On the 25th March 1990, the Brazilian Grand Prix was held at the refurbished Interlagos track, that had not hosted a race since 1980. In the warm-up, Alain Prost, who had secured a place down on the third row alongside Ferrari team-mate Nigel Mansell, was fastest, improving the odds for the Scuderia and his F1-90 car. At the start, Ayrton Senna led from Gerhard Berger and Thierry Boutsen, while Prost passed Mansell and Patrese immediately off the line. Senna ran at a better pace than Boutsen and by lap 15, the gap to the Belgian was almost 4 seconds, while Berger found Prost right on his tail and the overtaking move came two laps later, braking for the first corner.
It was now time for all the lead group to pit for tyres, so that Prost, Patrese and Senna all came in one after the other, thus momentarily handing the lead to Berger, until the Austrian also pitted. On lap 36, Senna led Prost by 12 seconds and Patrese and Berger by 18, with the Austrian then passing the Italian. The turning point in the race came on lap 38, as Senna prepared to lap Satoru Nakajima. But when Ayrton dived inside the Tyrrell, the Japanese driver closed the door, his rear wheel damaging the nose of the McLaren. Senna thus had to make an extra pit stop, which left Prost comfortably in the lead. The Frenchman cruised to the win ahead of Berger and Senna.
— see video above —
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