The 1989 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Paul Ricard on 9 July 1989. It was the seventh race of the 1989 Formula One World Championship.
The 80-lap race was won from pole position by local driver Alain Prost, driving a McLaren-Honda, with Englishman Nigel Mansell second in a Ferrari and Italian Riccardo Patrese third in a Williams-Renault.
Background
The event, officially called the Rhône-Poulenc Grand Prix de France, was held at the Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet, Var, near the French city of Marseille.
Pre-qualifying classification
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 95%;"
|-
! Pos
! No
! Driver
! Constructor
! Time
! Gap
|-
! 1
| 37
| Bertrand Gachot
| Onyx-Ford
| 1:09.617
|
|-
! 2
| 36
| Stefan Johansson
| Onyx-Ford
| 1:09.668
| +0.051
|-
! 3
| 21
| Alex Caffi
| Dallara-Ford
| 1:09.726
| +0.109
|-
! 4
| 8
| Stefano Modena
| Brabham-Judd
| 1:09.917
| +0.300
|-
! 5
| 17
| Nicola Larini
| Osella-Ford
| 1:09.989
| +0.372
|-
! 6
| 7
| Martin Brundle
| Brabham-Judd
| 1.10.181
| +0.564
|-
! 7
| 39
| Volker Weidler
| Rial-Ford
| 1:11.059
| +1.442
|-
! 8
| 34
| Bernd Schneider
| Zakspeed-Yamaha
| 1:11.098
| +1.481
|-
! 9
| 18
| Piercarlo Ghinzani
| Osella-Ford
| 1:11.528
| +1.911
|-
! 10
| 32
| Pierre-Henri Raphanel
| Coloni-Ford
| 1:11.953
| +2.336
|-
! 11
| 35
| Aguri Suzuki
| Zakspeed-Yamaha
| 1:12.031
| +2.414
|-
! 12
| 33
| Gregor Foitek
| EuroBrun-Judd
| 1:12.179
| +2.562
|-
! 13
| 41
| Joachim Winkelhock
| AGS-Ford
| 1:13.173
| +3.556
|-
|}
Qualifying report
For the second successive race, Alain Prost narrowly beat McLaren teammate Ayrton Senna to pole position, this time by 0.025 seconds. On the second row were Nigel Mansell in the Ferrari and Nannini in the new Benetton, and on the third row were Thierry Boutsen in the Williams and Gerhard Berger in the second Ferrari. The Larrousse team had also sacked Philippe Alliot prior to the race only to then re-hire him; he responded by qualifying seventh, with the second Williams of Riccardo Patrese alongside him on the fourth row. The top ten was completed by Jonathan Palmer in the Tyrrell and Maurício Gugelmin in the March.
The Onyxes continued their good form from pre-qualifying, with Gachot taking 11th on the grid and Johansson 13th. Debutants Donnelly, Bernard and Alesi were 14th, 15th and 16th respectively, with Pirro 24th in the older Benetton. The other two pre-qualifiers, Modena and Caffi, were 22nd and 26th respectively, Caffi edging out teammate Andrea de Cesaris for the last grid spot.
During the season, the Pirelli qualifying tyres were regularly seen to be faster than their Goodyear counterparts, often allowing the usual lower grid teams to qualify higher up the grid than they might otherwise have been. In France however on the abrasive Paul Ricard surface, this was virtually reversed with Pirelli runners reporting little grip from their usually "demon" qualifiers while the Goodyear runners reported no such issues.
Qualifying classification
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 95%;"
|-
! Pos
! No
! Driver
! Constructor
! Q1
! Q2
! Gap
|-
! 1
| 2
| Alain Prost
| McLaren-Honda
| 1:08.285
| 1:07.203
|
|-
! 2
| 1
| Ayrton Senna
| McLaren-Honda
| 1:07.920
| 1:07.228
| +0.025
|-
! 3
| 27
| Nigel Mansell
| Ferrari
| 1:09.030
| 1:07.455
| +0.252
|-
! 4
| 19
| Alessandro Nannini
| Benetton-Ford
| 1:09.615
| 1:08.137
| +0.934
|-
! 5
| 5
| Thierry Boutsen
| Williams-Renault
| 1:08.299
| 1:08.211
| +1.008
|-
! 6
| 28
| Gerhard Berger
| Ferrari
| 1:09.011
| 1:08.233
| +1.030
|-
! 7
| 30
| Philippe Alliot
| Lola-Lamborghini
| 1:09.478
| 1:08.561
| +1.358
|-
! 8
| 6
| Riccardo Patrese
| Williams-Renault
| 1:09.326
| 1:08.993
| +1.790
|-
! 9
| 3
| Jonathan Palmer
| Tyrrell-Ford
| 1:10.238
| 1:09.026
| +1.823
|-
! 10
| 15
| Maurício Gugelmin
| March-Judd
| 1:10.122
| 1:09.036
| +1.833
|-
! 11
| 37
| Bertrand Gachot
| Onyx-Ford
| 1:10.564
| 1:09.122
| +1.919
|-
! 12
| 16
| Ivan Capelli
| March-Judd
| 1:09.569
| 1:09.283
| +2.080
|-
! 13
| 36
| Stefan Johansson
| Onyx-Ford
| 1:10.600
| 1:09.299
| +2.096
|-
! 14
| 9
| Martin Donnelly
| Arrows-Ford
| 1:11.223
| 1:09.524
| +2.321
|-
! 15
| 29
| Éric Bernard
| Lola-Lamborghini
| 1:25.401
| 1:09.596
| +2.393
|-
! 16
| 4
| Jean Alesi
| Tyrrell-Ford
| 1:09.668
| 1:09.909
| +2.465
|-
! 17
| 26
| Olivier Grouillard
| Ligier-Ford
| 1:10.410
| 1:09.717
| +2.514
|-
! 18
| 25
| René Arnoux
| Ligier-Ford
| 1:10.725
| 1:10.077
| +2.874
|-
! 19
| 12
| Satoru Nakajima
| Lotus-Judd
| 1:12.125
| 1:10.119
| +2.916
|-
! 20
| 11
| Nelson Piquet
| Lotus-Judd
| 1:10.473
| 1:10.135
| +2.932
|-
! 21
| 40
| Gabriele Tarquini
| AGS-Ford
| 1:11.136
| 1:10.216
| +3.013
|-
! 22
| 8
| Stefano Modena
| Brabham-Judd
| 1:10.910
| 1:10.254
| +3.051
|-
! 23
| 23
| Pierluigi Martini
| Minardi-Ford
| 1:10.640
| 1:10.267
| +3.064
|-
! 24
| 20
| Emanuele Pirro
| Benetton-Ford
| 1:11.566
| 1:10.292
| +3.089
|-
! 25
| 10
| Eddie Cheever
| Arrows-Ford
| 1:10.372
|align="center"| —
| +3.169
|-
! 26
| 21
| Alex Caffi
| Dallara-Ford
| 1:11.409
| 1:10.468
| +3.265
|-
! 27
| 22
| Andrea de Cesaris
| Dallara-Ford
| 1:12.078
| 1:10.591
| +3.388
|-
! 28
| 24
| Luis Pérez-Sala
| Minardi-Ford
| 1:11.539
| 1:11.079
| +3.876
|-
! 29
| 38
| Christian Danner
| Rial-Ford
| 1:12.569
| 1:11.178
| +3.975
|-
! 30
| 31
| Roberto Moreno
| Coloni-Ford
| 1:14.746
| 1:11.372
| +4.169
|}
Race
Race report
At the first start, Senna led into the first corner from Prost, while behind them, Gugelmin locked his brakes and veered into Boutsen's Williams and Berger's Ferrari. The March launched into the air and flipped upside down, also knocking off Mansell's rear wing. The race was immediately red-flagged, a shaken Gugelmin taking the restart from the pit lane along with Mansell and Donnelly.
At the restart, Senna suffered a differential failure, leaving Prost to lead every lap of the race. Berger ran second in the early stages, ahead of Nannini, Boutsen and Ivan Capelli in the second March, before spinning on lap 12 and eventually retiring with a clutch failure. Boutsen developed gearbox problems while Nannini suffered a suspension failure on lap 41, promoting Capelli to second for three laps before his engine failed. This left Alesi second on his debut, ahead of Patrese and Mansell, before he pitted for tyres. Alliot and Gachot also ran in the top six before Alliot suffered an engine failure and Gachot pitted with a flat battery. On lap 61, Patrese spun under pressure from Mansell, allowing the Englishman through into second.
Prost took the chequered flag 44 seconds ahead of Mansell, with Patrese a further 22 seconds back. Alesi was fourth, seven seconds behind Patrese and the last driver on the lead lap, with Johansson scoring Onyx's first points in fifth and Olivier Grouillard in the Ligier scoring his only point for sixth. Pirro was ninth, Bernard 11th and Donnelly 12th, while Gugelmin recovered from his accident by setting the fastest race lap.
With the win, Prost extended his lead over Senna in the Drivers' Championship to 11 points.
Race classification
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 95%;"
|-
! Pos
! No
! Driver
! Constructor
! Laps
! Time/Retired
! Grid
! Points
|-
! 1
| 2
| Alain Prost
| McLaren-Honda
| 80
| 1:38:29.411
| 1
| 9
|-
! 2
| 27
| Nigel Mansell
| Ferrari
| 80
| + 44.017
| 3
| 6
|-
! 3
| 6
| Riccardo Patrese
| Williams-Renault
| 80
| + 1:06.921
| 8
| 4
|-
! 4
| 4
| Jean Alesi
| Tyrrell-Ford
| 80
| + 1:13.232
| 16
| 3
|-
! 5
| 36
| Stefan Johansson
| Onyx-Ford
| 79
| + 1 Lap
| 13
| 2
|-
! 6
| 26
| Olivier Grouillard
| Ligier-Ford
| 79
| + 1 Lap
| 17
| 1
|-
! 7
| 10
| Eddie Cheever
| Arrows-Ford
| 79
| + 1 Lap
| 25
|
|-
! 8
| 11
| Nelson Piquet
| Lotus-Judd
| 78
| + 2 Laps
| 20
|
|-
! 9
| 20
| Emanuele Pirro
| Benetton-Ford
| 78
| + 2 Laps
| 24
|
|-
! 10
| 3
| Jonathan Palmer
| Tyrrell-Ford
| 78
| + 2 Laps
| 9
|
|-
! 11
| 29
| Éric Bernard
| Lola-Lamborghini
| 77
| + 3 Laps
| 15
|
|-
! 12
| 9
| Martin Donnelly
| Arrows-Ford
| 77
| + 3 Laps
| 14
|
|-
! 13
| 37
| Bertrand Gachot
| Onyx-Ford
| 76
| Engine
| 11
|
|-
!
| 15
| Maurício Gugelmin
| March-Judd
| 71
| + 9 Laps
| 10
|
|-
!
| 8
| Stefano Modena
| Brabham-Judd
| 67
| Engine
| 22
|
|-
!
| 5
| Thierry Boutsen
| Williams-Renault
| 50
| Gearbox
| 5
|
|-
!
| 12
| Satoru Nakajima
| Lotus-Judd
| 49
| Engine
| 19
|
|-
!
| 16
| Ivan Capelli
| March-Judd
| 43
| Engine
| 12
|
|-
!
| 19
| Alessandro Nannini
| Benetton-Ford
| 40
| Suspension
| 4
|
|-
!
| 23
| Pierluigi Martini
| Minardi-Ford
| 31
| Engine
| 23
|
|-
!
| 30
| Philippe Alliot
| Lola-Lamborghini
| 30
| Engine
| 7
|
|-
!
| 40
| Gabriele Tarquini
| AGS-Ford
| 30
| Engine
| 21
|
|-
!
| 28
| Gerhard Berger
| Ferrari
| 29
| Clutch
| 6
|
|-
!
| 21
| Alex Caffi
| Dallara-Ford
| 27
| Clutch
| 26
|
|-
!
| 25
| René Arnoux
| Ligier-Ford
| 14
| Gearbox
| 18
|
|-
!
| 1
| Ayrton Senna
| McLaren-Honda
| 0
| Differential
| 2
|
|-
!
| 22
| Andrea de Cesaris
| Dallara-Ford
|
|
|
|
|-
!
| 24
| Luis Pérez-Sala
| Minardi-Ford
|
|
|
|
|-
!
| 38
| Christian Danner
| Rial-Ford
|
|
|
|
|-
!
| 31
| Roberto Moreno
| Coloni-Ford
|
|
|
|
|-
!
| 17
| Nicola Larini
| Osella-Ford
|
|
|
|
|-
!
| 7
| Martin Brundle
| Brabham-Judd
|
|
|
|
|-
!
| 39
| Volker Weidler
| Rial-Ford
|
|
|
|
|-
!
| 34
| Bernd Schneider
| Zakspeed-Yamaha
|
|
|
|
|-
!
| 18
| Piercarlo Ghinzani
| Osella-Ford
|
|
|
|
|-
!
| 32
| Pierre-Henri Raphanel
| Coloni-Ford
|
|
|
|
|-
!
| 35
| Aguri Suzuki
| Zakspeed-Yamaha
|
|
|
|
|-
!
| 33
| Gregor Foitek
| EuroBrun-Judd
|
|
|
|
|-
!
| 41
| Joachim Winkelhock
| AGS-Ford
|
|
|
|
|-
!colspan="8"|
|}
Championship standings after the race
;Drivers' Championship standings
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
|-
!Pos
!Driver
!Points
|-
| 1
| Alain Prost
|align=right| 38
|-
| 2
| Ayrton Senna
|align=right| 27
|-
| 3
| Riccardo Patrese
|align=right| 22
|-
| 4
| Nigel Mansell
|align=right| 15
|-
| 5
| Thierry Boutsen
|align=right| 13
|-
!colspan=4|Source:
|}
;Constructors' Championship standings
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
|-
! Pos
! Constructor
! Points
|-
| 1
| McLaren-Honda
|align=right|65
|-
| 2
| Williams-Renault
|align=right|35
|-
| 3
| Ferrari
|align=right|15
|-
| 4
| Benetton-Ford
|align=right|13
|-
| 5
| Tyrrell-Ford
|align=right|10
|-
!colspan=4|Source: