FISA had decided in the fortnight between the Belgian and Italian Grands Prix that the Andrea Moda Formula team had brought the sport into disrepute and so when the team's transporter arrived it was turned away. Brabham was missing as well, having run out of money, and so the entry was down to 28 cars. Érik Comas was back in action in his Ligier after his huge accident in Belgium while Ferrari had given Ivan Capelli one of the new F92AT chassis. The Ferraris were a lot better than they had been but Nigel Mansell's Williams-Renault was still dominant, although in fact it was Mansell's offtrack activities that were dominating the action, the Englishman trying to negotiate a deal to stay with Williams in 1993. The problem was that the team had already signed Alain Prost and Mansell was not keen on having his old French rival as team mate.

Behind Mansell on the grid was Ayrton Senna's McLaren-Honda with Jean Alési's Ferrari third. Riccardo Patrese was fourth in the second Williams ahead of Gerhard Berger's McLaren, Michael Schumacher's Benetton, Capelli and Thierry Boutsen's Ligier-Renault. Martin Brundle (Benetton) and Bertrand Gachot (Venturi Larrousse) completed the top 10 using the latest evolution of the Lamborghini V12 engine.

On Sunday morning Mansell went to the press office to announce his retirement from F1 racing at the end of the year, complaining that Williams had treated him badly. Having done that he took the lead and drove away from the field, in search of a record-breaking ninth Grand Prix victory. Mansell built up a lead of 12 seconds and then slowed dramatically and allowed Patrese to pass him. Mansell then made a spectacle behind his team mate to show that he could overtake Patrese whenever he felt the need. On lap 36 this charade ended with a hydraulic failure. That left Patrese ahead with Senna closing in but with four laps to go Riccardo went out with a hydraulic problem similar to that which had stopped Mansell. Senna thus won the race with Brundle second and Schumacher third. Berger finished fourth ahead of the hobbled Patrese. The final point went to the Tyrrell of Andrea de Cesaris. Senna's victory moved him to third place in the World Championship, one point behind Schumacher.