The 1987 Brazilian Grand Prix, otherwise officially known as the XVI Grande Prêmio do Brasil, was the opening round of the 1987 FIA Formula One World Championship, staged at the Jacarepaguá Circuit on the 12 April 1987.[1] The race would see Alain Prost open his title defence with victory for McLaren-TAG Porsche, amid controversy both off and on the circuit.[1]
Indeed, the opening round of the 1987 campaign had been severely threatened by a boycott by drivers, all due to the costs of renewing their Super Licenses.[1] Elsewhere, FISA implemented a release valve for the turbo charged cars, which was meant to open if the boost pressure exceeded 4.0 Bar, although several drivers reported that it was kicking it a far lower pressure.[1]
Yet, it would still be a turbocharged car that kicked off the season on pole position, with Nigel Mansell beating Williams-Honda teammate Nelson Piquet in a straight fight.[1] Ayrton Senna was next in the Honda engined Lotus, while Teo Fabi put his Benetton-Ford Cosworth into fourth ahead of Prost.[1]
The field would be reduced to just 22 starters on race morning, for an engine failure for the returning March team during the warm-up left them without an engine.[1] Fortunately the start itself would be conducted without issue, with Piquet sprinting ahead of Senna off the line, while Mansell dropped to third ahead of Prost.[1]
Piquet would dominate the opening stages of the race, only to have to stop to have paper cleared from his radiators, dumping him back to eleventh.[1] Mansell, meanwhile, would harass Senna for the lead, only to be brought into the pits himself after a sudden spike in engine temperatures.[1]
Piquet and Mansell spent the rest of the afternoon running nose-to-tail, picking their way through the field as Senna led Prost.[1] However, when Senna pitted with a handling issue (and later retired with an engine failure), Prost would be left with an unassailable lead, which he would only lose during his stop for fresh tyres.[1]
Indeed, Prost would go on to claim a comfortable victory ahead of Piquet, with the Brazilian overcoming Prost's teammate Stefan Johansson in the closing stages.[1] New Ferrari racer Gerhard Berger ended the day in fourth ahead of Thierry Boutsen, while Mansell ended the afternoon in sixth after a puncture cost him more time.[1]
The race was also the debut for the new Jim Clark and Colin Chapman Trophies, intended to reward drivers and teams running with under-powered, naturally aspirated, cars.[1] The winner of the "class" would be Jonathan Palmer in the Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth ahead of teammate Philippe Streiff, although they were only tenth and eleventh overall.[1]
Background[]
Entry list[]
The full entry list for the 1987 Brazilian Grand Prix is outlined below:
- Entries with a white background denote eligibility for the Jim Clark Trophy and Colin Chapman Trophy.
- * Baldi's entry was withdrawn after he was fired by Brabham.[3] de Cesaris was hence entered in his place.[3]
Practice Overview[]
Qualifying[]
Friday Qualifying[]
Saturday Qualifying[]
Qualifying Results[]
The full qualifying results for the 1987 Brazilian Grand Prix are outlined below:
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | Q2 | |||||
| 1 | 5 |  Nigel Mansell
|
Williams-Honda
|
1:27.901 | 1:26.128 | — |
| 2 | 6 |  Nelson Piquet
|
Williams-Honda
|
1:27.822 | 1:26.567 | +0.439s |
| 3 | 12 | Ayrton Senna
|
Lotus-Honda
|
1:29.002 | 1:28.408 | +2.280s |
| 4 | 19 |  Teo Fabi
|
Benetton-Ford Cosworth
|
1:30.439 | 1:28.417 | +2.289s |
| 5 | 1 |  Alain Prost
|
McLaren-TAG Porsche
|
1:29.522 | 1:29.175 | +3.047s |
| 6 | 20 |  Thierry Boutsen
|
Benetton-Ford Cosworth
|
1:30.166 | 1:29.450 | +3.322s |
| 7 | 28 |  Gerhard Berger
|
Ferrari
|
1:31.444 | 1:30.357 | +4.229s |
| 8 | 17 | Derek Warwick
|
Arrows-Megatron
|
1:32.531 | 1:30.467 | +4.339s |
| 9 | 27 | Michele Alboreto
|
Ferrari
|
1:31.218 | 1:30.468 | +4.340s |
| 10 | 2 |  Stefan Johansson
|
McLaren-TAG Porsche
|
1:31.343 | 1:30.476 | +4.348s |
| 11 | 7 | Riccardo Patrese
|
Brabham-BMW
|
1:32.001 | 1:31.179 | +5.051s |
| 12 | 11 |  Satoru Nakajima
|
Lotus-Honda
|
1:34.445 | 1:32.276 | +6.148s |
| 13 | 8 | Andrea de Cesaris
|
Brabham-BMW
|
1:32.402 | 1:34.115 | +6.274s |
| 14 | 18 |  Eddie Cheever
|
Arrows-Megatron
|
1:33.084 | 1:32.769 | +6.641s |
| 15 | 24 | Alessandro Nannini
|
Minardi-Motori Moderni
|
1:33.980 | 1:33.729 | +7.601s |
| 16 | 23 |  Adrián Campos
|
Minardi-Motori Moderni
|
— | 1:33.825 | +7.697s |
| 17 | 10 |  Christian Danner
|
Zakspeed
|
1:36.178 | 1:35.212 | +9.084s |
| 18 | 3 | Jonathan Palmer
|
Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth
|
1:37.488 | 1:36.091 | +9.963s |
| 19 | 9 | Martin Brundle
|
Zakspeed
|
1:37.488 | 1:36.091 | +9.963s |
| 20 | 4 | Philippe Streiff
|
Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth
|
1:38.822 | 1:36.274 | +10.146s |
| 21 | 21 | Alex Caffi
|
Osella-Alfa Romeo
|
1:39.931 | 1:38.770 | +12.642s |
| 22 | 14 | Pascal Fabre
|
AGS-Ford Cosworth
|
1:44.126 | 1:39.816 | +13.688s |
| 23 | 16 | Ivan Capelli
|
March-Ford Cosworth
|
1:43.580 | 2:02.966 | +17.452s |
| WD* | 8 | Mauro Baldi
|
Brabham-BMW
|
Withdrawn | ||
| WD† | 25 | René Arnoux
|
Ligier-Alfa Romeo
|
Withdrawn | ||
| WD‡ | 30 | Philippe Alliot
|
Lola-Ford Cosworth
|
Withdrawn | ||
| Source:[4][5][6] | ||||||
- T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car to set their best time in that session.
- Bold indicates a driver's best/qualifying time.
- A white background indicates an entrant in the Jim Clark Trophy.
- * Baldi's entry was withdrawn after the Italian was fired by Brabham.[3]
- † Arnoux's entry was withdrawn as Ligier had no engines available.[3]
- ‡ Alliot's entry was withdrawn as Lola failed to arrive.[3]
Grid[]
| Pos. | Pos. | |
|---|---|---|
| Driver | Driver | |
| ______________ | ||
| Row 1 | ______________ | 1 |
| 2 | Nigel Mansell | |
| Nelson Piquet | ______________ | |
| Row 2 | ______________ | 3 |
| 4 | Ayrton Senna | |
| Teo Fabi | ______________ | |
| Row 3 | ______________ | 5 |
| 6 | Alain Prost | |
| Thierry Boutsen | ______________ | |
| Row 4 | ______________ | 7 |
| 8 | Gerhard Berger | |
| Derek Warwick | ______________ | |
| Row 5 | ______________ | 9 |
| 10 | Michele Alboreto | |
| Stefan Johansson | ______________ | |
| Row 6 | ______________ | 11 |
| 12 | Riccardo Patrese | |
| Satoru Nakajima | ______________ | |
| Row 7 | ______________ | 13 |
| 14 | Andrea de Cesaris | |
| Eddie Cheever | ______________ | |
| Row 8 | ______________ | 15 |
| 16 | Alessandro Nannini | |
| Adrián Campos | ______________ | |
| Row 9 | ______________ | 17 |
| 18 | Christian Danner | |
| Jonathan Palmer | ______________ | |
| Row 10 | ______________ | 19 |
| 20 | Martin Brundle | |
| Philippe Streiff | ______________ | |
| Row 11 | ______________ | 21 |
| 22 | Alex Caffi | |
| Pascal Fabre | ______________ | |
| Row 12 | ______________ | 23 |
| 24 | ||
| ______________ |
- * Capelli was unable to start after an engine failure during morning warm-up.[3]
Race[]
Report[]
Results[]
The full results for the 1987 Brazilian Grand Prix are outlined below:
- T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car.
- A white background indicates an entrant in the Jim Clark Trophy with numbers in brackets indicating their finishing position in that class.
- * Alboreto was still classified despite retiring as he had completed 90% of the race distance.[3]
- † Campos was disqualified for an illegal start procedure.[3]
- ‡ Capelli was unable to start after an engine failure during morning warm-up.[3]
Milestones[]
- Debut race for Adrián Campos, Pascal Fabre and Satoru Nakajima.[7]
- First race for Megatron as an engine supplier.[7]
- Minardi entered their 50th chassis.[7]
- Alain Prost secured his 26th victory.[8]
- McLaren claimed their 53rd win as a constructor.[8]
- Nelson Piquet earned his 40th podium finish.[8]
- The Brazilian also recorded his twentieth fastest lap.[8]
- Jonathan Palmer became the first winner in the Jim Clark Trophy class.
Standings[]
Victory at the opening round ensured that Alain Prost opened his title defence in perfect fashion, ending the weekend with nine points to his name. Nelson Piquet was next ahead of Stefan Johansson, while Gerhard Berger, Thierry Boutsen and Nigel Mansell had also registered points at the opening round.
McLaren-TAG Porsche had early command of the Constructors' Championship, with Prost and Johansson scoring a combined total of thirteen points. Williams-Honda were next, having secured seven points, while Ferrari and Benetton-Ford Cosworth were the only other scorers.
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Only point scoring drivers and constructors are shown.
Jim Clark/Colin Chapman Trophy[]
Jonathan Palmer was the inaugural winner in the Jim Clark Trophy, earning him nine points and the lead in the cup. His Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth teammate Philippe Streiff was next, meaning their team led the Colin Chapman Trophy, while Pascal Fabre and AGS-Ford Cosworth were the only other scorers.
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Only point scoring drivers and constructors are shown.
References[]
Images and Videos:
References:
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 'Brazilian GP, 1987', grandprix.com, (Inside F1 Inc., 2015), http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr437.html, (Accessed 01/04/2019)
- ↑ 'Brazil 1987: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1987/bresil/engages.aspx, (Accessed 01/04/2019)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 'Brazil 1987: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1987/bresil/classement.aspx, (Accessed 30/01/2019)
- ↑ '1987 Brazilian Grand Prix - QUALIFYING 1', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2019), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1987/races/5/brazil/qualifying-1.html, (Accessed 01/04/2019)
- ↑ '1987 Brazilian Grand Prix - QUALIFYING 2', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2019), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1987/races/5/brazil/qualifying-2.html, (Accessed 01/04/2019)
- ↑ 'Brazil 1987: Qualifications', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1987/bresil/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 01/04/2019)
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 '1987 Brazilian GP', chicanef1.com, (Chicane F1, 2015), http://www.chicanef1.com/racetit.pl?year=1987&gp=Brazilian%20GP&r=1, (Accessed 01/04/2019)
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 '1. Brazil 1987', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), http://www.statsf1.com/en/1987/bresil.aspx, (Accessed 01/04/2019)
| V T E |  Brazilian Grand Prix
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Circuits | Interlagos (1972–1977, 1979–1980, 1990–2019), Jacarepaguá (1978, 1981–1989) |  |
| Races (Brazilian GP) | 1973 • 1974 • 1975 • 1976 • 1977 • 1978 • 1979 • 1980 • 1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989 • 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 • 2011 • 2012 • 2013 • 2014 • 2015 • 2016 • 2017 • 2018 • 2019 • | |
| Non-Championship Race | 1972 | |
| See also | São Paulo Grand Prix |
| v·d·e | Nominate this page for Featured Article |