IMOLA, Italy -- Ayrton Senna struck when his rivals encountered mechanical problems Sunday to easily win the Italian Grand Prix, a race marked by Nigel Mansell's announcement that he will retire after the season.
Senna, driving a McLaren Honda, covered the 53-lap, 191-mile circuit in 1 hour, 18 minutes 15.349 seconds. The three-time world champion from Brazil finished more than 17 seconds ahead of the Benetton Fords driven by Britain's Martin Brundle and Germany's Michael Schumacher.
Mansell, Britain's recently crowned world champion, said before the race that a breakdown in negotiations with his team will force him to leave Formula One driving after the season. There are three more races on the 16-race schedule.
He then set a scorching pace in his Williams Renault for the first 20 laps before yielding to Italian teammate Riccardo Patrese. Senna bided his time in third place. However, Mansell was forced to retire with gearbox trouble 11 laps from home.
Patrese, led for 28 laps but slowed down drastically with suspension problems. Senna siezed his chance, taking the lead five laps from the finish to record his 36th Grand Prix triumph and his third victory this season.
Brundle achieved his best finish to place second ahead of Schumacher, Austria's Gerhard Berger (McLaren), Patrese and Italy's Andrea de Cesaris (Tyrrell).
'I could not match Nigel and Riccardo at the start,' Senna said. 'They were pushing each other. I just tried to stay in touch and hoped something would happen. Nigel was the first to go and then Riccardo had problems.'
Before the race, Mansell announced his retirement because of his failure to reach an agreement to drive for Williams next season. A team official tried to interrupt the announcement.
'Due to circumstances beyond my control, I have decided to retire from Formula One at the end of the season,' the 39-year-old driver said. 'I have made this decision with some regret and with some pause as you have noticed with the information I have just received.'
Mansell said he had deliberated over the decision for some time but had been forced to quit when negotiations with Williams broke down. He said he is leaving with regret 'but not without a great deal of thought'.
Mansell also announced his retirement at the end of last season, but was persuaded to change his mind.
