1989 F1 World Championship - Round 1 Qualifying (BRAZIL)

hello and welcome to the main qualifying session for the first round of the 1989 World Championship we have a 30 minute qualifying session featuring 30 drivers that is one driver every minute if we so desire to watch each driver for a minute which we will not do we'll just watch the exciting action unfold in front of us we have the 10 drivers who made it through from the pre-qualifying session joined by the 20 drivers who compete for the top 10 teams in the constructors from the 1988 season including Alan Prost the reigning world champion who was course moved to Ferrari the green light is showing at the end of the pit Lane and the first driver out there is Renee aru with the lier driver who Ruma has it might be retiring at the end of the season he's had a long illustrious career featuring wins for I think he won won for both Renault and Ferrari now driving ficia he scored no points last season he was out sha by his teammates Stefan Johansson Johansson as we know moved to streamline and he is appearing in this session streamline making one car through to the main qualifying session both braams already out on track brundle and hill hill just slightly ahead of his teammate they went really well in pre-qualifying if that's anything to go by but that was a wet session this is now a dry session let's ride on board with ranu for his lap in qualifying heading down towards the first corner on this lap touching the Apex of turn one and the Apex of turn two then heavy on the throttle through what should be a Flatout left and corner and then down the rhetor aosta towards the end of sector one that's the first timing zone right there slamming on the brakes for turn four getting the car turned in is a circuit that's been off the calendar for a number of years it has hosted eight uh former World Championship rounds first appearing on the calendar back in 1972 and it shared the uh the Brazilian Grand Prix with hackera paga u who was on the calendar last season of course 1988 season opener was at hackera paga but that's track has been dropped in favor of inter Lagos which in my opinion is a great choice from the uh Formula 1 organizers and the Grand Prix organizers here in Brazil I much prefer this circuit from a unbiased commentator's perspective as through the second timing line goes R new now we just has the ride up the hill it's flat out from here all the way to the start Finish Line and it'll be the first time on the board in this session R aru 19.9 through the first sector 40.6 through the second sector and across the line he goes that's a 20.8 that's the Benchmark that everybody has to chase I don't know whether aru was just slow on his lap but burn Schneider's actually gone quicker than him through the first two sectors Damon Hill and Martin brundle the two Rams out there faster than burn Schneider through this first sector as well and Schneider for now goes fastest though anu's lap was really slow it must have been just an off laap for the Frenchman but burn Schneider quickest so far and now it's Damon Hills time to go fastest 1.7 seconds quicker that's an 18.3 the times are starting to Tumble Martin brundle will not be wanting to be outdone by his rookie teammate Damon Hill both driving for br and they were neck and neck with their times in pre-qualifying let's see what brundle can muster up here on his first time lap in the session across the line he goes he's 310 slower than Damon Hill minardi did well last season they finished 10th in the constructors which meant they uh did not have to take part in pre-qualifying at least for the first half of this year the FIA might look into uh changing the pre-qualifying teams for the second half of this season based on how well those teams perform in the first eight rounds of this year Alex Cathy right now they 1.6 seconds down through the first two sectors this could be a time that sort of matches burn Schneider in the Zack speed who in my opinion so far this weekend has been the standout driver Schneider really pushing that Zack speed to its maximum it's absolute upper limit Alex caffy across the line fourth place it is slower than burn Schneider Eric Bernard in the larus putting a lap in 2.3 seconds off right now danic dalas in the AGS made it through pre-qualifying and his first lap on the board is good enough for seventh place about 3 seconds down on Hills time Lon house racing going with a untested prospect for this season the Frenchman of Jean oy he's in his early 20s and he's he's got promise that's for sure his potential is pretty high and he's on a lap right now Jonathan Palmer slotting his troll into fourth place but he had traffic I think that's a man Piro in the delara in front of him brundle has gone for back-to-back laps so he's improved by 10 he's only two seconds behind his teammate hill now as Janna lazy a second or so down in the first two sectors is march across the line now uh brings him up to third place so he's the lead goodye tire car right now tiry botson and geard Berg out on track now so we're starting to see some of the big boys head out onto the circuit right now we've just had a lot of the back markers who have been warming the circuit for maybe some of the Front Runners zapiro he this is not a good lap at all the top 26 by the way will make it onto the main the grid should I say so the bottom four in this session get knocked out and wherever they finish in this session that will determine the starting grid uh not including any penalties that are apped afterwards as Pirro goes into 10th Place yeah hard burer had that great run through the middle part of the season last year winning two races and mich Alberto his teammate also won a race the Portuguese Grand Prix of 19 1988 so Ferrari were on a real good run of form in the second half of the previous year and they'd like to take that into this year Gard Burger is actually playing second fiddle at Ferrari though to his new teammate Alam cross to won the championship for McLaren and has taken that number one car over to the scaria Ferrari team as geard bger starting his flying lap with tierry bsen in tow bson and burer both up in the first sector on the fastest lap so far bson a 10th quicker than GE Berger through that first timing line on the run up the hill Burger is actually giving booton a great tow which might help the Benetton but for now the Ferrari up towards the line it should be provisional poll and it is it's a 176 and boots and slots in in second place with a 177 arrows have big hopes going into this season with a new deal with Ford meaning that Ford are actually supplying uh The Works engines to the arrows team in favor of arrows over Benetton so Benetton only getting customer engines apparently and Eddie cha is on a good lap here up towards the line for the American who won his home Grand Prix last season it's only fifth place actually I'm surprised by that not a great lap three-time world champion Nelson PK who led the act the 1988 championship for a period of time early on last year the Lotus development slowed down and he sort of fell away towards the end of the year he'll be looking to hopefully make a statement here in qualifying maybe that Lotus probably off the pace of the Ferraris and the McLarens right now he goes into third place uh but potentially that car could be a winning car Johnny Herbert given a full-time race seat in Formula One for the first time he had a few races last season replacing satoru Nakajima at Lotus when Nakajima got injured at the San Marino Grand Prix and he performed well he performed very well actually and that's why he's got a full drive uh up towards the line for his first lap is it going to be anywhere near his teammate Herbert slots in in seventh place which is quite a distance behind PK's time the main attraction for this unbiased commentator is Stefan Johansson in the Streamline who made it out onto track 18 minutes left in this session so still over 50% of the session remaining and Johanson currently last place we need a top 26 sorry they need a top 26 in this session to make it onto the grid and that lap is good enough for Ninth Place ahead of burn Schneider Michel Alberto has a point to prove after being dropped by Ferrari at the end of 1988 even after winning the Portuguese Grand Prix his first lap here for osel goes Ninth Place that pushes Johanson down a place one of the two new teams on the grid well the one real new team Onyx of course Bren back on the grid after taking a season out but Onyx money Tron on their official name with not stepan Johansson Andrea de chesus and Jean L schleser behind the wheel schleser finished last in pre-qualifying the chesus though performed really well I think he finished third or fourth in pre-qualifying with a really good last gas effort to get him through to this main qualifying session and this is him on his first lap up towards the line the sector times are looking okay that's 14th Place right now satoru Naima moved to McLaren after being dropped by lotus it worked out for McLaren though because they've still got the Honda engines and their partnership with Honda is ever strengthening with the Japanese of Nakajima on board he won't be a match for Senna you wouldn't think but I'm open to surprises his first lap only puts him in seventh place that's quite a poor lap 1.5 seconds down on Burger as Petra slots his car into third place the first Williams out on track and Schneider improves up to eighth place for Zack speed here's Damon Hill in his braam on another lap he's fifth right now I did say in that pre-qualifying session that that Bram will be expected to fight for points and he's gone up to third place but now only 410 down we've not seen the big names of Prost and Center out on track yet halfway through the session Olivier Gard is going to join Rene Ru on the timing screen now the second lier driver 20th Place that's a really poor lap 4 seconds down on the fastest all the British hopes lie with Nigro Manel yet again who has been the lead British driver in Formula 1 for a number of years through the 1980s and his Williams was not competitive last year he massively outperformed his teammate Ricardo Petra scoring five times the amount of points as Petra and finished much higher in the championship scoring multiple podiums throughout the season but it was not enough a race wins it was is not enough to battle for the championship and maybe he's missed opportunity in 86 is going to come back to haunted will he ever win a world championship Still Remains to be seen he's not the youngest of drivers anymore uh approaching 35 36 years old now so he's in his mid-30s maybe a few good years still remaining for him he's up on Burger's time through the second sector though so this could be a statement about to be made to the rest of the grid that William are here to fight this season Nigel Manel just rounding the final Corner not even a corner it's just a kink it's flat out all the way up towards the start Finish Line Nigro Manel to take provisional pole by almost half a second a great lap there by the British driver many slated Guan in 1988 for being just the pay driver but he actually finished ahead of his team Evan Capelli in the championship that was mainly down to Capelli missing half the season due to injury that he sustained the broken leg at the French Grand Prix Gman right now on his first lap and it's very very slow across the line he goes 23rd and last of the drivers who have set time and speaking of drivers Alan Pros is about to head out on track a lazy improves up into the top 10 and lazy his well Benchmark is his teammate of course G and right now he's miles clear of him there we see the reigning world champion Alan Prost out onto the track and he'll be the one who's favorite for pole position that Ferrari has looked incredibly quick in preseason qualifying it's between him and center of course for pole position today Nigro manel's Benchmark they're over 172 is a very strong time alesandro Nini is up towards the line here for his first lap on the board and it's eighth place we know he was quite a distance behind his teammate boots in last season so nini's objective will be to be closer towards his Belgian teammate 10 minutes remain in the session we have Prost out on track we have Johanson out on track still Five drivers remain in the pits Andy Wallace Derek Warick Evan Capelli phip Alo and the big name a and seni yet to head out onto the track Johanson driving the wheels off that streamline this is looking like a really strong lap and in preseason in pre-qualifying should I say the Streamline was really strong in that final sector it's proving to be the case here he's gone 14th Place now this is the name we are waiting to see perform he's got burn Schneider in the way and Prost is marginally down through the first two sectors it's his first lap on the board of course so we're not expecting miracles on that first lap it might just be a warm-up lap but Alan Frost with that slipstream that could be aiding him across the line here let's see where the Frenchman can put his car on this first lap it is second place half a 10th down on Nigel Manel manel's time Remains the quickest Derek heading out onto the circuit his teammate Eddie cha inside the top 10 which is good for arrows they were potentially expecting better but they were focused on Race Pace they've got two drivers who are very strong on Race pace and quite weak on the qualifying side of things so the race is really where we'll see their Arrow shine Alex caffy across the line for manard to got to 12th Place what a lap that is from Alex caffy 12th Place for the manard maima the lead McLaren right now with sen still in the pits he's going to go up to the line to hope for a top 10 result here and he goes fifth that is much better from sator nakim we know how good he can be and he's shown it there less than a second behind Pole Position the chesar is looking pretty good on this lap only about two seconds down through the first two sectors you go Andross the line here to move up a couple of places to 20th Derek Warick not a great first two sectors here for the Arrow's driver he does need to move up at least one position which he should do that's 22 that's really poor from Warick with his teammate CH up in 11th botson on his latest lap looking to jump up towards the front row of the grid he's gone third third place for TI botson on an improved effort Herbert languishing down in 16th right now for his Lotus team with his teammates P well inside the top 10 Lotus maybe not with the pace they thought they could bring here to the first round of the season Herber up inside the top 10 now that's exactly 10th place gulman up to 24th pushes Emanuel Piro down a position Senna and Alo now out on track we're still waiting for Capelli and Andy Wallace to enter The Fray with just under four minutes to go Gard Berger on a lap here Ander snatch a front row start for this race the Ferrari across the line to go third pushes boots and down a position and Nigel Manel goes even quicker than he did previously to extend his lead at the top to a 10th and a half Damon Hill on his latest lap only half a second down through the first two sectors this is a lap that could put him in to the top five for the time being at least before we see CNA across the line but Damon Hill in the lead Bram now ahead of his teammate brundle actually stays in sixth place I don't think it's even an improvement he's almost a second down it was a slight Improvement but nothing much this is the man of the moment it's Aon Center on on the track and he's got a bit of traffic a delara in front of him which will hopefully stay out of his way sener is on a time laap right now Center 410 down through the first two sectors this is not looking like a pole position lap for the Brazilian who would have been hoping for better in front of his home crowd Martin brundle improves on his time to go in eighth place as Center potentially held up by that traffic ever so slightly will cross the line to put his car into fifth only Fifth and only margin ahead of his teammate Nakajima Eddie cha was on a great lap but look at the traffic he's got in front of him two very slow cars a larus and abraam holding him up and Eddie Cha's lap is absolutely ruined with that traffic he crosses the line to improve ever so slightly to 11th alesandro nanini 10 positions behind his teammate no that is completely wrong nine positions behind his teammate check that two positions behind his teammate he's gone up to sixth to split the McLarens I wonder if Senna is on backto back laps here if he is they're absolutely ruined because he's got a Manel Piro in the delara holding him up through that middle sector sena's qualifying was hampered because the mechanics were scrambling to fix an issue that appeared in the final practice session before this session got underway and it meant that he's only got seven or eight minutes of running time here and he's into the pits and that'll be the end of his session no pole position in front of his home crowd today can Alan Prost do any anything about mansel's pole position I don't think this is even I think this is an outl and he's ran out of time his timed it wrong and I think Mansel will hold on to Pole Position here Stephan Johansson goes into 20th Place with his latest lap Andy Wallace is on a lap and even Capelli actually made it out onto track so Capell is out there as well Wallace this needs to be good enough for top 26 if he wants to actually qualify for the race it's only 27th Andy Wallace out of the race out of qualifying crost fastest through that first sector Mansel fastest through the second and third sector is pro going to carry this across it looks very slow I think he's going to box here I think he's out of time and he is proed into the pits and Evan Capelli not getting the lap together he's boxing without setting a lap time and that is the end of the qualifying session what a qualifying session to start the season Nigel Manel takes pole position for Williams ahead of the two Ferraris of Prost and burger and it's Tracy in the second Williams in fourth place ahead of the Bennett and of boots and Center on his one and only lap managing sixth place seventh place for Nini eighth for the McLaren and Nakajima so it's the Williams Ferrari McLaren and bennetton occupying the first eight places the two braams really impressive Hill ahead of Martin brundle on his debut Nelson p and the lead Lotus only 11th the arrow of Chiva who F focused on Race Pace in 12th Place here in qualifying Johnny Herbert in 1 ahead of the Asel of Michel albereta really good lap there from him shaa La in the lead March out qualifying his teammates on his debut here in Formula 1 Alex caffy 16th followed by Palmer Schneider in the Zack speed making it onto the grid Eric Bernard and Stefan Johansson and the Streamline also qualifying for the race the AGS of D mass in 21st ahead of aru dezar wari only just making it Emanuel Piro in the delara and Mauricio gamman scraping through to make it two March drivers on the grid that means the four drivers knocked out is Andy Wallace Olivier gilard Philipe Alia and Ian Capelli not even setting a lap time well there's only one more thing to do and that's go racing I'll see you tomorrow for the Brazilian Grand Prix