It has been over two decades since Formula One last visited Mexico City, meaning that we have to dig deep into the archives to bring you the classic Mexican Grand Prix of 1991.
Ricardo Patrese started on pole position, ahead of his Williams teammate Nigel Mansell. Ayrton Senna; who suffered an enormous accident at the infamous Peraltada in qualifying, lined up third with Jean Alesi behind him.
The light went green and the 67 lap race – the distance reduced following two aborted starts – got underway, with Mansell taking the lead on the long run down into the first corner. Things got worse for poleman Patrese; he dropped to fourth as Alesi and Senna got ahead of him.
Senna passed Alesi for second on the second lap, with the McLaren driver banging wheels with the Ferrari as sparks flew from underneath the cars.
Despite suffering a poor start, Patrese kept his head up and was soon back into third, chasing down the Brazilian Ayrton Senna. The other McLaren driver of Gerhard Berger soon got an early shower, as his Honda engine blew up on the start-finish straight on lap five. The rear facing camera on the Austrian’s car also caught Martini’s Minardi going off into the tyre wall at the Peraltada. The Honda engine in the McLaren spewed oil over the track, causing the Italian to spin.
Williams’ one-two was restored on lap nine, with Patrese passing Senna in a move that required the length of the start-finish straight. The Italian then set his sites on catching his British teammate.
Patrese reclaimed the lead on lap 15 in dramatic fashion. The two Williams almost touched and both locked up their brakes as Mansell tried everything to defend his lead. He had backed off to cool his engine and was forced to relinquish first place – with Alesi’s Ferrari right behind the pair of them; until he spun a few corners later, gifting third place back to Ayrton Senna.
The top six had closed up, with Nelson Piquet dropping down to fifth place after Andrea de Cesaris passed him into the first corner on lap 28.
Mansell’s engine troubles eventually subsided as the laps ticked by. After coming under intense pressure from Senna, the Brit put the hammer down and began to dig into his teammate’s lead of over twenty seconds.
Bertrand Gachot (feature picture) found himself in fifth place on lap 50, but the Jordan driver spun off and was unable to restart. This was a great shame for the team, as De Cesaris was still running fourth and a solid double points finish would shift the team up the order in the constructors’ championship.
Driving like a man possessed, Mansell had carved his teammate’s lead down to just 2.36 seconds with just six laps to go. Could he do it?
Not quite. Patrese rounded the Peraltada for the 67th and final time in the lead of the race, to take the chequered flag just 1.3 seconds ahead of Mansell. Senna finished nearly a minute behind the leaders in third place, the only other non-lapped runner. De Cesaris held onto fourth, Moreno fifth and Éric Barnard sixth – scoring the final point to date for a Lola designed chassis in Formula One.
The breathtaking race was one to remember; let’s hope that Mexico delivers one like it as we return to the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez this weekend.
