Williams-Renault thanks to a time of 1'26"564, but the driver from Padua is the only one to use the qualifying tyres. Behind him is the increasingly surprising Benetton of Piquet, then Prost with the Ferrari. The Frenchman does not test, as expected, the long-awaited new engine. Perhaps it will be fitted on Friday, when Mansell will take to the track, who arrived on Thursday evening, showing that his wrist, at least in appearance, is perfectly healed. In the meantime, the World Champion says:
"But it doesn't matter if we can't use this new twelve-cylinder in the race here at Imola. It better be ready when the time comes, when the super-fast circuits arrive and it will be reliable".
Over the course of the day, Ferrari is forced to deal with a few problems with the gearbox, but these are inconveniences that also serve to improve its functioning. However, those who seem to be hiding are McLaren, usually at the top of the times in practice. Senna is only in P4 and Berger even in P13. Is there trouble or does the English team just want to hide their potential? This is what we will see later. Meanwhile, Ivan Capelli is talking about his troubles, fortunately, left unscathed after his accident:
"I don't know exactly what happened, the car started suddenly and there was nothing I could do to check it. Luckily, I rebounded onto the track, I think I did a full turn on myself, sideways, and then I slid forward for about fifty metres. A terrible fear, but I still managed to get out of the car alone, after having removed the steering wheel. I will be able to tell this to my grandchildren".
Alain Prost and the other drivers arrived immediately afterwards, but help was already present. Of course, the blow must have been terrible: at that point, downhill, in fifth gear at full speed, a speed of more than 250 km/h can be reached. The car is destroyed, it has lost a wheel, the chassis is damaged, but the safety cell has clearly held up well. This was not the only incident of the day: Donnelly hit his Lotus hard at the Piratella, detaching the two right suspensions. Patrese stopped at Tosa with his brakes out, just in time. Senna spun at Rivazza, Nakajima with the Tyrrell did a sensational spin right in the pit straight without touching anything for a real miracle. It is really true that there is also a patron saint for Formula 1. Having forgotten the events of Thursday, the following day, Friday 4 May 1990 between the two litigants, the third… Is faster. A good battle between McLaren and Ferrari was expected on the second day of testing; in fact, there was a challenge and the Maranello team beat the English one, i.e. Prost is faster than Senna. But it was Jean Alesi with his Tyrrell who put the contenders in agreement. Driven by a very efficient car, the one designed by former Ferrari engineers, Postlethwaite and Migeot, by Pirelli qualifying tires (but they are not the softest) and by his undoubted talent, the Frenchman scored a quarter of a now before the end of the tests, the unofficial record of the Imola track: 1'24"514, at an average speed of 214.686 km/h. The twenty-five-year-old driver from Avignon, originally from Alcamo in Sicily, dethroned Prost who held the record, obtained the April 8, with a time of 1'24"746.
"Did I beat Prost? I have not done it on purpose. The car was perfect, the tires were fantastic and I felt good. But I don't think this time will be enough for Sunday's race when I imagine it will drop to 1'23"7. For now, I'm happy with it. Also, because I honestly don't think Tyrrell will be able to win on this track".
However, the surprise represented by Jean Alesi did not demoralise the Ferrari team. As Cesare Fiorio says:
"We did some good practice, but we continue to have the handicap of the qualifying tyres, which we don't exploit so well. For the rest we did the whole program and this is already a positive result".
In truth, however, the Maranello team has not yet put its new engine on the track, the one that has been awaited for some time now. This slightly modified twelve-cylinder became the mystery object of this period. There are even those who have made the hypothesis that it can be tested away from prying eyes in some distant track. Officially it should shoot in the next few days at Fiorano. Fiorio, however, excludes that it can be used for now in the race. Ferrari also had some trouble during the day: a malfunctioning gearbox for Mansell, an engine that failed for Prost. Furthermore, the Frenchman complains about the behaviour of the small windscreen that blows too much air at him and also says that in the final stages he felt some annoying vibrations in the front wheels. During the third and final day, Ferrari should run with Mansell and Morbidelli (the latter for a race simulation), but it is not excluded that Prost will also remain. On Saturday 5 May 1990, McLaren's response to Tyrrell and Ferrari was immediate: during practice, the two drivers of the Anglo-Japanese team broke the unofficial record of the Imola track, obtained the day before by Alesi, bringing the new limit to 1'23"805 with Senna, and 1’23”851 with Berger. The feat can be achieved thanks to new engines and very soft Goodyear qualifying tyres. Tires, which, as Ferrari complains, were only given to McLaren. Senna and Berger set record times in the morning: the Brazilian on the last lap (number 30) and Berger on lap 34 of the 40 raced. The afternoon offered Ferrari the opportunity to partially make up for it: Mansell, at the end of lap 30, set a time of 1'24"193, which puts him in third position after Senna and Berger, but ahead of the French Alesi and Prost. On Thursday, 10 May 1990, in Romagna, the cradle of engines and great passions, Formula 1 arrives and the city is immediately transformed, taking on the appearance of an enormous motor show, with the circuit at the centre, besieged by thousands of onlookers, fans, with the hills invaded by flags, tents, strange canopies erected to occupy the best places. 200.000 people are expected for the three-day event of the San Marino Grand Prix, which represents the return of the World Championship to Europe, after the two initial trips to Phoenix and Sao Paulo in Brazil. Alain Prost's victory on the Interlagos track sparked the hunt for the ticket. Sold out, apparently, with the touts ready to offer you a numbered grandstand for 400,000 lire. And it seems that there are some last-minute desperate people ready to spend this money, just to be there, to participate. A huge wait, therefore, but it will not be easy for the Maranello team to repeat the feat of a month and a half ago. The opponents are fierce: McLaren with Senna and Berger set the track record, William presents itself with a renewed and more competitive Renault engine. Benetton with Barnard's hand on the new car seems to have made considerable progress. And then there's that unknown named Jean Alesi, with her Tyrrell going like a rocket. In short, there are many questions to answer. But maybe that's exactly what people are looking for, beyond the hopes of success for the Maranello team. It must be said that Ferrari, after weeks of frantic testing and a great deal of work in the workshop, seems to have prepared well. Cesare Fiorio says in this regard:
"We mounted the new engine on the two cars driven by Prost and Mansell. They will use it in the first free practice session and in the subsequent qualifying round. But don't expect miracles, it is potentially superior to the previous twelve-cylinder engine which by now had been squeezed to the max. However, it begins its development only now. We will hear what the drivers have to say. For the starting grid, I'd be content with staying three-tenths behind McLaren, like last Saturday. For the race, on the other hand, I'm quite confident, we should be at least on par with our fiercest rivals".
Fiorio preaches calm regarding the recent controversies. Ferrari's sporting director explains that he did not want to trigger an attack on Goodyear by saying that Senna and Berger had tried unprecedented qualifying tires denied to Ferrari. In Fiorio's opinion, the only concern regards the fact that the Brazilian and the Austrian did their fastest laps with old tyres. As for the rumours about the driver market, the sporting director confirms that there is an intention to renew the contract for both the French and the Englishman. Unless problems arise when it comes time to discuss the details. Alain Prost, meanwhile, is concerned with solving his problem regarding driving comfort. Since the complex aerodynamics of the car cannot be changed to prevent too much air reaching the helmet, the French driver resorted to the care of Professor Dal Monte, head of the physiology centre of the Sports Medicine Institute in Rome, who studied a special collar that the Frenchman should wear from Friday morning in order not to suffer setbacks. As for the heralded introduction of anti-doping control in Formula 1 which should have started right from Imola. But Dr Issermann, the medical delegate of the FIA, knows nothing about it.
"There will be exams but not on this occasion, but in other already established competitions".
An unexpected return and an interesting debut: these are the new drivers for the San Marino Grand Prix. The returnee is Bruno Giacomelli, hired by Life, the Modena team that uses the engine designed by the former Ferrari engineer, Rocchi, in place of the Australian Gary Brabham. The Brescian, former European Formula 2 champion, had left Formula 1 in 1983 after having competed in 69 races with McLaren, Alfa Romeo and Toleman. To his credit a pole position and a third place. Since then, also involved in a serious accident, he has raced in the sports prototype world championship. The newcomer is another Brabham, David, 24 years old, the younger son of the three times World Champion. He was the British Formula 3 Champion and it is said that he is the best of the brothers, Gary and Geoff. He was hired by Brabham, who thus got rid of the Swiss Gregor Foitek, who ended up at Onyx in place of Johansson. David Brabham will be Stefano Modena's teammate. Seven years ago, Ferrari won the San Marino Grand Prix with Patrick Tambay. It was the most beautiful day, that 1st May 1983, of the entire career of the French driver. And perhaps the worst for Riccardo Patrese, who on that occasion saw victory slip away two laps from the end of the race due to a trivial mistake that took him off the track at the entrance to the pit straight, in front of the grandstands full of fans of the team from Maranello who went into a frenzy for that now unexpected success. Since then, Ferrari has never been able to repeat itself on what can be considered (along with Monza) one of its home tracks: the British teams have always been the masters: Lotus (once with De Angelis, due to disqualification of Prost), McLaren (four victories, two with the Frenchman himself and two with Ayrton Senna) and Williams (with Mansell in 1987). There were some placements (Arnoux second in 1984, Alboreto third in 1987), but no driver from the Maranello team ever had the opportunity to get on the top step of the podium again. The Maranello team hit rock bottom last year when, after Berger's terrible accident, Mansell was forced to retire on lap 24 due to a broken gearbox. The situation now seems very different for the third race of the Formula 1 World Championship, which brings the Grand Prix circus back to Europe right at Imola after the American trip. Prost's affirmation in Brazil and the results of the recent tests give hope for a completely different ending, in a good fight with McLaren, Williams, and Benetton who are among the candidates for success. But while the predictions among the managers of Ferrari are rather cautious, Alain Prost and Nigel Mansell this time appear quite optimistic. The English driver says:
"I am convinced that this will be the right time for me too. I'm in perfect shape, the car should be competitive and I plan to aim for a top placement. I dare not speak of victory for superstition and because we have not yet carried out the official tests. However, there are all the premises for a favourable forecast. The best thing would be to play for success with my teammate Prost. Which I hope to beat, of course".
Nigel Mansell talks at length. He says that he is not angry with the Italian press in general as some would like to appear in recent times, but that he is only furious at the attacks that have been made on him by a couple of newspapers; and adds that he feels at home at Ferrari and that his goal is always to aim for victory in the World Championship. The only problem for the Englishman from Isle of Man is that several of his colleagues, starting with Prost, have the same intentions.
Apart from Senna, who has never hidden his ambitions to score the missed encore last year, Gerhard Berger is also in the match. The Austrian went through a period of difficult adaptation to McLaren (among other things, the car was too tight for him and the technicians of the English team had to study various tricks to allow him to drive without problems) and now he wants to forget going off the track altogether last year with a nice statement. Friday, 11 May 1990, the Imola circuit does not deny its reputation as a difficult race, sometimes even bad. The first day of qualifying offers the 40.000 spectators great competitive emotions and, unfortunately, also a bad accident involving Pierluigi Martini, the twenty-nine-year-old Minardi driver, in a sensational exit from the track that literally breaks the front of his car in two. 1:42 p.m., qualifying is in full swing. Inner circuit cameras follow Ayrton Senna. Suddenly the shot changes,a car is seen against the barriers, with the driver inside the cockpit raising his arms. The image is impressive because the car is split in two at the front, and the nose is bent to the left. Thus began the most difficult nine minutes of Pierluigi Martini, twenty-nine-year-old from Lavezzola, Minardi's revelation driver. Martini himself then recounted as he got into a friend's car who was taking him home, with his left foot in a cast:
"I heard the car go away suddenly to the left, and I ended up bouncing around 180 km/h into the tire barrier on the outside of the Acque Minerali turn. I felt a great pain, and immediately thought I had got myself a serious wound. Then, when they took me out of the car, I realised that the damage was minor, so much so that I asked not to go on the stretcher".
The rescuers, who arrived instantly, will take to remove the driver from the uncomfortable position, while the doctors give him a drip as a precaution. In fact, the servicemen had to cut the carbon fibre frame to free the left foot that was stuck. Then the ambulance takes the driver to the infirmary. Dr Piana, head of the medical service, will say:
"We subjected Martini to two sets of x-rays. In the second, a fracture to the left fibula malleolus was discovered. The prognosis is 25 days".
All in all, it still went well, because the accident could have had more serious consequences. Engineer Gabriele Cadringher, technical chief of FISA, explains the reasons why the car opened:
"The nose got stuck between two tires, getting stuck against the guardrail. It kind of leveraged and caused the rift".
Sure, the scene is impressive. Luckily, with the new regulations, the drivers' feet are placed behind the front wheel axis. Only a couple of years ago, the accident would have had a much more devastating outcome. And so Martini returns home with a broken ankle: the Italian driver hopes to be on the track on Sunday 27 May 1990, in Monaco. Needless to say, the McLaren drivers put on a show. Gerhard Berger, with a thrilling final lap, detached his teammate, Ayrton Senna by 0.05 seconds, setting the official track record with the best time (1'24"027, at an average of 215.931 km/h). Even if neither of them manages to get below the unofficial record of 1'23"8 recorded last week in free practice. To tell the truth, among the top teams, the only team that makes substantial progress in the lap time is Williams with Patrese, who dropped to 1'24"486, third in the standings. Ferrari, on the other hand, also placed Nigel Mansell in P4 and Prost in P6. Scuderia Ferrari uses the evolution engine. But if the results are good in race conditions, things do not go well for qualifying. On Saturday, the brand-new engine will be abandoned to return to the previous model. A decision that obviously does not stop the development of the new twelve-cylinder, but that postpones its debut in the race to the next tests. It went out while it was changing. But that is not the biggest difficulty. As Alain Prost explains:
"In this heat, our single seaters behave differently. The grip of the qualifying tires is precarious, you slip and control becomes difficult. And as if that weren't enough, I wasn't able to do a single lap without finding some slower cars".
Nigel Mansell looks slightly happier, but the Englishman has had his troubles too. In the first attempt with soft tyres he found Grouillard's Osella in a chicane and broke down dramatically. In the second he ran a serious risk, skilfully avoiding a collision with Paolo Barilla's Minardi.
"I braked desperately and luckily we didn't hit each other. But I ended up straight off the track too".
What had happened? Barilla had simply spun and lost control of his car:
"Mansell was very good, because he had the presence of mind to brake, otherwise we would have had a bad time".
A Ferrari, therefore, that was unable to express itself at its best (last Saturday it lapped in 1'24"10), remaining almost 1.5 seconds above its potential possibilities. However, the technicians are quite optimistic. Instead, a great battle between Berger and Senna the Austrian makes it clear that the challenge is open, that Ayrton will not settle for second place.
"I'll have to start from the beginning: if all the qualifiers are like this, I'll end up ageing ten years in just one season".
As for the other protagonists. Alesi (P7) broke two engines in the morning and was unable to prepare his Tyrrell well. He is convinced that he can enter the top positions. It does not seem, however, that this track will allow eight-cylinder engines many possibilities. Even if the shock of the terrible accident (fortunately without very serious consequences) that occurred to Pierluigi Martini with the Minardi has not yet passed, which cost the driver from Romagna a fracture of his left ankle and 25 days of prognosis, the gladiators of Formula 1 are ready for yet another battle. One must immediately forget, think of the next day, even if that car that was almost broken in two was a terrifying image and made one think of much more serious injuries. The central theme of the race is always the hunt for McLaren, which once again proved to be the strongest, at least on the first day of qualifying. Ferrari, Williams, and perhaps even Benetton hope to be able to fight with the cars of Senna and Berger, elusive when it comes to setting a fast lap, perhaps more vulnerable in the race. But another dominant motif fits into the context of the speech: the duel between the two teammates, precisely Senna and Berger. The two, the Brazilian and the Austrian, are friends for now, exchanging information and confidences, giving each other big pats on the back. But the most heated rivalry is always latent, threatening to repeat last year's situation, when Senna and Prost almost came to blows and ended up arguing even on the track, ending the season with the now historic Suzuka accident. Gerhard Berger knows very well that so far he has not collected much (a second place in Brazil) and he also made a bad impression in Phoenix, when he went off the track while he was in the lead.
"Senna is not one to give space, never. You have to beat him to the punch, try to attack him, in practice and in the race. That's what I'll try to do, because my goal is to win the World Championship".
The response of the South American champion to these jokes is not long in coming:
"I, too, want to take back the title. This year will be difficult, precisely because Berger is competitive and because many teams have grown. Which is why this will be the best opportunity to lengthen the pace at the top of the standings. The Imola track is very demanding, for the drivers and for the cars. It will be necessary to concentrate fully and try not to make mistakes. I really hope that tomorrow you will see the best Senna".
And this is a genuine declaration of war. One wonders what role Ferrari will play in this family challenge between the two McLaren racers. The Maranello team revealed problems once again in qualifying, partly due to the traffic encountered by Prost and Mansell, partly because these tires apparently never go well enough. But, Maranello's technicians and drivers say, the race is something else. Ferrari will still race with the old engines, waiting for the more advanced one to be definitively ready. If reliability does not betray him, it's possible that the World Champion and his teammate will be able to give the general public at Imola the satisfaction they expect. Attention should be paid to the Williams, however, who could act as third wheel with a Riccardo Patrese in great form, ready to redeem the bad impression he suffered on this circuit in 1983 when he went off the track while he was in the lead, leaving the victory to Patrick Tambay's Ferrari. The Paduan this time will not let himself be fooled if he has the opportunity to win. A few hours before the end of the first day of practice, in the morning, a few minutes before the start of pre-qualifying, Gabriele Tarquini, as soon as he came out of the pits, was forced to stop due to a fuel pressure problem. Despite the driver's effort, who tried to repair the fault himself, he was unable to lap again in the session and was therefore eliminated. Not even his teammate, Yannick Dalmas, was able to take part in the pre-qualifying sessions, still in pain from the after-effects of an accident that occurred on the Romagna track the previous week. Bruno Giacomelli was also the victim of a tormented session, being able to complete just one lap before the failure of the engine, which flooded the track with oil, stopped him. Of the other riders, Éric Bernard and Aguri Suzuki, on Larrousse, were the most competitive and fought for the best time, which was then obtained by the Frenchman. In third place is Olivier Grouillard on Osella who, together with Roberto Moreno, managed to access the qualifying session. Bertrand Gachot in the Coloni was eliminated, despite an advanced and lighter car that is still not competitive, and Claudio Langes in the second Eurobrun. Saturday, 12 May, 1990, Ayrton Senna is ruthless, he has no compassion for his rivals. But he is also the fastest, the artist of the steering wheel, the driver capable of any feat when it comes to making a loop to the death, brushing the track by pushing the accelerator to the maximum, giving the impression of running in apnoea, without breathing so as not to waste precious time.
The Brazilian driver will start from pole position in the San Marino Grand Prix, after obtaining the 44th pole position of his career (out of 97 disputed qualifiers). The Brazilian is the master of Imola: with his McLaren he will lead the dance, he will impose the race pace. Senna knocked out his opponents thanks to a time of 1’23”220, set at an average speed of 218.025 km/h, making a circuit that was considered on average fast become very fast. And the public applauds him, even the Ferrari fans who dream to see him in Maranello sooner or later. New record and Gerhard Berger appalled. Yet the Austrian manages to improve, down to 1’23”781. An unthinkable limit until a few days ago. But nothing to do with Ayrton who puts everyone behind, even the Williams of Patrese and Boutsen who conquered the second row. Further away, disappointing in terms of timing, the Ferraris, in P5 with Mansell and in P6 with Prost: the English car is 1.8 seconds behind, the French one by 1.9 seconds. Jean Alesi, the Sicilian from Avignon, follows in seventh position with the Tyrrell, in P8 and P9 the Benettons of Piquet and Nannini. These are the drivers who will contend for victory, with the three pairs at the top (two McLarens, two Williams, two Ferraris). But everyone says that the race is open. In McLaren, partly out of superstition and partly because there are no counter-tests on the racing set-up, it is argued that the choice of tires is quite difficult (changes are foreseen), and that Imola is a tough track for the cars (engines and brakes always under pressure) and for the drivers on a physical level. Williams is pre-tactical: they do not want to come out even if the single seaters appear competitive. Ferrari does not forget the success in Brazil, when it started in the same positions and Prost finished first. This time, however, the gaps between the Maranello cars are heavier and the gap is more difficult to close. It is a Ferrari that is still uncertain, always grappling with some problems. It is hard to understand why Senna and Berger, Patrese and Boutsen always find at least one free lap, why they manage to exploit the qualifying tires on almost every track, while Mansell did not make a pass without hitting a hitch. A halfway off the track to pass the slower Williams of Boutsen, a sensational cut of a chicane in the following lap. And his explanation ("I was at the limit with the tires and my foot got stuck between the brake and the accelerator") is perplexing. Easier to think of a desperate and even naive attempt to be faster.
Prost, who uses the old bodywork (that of the 641) because aerodynamic turbulence disturbs him in driving, complains about the tyres. The Frenchman explains that the race tires on the Ferrari are better than the qualifying ones. Pierluigi Martini will be missing from the grid, on Friday the protagonist of the spectacular and frightening accident that froze the spectators. On Saturday, the Minardi driver walks into the pits with his left ankle in a plaster, promising that in Monte-Carlo - in two weeks - he will be back on track. The truth is that these drivers are a little crazy. One thing is certain: Ayrton Senna has never been seen as serene and calm as in Imola:
"It's just a matter of believing in yourself. And don't make mistakes. You have to plan everything carefully. I think it would have been possible to be faster: a time of 1'23"0 wasn't impossible, but maybe I should have risked too much. My first lap wasn't effective enough, because I was losing speed by sliding sideways. I made small adjustments to the car, then everything went well. I was very motivated after seeing Berger's time".
The race?
"It's hard to say before, we certainly have a good chance. But for now, I'm thinking above all about making a good start. I have Berger at my side. We are teammates who respect each other, we didn't agree. I don't think there will be any problems".
Leaving the circuit, Ayrton Senna throws a dig at the enemy Prost:
"The guy there when he was at McLaren complained about the chassis, he said they gave us different engines. Now at Ferrari he's protesting about the tyres, also to diminish the value of our performance".
Icy, the French:
"It doesn't deserve an answer".
As Gerhard Berger says:
"I had problems with the gearbox, because the cockpit is always too narrow for me. I neutralised a corner that I should have taken in third gear. I'll get back on track".
Hopefully, Riccardo Patrese, in splendid form, is convinced that his Williams-Renault will be able to give him satisfaction.
"The podium would be fine for me, but I don't want to finish second, I prefer third place. Nine times already I have conquered the place of honour and no one has ever stopped in front of me. I hope to win, maybe with a little luck. Seriously, I think our cars will be as good as the McLarens. It will be an open race, even for the Ferraris".
Nigel Mansell, who broke an engine in the morning (while Prost also remained on the track without petrol) is confident:
"It's incredible, in qualifying I can never find a free lap. I could have done a half second less, possibly take third place. Instead, once I found Boutsen going slower and I went off the track covering a hundred metres on the grass. Then, after being slowed down, I forced again on the tires which were degrading. I arrived at the high chicane and my foot slipped between the accelerator and the brake. I cut the corner like a rocket, it wasn't a good experience. However, I am convinced that the Grand Prix will allow me to emerge. In the race set-up my Ferrari is competitive".
Mansell will use the new bodywork of the 641/2, which has instead been abandoned by Prost, who is not at ease with the one designed by Enrique Scalabroni. The Frenchman is angry with the tyres: he had a race set and a qualifying set at his disposal, but he didn't get the advantages he expected with the softer ones:
"I can't understand why there is this problem. Since the beginning of the year, the tires that bring the others better times have not given us any results. Otherwise, the car is quite well-balanced. Starting backwards is a lot of damage on this track, but it won't be impossible to make a comeback if there are no difficulties".
It must be said that Alain Prost never leaves any stone unturned: if Ayrton Senna is the king of pole positions, the Frenchman is the king of the races, especially in preparation for the eve. On Saturday evening, the World Champion stayed until almost late at night to discuss the solutions to be adopted on Sunday, in the race, with all the technicians. At the last moment, the Frenchman decides to race with the old bodywork, leaving the new one aside. And at the same time, study his tactics, the choice of tires, set-ups, and everything else. Someone insinuates a quarrel between him and Mansell, but Prost denies any theory.
"Nonsense. There is someone who enjoys sowing discord".
Meanwhile, Cesare Romiti, CEO of Fiat, is in Imola, and spends hours inside the Ferrari box.
"There is no similar support in the whole world, the racetrack is an immense football curve".
The CEO of Fiat was pleasantly surprised by the organisation present at Imola:
"And who takes the Grand Prix away from these people anymore?"
And Ferrari?
"Let's see the race".
Will he see her?
"No, you will see it live: let's hope in the race, the qualifying tire problems were already known".
During the day, the teams were informed of the new sporting regulations that would come into force starting from the Monaco Grand Prix. The changes concern various articles, including Art. 26 which eliminates the engine change limits over the course of a season, 31 and 32, which better specify the pre-qualifying procedures and increase the number of sets of tires that can be used in this session to three. However, the most substantial part of the novelty concerns the starting procedure; it is in fact established in the new Art. 111 that, if a driver fails to line up or chooses to start from the pit lane, the other competitors will be able to gain a position on the grid and his place will not remain empty as previously; moreover, whoever has the starting procedure repeated is automatically relegated to last position. If more than one driver fails to start, they will line up at the back of the grid, following the qualifying order. The collaboration between Brabham and Yamaha for 1991 is also announced. In June, in fact, a frame of the BT58 will be sent to Japan to perform the first tests.
Sunday 13 May 1990, at the start of the San Marino Grand Prix, on the right-hand line, Berger and Boutsen give the impression of having sped off before the green light came on. The fact was reported in the press room to Jean-Marie Balestre, president of FISA. But shortly after, an official statement from the stewards was issued, indicating that everything had taken place regularly. Even if the departure of the two drivers was by no means smooth, and they deserved a penalty. But it is not desirable to ruin the show by screwing it up again. At the first corner, Ayrton Senna catches up and overtakes Gerhard Berger, with Thierry Boutsen behind him. Meanwhile, Jean Alesi slips between the two Ferraris and Nigel Mansell ends up on the ground outside the circuit, raising a lot of dust. A few moments later the young French driver of the Tyrrell also hits a wheel of Alain Prost's car, causing numerous problems that will condition the World Champion's race, i.e. difficult braking, the accelerator not returning properly, and therefore excessive wear tyres that will force him to stop in the pits to change them, although this manoeuvre was not foreseen at the start of the race. At this point we need to open a small parenthesis: Jean Alesi is certainly a great promise, a great talent, a courageous and combative driver. But at Imola he doesn't stand out with a car that isn't competitive to win on this track, perhaps jeopardising a better result than the P6 he will get at the end of the race. Among other things, the French driver hits, during an overtaking, the car of Nelson Piquet, causing the Brazilian's Benetton to fly into the air, which then landed on two wheels. Maybe a little reflection would not hurt the young French driver. Although the contact created balance problems for the Brazilian driver's Benetton, the latter will recover several positions by passing Alliot, the two Larrousse, Warwick and, finally, also Alesi, who in the meantime even goes into a spin and suffers problems with the tyres. In the meantime, again during the first lap, precisely because of the impetuous manoeuvres conducted by Jean Alesi, Ivan Capelli suddenly brakes and Satoru Nakajima rear-ends him, then going to destroy his Tyrrell, broken in two, against the wall. Poor Roberto Moreno also falls victim to this accident, damaging his car by passing through the debris. Shortly afterwards, at Tosa, Donnelly went off the track, narrowly avoiding hitting any other rider. All of this ends up costing Ayrton Senna dearly too, who on lap 4, while already well in the lead, goes straight into the variant with a flat right rear tyre. But it is not a puncture, but a damaged rim. Impact or faulty material? Who knows.
Excluding the pretender number one to victory, the tough Thierry Boutsen takes first position. At the same time, Berger, who forced his pace by closing the gap of about 5 seconds that he had on Boutsen, begins to press the Belgian driver, who makes a mistake by engaging first gear instead of third and breaks the engine, due to the consequent out-of-rev. Thus, from lap 18 to lap 50, Gerhard Berger takes the lead of the race. However, the Austrian did not have an easy life, because Nigel Mansell, in a great day of courage and spirit, having received the green light from the pits, began a frantic attack, first overtaking Riccardo Patrese under braking at Tosa, during lap 21 (after he had seen his attack repulsed by the Paduan driver at Tosa during lap 19), avoiding a great risk in a lapping by De Cesaris during lap 27 (the Italian driver suddenly closes his trajectory at Rivazza, coming into contact, which later turned out to be harmless, but wasting time for the British driver), and subsequently bringing the McLaren closer to a pace of almost one second per lap. But the Englishman was betrayed partly by his enthusiasm and partly by Gerhard Berger, who at the first attempt to overtake by the English driver placidly maintained the trajectory, pushing him onto the grass. Mansell performs a tightrope stunt, first going off the track, then spinning, and finally putting his Ferrari back on the line. Nigel Mansell will make another lap record, but his car does not resist. The temperatures were already high; but after the accident with Berger, and the consequent going off the track, the radiators were clogged with dust and grass, and during lap 38 the engine gave out. With the retirement of Nigel Mansell, Riccardo Patrese becomes fully aware of his possibilities, and on lap 43 he catches up with his rival, but makes a mistake going wide at Rivazza; the Italian driver must temporarily slow down, but he will attack Gerhard Berger again and pass him on lap 51, going on to win. Behind, Alain Prost, who had stopped to change the tyres, hunted in vain for Alessandro Nannini, who was having trouble with the brakes. In the end, the French driver's car was no longer so reactive to make it possible for the Italian driver to overtake, while Nannini even managed to set the fastest lap on the penultimate lap. Thus, Gerhard Berger finishes in second place behind Riccardo Patrese, followed by Alessandro Nannini, Alain Prost, Nelson Piquet and Jean Alesi. Ferrari did not win, but Riccardo Patrese made up for it, with his attempted success in his fourteen-year career.
A result that not only has the merit of having finally made the Italian driver a hometown hero as well, but above all that of having given the Formula 1 World Championship a dimension that everyone has been waiting for for some time, the dimension of uncertainty. Who remembers a championship that after three races has three different winners, out of three divergent cars, namely Senna (McLaren) in Phoenix, Prost (Ferrari) in Brazil and Patrese (Williams) in the San Marino Grand Prix? The race was exciting, beautiful, tight, and also spectacular right from the start. Riccardo Patrese won, big time. The Paduan had said the day before:
"I can try, but I would be very sorry to finish second again. I would almost prefer a third place to the place of honour, in order not to have any recriminations. There is someone, among my colleagues, who has imposed himself because the rivals who preceded him have stopped. Who knows, maybe for once I might not be lucky too".
And he was satisfied. His was a clear statement at the end of a race conducted without errors with a car, the Williams-Renault, which did not give up the slightest bit. But, without taking anything away from the Paduan's merits, one wonders what would have happened if Senna hadn't broken the rim of the right rear wheel, if Mansell had not had the troubles that ultimately cost him the engine failure, if Prost had not been forced to change tires and if he hadn't had other problems (oil on the tires and compromised clutch) at the end of the race. Assuming that even in motor racing those who have problems are wrong and those who do not are right, the situation must be analysed. Williams has certainly become a competitive car. He proved it amply both in practice and in the race. But is it already at the level of McLaren? It would seem so: Honda are worried. At Imola, engineer Goto, head of the Japanese team that supplies engines to McLaren, says that more powerful engines will be made available for Monte-Carlo. A sign that they think they have been reached. As far as Ferrari is concerned, the issue of reliability remains open, even if all in all the mechanical problem on Mansell's car and the inconveniences on Prost's were caused by external factors. On the positive side for the Maranello team, apart from the fourth place of its French driver who thus moved to just one point in the general standings from Senna, on a par with Berger, there are some significant data. In terms of lap times, for example, apart from the record set by Nannini's Benetton on the penultimate lap by 0.008 seconds ahead of Prost, Mansell was the third-fastest driver, ahead of Berger. In total, Ferrari recorded the fastest times during the race.
A small consolation, which, however, cannot remedy the bitterness of a result which was inferior to the real possibilities of the team. The biggest concern to be solved at the moment is that of using the qualifying tires with which Ferrari is unable to express itself at the level of its rivals. And unfortunately, on May 27th in Monte-Carlo, the position in the starting grid will count for a lot, indeed it will be decisive on a track where overtaking is prohibitive. At Imola, Prost and Mansell are defeated, the former furious at the missed opportunity, the latter disappointed by not having collected a good result despite an exhilarating performance. In fact, the Englishman unleashed the grit of his best days, with thrilling overtaking, demonstrating that his lionheart has not failed. The only drawback: the failed overtaking of Berger. Mansell was perhaps too hasty, he could have waited longer before making the attempt on a rival who was, after all, a little slower. But the Austrian didn't pay any compliments. Maintaining his line caused him to go off the track without paying any penalty, just as he did not pay any for an evident jump start when the traffic light was still red. FISA is very strict on some occasions, on others it closes both eyes. Be that as it may, perhaps the one in Imola was the greatest people's sports conference in Italy. The commissioner speaks of 180.000 spectators. The organisers speak of 140.000 paying visitors, and the two figures may be in healthy correlation. The official speaker of the San Marino Grand Prix says at the end, while the winner Riccardo Patrese sprays happiness and champagne from the podium:
"Imagine if an Italian in a Ferrari had won".
Patrese managed not to get angry and indeed to respond to the polemical solicitation:
"But no, everything's fine like this, I have to admit that if I had been in a Ferrari I would have had even more applause".
Then he thanks the crowd:
"Warm with me already in the days of practice, very warm after the arrival".
In fact, it was partly the same crowd that booed him here in 1983 when he passed Tambay in the Ferrari in Brabham, with four laps to go, and applauded the gods when he went off the road half a lap later. The same crowd that delegates no more than 300 people to celebrate him under the podium, and 200 of them wave the Ferrari flags. In vain the journalists called Patrese, engaged in his 195th Grand Prix, an absolute record, to make a bit of controversy. Because his victory does not spread happiness in the most Ferrari-loving racetrack, it does not cause people's delirium. Applause, here. And one may wish they were not there. Other than competence, love for engines. Italian motoring, with regard to Formula 1, is called Ferrari, the speaker also explains it. If Patrese and Nannini had finished last and penultimate instead of first and third, and Prost in a Ferrari in the final had remounted on Berger and won, then yes, it would have been a popular celebration. Riccardo Patrese kissed his wife hard before the start; after the race, the Italian driver is asked if the lady had cut her hair short for good luck. A trivial question on which Patrese could play to give a nice answer. But the Williams driver limits himself to saying:
"God".
Then he specifies:
"Many friends have come from my city, Padua, with many amulets to bring me luck, ask them. All I know is that I passed Berger where I passed Tambay seven years ago, and that up to the corner where I went out four years ago, I was concentrated like never before in my life".
Patrese floods with happiness:
"So now I can't find the words to tell you how happy I am, sorry".
After that, he explains his run:
"It started after Brazil, with the great work of Williams-Renault. I had planned a cautious race at the start, it was hard not to push hard right away, especially after the unhappy start, but I had to contain myself. Twenty laps from the end I gave everything. I had dirty tyres, while chasing Berger I had gone off the trajectory, I needed a lap and a half to clean them, when I had already run into his slipstream, then I attacked hard. The last lap was as long as a whole race".
A kiss on the brakes:
"Finally, they performed well. They were our main problem".
A look ahead:
"Monte-Carlo? Not only McLaren, Ferrari, Williams, and Benetton, like here, but also others capable of setting great qualifying times on Pirelli tyres: because overtaking is almost impossible there".
The race has been over for half an hour, people leave Imola painfully, news arrives at the racetrack of a city sealed off by cars that are unable to leave it and become their own jailers. A banner reading “Patrese sei grande” is flapped by the early evening wind, high up on a flight of steps. Patrese, who in Monte-Carlo in 1982 reopened the era of the Italian winners in Formula 1, after Vittorio Brambilla (half race, and very wet) of Zeltweg 1975, glued his name to a huge day for popular competition, to an outstanding performance for calm, confident, intelligent courage. It is absolutely not his fault that he does not put his buttocks on a Ferrari. Important, for the civilization of sport, that this is not a fault. Yep, sports. The large crowd was only completely happy when Senna went off the road, ending up in the sand with a broken wheel rim. Applause, shouts of joy. Maybe next year Senna will race in a Ferrari and who knows how much love he will have on him, and who knows who will have to pay tribute to a fan that is unique in the world, but which if it disappeared, in this terrible and arrogant form, we wouldn't really miss. The ineffable Balestre, president of FISA, explains the forced withdrawal of Senna, and recounts:
"It's incredible. I was on the starting line, five minutes before the start. A photographer gave me a candy. I took it and threw the rolled-up paper in front of the wheels of the Brazilian's McLaren, saying: this way you'll get a flat tire".
But Senna did not like the joke. He is now only one point clear in the standings. And that does not amuse him.
"I immediately felt that something was wrong, the car was not balanced. And in fact, I struggled to avoid a collision when it went sideways. Luckily, I ended up in the dirt. It seems to me that luck does not follow me".
It is difficult to say whether Senna could have won. However, we must admit that Berger driving the other McLaren with Patrese didn't make it.
"Towards the end of the race the engine lost power. I was also having problems with the tyres. And to say that I had been careful at the beginning not to make any mistakes. With what Patrese did to me, it might have been better if I'd forced it now. There was a lot of pressure, I always had three or four opponents on me. I still got six points and that was my goal. Mansell? At the end of the straight I saw it on my right, then on my left. I do not know what happened. However, I'm happy that he didn't get hurt".
It does not go too far, but the tone is ironic. In any case, there is a lot of joy and satisfaction among the men on the podium. Apart from Patrese, of course, Nannini is also very satisfied with his third place (Benetton also placed Piquet in P5), obtained with a car that is still theoretically inferior for the 8-cylinder engine, at least on these medium-speed tracks.
"I don't know if Prost would have approached me if the two Lotuses of Warwick and Donnelly hadn't slowed me down a lot, also trying to overtake each other. Among other things, one of those peepholes was leaking oil. However, the car was fine, and I pushed hard to resist the Ferrari attack. This also resulted in the running lap record, which I don't mind at all".
Speaking of the accident involving Gerhard Berger and Nigel Mansell, the sporting director of Scuderia Ferrari, Cesare Fiorio, said at the end of the race:
"I don't understand Berger, I don't understand why he behaved so badly. In any case, Ferrari has always raced as a protagonist".
Others add:
"Berger didn't have clean behaviour while Mansell was attacking him. Mansell had no choice, either he touched it or he ended up on the grass, he ended up on the grass".
For his part, Nigel Mansell confirms the allegations, albeit in his own way:
"You can all see how Berger behaved, there are the television documents. I thought Gerhard was a friend, sorry I had to change my mind. It was my ride, my day. I think I've never been so reasonably sorry as I am today. Closed by Berger, I ended up on the grass, I collected dirt in the spin, the dirt closed my radiator: the oil temperature, up to that point high but still acceptable, rose almost suddenly".
On De Cesaris, another one who stopped him at the start, Mansell is softer:
"I think he didn't see me. The marshals waved the blue flags, but he ignored them: in order not to end up on him, I drove half a car onto the grass, with little damage".
Scalabroni says, at the end of the race:
"Mansell had a car that vibrated after a few laps, due to the problems caused by De Cesaris, then the vibrations increased considerably after Berger's impropriety: yet Mansell set the lap record in these conditions, a record that lasted long. Great him, great the car".
Ferrari's interpretations are triggered on Prost, before the Frenchman can provide his version. Cesare Fiorio, with Prost still in the running, first says:
"He stopped early to change tyres, his decision".
A race dedicated to tactics. And Prost finally declares:
"I had the tires compromised by a contact with Alesi right away at the start, they were like hard tyres, I put them on so I didn't have to stop to change them, I took the opportunity to put on others, it was about time. The same accident caused my brakes to go out of balance, which resulted in tire wear, as well as problems with accelerator feedback. In any case, I went well until towards the end, when bleeding the oil caused issues with the clutch".
And it comes to the programs. Ferrari tests the qualifying tires all day at Imola on Tuesday with a circuit booked by Goodyear, and perhaps closed to the curious. It is not known if McLaren will also be there. Then tests are scheduled for Thursday, at Fiorano, with Alain Prost. The fact that the Frenchman has chosen the new car with the old aerodynamic configuration certainly leads to concerns that the Maranello team technicians will try to solve. In the meantime, the evolution engine will be tested. If the results are encouraging, it will be taken to Monte-Carlo in two weeks' time to be used in qualifying and perhaps also in the race. But it might take some time to see if the problems can be overcome. The new engine already has the potential of the old one which has instead reached the peak of its use. It is about developing it in the shortest possible time. Engineer Castelli, Ferrari's technical manager, is optimistic about this issue, but in practice it will be the track that will tell if the operation can be implemented precisely for Monte-Carlo. Cesare Fiorio, however, is not confident about the next race:
"We have difficulties in qualifying. In a street circuit, starting from behind is a huge handicap. In the Principality we will also have to contend with the Pirelli-shod cars".
A curious fact concerns three unknown characters, identified in the pits of the San Marino Grand Prix. After some resistance, the three introduce themselves: they are three Soviet engineers, appointed by the Ministry of Sport, apparently with the approval of President Gorbachev, to design a Russian Formula 1 car. The initiative has experienced some delays due to recent political events, but apparently it has not been abandoned. After the constant bad luck that accompanied him throughout his long career, Riccardo Patrese gathered in just one day the satisfaction that alone could justify the competitive life of a driver. Winning the San Marino Grand Prix in front of an impressive crowd was for the Paduan like for a poor man finding the first prize ticket of a millionaire lottery in his pocket. The Williams-Renault rider had been chasing success for seven years, after the long-gone ones in Monaco (1982) and South Africa (1983). For seven years he had dreamed of revenge, to cancel that episode (a naive off the track with four laps to go while he was in the lead of the race) which took place at Imola, which was a kind of black mark on his shining curriculum as a stubborn racer, tenacious, reliable. An incredible joy, therefore, and also a deep emotion. A happiness that gripped him by the throat, which immediately after the race even prevented him from expressing himself as he would have liked, from shouting to everyone that this triumph was also an act of justice towards him. But the next day, Riccardo Patrese, who usually is not a man of many words, opens up and talks about the present, past and future, ambitions, and projects. So, how does a driver feel after winning at Imola?
"Well. The best memory is the applause of the people. I think this victory has erased all the bitterness of the past years. At a certain point, when I realised that I was considered a car wrecker, someone who never arrived, I even thought about quitting, abandoning racing. It was the birth of my twin girls, Beatrice and Maddalena, that gave me the strength to continue. I made good money, but I'm not a speculator. I invested the money in solid situations because I think above all of my family's safety. I'm not interested in personal planes or luxury boats".
Who were the men who helped Riccardo Patrese the most?
"In Formula 1 the owner of Arrows, Alan Rees, and Bernie Ecclestone. They are the ones who gave me the best advice. Ecclestone was my lifeline: he took me to Brabham when I feared I would no longer find a car. At Williams, where I arrived in 1988, however, I made my contribution: I instilled a certain security because they weren't used to losing, after years of leadership. It was tough, but we got there".
So, the present.
"Sunday I was dumbfounded: Renault gave me an exceptional engine. I realised in the morning that I really could win. When I passed Berger, my car was at least 10 km/h ahead of the McLaren. Instead, I believe that Mansell took many risks, perhaps too many, to keep up with the pace he maintained until he was in the race. I have an excellent relationship with Thierry Boutsen, my teammate: he's a sincere guy, he goes fast and collaborates in setting up the single seaters".
Finally, the future.
"At the start of the season I had two dreams: to win at Imola and at Monte-Carlo. The first came true. We'll see about the second in two Sundays. I think we will have good opportunities. On Tuesday I'll be on track at Le Castellet for a series of tests, while Boutsen and Blundell will test the active suspension at Croix-en-Ternois, a technology that could be very useful. Do you want to know if at this point I've had a little thought about the world title? No, I go race by race. The only certain thing is that with fourteen years of Formula 1 behind me, and 195 races to my credit, I have no intention of giving up. I'm the grandfather, but now I have a great charge".
Oot of this speech, there is one doubt: is it really true that Riccardo Patrese is not thinking about the world title? If he wins in Monte-Carlo he will go to the top of the championship standings. And it will be hard to get him out of that position. Meanwhile, Ferrari remains on track after the San Marino Grand Prix. Nigel Mansell, throughout the day on Tuesday, together with the Goodyear technicians, will devote himself to a series of tests on the qualifying tyres. This is one of the issues that Scuderia Ferrari must address to ensure a competitive season. If on Sunday the cars from Maranello gave the impression of being able to win the race (with Prost who lost 18 seconds to change tires and finished 6 seconds behind the winner and before the forfeit of the Englishman who put the engine off his car, also due to going off the track caused in the attempt to overtake Berger which forced him to force the pace to recover) some problems remain unsolved, apart from the positive lap times recorded in the race. The first concerns precisely the tyres, even if it is linked to other factors. Starting back in the grid is a heavy handicap. Apart from the risk of starting in the middle of a pack of competitors, it is always about precious seconds that are lost. Ferrari, unlike McLaren and Williams, are unable to make the most of the soft tires which allow higher lap speeds in qualifying. Admits Cesare Fiorio, sporting director of Scuderia Ferrari:
"If the situation in Monte-Carlo remains unchanged, we will be in trouble. It will be the most difficult test of the season for us".
But what to do? There are two possibilities: either Goodyear itself manages to build tires that better adapt to the characteristics of the car, or Ferrari must find a different, more effective set-up. This problem, however, is also related to the engine. Castelli says:
"We don't think that McLaren and Williams, i.e. Honda and Renault, have special engines for timed qualifying. For the moment, apart from a few small precautions, we do not have this facility".
So here comes the 12-cylinder evolution that was tested only on Friday morning.
"The results have been comforting; we should use it at least on trial in Monte-Carlo too".
In this sense, further checks will be carried out on Thursday at Fiorano, this time with Prost, to see if it can be mounted for the race. The third topic of discussion concerns Prost's car. The Frenchman prefers the old frame which does not cause air turbulence in his face. But this does not allow adopting on his single seater those technical solutions (for example larger radiators positioned differently to obtain better engine cooling) deemed necessary for further progress. Another puzzle to be solved in a short time. In a championship that is finally uncertain, where even a few points could be decisive, Ferrari is still called to accelerate. The truth is that opponents and victories are close at hand, the finishing work is missing to achieve that result that the fans dream of. And that he did not arrive at Imola due to some unforeseen events, but also because it is necessary to make further progress.