The VII Coca Cola Gran Premio di San Marino, otherwise known as the 1987 San Marino Grand Prix, was the second round of the 1987 FIA Formula One World Championship, staged at the Autodromo Dino Ferrari in Imola, Italy, on the 3 May 1987.[1] The race would see Nigel Mansell sweep to his first victory of the season, after a heavy accident for teammate Nelson Piquet marred Williams-Honda's entire weekend.[1]
The Brazilian's accident came during the opening qualifying session of the weekend, where his Williams-Honda was pitched straight into the wall at Tamburello after a tyre failure.[1] Piquet was quickly extracted from the cockpit and checked over by FIA Medical Delegate Sid Watkins, who subsequently declared that the Brazilian was unfit to continue competing for the rest of the weekend.[1]
Williams took time to analyse the wreckage, but could not conclude whether the tyre had failed on its own, while Goodyear decided to ship a whole new batch of tyres from England to Imola.[1] Regardless, the team opted to continue competing with Mansell, who would claim second on the grid during Saturday's qualifying session as Ayrton Senna swept to pole for Lotus-Honda.[1]
Senna would take the lead from Mansell at the start of the race, while Teo Fabi got the jump on Championship leader Alain Prost for third.[1] The rest of the field made it off the line without issue, although René Arnoux was a late non-starter after a suspension failure.[1]
Senna's lead lasted until the midway point on the second lap, with Mansell barging his way through at Tosa.[1] The Brit duly sprinted clear to leave Senna at the mercy of Prost, who would also sweep past the Lotus-Honda on lap six after dealing with Fabi.[1]
Prost subsequently managed to catch Mansell, although before he could launch an attack his McLaren-TAG Porsche ground to a halt after an alternator failure.[1] That promoted Michele Alboreto into second, the Italian having just passed Senna, while Riccardo Patrese had shuffled through to a comfortable fourth in the Brabham-BMW.[1]
Mansell would stop early for fresh tyres, but still emerged in the lead of the race.[1] Alboreto and Senna, meanwhile, would suffer slow stops to allow Patrese into second, with the Italian looking set for the position until he was told to conserve fuel late in the race.[1]
With that the race was run, with Mansell cruising home to claim victory half a minute clear of Senna and Alboreto, the Brazilian able to jump ahead of the Italian when the Ferrari lost boost pressure.[1] Stefan Johansson, meanwhile, would claim fourth ahead of Martin Brundle and Satoru Nakajima, while Philippe Streiff claimed the honours in the Jim Clark Trophy.[1]
The results of the race meant that Mansell moved to the top of the Championship, one point clear of Prost. Williams-Honda, meanwhile, would draw level with McLaren-TAG Porsche in the Constructors' Championship, and were deemed ahead on count-back.
Background[]
Victory at the opening round had ensured that Alain Prost opened his title defence in perfect fashion, leaving Brazil 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 arrived in Italy in command of the Constructors' Championship, with Prost and Johansson scoring a combined total of thirteen points in Brazil. Williams-Honda were next, having secured seven points at the opening race, while Ferrari and Benetton-Ford Cosworth were the only other scorers.
Elsewhere, Jonathan Palmer had been the inaugural winner in the Jim Clark Trophy in Brazil, 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 after the opening round, while Pascal Fabre and AGS-Ford Cosworth were the only other scorers in Rio.
Entry list[]
The full entry list for the 1987 San Marino 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 San Marino Grand Prix are outlined below:
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | Q2 | |||||
| 1 | 12 |  Ayrton Senna
|
 Lotus-Honda
|
1:27.543 | 1:25.826 | — |
| 2 | 5 | Nigel Mansell
|
Williams-Honda
|
1:26.204 | 1:25.946 | +0.120s |
| 3* | 6 | Nelson Piquet
|
Williams-Honda
|
1:25.997 | — | +0.171s |
| 4 | 1 |  Alain Prost
|
McLaren-TAG Porsche
|
1:29.317 | 1:26.135 | +0.309s |
| 5 | 19 |  Teo Fabi
|
Benetton-Ford Cosworth
|
1:27.801 | 1:27.270 | +1.444s |
| 6 | 28 |  Gerhard Berger
|
Ferrari
|
1:28.229 | 1:27.280 | +1.454s |
| 7 | 27 | Michele Alboreto
|
Ferrari
|
1:29.653 | 1:28.074 | +2.248s |
| 8 | 7 | Riccardo Patrese
|
Brabham-BMW
|
1:28.447 | 1:28.421 | +2.595s |
| 9 | 2 |  Stefan Johansson
|
McLaren-TAG Porsche
|
1:30.416 | 1:28.708 | +2.882s |
| 10 | 18 |  Eddie Cheever
|
Arrows-Megatron
|
1:30.379 | 1:28.848 | +3.022s |
| 11 | 17 | Derek Warwick
|
Arrows-Megatron
|
1:28.887 | 1:29.236 | +3.061s |
| 12 | 20 |  Thierry Boutsen
|
Benetton-Ford Cosworth
|
1:28.929 | 1:28.908 | +3.082s |
| 13 | 11 |  Satoru Nakajima
|
Lotus-Honda
|
1:29.579 | 1:30.545 | +3.753s |
| 14 | 25 | René Arnoux
|
Ligier-Megatron
|
1:31.078 | 1:29.861 | +4.035s |
| 15 | 8 | Andrea de Cesaris
|
Brabham-BMW
|
1:30.627 | 1:30.382 | +4.556s |
| 16 | 9 | Martin Brundle
|
 Zakspeed
|
1:31.931 | 1:31.094 | +5.268s |
| 17 | 24 | Alessandro Nannini
|
Minardi-Motori Moderni
|
1:31.789 | — | +5.963s |
| 18 | 23 |  Adrián Campos
|
Minardi-Motori Moderni
|
1:41.520 | 1:31.818 | +5.992s |
| 19 | 10 | Christian Danner
|
Zakspeed
|
1:32.977 | 1:31.903 | +6.077s |
| 20 | 26 | Piercarlo Ghinzani
|
Ligier-Megatron
|
1:32.873 | 1:32.248 | +6.422s |
| 21 | 21 | Alex Caffi
|
Osella-Alfa Romeo
|
1:32.308 | 1:33.298 | +6.482s |
| 22 | 4 | Philippe Streiff
|
Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth
|
1:35.001 | 1:33.155 | +7.329s |
| 23 | 30 | Philippe Alliot
|
Lola-Ford Cosworth
|
1:34.458 | 1:33.846 | +8.020s |
| 24 | 16 | Ivan Capelli
|
March-Ford Cosworth
|
1:37.463 | 1:33.872 | +8.046s |
| 25 | 3 | Jonathan Palmer
|
Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth
|
1:34.632 | 1:36.127 | +8.806s |
| 26 | 14 | Pascal Fabre
|
AGS-Ford Cosworth
|
1:39.747 | 1:36.159 | +10.333s |
| 27 | 22 | Gabriele Tarquini
|
Osella-Alfa Romeo
|
1:43.446 | — | +17.620s |
| 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.
- * Piquet would not take part in the rest of the race weekend after his accident on Friday.[6]
Grid[]
| Pos. | Pos. | |
|---|---|---|
| Driver | Driver | |
| ______________ | ||
| Row 1 | 1 | ______________ |
| Ayrton Senna | 2 | |
| ______________ | Nigel Mansell | |
| Row 2 | 3 | ______________ |
| Alain Prost | 4 | |
| ______________ | Teo Fabi | |
| Row 3 | 5 | ______________ |
| Gerhard Berger | 6 | |
| ______________ | Michele Alboreto | |
| Row 4 | 7 | ______________ |
| Riccardo Patrese | 8 | |
| ______________ | Stefan Johansson | |
| Row 5 | 9 | ______________ |
| Eddie Cheever | 10 | |
| ______________ | Derek Warwick | |
| Row 6 | 11 | ______________ |
| Thierry Boutsen | 12 | |
| ______________ | ||
| Row 7 | 13 | ______________ |
| 14 | ||
| ______________ | Andrea de Cesaris | |
| Row 8 | 15 | ______________ |
| Martin Brundle | 16 | |
| ______________ | Alessandro Nannini | |
| Row 9 | 17 | ______________ |
| Adrián Campos | 18 | |
| ______________ | Christian Danner | |
| Row 10 | 19 | ______________ |
| Piercarlo Ghinzani | 20 | |
| ______________ | Alex Caffi | |
| Row 11 | 21 | ______________ |
| Philippe Streiff | 22 | |
| ______________ | Philippe Alliot | |
| Row 12 | 23 | ______________ |
| Ivan Capelli | 24 | |
| ______________ | Jonathan Palmer | |
| Row 13 | 25 | ______________ |
| Pascal Fabre | 26 | |
| ______________ | Gabriele Tarquini |
- * Nakajima would start the race from the pit lane after a battery change.[6]
- † Arnoux was unable to start the race after a suspension failure.[6]
Race[]
Report[]
Results[]
The full results for the 1987 San Marino 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.
- * Nakajima, Warwick and Caffi were all still classified despite retiring as they had completed 90% of the race distance.[6]
- † Arnoux was unable to start the race after a suspension failure.[6]
- ‡ Piquet was unable to start the race after an accident during qualifying.[6]
Milestones[]
- 500th entry for a Tyrrell constructed chassis.[7]
- Teo Fabi started his 50th Grand Prix.[8]
- Twentieth entry for Christian Danner.[7]
- Gabriele Tarquini made his Grand Prix debut.[7]
- Ayrton Senna recorded the 107th and final pole position for Lotus as a constructor.[8]
- Eighth career victory for Nigel Mansell.[8]
- Williams secured their 32nd win as a constructor.[8]
- Honda scored their seventeenth victory.[8]
- Maiden points finish for Satoru Nakajima.
- Fabi recorded his second and final fastest lap.[8]
Standings[]
Victory would propel Nigel Mansell to the top of the Championship in San Marino, the Brit having claimed ten points across the opening two rounds. That left him a point clear of Alain Prost in second, winner in Brazil, while Stefan Johansson had retained third after his second straight points finish. Behind, Ayrton Senna leapt into the top five ahead of Nelson Piquet, with ten drivers already on the score board.
In the Constructors' Championship it was now Williams-Honda who led the field, moving ahead of McLaren-TAG Porsche on the count-back rule. Likewise, Lotus-Honda had moved ahead of Ferrari to claim third, level on seven but ahead on count-back, while Benetton-Ford Cosworth dropped to fifth ahead of Zakspeed.
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Only point scoring drivers and constructors are shown.
Jim Clark/Colin Chapman Trophy[]
Philippe Streiff moved to the top of the Jim Clark Trophy standings in San Marino, opening a six point lead over teammate Jonathan Palmer. Pascal Fabre, meanwhile, would hang onto third ahead of Philippe Alliot, while Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth maintained their lead in the Colin Chapman Trophy.
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 >'San Marino GP, 1987', grandprix.com, (Inside F1 Inc., 2014), http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr438.html, (Accessed 01/04/2019)
- ↑ 'San Marino 1987: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1987/saint-marin/engages.aspx, (Accessed 01/04/2019)
- ↑ 'San Marino Grand Prix - QUALIFYING 1', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2019), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1987/races/6/san-marino/qualifying-1.html, (Accessed 01/04/2019)
- ↑ 'San Marino Grand Prix - QUALIFYING 2', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2019), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1987/races/6/san-marino/qualifying-2.html, (Accessed 01/04/2019)
- ↑ 'San Marino 1987: Qualifications', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1987/saint-marin/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 01/04/2019)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 'San Marino 1987: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1987/saint-marin/classement.aspx, (Accessed 01/04/2019)
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 '1987 San Marino GP', chicanef1.com, (Chicane F1, 2014), http://www.chicanef1.com/racetit.pl?year=1987&gp=San%20Marino%20GP&r=1, (Accessed 01/04/2019)
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 '2. San Marino 1987', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1987/saint-marin.aspx, (Accessed 01/04/2019)
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