The 1991 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Hockenheimring on 28 July 1991. It was the ninth race of the 1991 Formula One World Championship, and the first German Grand Prix to be held in Germany after the reunification between West and East Germany.
The 45-lap race was won from pole position by British driver Nigel Mansell, driving a Williams-Renault. It was Mansell's third consecutive Grand Prix victory. His Italian teammate Riccardo Patrese finished second, with Frenchman Jean Alesi third in a Ferrari.
Drivers' Championship leader, Brazilian Ayrton Senna, failed to score in his McLaren-Honda after running out of fuel for the second consecutive race, allowing Mansell to close to within eight points of him.
Pre-race
Ayrton Senna spent a night in a hospital in Mannheim after crashing during pre-race testing a week earlier. Senna suffered a tyre failure at the end of a long straight, causing the car to launch into the air and turn over several times. The McLaren-Honda went 15 feet into the air and was destroyed in the crash, according to witnesses. After regaining consciousness, Senna was taken to hospital with neck and chest bruising.
There were two changes to the entry list, the first was at Lotus where Johnny Herbert was replaced by young German Michael Bartels because of the former's Japanese Formula 3000 commitments, and the second was at Footwork where Alex Caffi was back in action after his road accident. Elsewhere Satoru Nakajima announced he would retire at the end of the year.
Qualifying
Pre-qualifying report
The participants in the Friday morning pre-qualifying sessions were reshuffled prior to this event, the season having reached its mid-point. Scuderia Italia (Dallara) and Jordan had scored points, and were thus relieved of the requirement to pre-qualify, and could automatically join the rest of the field in the main qualifying sessions from here on. By virtue of Nicola Larini's seventh place finish at the first round in Phoenix, the Modena team were also lifted out of pre-qualifying, despite struggling in the sessions at recent Grands Prix.
Taking their places during the Friday morning sessions were Brabham, AGS, and Footwork, who had all failed to score points so far in 1991, or match Modena Lambo's seventh place finish at any race. Fondmetal and Coloni were also still required to pre-qualify.
Here at Hockenheim, the fastest pre-qualifier was Martin Brundle in the Brabham BT60Y. He was over a second faster than the AGS JH25B of Gabriele Tarquini, with Michele Alboreto just a tenth behind in the Footwork FA12C, despite gearbox problems. The fourth pre-qualifier was the other Brabham of Mark Blundell.
| 1
| 10
|-
! 2
| 6
| Riccardo Patrese
| Williams-Renault
| 45
| + 13.779
| 4
| 6
|-
! 3
| 28
| Jean Alesi
| Ferrari
| 45
| + 17.618
| 6
| 4
|-
! 4
| 2
| Gerhard Berger
| McLaren-Honda
| 45
| + 32.651
| 3
| 3
|-
! 5
| 33
| Andrea de Cesaris
| Jordan-Ford
| 45
| + 1:17.537
| 7
| 2
|-
! 6
| 32
| Bertrand Gachot
| Jordan-Ford
| 45
| + 1:40.605
| 11
| 1
|-
! 7
| 1
| Ayrton Senna
| McLaren-Honda
| 44
| Out of fuel
| 2
|
|-
! 8
| 19
| Roberto Moreno
| Benetton-Ford
| 44
| + 1 lap
| 9
|
|-
! 9
| 25
| Thierry Boutsen
| Ligier-Lamborghini
| 44
| + 1 lap
| 17
|
|-
! 10
| 21
| Emanuele Pirro
| Dallara-Judd
| 44
| + 1 lap
| 18
|
|-
! 11
| 7
| Martin Brundle
| Brabham-Yamaha
| 43
| + 2 laps
| 15
|
|-
! 12
| 8
| Mark Blundell
| Brabham-Yamaha
| 43
| + 2 laps
| 21
|
|-
! 13
| 4
| Stefano Modena
| Tyrrell-Honda
| 41
| + 4 laps
| 14
|
|-
!
| 27
| Alain Prost
| Ferrari
| 37
| Spun off
| 5
|
|-
!
| 16
| Ivan Capelli
| Leyton House-Ilmor
| 36
| Engine
| 12
|
|-
!
| 22
| JJ Lehto
| Dallara-Judd
| 35
| Engine
| 20
|
|-
!
| 20
| Nelson Piquet
| Benetton-Ford
| 27
| Engine
| 8
|
|-
!
| 3
| Satoru Nakajima
| Tyrrell-Honda
| 26
| Gearbox
| 13
|
|-
!
| 26
| Érik Comas
| Ligier-Lamborghini
| 22
| Engine
| 26
|
|-
!
| 15
| Maurício Gugelmin
| Leyton House-Ilmor
| 21
| Gearbox
| 16
|
|-
!
| 11
| Mika Häkkinen
| Lotus-Judd
| 19
| Engine
| 23
|
|-
!
| 30
| Aguri Suzuki
| Lola-Ford
| 15
| Engine
| 22
|
|-
!
| 24
| Gianni Morbidelli
| Minardi-Ferrari
| 14
| Differential
| 19
|
|-
!
| 23
| Pierluigi Martini
| Minardi-Ferrari
| 11
| Differential
| 10
|
|-
!
| 29
| Éric Bernard
| Lola-Ford
| 9
| Transmission
| 25
|
|-
!
| 34
| Nicola Larini
| Lambo-Lamborghini
| 0
| Spun off
| 24
|
|-
!
| 9
| Michele Alboreto
| Footwork-Ford
|
|
|
|
|-
!
| 12
| Michael Bartels
| Lotus-Judd
|
|
|
|
|-
!
| 17
| Gabriele Tarquini
| AGS-Ford
|
|
|
|
|-
!
| 35
| Eric van de Poele
| Lambo-Lamborghini
|
|
|
|
|-
!
| 14
| Olivier Grouillard
| Fondmetal-Ford
|
|
|
|
|-
!
| 10
| Alex Caffi
| Footwork-Ford
|
|
|
|
|-
!
| 18
| Fabrizio Barbazza
| AGS-Ford
|
|
|
|
|-
!
| 31
| Pedro Chaves
| Coloni-Ford
|
|
|
|
|-
!colspan="8"|
|}
Championship standings after the race
;Drivers' Championship standings
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
|-
!
! Pos
! Driver
! Points
|-
|align="left"| 10px
|align="center"| 1
| Ayrton Senna
|align="right"| 51
|-
|align="left"| 10px
|align="center"| 2
| Nigel Mansell
|align="right"| 43
|-
|align="left"| 10px
|align="center"| 3
| Riccardo Patrese
|align="right"| 28
|-
|align="left"| 10px
|align="center"| 4
| Alain Prost
|align="right"| 21
|-
|align="left"| 10px 1
|align="center"| 5
| Gerhard Berger
|align="right"| 19
|-
!colspan=4|Source:
|}
;Constructors' Championship standings
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"
|-
!
! Pos
! Constructor
! Points
|-
|align="left"| 10px 1
|align="center"| 1
| Williams-Renault
|align="right"| 71
|-
|align="left"| 10px 1
|align="center"| 2
| McLaren-Honda
|align="right"| 70
|-
|align="left"| 10px
|align="center"| 3
| Ferrari
|align="right"| 33
|-
|align="left"| 10px
|align="center"| 4
| Benetton-Ford
|align="right"| 23
|-
|align="left"| 10px 1
|align="center"| 5
| Jordan-Ford
|align="right"| 13
|-
!colspan=4|Source: