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1986 French Grand Prix
Race 8 of 16 in the 1986 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date	6 July 1986
Official name	72e Grand Prix de France
Location	Circuit Paul Ricard Le Castellet, Var, France
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	3.812 km (2.369 miles)
Distance	80 laps, 304.960 km (189.493 miles)
Weather	Dry
Pole position
Driver	Ayrton Senna	Lotus-Renault
Time	1:06.526
Fastest lap
Driver	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Honda
Time	1:09.993 on lap 57
Podium
First	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Honda
Second	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG
Third	Nelson Piquet	Williams-Honda
Lap leaders

The 1986 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Paul Ricard on 6 July 1986. It was the eighth race of the 1986 Formula One World Championship.

Following Elio de Angelis's fatal testing crash on the full 5.81-kilometre (3.61 mi) circuit two months previously, a decision was made to use the shorter, 3.812-kilometre (2.369 mi) "Club" circuit for this race and for future F1 races (up to and including 1990). This eliminated the high-speed Verrerie bends, where de Angelis had crashed, and reduced the length of the Mistral straight from 1.8 km (1.1 mi) to 1 km (0.62 mi). Nonetheless, the cars still recorded speeds of over 330 km/h (205 mph) on the straight.

The 80-lap race was won by Nigel Mansell, driving a Williams-Honda. It was Mansell's third victory of the season. Alain Prost finished second in a McLaren-TAG, with Nelson Piquet third in the other Williams-Honda. Ayrton Senna took pole position in his Lotus-Renault, but crashed at Signes early in the race after sliding on oil laid by Andrea de Cesaris's failed Minardi.

This race marked Scuderia Ferrari's 400th start in a World Championship event as a team.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Q1	Q2	Gap
1	12	Ayrton Senna	Lotus-Renault	1:06.526	1:06.807
2	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Honda	1:06.755	1:09.899	+0.229
3	6	Nelson Piquet	Williams-Honda	1:06.797	1:07.184	+0.271
4	25	René Arnoux	Ligier-Renault	1:07.114	1:07.075	+0.549
5	1	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG	1:07.270	1:07.266	+0.740
6	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	1:07.365	1:09.161	+0.839
7	2	Keke Rosberg	McLaren-TAG	1:07.545	1:08.175	+1.019
8	20	Gerhard Berger	Benetton-BMW	1:07.835	1:07.554	+1.028
9	19	Teo Fabi	Benetton-BMW	1:08.703	1:07.818	+1.292
10	28	Stefan Johansson	Ferrari	1:07.874	1:08.881	+1.348
11	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Renault	1:07.913	1:08.288	+1.387
12	11	Johnny Dumfries	Lotus-Renault	1:09.477	1:08.544	+2.018
13	16	Patrick Tambay	Lola-Ford	1:09.108	1:08.616	+2.090
14	8	Derek Warwick	Brabham-BMW	1:09.471	1:08.905	+2.379
15	3	Martin Brundle	Tyrrell-Renault	1:09.044	1:10.293	+2.518
16	7	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham-BMW	1:09.624	1:09.436	+2.910
17	4	Philippe Streiff	Tyrrell-Renault	1:09.935	1:09.700	+3.174
18	17	Christian Danner	Arrows-BMW	1:09.737	1:10.614	+3.211
19	24	Alessandro Nannini	Minardi-Motori Moderni	1:09.792	1:10.630	+3.266
20	15	Alan Jones	Lola-Ford	1:09.929	1:10.733	+3.403
21	18	Thierry Boutsen	Arrows-BMW	1:09.987	1:28.882	+3.461
22	14	Jonathan Palmer	Zakspeed	1:10.305	1:10.511	+3.779
23	23	Andrea de Cesaris	Minardi-Motori Moderni	1:11.483	1:21.859	+4.957
24	29	Huub Rothengatter	Zakspeed	1:12.940	1:12.163	+5.637
25	21	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Osella-Alfa Romeo	1:14.496	1:12.443	+5.917
26	22	Allen Berg	Osella-Alfa Romeo	1:18.866	1:14.264	+7.738

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Honda	80	1:37:19.272	2	9
2	1	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG	80	+ 17.128	5	6
3	6	Nelson Piquet	Williams-Honda	80	+ 37.545	3	4
4	2	Keke Rosberg	McLaren-TAG	80	+ 48.703	7	3
5	25	René Arnoux	Ligier-Renault	79	+ 1 Lap	4	2
6	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier-Renault	79	+ 1 Lap	11	1
7	7	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham-BMW	78	+ 2 Laps	16
8	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	78	+ 2 Laps	6
9	8	Derek Warwick	Brabham-BMW	77	+ 3 Laps	14
10	3	Martin Brundle	Tyrrell-Renault	77	+ 3 Laps	15
11	17	Christian Danner	Arrows-BMW	76	+ 4 Laps	18
NC	18	Thierry Boutsen	Arrows-BMW	67	+ 13 Laps	21
Ret	16	Patrick Tambay	Lola-Ford	64	Brakes	13
Ret	11	Johnny Dumfries	Lotus-Renault	56	Engine	12
Ret	14	Jonathan Palmer	Zakspeed	46	Engine	22
Ret	4	Philippe Streiff	Tyrrell-Renault	43	Fire	17
Ret	29	Huub Rothengatter	Zakspeed	32	Accident	24
Ret	22	Allen Berg	Osella-Alfa Romeo	25	Turbo	26
Ret	20	Gerhard Berger	Benetton-BMW	22	Gearbox	8
Ret	19	Teo Fabi	Benetton-BMW	7	Engine	9
Ret	28	Stefan Johansson	Ferrari	5	Turbo	10
Ret	12	Ayrton Senna	Lotus-Renault	3	Accident	1
Ret	21	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Osella-Alfa Romeo	3	Accident	25
Ret	24	Alessandro Nannini	Minardi-Motori Moderni	3	Accident	19
Ret	23	Andrea de Cesaris	Minardi-Motori Moderni	3	Turbo	23
Ret	15	Alan Jones	Lola-Ford	2	Accident	20
Source:

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Alain Prost 39 2 Nigel Mansell 38 3 Ayrton Senna 36 4 Nelson Piquet 23 5 Keke Rosberg 17 Source:

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Williams-Honda 61 2 McLaren-TAG 56 3 Lotus-Renault 36 4 Ligier-Renault 22 5 Ferrari 13 Source:

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

1. "Motor Racing Programme Covers: 1986". The Programme Covers Project. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
2. Scuderia Ferrari did not participate in the 1950 French Grand Prix; Peter Whitehead's privateer entry in this race does not count towards the team's participation tally.
3. "1986 French Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 13 November 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
4. ^ "France 1986 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 17 March 2019.

• 1986 Formula One races
• French Grand Prix
• 1986 in French motorsport
• July 1986 sports events in Europe