The XL Shell Oils British Grand Prix, otherwise known as the 1987 British Grand Prix, was the seventh round of the 1987 FIA Formula One World Championship, staged on the 12 July 1987 at a revised Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire, UK.[1] The race would be one of the most famed of Nigel Mansell's career, with the Brit hunting down teammate Nelson Piquet in the closing stages to claim victory.[1]
Qualifying would see the two Williams-Hondas duel for pole position, with Piquet emerging ahead of Mansell by less than a tenth of a second.[1] Championship leader Ayrton Senna was best of the rest for Lotus-Honda, while Alain Prost claimed fourth for McLaren-TAG Porsche.[1]
Race morning saw confirmation that Piercarlo Ghinzani had been excluded from qualifying and hence unable to start, the result of a series of infringements during the first session.[1] Otherwise, the rest of the 25 strong field would take the start, with no issues during the formation lap.[1]
The start of the race was also clean, although there was a shock when Prost screamed past the two Williams into Copse to claim the lead.[1] Piquet, meanwhile, would remain ahead of Mansell, while Senna was left to fend off Thierry Boutsen and Teo Fabi on the opening lap.[1]
Ultimately Prost's hopes of victory were over midway through the first lap, for he was to be mugged by both Piquet and Mansell at Stowe.[1] With that the Williams-Hondas simply disappeared from the rest of the field, leaving Prost in an increasingly lonely third as he eased away from Senna.[1]
The two Williams would exchange blows for the rest of the afternoon, although a gap did eventually appear between them after the stops.[1] Indeed, it was only the closing stages that Mansell finally got back on terms with Piquet, the Brazilian having to ease off to conserve fuel.[1]
With three laps to go Mansell made his bid for the lead, sending his Williams lunging inside his teammate at the near flat-out Stowe.[1] The pair almost brushed tyres as Mansell slithered ahead, before easing ahead over the final couple of laps amid the roars of his home fans.[1]
Mansell duly came home first, two seconds clear of Piquet, to claim victory, but would run out of fuel on the slowing down lap.[1] Behind, a clutch issue for Prost would promote Senna onto the podium late on, with Satoru Nakajima, Derek Warwick and Fabi claiming the rest of the points.[1]
The results of the race meant that Senna had retained the lead in the Championship, although he now had two drivers within a point of him. Indeed, Mansell and teammate Piquet had moved onto 30 points, the Brit ahead courtesy of his three wins, while Prost slipped to fourth, five off the lead.
Background[]
Ayrton Senna had retained the lead in the Championship hunt after the French Grand Prix, although he had left France just a point ahead of second placed Alain Prost. Nelson Piquet was next, just two further back, while Nigel Mansell's victory had shot him back into contention, six off the leader. Stefan Johansson, meanwhile, appeared to have already fallen out of the fight after just six races, although he held onto his top five status ahead of Gerhard Berger.
In the Constructors' Championship it was advantage Williams-Honda after the battle of Le Castellet, leaving France six ahead of former leaders McLaren-TAG Porsche. The Anglo-German squad had done enough to remain in the fight however, with Lotus-Honda having lost ground in third. Ferrari had also lost ground in their lonely fourth place position, while Benetton-Ford Cosworth had joined Arrows-Megatron and Brabham-BMW on four points in fifth.
Philippe Streiff had moved back within three points of teammate Jonathan Palmer at the head of the Jim Clark Trophy chase in France, and hence moved back ahead of compatriot Pascal Fabre. Philippe Alliot and Ivan Capelli were the only other scorers in the Cup after the opening six races, while Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth continued to dominate the Colin Chapman Trophy after another one-two.
Entry list[]
The full entry list for the 1987 British Grand Prix is outlined below:
- Entries with a white background denote eligibility for the Jim Clark Trophy and Colin Chapman Trophy.
Practice Overview[]
Qualifying[]
Friday Qualifying[]
Saturday Qualifying[]
Qualifying Results[]
The full qualifying results for the 1987 British Grand Prix are outlined below:
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | Q2 | |||||
| 1 | 6 |  Nelson Piquet
|
 Williams-Honda
|
1:07.596 | 1:07.110 | — |
| 2 | 5 | Nigel Mansell
|
Williams-Honda
|
1:07.725 | 1:07.180 | +0.070s |
| 3 | 12 | Ayrton Senna
|
Lotus-Honda
|
1:09.255 | 1:08.181 | +1.071s |
| 4 | 1 |  Alain Prost
|
McLaren-TAG Porsche
|
1:08.577 | 1:09.492 | +1.467s |
| 5 | 20 |  Thierry Boutsen
|
Benetton-Ford Cosworth
|
1:09.724 | 1:08.972 | +1.862s |
| 6 | 19 |  Teo Fabi
|
Benetton-Ford Cosworth
|
1:10.264 | 1:09.246 | +2.136s |
| 7 | 27 | Michele Alboreto
|
Ferrari
|
1:10.441 | 1:09.274 | +2.164s |
| 8 | 28 |  Gerhard Berger
|
Ferrari
|
1:10.328 | 1:09.408 | +2.298s |
| 9 | 8 | Andrea de Cesaris
|
Brabham-BMW
|
1:10.787 | 1:09.475 | +2.365s |
| 10 | 2 |  Stefan Johansson
|
McLaren-TAG Porsche
|
1:10.242 | 1:09.541 | +2.431s |
| 11 | 7 | Riccardo Patrese
|
Brabham-BMW
|
1:10.012 | 1:10.020 | +2.902s |
| 12 | 11 |  Satoru Nakajima
|
Lotus-Honda
|
1:10.619 | 1:10.998 | +3.509s |
| 13 | 17 | Derek Warwick
|
Arrows-Megatron
|
1:10.654 | 1:10.781 | +3.544s |
| 14 | 18 |  Eddie Cheever
|
Arrows-Megatron
|
1:11.053 | 1:11.310 | +3.943s |
| 15 | 24 | Alessandro Nannini
|
Minardi-Motori Moderni
|
1:13.737 | 1:12.293 | +5.183s |
| 16 | 25 | René Arnoux
|
Ligier-Megatron
|
1:12.503 | 1:12.402 | +5.292s |
| 17 | 9 | Martin Brundle
|
 Zakspeed
|
1:12.852 | 1:12.632 | +5.522s |
| 18 | 10 | Christian Danner
|
Zakspeed
|
1:15.833 | 1:13.337 | +6.227s |
| 19* | 26 | Piercarlo Ghinzani
|
Ligier-Megatron
|
1:13.381 | — | +6.271s |
| 20 | 23 |  Adrián Campos
|
Minardi-Motori Moderni
|
1:15.719 | 1:13.793 | +6.683s |
| 21 | 21 | Alex Caffi
|
Osella-Alfa Romeo
|
1:18.495 | 1:15.558 | +8.448s |
| 22 | 30 | Philippe Alliot
|
Lola-Ford Cosworth
|
1:16.770 | 1:15.868 | +8.758s |
| 23 | 4 | Philippe Streiff
|
Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth
|
1:17.208 | 1:16.524 | +9.414s |
| 24 | 3 | Jonathan Palmer
|
Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth
|
1:16.644 | 1:17.105 | +9.534s |
| 25 | 16 | Ivan Capelli
|
March-Ford Cosworth
|
1:17.122 | 1:16.692 | +9.582s |
| 26 | 14 | Pascal Fabre
|
AGS-Ford Cosworth
|
1:19.163 | 1:18.237 | +11.127s |
| Source:[3][4][5] | ||||||
- A white background indicates an entrant in the Jim Clark Trophy.
- 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.
- * Ghinzani was excluded from the rest of the weekend after illegally refuelling on the circuit.[6]
Grid[]
| Pos. | Pos. | |
|---|---|---|
| Driver | Driver | |
| ______________ | ||
| Row 1 | ______________ | 1 |
| 2 | Nelson Piquet | |
| Nigel Mansell | ______________ | |
| Row 2 | ______________ | 3 |
| 4 | Ayrton Senna | |
| Alain Prost | ______________ | |
| Row 3 | ______________ | 5 |
| 6 | Thierry Boutsen | |
| Teo Fabi | ______________ | |
| Row 4 | ______________ | 7 |
| 8 | Michele Alboreto | |
| Gerhard Berger | ______________ | |
| Row 5 | ______________ | 9 |
| 10 | Andrea de Cesaris | |
| Stefan Johansson | ______________ | |
| Row 6 | ______________ | 11 |
| 12 | Riccardo Patrese | |
| Satoru Nakajima | ______________ | |
| Row 7 | ______________ | 13 |
| 14 | Derek Warwick | |
| Eddie Cheever | ______________ | |
| Row 8 | ______________ | 15 |
| 16 | Alessandro Nannini | |
| René Arnoux | ______________ | |
| Row 9 | ______________ | 17 |
| 18 | Martin Brundle | |
| Christian Danner | ______________ | |
| Row 10 | ______________ | 19 |
| 20 | Adrián Campos | |
| Alex Caffi | ______________ | |
| Row 11 | ______________ | 21 |
| 22 | Philippe Alliot | |
| Philippe Streiff | ______________ | |
| Row 12 | ______________ | 23 |
| 24 | Jonathan Palmer | |
| Ivan Capelli | ______________ | |
| Row 13 | ______________ | 25 |
| 26 | Pascal Fabre | |
| ______________ |
Race[]
Report[]
Results[]
The full results for the 1987 British Grand Prix are outlined below:
- A white background indicates an entrant in the Jim Clark Trophy with numbers in brackets indicating their finishing position in that class.
- T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car.
- * Brundle was unable to be classified as he failed to complete 90% of the race distance.[6]
- † Ghinzani was excluded from the weekend after being illegally refuelled during qualifying.[6]
Milestones[]
- 100th Grand Prix entry for Nigel Mansell.[7]
- 25th entry for Christian Danner.[7]
- Tenth career victory for Mansell.[8]
- Williams claimed their 34th win as a constructor.[8]
- Nelson Piquet set a new record of consecutive second place finishes - 4.[7]
Standings[]
Ayrton Senna retained the lead in the Championship with his podium finish, although he now had two, rather than one, driver within a point of him. Indeed, Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet were level on 30 points to the Brazilian's 31, with Mansell ahead of his teammate courtesy of his three wins. Alain Prost, meanwhile, had lost ground as he dropped to fourth, although he was still within five points of Senna.
Williams-Honda, meanwhile, extended their lead in the Constructors' Championship, having scored their second consecutive one-two. McLaren-TAG Porsche were still their closest challengers, although their failure to score meant that Lotus-Honda were just two behind them in third. Indeed, with 39 points to Lotus' 37, it seemed likely that the Anglo-German squad were in a fight for second, with Williams-Honda out of immediate reach on 60.
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Only point scoring drivers and constructors are shown.
Jim Clark/Colin Chapman Trophy[]
Jonathan Palmer extended his lead in the Jim Clark Trophy on home soil, with his tally of 42 leaving him ten clear of his nearest challenger. That challenger appeared in the form of Pascal Fabre, while Palmer's teammate Philippe Streiff slipped to third. In the Colin Chapman Trophy, meanwhile, Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth had again extended their lead, leaving the home race 40 clear of AGS-Ford Cosworth.
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 'British GP, 1987', grandprix.com, (Inside F1 Inc., 2015), http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr443.html, (Accessed 02/04/2019)
- ↑ 'Britain 1987: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1987/grande-bretagne/engages.aspx, (Accessed 03/04/2019)
- ↑ 'Shell Oils British Grand Prix - QUALIFYING 1', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2019), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1987/races/517/great-britain/qualifying-1.html, (Accessed 03/04/2019)
- ↑ 'Shell Oils British Grand Prix - QUALIFYING 2', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2019), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1987/races/517/great-britain/qualifying-2.html, (Accessed 03/04/2019)
- ↑ 'Britain 1987: Qualifications', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1987/grande-bretagne/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 03/04/2019)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 'Britain 1987: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1987/grande-bretagne/classement.aspx, (Accessed 03/04/2019)
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 '1987 British GP', chicanef1.com, (Chicane F1, 2015), http://www.chicanef1.com/racetit.pl?year=1987&gp=British%20GP&r=1, (Accessed 03/04/2019)
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 '7. Britain 1987', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1987/grande-bretagne.aspx, (Accessed 03/04/2019)
| V T E | British Grand Prix
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Circuits | Brooklands (1926 - 1927), Silverstone (1948 - Present), Aintree (1955 - 1962), Brands Hatch (1963 - 1986) |  |
| Races | 1950 • 1951 • 1952 • 1953 • 1954 • 1955 • 1956 • 1957 • 1958 • 1959 • 1960 • 1961 • 1962 • 1963 • 1964 • 1965 • 1966 • 1967 • 1968 • 1969 • 1970 • 1971 • 1972 • 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 • 2020 • 2021 • 2022 • 2023 • 2024 | |
| Non-Championship Races | 1926 • 1927 • 1948 • 1949 |
| v·d·e | Nominate this page for Featured Article |