The 1989 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on 18 June 1989.
Stefano Modena was comfortably fastest in the pre-qualifying session in his Brabham, over a second faster than the Osella of Nicola Larini.
The AGS of Joachim Winkelhock was tenth and Volker Weidler's Rial was eleventh; both Germans' sixth successive failures to pre-qualify.
[2] Nearly all the thirty drivers who took part in qualifying posted their faster times on Friday afternoon, as the Saturday session was cold, windy, overcast and sometimes wet.
[2] Of the front runners, only Ayrton Senna was able to come close to matching his Friday time, but the Brazilian was denied his ninth consecutive pole position by his McLaren team-mate Alain Prost, by just under eight hundredths of a second.
Caffi's Dallara team-mate, Andrea de Cesaris, shared the fifth row with the Lola of Philippe Alliot.
Alessandro Nannini suffered balance issues in his Benetton to qualify 13th, alongside Jonathan Palmer's Tyrrell.
Triple World Champion Nelson Piquet could only manage 19th spot in his Lotus, with the second Tyrrell of Michele Alboreto 20th.
The second March of Ivan Capelli was 21st, alongside the only Ligier to qualify, that of René Arnoux, amid rumours of his retirement.
[2] Christian Danner qualified the sole remaining Rial 23rd, and was one of the few drivers to improve his time on Saturday, with the second Minardi of Spaniard Luis Pérez-Sala in 24th.
The back row consisted of the AGS of Gabriele Tarquini, and the Coloni of Roberto Moreno, who narrowly qualified on Saturday after failing to post a representative time on Friday.
The first start was aborted after Berger stalled his engine on the grid, meaning the intended 70 laps race distance was reduced to 69.
[2] Both cars circulated ahead of the pack for a few laps until they were caught by the leaders and then black-flagged, i.e. disqualified, for starting the race too early.
Prost led from Senna, Patrese, Berger, Boutsen, de Cesaris and Alliot, who had made a strong start.
This left Senna leading as Boutsen passed Berger for third, and the order changed several times over the next few laps as drivers pitted for dry tyres, although the rain soon returned.
Palmer then crashed out from seventh place in the sole remaining Tyrrell, having secured what would be the fastest lap of the race.
Senna led from Patrese and Boutsen, with de Cesaris fourth, ahead of Piquet, Arnoux, Danner, Caffi and Moreno.
Then on lap 67, with Senna comfortably ahead, the V10 Honda engine in his McLaren failed, and he pulled on to the infield just after the start-finish line to retire.
It also proved to be Christian Danner's last race in Formula One, as he failed to qualify for any further Grands Prix before Rial left the sport at the end of the season.