1990 F1 World Championship

The 1990 FIA Formula One World Championship was contested across 16 Grand Prix, beginning on 11 March and concluding on 4 November.

Season

The championship was ultimately won by Ayrton Senna, who secured the second World Drivers’ Championship of his career driving for McLaren. Senna’s performances also helped McLaren secure the Constructors’ Championship for the third consecutive season, continuing the team’s dominance during this period.

The 1990 season is remembered for its intense and highly controversial rivalry between Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost, who had previously been teammates at McLaren. In 1990, Prost had moved to Ferrari, where he quickly became the centre of the team’s renewed championship ambitions. Prost mounted Ferrari’s strongest title challenge in several years and surged into the championship lead during the middle of the season after securing three consecutive race victories.

As the championship approached its conclusion, Senna regained momentum and arrived at the penultimate race of the season, the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, holding a nine-point lead over Prost. Senna secured pole position for the race, but Prost made the better start and moved ahead into the first corner. In one of the most infamous moments in Formula One history, Senna’s car collided with Prost’s Ferrari at the corner, forcing both drivers to retire from the race. The incident ensured that Prost could not score points, effectively handing the Drivers’ Championship to Senna.

The collision was particularly controversial because it mirrored an incident between the same two drivers at the 1989 Japanese Grand Prix, where their clash had decided the championship in Prost’s favour. In a striking admission the following year, Senna acknowledged that the 1990 collision had been intentional, explaining that he had been angered by the starting grid arrangements that placed Prost on the cleaner racing line and had resolved not to allow his rival to take the corner ahead of him if he lost the start.

The 1990 season also marked the final year under the points system that allowed drivers to discard their worst results when calculating the championship standings. From 1991 onward, every race result would count toward a driver’s final championship total, fundamentally changing how the Drivers’ Championship was determined.

1990 F1 Entries Drivers and Teams

Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Tyre	No	Driver	Rounds
Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	641	Ferrari Tipo 036 3.5 V12 Ferrari Tipo 037 3.5 V12	G	1	Alain Prost	All
					2	Nigel Mansell	All
Tyrrell Racing Organisation	Tyrrell-Ford	018 019	Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8	P	3	Satoru Nakajima	All
					4	Jean Alesi	All
Canon Williams	Williams-Renault	FW13B	Renault RS2 3.5 V10	G	5	Thierry Boutsen	All
					6	Riccardo Patrese	All
Motor Racing Developments	Brabham-Judd	BT58 BT59	Judd EV 3.5 V8	P	7	Gregor Foitek	1–2
					7	David Brabham	3–16
					8	Stefano Modena	All
Footwork Arrows Ford	Arrows-Ford	A11 A11B	Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8	G	9	Michele Alboreto	All
					10	Bernd Schneider	1, 14
						Alex Caffi	2–13, 15–16
Camel Team Lotus	Lotus-Lamborghini	102	Lamborghini LE3512 3.5 V12	G	11	Derek Warwick	All
					12	Martin Donnelly	1–14
						Johnny Herbert	15–16
Fondmetal Osella	Osella-Ford	FA1M FA1ME	Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8	P	14	Olivier Grouillard	All
					14	Gabriele Tarquini	14–16
Leyton House Racing	Leyton House-Judd	CG901	Judd EV 3.5 V8	G	15	Maurício Gugelmin	All
					16	Ivan Capelli	All
AGS	AGS-Ford	JH24 JH25	Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8	G	17	Gabriele Tarquini	All
					18	Yannick Dalmas	All
Benetton Formula	Benetton-Ford	B189B B190	Ford HBA4 3.5 V8	G	19	Alessandro Nannini	1–14
					19	Roberto Moreno	15–16
					20	Nelson Piquet	All
BMS Scuderia Italia	Dallara-Ford	F190	Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8	P	21	Gianni Morbidelli	1–2
					21	Emanuele Pirro	3–16
					22	Andrea de Cesaris	All
SCM Minardi Team	Minardi-Ford	M189 M190	Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8	P	23	Pierluigi Martini	All
					24	Paolo Barilla	1–14
						Gianni Morbidelli	15–16
Équipe Ligier Gitanes	Ligier-Ford	JS33B	Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8	G	25	Nicola Larini	All
					26	Philippe Alliot	All
Honda Marlboro McLaren	McLaren-Honda	MP4/5B	Honda RA100E 3.5 V10	G	27	Ayrton Senna	All
					28	Gerhard Berger	All
ESPO Larrousse F1	Lola-Lamborghini	LC89B LC90	Lamborghini LE3512 3.5 V12	G	29	Éric Bernard	All
					30	Aguri Suzuki	All
Subaru Coloni Racing Coloni Racing	Subaru Coloni Coloni-Ford	C3B C3C	Subaru 1235 3.5 F12 Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8	G	31	Bertrand Gachot	1–8
					31		9–16
EuroBrun Racing	EuroBrun-Judd	ER189B	Judd CV 3.5 V8	P	33	Roberto Moreno	1–14
					34	Claudio Langes	1–14
Onyx Grand Prix Monteverdi Formula One	Onyx-Ford	ORE-1 ORE-1B	Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8	G	35	Stefan Johansson	1–2
					35	Gregor Foitek	3–10
					36	JJ Lehto	1–10
Life Racing Engines	Life	L190	Life F35 3.5 W12	G	39	Gary Brabham	1–2
					39	Bruno Giacomelli	3–12
			39		Judd CV 3.5 V8	13–14

1990 Formula 1 Race Calendar

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
1	1990 United States Grand Prix	Phoenix Street Circuit, Phoenix, Arizona	11 March
2	1990 Brazilian Grand Prix	Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo	25 March
3	1990 San Marino Grand Prix	Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola	13 May
4	1990 Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	27 May
5	1990 Canadian Grand Prix	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal	10 June
6	1990 Mexican Grand Prix	Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City	24 June
7	1990 French Grand Prix	Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet	8 July
8	1990 British Grand Prix	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone	15 July
9	1990 German Grand Prix	Hockenheimring, Hockenheim	29 July
10	1990 Hungarian Grand Prix	Hungaroring, Mogyoród	12 August
11	1990 Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot	26 August
12	1990 Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza	9 September
13	1990 Portuguese Grand Prix	Autódromo do Estoril, Estoril	23 September
14	1990 Spanish Grand Prix	Circuito de Jerez, Jerez de la Frontera	30 September
15	1990 Japanese Grand Prix	Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka	21 October
16	1990 Australian Grand Prix	Adelaide Street Circuit, Adelaide	4 November

1990 Formula 1 Race Results

Grands Prix

Round	Grand Prix	Pole position	Fastest lap	Winning driver	Winning constructor	Report
1	1990 United States Grand Prix	Gerhard Berger	Gerhard Berger	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Honda	Report
2	1990 Brazilian Grand Prix	Ayrton Senna	Gerhard Berger	Alain Prost	Ferrari	Report
3	1990 San Marino Grand Prix	Ayrton Senna	Alessandro Nannini	Riccardo Patrese	Williams-Renault	Report
4	1990 Monaco Grand Prix	Ayrton Senna	Ayrton Senna	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Honda	Report
5	1990 Canadian Grand Prix	Riccardo Patrese	Gerhard Berger	Ayrton Senna*	McLaren-Honda	Report
6	1990 Mexican Grand Prix	Gerhard Berger	Alain Prost	Alain Prost	Ferrari	Report
7	1990 French Grand Prix	Nigel Mansell	Nigel Mansell	Alain Prost	Ferrari	Report
8	1990 British Grand Prix	Nigel Mansell	Nigel Mansell	Alain Prost	Ferrari	Report
9	1990 German Grand Prix	Ayrton Senna	Thierry Boutsen	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Honda	Report
10	1990 Hungarian Grand Prix	Thierry Boutsen	Riccardo Patrese	Thierry Boutsen	Williams-Renault	Report
11	1990 Belgian Grand Prix	Ayrton Senna	Alain Prost	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Honda	Report
12	1990 Italian Grand Prix	Ayrton Senna	Ayrton Senna	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Honda	Report
13	1990 Portuguese Grand Prix	Nigel Mansell	Riccardo Patrese	Nigel Mansell	Ferrari	Report
14	1990 Spanish Grand Prix	Ayrton Senna	Riccardo Patrese	Alain Prost	Ferrari	Report
15	1990 Japanese Grand Prix	Ayrton Senna	Riccardo Patrese	Nelson Piquet	Benetton-Ford	Report
16	1990 Australian Grand Prix	Ayrton Senna	Nigel Mansell	Nelson Piquet	Benetton-Ford	Report

1990 Formula 1 Standings

Driver standings

Team standings