The 1986 Australian Grand Prix was Round 16 of the 1986 FIA Formula 1 World Championship. The event was held in Adelaide, Australia on Sunday, 26 November 1986. Nigel Mansell started on pole position in the Williams Honda and Alain Prost was the race winner in the McLaren TAG. The result of this Grand Prix sealed the outcome of the 1986 Drivers World Championship and Prost won the world title for the second time.
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Nationality | Team | Tyre | Laps | Time/Retired | Race Time | Gap | Interval | Best Lap | Lap | Started | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Alain Prost | France | McLaren TAG | Goodyear | 82 | 1:54:20.388 | 1:54:20.388 | – | – | 1:20.979 | 69 | 4 | 9 |
| 2 | 6 | Nelson Piquet | Brazil | Williams Honda | Goodyear | 82 | +4.205 | 1:54:24.593 | +4.205 | +4.205 | 1:20.787 | 82 | 2 | 6 |
| 3 | 28 | Stefan Johansson | Sweden | Ferrari | Goodyear | 81 | +1 lap | 1 lap | 1 lap | 1:22.136 | 74 | 12 | 4 | |
| 4 | 3 | Martin Brundle | Great Britain | Tyrrell Renault | Goodyear | 81 | +1 lap | 1 lap | 1:22.950 | 63 | 16 | 3 | ||
| 5 | 4 | Philippe Streiff | France | Tyrrell Renault | Goodyear | 80 | Out of Fuel | 2 laps | 1 lap | 1:22.681 | 63 | 10 | 2 | |
| 6 | 11 | Johnny Dumfries | Great Britain | Lotus Renault | Goodyear | 80 | +2 laps | 2 laps | 1:22.464 | 69 | 14 | 1 | ||
| 7 | 25 | René Arnoux | France | Ligier Renault | Pirelli | 79 | +3 laps | 3 laps | 1 lap | 1:22.955 | 68 | 5 | ||
| 8 | 26 | Philippe Alliot | France | Ligier Renault | Pirelli | 79 | +3 laps | 3 laps | 1:25.798 | 78 | 8 | |||
| 9 | 14 | Jonathan Palmer | Great Britain | Zakspeed | Goodyear | 77 | +5 laps | 5 laps | 2 laps | 1:23.866 | 68 | 21 | ||
| 10 | 19 | Teo Fabi | Italy | Benetton BMW | Pirelli | 77 | +5 laps | 5 laps | 1:25.895 | 47 | 13 | |||
| NC | 16 | Patrick Tambay | France | Lola Ford | Goodyear | 70 | Not Classified | 12 laps | 7 laps | 1:24.182 | 42 | 17 | ||
| DNF | 5 | Nigel Mansell | Great Britain | Williams Honda | Goodyear | 63 | Tyre | 19 laps | 7 laps | 1:21.194 | 58 | 1 | ||
| DNF | 7 | Riccardo Patrese | Italy | Brabham BMW | Pirelli | 63 | Electrical | 19 laps | 1:23.095 | 55 | 19 | |||
| DNF | 2 | Keke Rosberg | Finland | McLaren TAG | Goodyear | 62 | Tyre | 20 laps | 1 lap | 1:21.900 | 62 | 7 | ||
| NC | 22 | Allen Berg | Canada | Osella Alfa Romeo | Pirelli | 61 | Not Classified | 21 laps | 1 lap | 1:33.172 | 26 | 26 | ||
| DNF | 8 | Derek Warwick | Great Britain | Brabham BMW | Pirelli | 57 | Brakes | 25 laps | 4 laps | 1:23.695 | 40 | 20 | ||
| DNF | 17 | Christian Danner | Germany | Arrows BMW | Goodyear | 52 | Engine | 30 laps | 5 laps | 1:25.635 | 50 | 24 | ||
| DNF | 18 | Thierry Boutsen | Belgium | Arrows BMW | Goodyear | 50 | Engine | 32 laps | 2 laps | 1:25.351 | 48 | 22 | ||
| DNF | 12 | Ayrton Senna | Brazil | Lotus Renault | Goodyear | 43 | Engine | 39 laps | 7 laps | 1:24.149 | 6 | 3 | ||
| DNF | 23 | Andrea de Cesaris | Italy | Minardi Motori Moderni | Pirelli | 40 | Mechanical | 42 laps | 3 laps | 1:26.591 | 27 | 11 | ||
| DNF | 20 | Gerhard Berger | Austria | Benetton BMW | Pirelli | 40 | Engine | 42 laps | 1:24.807 | 29 | 6 | |||
| DNF | 29 | Huub Rothengatter | Netherlands | Zakspeed | Goodyear | 29 | Suspension | 53 laps | 11 laps | 1:26.479 | 29 | 23 | ||
| DNF | 15 | Alan Jones | Australia | Lola Ford | Goodyear | 16 | Engine | 66 laps | 13 laps | 1:24.585 | 15 | 15 | ||
| DNF | 24 | Alessandro Nannini | Italy | Minardi Motori Moderni | Pirelli | 10 | Accident | 72 laps | 6 laps | 1:27.821 | 9 | 18 | ||
| DNF | 21 | Piercarlo Ghinzani | Italy | Osella Alfa Romeo | Pirelli | 2 | Transmission | 80 laps | 8 laps | 1:34.172 | 2 | 25 | ||
| DNF | 27 | Michele Alboreto | Italy | Ferrari | Goodyear | 0 | Accident | 82 laps | 2 laps | 9 |
Memorable Race Moments
Race Start
Pole sitter Nigel Mansell holds the lead into the first corner as Ayrton Senna moves up to 2nd place in the JPS Lotus.
Lap 1
Further round the first lap Ayrton Senna overtakes leader Nigel Mansell and so does Nelson Piquet. Next, Keke Rosberg passes Mansell. Later, Piquet passes Senna down the Brabham Straight to take over the race lead.
Lap 2
Keke Rosberg overtakes Ayrton Senna into the hairpin for 2nd place.
Lap 3
Nigel Mansell overtakes Ayrton Senna for 3rd place on the blast down the Brabham Straight to the hairpin.
Lap 6
Keke Rosberg overtakes Nelson Piquet at the first corner and leads a Grand Prix for the first time as a McLaren driver.
Lap 22
Murray Walker: “And off spins Piquet! Wow Wee!”
Nelson Piquet spins and rejoins but falls down to 4th behind Alain Prost and Nigel Mansell.
Lap 31
Alain Prost makes a pit stop, which lasts 17.13 seconds.
Lap 43
Nelson Piquet overtakes team-mate Nigel Mansell into Turn 1.
Lap 62
Murray Walker: “Rosberg out! Keke Rosberg is out of the Australian Grand Prix. If this isn’t a sensation I would like to know what is.”
In his final Grand Prix, Keke Rosberg retires from the lead of the race with a right rear Goodyear tyre failure.
Lap 63
Murray Walker: “And look at that! Out, colossally, that’s Mansell! That is Nigel Mansell! And the car’s absolutely shattered, he’s fighting for control. You can see what’s happened. Mansell is out of the race. Now, this could change and will change the world championship.”
Nigel Mansell’s left rear tyre explodes at high-speed on the Brabham Straight, forcing him into a devastating retirement and robbing him of an almost certain first World Championship title. In response, the Williams team instantly order Nelson Piquet to pit for a fresh set of tyres, dropping him behind Alain Prost.
Lap 82
Against all the odds Alain Prost crosses the line to win the race and his second successive world championship title. Just metres beyond the finish line, he runs out of fuel and stops at the side of the track.