Formula 1 - 1989 - Round 8 - British GP

Prost beat Senna off the line, but the Brazilian was later on the brakes and re-took the lead going into Copse Corner. They were followed by the Ferraris of Nigel Mansell and Gerhard Berger. At the end of lap 4, Berger pulled into the pits with electrical problems, rejoining the race some laps later. On lap 5 the race order was Senna, Prost, Mansell, the Williams pair of Thierry Boutsen and Riccardo Patrese, and Alessandro Nannini in the Benetton.Show more

Senna spun out on lap 12 going into Becketts due to gear selection problems, handing Prost the lead from Mansell. Patrese overtook teammate Boutsen for third, before suffering a huge accident on lap 20 when a burst radiator sprayed water onto his rear wheels, causing him to spin off into the tyre barrier at Club Corner. With Prost and Mansell pulling away, Nelson Piquet moved into third in his Lotus on lap 23, ahead of Boutsen, Philippe Alliot in the Larrousse-Lola and Jean Alesi in the Tyrrell. Boutsen dropped back with a rear puncture while Alesi spun off at Club Corner on lap 29, at which point Prost led Mansell by 3.2 seconds, followed by Piquet, Nannini, Gugelmin and Alliot.

Alliot retired with an engine failure on lap 40. On lap 42, Mansell developed a puncture on his right front tyre, forcing him to pit. Prost was then delayed during his own pit stop for fresh tyres, but retained a healthy lead over Mansell. Gugelmin retired from fifth with a gearbox failure on lap 55, before Nannini passed Piquet for third on lap 56, pulling away in the closing laps.

At the chequered flag, Prost was 19 seconds ahead of Mansell, with Nannini a further 29 seconds back and Piquet the last driver on the lead lap. The Minardis of Pierluigi Martini and Luis Pérez-Sala finished fifth and sixth, scoring three points which prevented the team from being relegated to the pre-qualifying sessions for the second half of 1989 (and kept the Onyx team in these sessions, despite their two points for Stefan Johansson's fifth place at the previous race in France). This was Sala's only point in Formula One.