The 1989 FIA Formula One World Championship began on 26 March and concluded on 5 November, over 16 race weekends. At the end of the season, Alain Prost secured the third Drivers’ Championship of his career, while McLaren claimed the Constructors’ Championship for the second consecutive year and the fifth in the team’s history.
Season
The championship battle was dominated by the fierce rivalry between Alain Prost and his McLaren teammate Ayrton Senna. Their duel ultimately reached its dramatic and controversial climax at the penultimate race of the season, the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka. Senna entered the race knowing that only victory would keep his championship hopes alive. In the closing stages of the race, the two McLaren drivers collided while battling for the lead. Prost was forced to retire immediately, while Senna was able to continue after receiving a push start from track marshals.
Senna managed to return to the race, overtake the leading cars, and cross the finish line in first place, seemingly keeping the championship fight alive. However, the race stewards disqualified Senna for cutting the chicane and failing to correctly rejoin the circuit following the collision. The disqualification handed the victory—and effectively the World Drivers’ Championship—to Alain Prost. It would prove to be Prost’s final championship with McLaren, as he departed the team to join Ferrari for the 1990 season.
The 1989 season also stood out for its unusually large number of entries. Initially, twenty-one constructors entered the championship, bringing a total of forty cars into the entry list. Before the opening race, however, FIRST Racing withdrew from the championship, leaving twenty constructors and thirty-nine cars competing during the season. This remains the largest number of entries in the modern era of F1 history.
Technically, the year represented a major transition for the sport. The 1989 season was the first to run under the new mandatory 3.5-litre naturally aspirated engine formula, introduced after the FIA banned turbocharged engines at the end of the 1988 season. The new regulations reshaped engine development across the grid. Renault returned to Formula One as an engine supplier for the first time since 1986, while both Renault and Honda developed V10 engines, introducing an engine configuration that had never been used in Formula One.
Looking back historically, the 1989 season also carries an unusual cross-disciplinary statistic. As of 2026, it remains the most recent year in which Honda—and the same engine manufacturer—won both the Formula One and MotoGP World Manufacturers’ Championships in the same season.
1989 F1 Entries Drivers and Teams
| Entrant | Constructor | Chassis | Engine | Tyre | No | Driver | Rounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Honda Marlboro McLaren | McLaren-Honda | MP4/5 | Honda RA109E V10 | G | 1 | Ayrton Senna | All |
| 2 | Alain Prost | All | |||||
| Tyrrell Racing Organisation | Tyrrell-Ford | 017B 018 | Ford Cosworth DFR V8 | G | 3 | Jonathan Palmer | All |
| 4 | Michele Alboreto | 1–6 | |||||
| 4 | Jean Alesi | 7–10, 12, 14–16 | |||||
| 4 | Johnny Herbert | 11, 13 | |||||
| Canon Williams Team | Williams-Renault | FW12C FW13 | Renault RS1 V10 | G | 5 | Thierry Boutsen | All |
| 6 | Riccardo Patrese | All | |||||
| Motor Racing Developments | Brabham-Judd | BT58 | Judd EV V8 | P | 7 | Martin Brundle | All |
| 8 | Stefano Modena | All | |||||
| USF&G Arrows Ford | Arrows-Ford | A11 | Ford Cosworth DFR V8 | G | 9 | Derek Warwick | 1–6, 8–16 |
| 9 | Martin Donnelly | 7 | |||||
| 10 | Eddie Cheever | All | |||||
| Camel Team Lotus | Lotus-Judd | 101 | Judd CV V8 | G | 11 | Nelson Piquet | All |
| 12 | Satoru Nakajima | All | |||||
| Leyton House Racing Team | March-Judd | 881 CG891 | Judd CV V8 Judd EV V8 | G | 15 | Maurício Gugelmin | All |
| 16 | Ivan Capelli | All | |||||
| Fondmetal Osella | Osella-Ford | FA1M | Ford Cosworth DFR V8 | P | 17 | Nicola Larini | All |
| 18 | Piercarlo Ghinzani | All | |||||
| Benetton Formula | Benetton-Ford | B188 B189 | Ford Cosworth DFR V8 Ford HBA1/4 V8 | G | 19 | Alessandro Nannini | All |
| 20 | Johnny Herbert | 1–6 | |||||
| 20 | Emanuele Pirro | 7–16 | |||||
| Scuderia Italia | BMS Dallara-Ford | F189 | Ford Cosworth DFR V8 | P | 21 | Alex Caffi | All |
| 22 | Andrea de Cesaris | All | |||||
| Lois Minardi Team | Minardi-Ford | M188B M189 | Ford Cosworth DFZ V8 | P | 23 | Pierluigi Martini | 1–14, 16 |
| 23 | Paolo Barilla | 15 | |||||
| 24 | Luis Pérez-Sala | All | |||||
| Ligier Loto | Ligier-Ford | JS33 | Ford Cosworth DFR V8 | G | 25 | René Arnoux | All |
| 26 | Olivier Grouillard | All | |||||
| Scuderia Ferrari | Ferrari | 640 | Ferrari Tipo 035/5 V12 | G | 27 | Nigel Mansell | 1–13, 15–16 |
| 28 | Gerhard Berger | 1–2, 4–16 | |||||
| Team Larrousse | Lola-Lamborghini | LC88B LC89 | Lamborghini LE3512 V12 | G | 29 | Yannick Dalmas | 1–6 |
| 29 | Éric Bernard | 7–8 | |||||
| 29 | Michele Alboreto | 9–16 | |||||
| 30 | Philippe Alliot | All | |||||
| Coloni | Coloni-Ford | FC188B C3 | Ford Cosworth DFR V8 | P | 31 | Roberto Moreno | All |
| 32 | Pierre-Henri Raphanel | 1–10 | |||||
| 32 | Enrico Bertaggia | 11–16 | |||||
| EuroBrun Racing | EuroBrun-Judd | ER188B ER189 | Judd CV V8 | P | 33 | Gregor Foitek | 1–11 |
| 33 | Oscar Larrauri | 12–16 | |||||
| West Zakspeed Yamaha | Zakspeed-Yamaha | 891 | Yamaha OX88 V8 | P | 34 | Bernd Schneider | All |
| 35 | Aguri Suzuki | All | |||||
| Moneytron Onyx Formula One | Moneytron Onyx-Ford | ORE-1 | Ford Cosworth DFR V8 | G | 36 | Stefan Johansson | All |
| 37 | Bertrand Gachot | 1–12 | |||||
| 37 | JJ Lehto | 13–16 | |||||
| Rial Racing | Rial-Ford | ARC2 | Ford Cosworth DFR V8 | G | 38 | Christian Danner | 1–13 |
| 38 | Gregor Foitek | 14 | |||||
| 38 | Pierre-Henri Raphanel | 15–16 | |||||
| 39 | Volker Weidler | 1–10 | |||||
| 39 | Pierre-Henri Raphanel | 11–14 | |||||
| AGS | AGS-Ford | JH23B JH24 | Ford Cosworth DFR V8 | G | 40 | Gabriele Tarquini | 2–16 |
| 41 | Joachim Winkelhock | 1–7 | |||||
| 41 | Yannick Dalmas | 8–16 | |||||
| FIRST Racing[1] | FIRST-Judd | F189 | Judd CV V8 | P | 42 | Gabriele Tarquini | None |
1989 Formula 1 Race Calendar
1989 Formula 1 Race Results
Grands Prix
1989 Formula 1 Standings
Driver standings
| Pos | Driver | Nationality | Car | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alain Prost | FRA | McLaren Honda | 76 |
| 2 | Ayrton Senna | BRA | McLaren Honda | 60 |
| 3 | Riccardo Patrese | ITA | Williams Renault | 40 |
| 4 | Nigel Mansell | GBR | Ferrari | 38 |
| 5 | Thierry Boutsen | BEL | Williams Renault | 37 |
| 6 | Alessandro Nannini | ITA | Benetton Ford | 32 |
| 7 | Gerhard Berger | AUT | Ferrari | 21 |
| 8 | Nelson Piquet | BRA | Lotus Judd | 12 |
| 9 | Jean Alesi | FRA | Tyrrell Ford | 8 |
| 10 | Derek Warwick | GBR | Arrows Ford | 7 |
| 11 | Stefan Johansson | SWE | Onyx Ford | 6 |
| 11 | Michele Alboreto | ITA | Lola Lamborghini | 6 |
| 11 | Eddie Cheever | USA | Arrows Ford | 6 |
| 14 | Johnny Herbert | GBR | Tyrrell Ford | 5 |
| 15 | Pierluigi Martini | ITA | Minardi Ford | 5 |
| 16 | Andrea de Cesaris | ITA | Dallara Ford | 4 |
| 16 | Mauricio Gugelmin | BRA | March Judd | 4 |
| 16 | Stefano Modena | ITA | Brabham Judd | 4 |
| 19 | Alex Caffi | ITA | Dallara Ford | 4 |
| 20 | Martin Brundle | GBR | Brabham Judd | 4 |
| 21 | Christian Danner | GER | Rial Ford | 3 |
| 21 | Satoru Nakajima | JPN | Lotus Judd | 3 |
| 23 | Rene Arnoux | FRA | Ligier Ford | 2 |
| 23 | Emanuele Pirro | ITA | Benetton Ford | 2 |
| 25 | Jonathan Palmer | GBR | Tyrrell Ford | 2 |
| 26 | Gabriele Tarquini | ITA | AGS Ford | 1 |
| 26 | Philippe Alliot | FRA | Lola Lamborghini | 1 |
| 26 | Olivier Grouillard | FRA | Ligier Ford | 1 |
| 26 | Luis Perez-Sala | ESP | Minardi Ford | 1 |
Team standings
| Pos | Team | PTS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLaren Honda | 199 |
| 2 | Ferrari | 65 |
| 3 | Benetton Ford | 39 |
| 4 | Arrows Megatron | 23 |
| 5 | Lotus Honda | 23 |
| 6 | March Judd | 22 |
| 7 | Williams Judd | 20 |
| 8 | Tyrrell Ford | 5 |
| 9 | Rial Ford | 3 |
| 10 | Minardi Ford | 1 |
