Ferrari Loses Race In Strategy Mishap, Voeckler Takes Win And Title In Adelaide

Pos#DriverConstructorTime
12Jeremy-Etienne VoecklerMcLaren-Honda1:17:786
227Ayrton SennaFerrari1:18:174
328Alain ProstFerrari1:18:596
41Gerhard BergerMcLaren-Honda1:19:439
518Chris DagnallArrows-Zakspeed1:20:347
65Nigel MansellWilliams-Honda1:20:472
710Valentino NicchiZakspeed1:20:859
817Brendon CassidyArrows-Zakspeed1:20:973
93Martin BrundleTyrrell-Ford1:21:752
106Kazuki FushidaWilliams-Honda1:22:167
119Alessandro NanniniZakspeed1:22:256
1223Pierluigi MartiniMinardi-Ford1:22:293
1324Frederic-Maxime VoecklerMinardi-Ford1:22:336
1412Derek WarwickLotus-Ford1:22:390
1514Philippe StreiffAGS-Ford1:22:428
1615Alex CaffiAGS-Ford1:22:472
1726Riccardo PatreseLigier-Judd1:22:631
1811Guillaume GauthierLotus-Ford1:22:851
194Jonathan PalmerTyrrell-Ford1:22:888
2020Michele AlboretoBenetton-Ford1:22:931
2125Rene ArnouxLigier-Judd1:23:107
2229Harvey JonesLola-Ford1:23:448
2319Thierry BoutsenBenetton-Ford1:23:615
2422Stefano ModenaOsella1:23:785
2521Nicola LariniOsella1:23:920
2630Isabella NorikoLola-Ford1:24:977
DNQ31Roberto MorenoColoni-Ford1:25:110
DNQ32Gabriele TarquiniColoni-Ford1:25:575

 

1988adesnapshot

Ayrton Senna runs out of fuel in the last lap, a heartbreak for the then-dominant win of the Brazilian.

 

In the lead-up to the weekend, many were excited to see a close battle for the title. Gerhard Berger had an advantage over Voeckler coming into the race, but it was heavily reduced because of the 11 best results rule.

Qualifying dashed all hopes for a close title battle, Voeckler setting the fastest lap time by quite a margin and the only driver to get below 1:18. Not even his awful start hampered him, as he was able to reovertake Berger easily for 2nd place, and where he spent the majority of the race on.

After taking the lead in the first lap, Ayrton Senna went away and was never seen again… until the final lap. After a miscalculation from the Ferrari crew, he was underfueled and ran out of fuel in the first sector entering the last lap. Thus, Jeremy-Etienne Voeckler took the victory and the title, a nice way to end the season. Gerhard Berger was 2nd, and to show how dominant the win was up to that point, Senna was still classified as 3rd, finishing in the podium.

Despite a error that costed him some time, Nigel Mansell was 4th. Minardi finished the season in a sweet note with a 5th place from Frederic-Maxime Voeckler, and Kazuki Fushida got a fantastic 6th place, what could have been a 5th place had he not had Mansell in front of him while he was spinning.

 

Pos#DriverTeam-EngineTime
12Jeremy-Etienne VoecklerMcLaren-Honda1h 52m 55.049
21Gerhard BergerMcLaren-Honda+1m 13.635s
327Ayrton SennaFerrari-1 Lap
45Nigel MansellWilliams-Honda-2 Laps
524Frederic-Maxime VoecklerMinardi-Ford-3 Laps
66Kazuki FushidaWilliams-Honda-3 Laps
714Philippe StreiffAGS-Ford-4 Laps
812Derek WarwickLotus-Ford-4 Laps
923Pierluigi MartiniMinardi-Ford-4 Laps
1015Alex CaffiAGS-Ford-4 Laps
1126Riccardo PatreseLigier-Judd-4 Laps
1211Guillaume GauthierLotus-Ford-4 Laps
1325Rene ArnouxLigier-Judd-4 Laps
1429Harvey JonesLola-Ford-4 Laps
1519Thierry BoutsenBenetton-Ford-5 Laps
1630Isabella NorikoLola-Ford-6 Laps
174Jonathan PalmerTyrrell-FordElectrical
1817Brendon CassidyArrows-ZakspeedDidn't Finish
1922Stefano ModenaOsellaWater Leak
2010Valentino NicchiZakspeedEngine
2121Nicola LariniOsellaTransmission
2220Michele AlboretoBenetton-FordTransmission
239Alessandro NanniniZakspeedTransmission
243Martin BrundleTyrrell-FordTransmission
2528Alain ProstFerrariSteering
2618Chris DagnallArrows-ZakspeedWater Leak

 

Fastest Lap – Ayrton Senna,  1m 21.150s

 

Infinite Improbability Drive Of The Race – Kazuki Fushida, takes only point in the season with a superb drive.

Reject Of The Race – Ferrari, one driver runs out of fuel and the other has a mechanical failure – not exactly a nice way to end the season.