German Grand Prix – 1986

Just like in the Brazilian GP – the season’s first race – Germany witnessed a win by the Brazilian twosome, but not before an intense fight for the lead featuring Ayrton Senna, Nelson Piquet and other drivers.

Nigel Mansell was the overall leader, after winning four out of the last five races. The Britton had 47 points, Alain Prost had 43 and Senna, 36. Piquet was in fourth place with 23 points, with seven races to go in the season.

In the qualifying, Senna secured the third best time, 1min42s329, just 0s316 slower than McLaren’s Keke Rosberg, who got the pole position. Alain Prost made sure the first row was fully occupied by team from Woking . Gerhard Berger would be starting in fourth place and Piquet in fifth. Mansell was in a modest sixth position.

Senna started the race in spectacular fashion, jumping from third to first place as soon as the light turned green at Hockenheim. Berger followed the Brazilian and took the second position. Rosberg fell to third, Piquet climbed up to fourth and Prost closed the first lap in fifth place.

At the start of the second lap, Rosberg managed a double-overtake and jumped ahead of both Senna and Berger in a single maneuver. As a matter of fact, he had just announced his plans to retire as a driver at the end of the 1986.

Before the second lap was over, Piquet took advantage of his Honda engine’s power to also overtake Berger and Senna at the German raceway’s long straights. Experiencing problems, Berger was also passed by Prost and Mansell, falling to sixth place in the fourth lap.

In the fifth lap, Prost overtook Senna, who was now in fourth place. It was the beginning of a series of problems for the Lotus driver. Soon after that, Piquet took the lead from Rosberg. Berger was forced to make an early pit-stop, and fell way behind the front of the pack. The Austrian finished the race with a two-lap delay.

Employing a different tactic from his main rivals, Piquet was the first to make a pit-stop, in the 15th lap, allowing both McLarens and Senna to pass him by. Afterwards, Piquet easily overtook his opponents, since Rosberg and Prost also made pit-stops before the 20th lap.  Senna, who was sparing his car for the final laps, didn’t stand in the way of his fellow Brazilian. Piquet and Mansell – both Williams drivers – were the only ones in the top-six to make two pit-stops.

After Senna’s pit-stop, Piquet was in first, followed by Rosberg, Prost, Senna, Mansell and Arnoux, in that order.

In the 27th lap, Piquet made his second pit-stop and came back in third place, again behind both McLarens. Two laps later, the Rio de Janeiro driver had overtaken Prost and had started closing the 10-second gap between him and Rosberg.

Meanwhile, the Frenchman had to deal with the pressure from Ayrton Senna, who was 7s5 behind his McLaren by the 35th lap. In the last ten laps, Ayrton started pushing his car to the limit.

In the fight for the lead, Rosberg was unable to keep up with Piquet. The Finn led until lap 39, six away from the end, when Nelson easily overtook him, winning the race.

Senna was still after a place in the podium, and with five laps to go he was 4s9 seconds behind Prost. In the penultimate lap, Ayrton finally overtook Prost, who immediately started slowing down, since he was running out of fuel – just like Rosberg, who lost his position to Senna in the final lap, followed by Mansell and Arnoux.

Ina  dramatic ending for the McLarens,  both cars only ended up scoring points because all the other competitors were a lap behind them. Prost even climbed out of his McLaren to push it at the start of the straight, echoing Mansell’s attitude at the 1984 Dallas GP, when the “Lion” passed out from exhaustion after trying to force his Lotus over the finish line.

On the podium, Senna raised the Brazilian flag and, after hearing the Brazilian anthem, gave it to Piquet. Mansell, who had an uneventful race, rounded out the top-three.

The Briton still led the standings, with 55 points. Prost had 44, Senna, 42 and Piquet, 38.

The following Grand Prix would take place two weeks later, in Hungary. It would be the third Brazilian one-two in the season.