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The XLVI Champion Grand Prix de Belgique, otherwise known simply as the 1988 Belgian Grand Prix, was the eleventh round of the 1988 FIA Formula One World Championship, staged on the 28 August 1988 on the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.[1] The race would see Ayrton Senna claim victory ahead of teammate Alain Prost, a result which ensured that McLaren-Honda secured the Constructors' Championship with five races to spare.[1]

The race itself was preceded by the death of one of Enzo Ferrari, one of motorsport's most famous faces and founder of the Ferrari team.[1] His death left a power vacuum at the head of the company, although there were no concerns that FIAT would curtail the Scuderia without il Commendatore looking over their shoulders.[1]

Into the race weekend itself and normal order was resumed in Belgium, with turbocharged cars once again dominating the field during qualifying.[1] As ever, it was Senna who claimed pole ahead of teammate Prost, while the two Ferraris of Gerhard Berger and Michele Alboreto shared the second row.[1]

The start of the race would see Prost make a better start, with Senna resisting the temptation to pressure his teammate's lunge into La Source.[1] Indeed, the pair had had a gentleman's agreement not to challenge one-another into the infamously tight hairpin, in fear of clashing and then crashing.[1]

There was no agreement, however, about not fighting over the rest of the race, meaning Senna was free to draft past the Frenchman on the run to Les Combes.[1] With that the Brazilian was off into the lead, leaving Prost to try and keep up for the rest of the afternoon.[1]

Behind, Berger would lead the anti-McLaren chase, although an electrical issue ultimately curtailed his race before the end of lap eleven.[1] Alboreto hence took up the charge for the rest of the afternoon, albeit while being stalked by the two Benetton-Ford Cosworths.[1]

Indeed, behind those three would be a thrilling fight for sixth, with Satoru Nakajima, Nelson Piquet and the two Arrows-Ford Cosworths all exchanging blows.[2] Ultimately it was Piquet who emerged at the head of the battle pack, and was even briefly able to get ahead of Alessandro Nannini, only for a brake issue to end his charge.[2]

Out front, meanwhile, Senna eeked out a thirty second lead ahead of Prost, a win that handed the Brazilian a three point lead in the Championship.[1] Their one-two also settled the Constructors' Championship for McLaren-Honda, setting a new record for the earliest title win.[1]

Elsewhere an engine failure for Alboreto would promote Thierry Boutsen and Nannini into third and fourth, only for them to both to be disqualified due to irregularities in their fuel.[1] Ivan Capelli hence claimed the final podium spot ahead of Piquet, while the two Arrows ended the day in the top six.[1]

Background[]

Ayrton Senna had moved into the lead of the Championship for the first time all season last time out in Hungary, having matched Alain Prost's 66 point tally. Indeed, the Brazilian was technically ahead of his teammate on count-back, holding six wins to the Frenchman's four after ten races, with both set to take dropped scores later on in the campaign. Best of the rest was still Gerhard Berger in third, although with a 38 point gap between himself and the leaders the Austrian was resigned to finishing there ahead of the trip to Spa.

In the Constructors' Championship, meanwhile, the Hungarian Grand Prix had been another McLaren-Honda benefit, with their seventh one-two of the season leaving them on 132 points. That, in turn, meant that the Anglo-Japanese alliance had moved 88 points clear of second placed Ferrari, and hence meant that McLaren-Honda could claim the crown with five races to go at the following race Belgium. Indeed, the Scuderia would have to take a one-two, with McLaren failing to finish sixth or higher, just to keep the title "fight" alive beyond the trip to Spa.

Entry list[]

The full entry list for the 1988 Belgian Grand Prix is outlined below:

No. Driver Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine Model Tyre
1 Brazil Nelson Piquet United Kingdom Camel Team Lotus Honda Lotus 100T Honda RA168E 1.5 V6t G
2 Japan Satoru Nakajima United Kingdom Camel Team Lotus Honda Lotus 100T Honda RA168E 1.5 V6t G
3 United Kingdom Jonathan Palmer United Kingdom Tyrrell Racing Organisation Tyrrell 017 Ford Cosworth DFZ 3.5 V8 G
4 United Kingdom Julian Bailey United Kingdom Tyrrell Racing Organisation Tyrrell 017 Ford Cosworth DFZ 3.5 V8 G
5 United Kingdom Martin Brundle United Kingdom Canon Williams Team Williams FW12 Judd CV 3.5 V8 G
6 Italy Riccardo Patrese United Kingdom Canon Williams Team Williams FW12 Judd CV 3.5 V8 G
9 Italy Piercarlo Ghinzani West Germany West Zakspeed Racing Zakspeed 881 Zakspeed 1500/4 1.5 L4t G
10 West Germany Bernd Schneider West Germany West Zakspeed Racing Zakspeed 881 Zakspeed 1500/4 1.5 L4t G
11 France Alain Prost United Kingdom Honda Marlboro McLaren McLaren MP4/4 Honda RA168E 1.5 V6t G
12 Brazil Ayrton Senna United Kingdom Honda Marlboro McLaren McLaren MP4/4 Honda RA168E 1.5 V6t G
14 France Philippe Streiff France Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives AGS JH23 Ford Cosworth DFZ 3.5 V8 G
15 Brazil Maurício Gugelmin United Kingdom Leyton House March Racing Team March 881 Judd CV 3.5 V8 G
16 Italy Ivan Capelli United Kingdom Leyton House March Racing Team March 881 Judd CV 3.5 V8 G
17 United Kingdom Derek Warwick United Kingdom USF&G Arrows Megatron Arrows A10B Megatron M12/13 1.5 L4t G
18 United States Eddie Cheever United Kingdom USF&G Arrows Megatron Arrows A10B Megatron M12/13 1.5 L4t G
19 Italy Alessandro Nannini United Kingdom Benetton Formula Benetton B188 Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8 G
20 Belgium Thierry Boutsen United Kingdom Benetton Formula Benetton B188 Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8 G
21 Italy Nicola Larini Italy Osella Squadra Corse Osella FA1L Osella 890T 1.5 V8t G
22 Italy Andrea de Cesaris West Germany Rial Racing Rial ARC1 Ford Cosworth DFZ 3.5 V8 G
23 Italy Pierluigi Martini Italy Lois Minardi Team SpA Minardi M188 Ford Cosworth DFZ 3.5 V8 G
24 Spain Luis Pérez-Sala Italy Lois Minardi Team SpA Minardi M188 Ford Cosworth DFZ 3.5 V8 G
25 France René Arnoux France Ligier Loto Ligier JS31 Judd CV 3.5 V8 G
26 Sweden Stefan Johansson France Ligier Loto Ligier JS31 Judd CV 3.5 V8 G
27 Italy Michele Alboreto Italy Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC Ferrari F1/87/88C Ferrari 033E 1.5 V6t G
28 Austria Gerhard Berger Italy Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC Ferrari F1/87/88C Ferrari 033E 1.5 V6t G
29 France Yannick Dalmas France Larrousse Camels Lola LC88 Ford Cosworth DFZ 3.5 V8 G
30 France Philippe Alliot France Larrousse Camels Lola LC88 Ford Cosworth DFZ 3.5 V8 G
31 Italy Gabriele Tarquini Italy Coloni SpA Coloni FC188 Ford Cosworth DFZ 3.5 V8 G
32 Argentina Oscar Larrauri Italy EuroBrun Racing EuroBrun ER188 Ford Cosworth DFZ 3.5 V8 G
33 Italy Stefano Modena Italy EuroBrun Racing EuroBrun ER188 Ford Cosworth DFZ 3.5 V8 G
36 Italy Alex Caffi Italy BMS Scuderia Italia Dallara F188 Ford Cosworth DFZ 3.5 V8 G
Source:[3]

Practice Overview[]

Qualifying[]

Friday Qualifying[]

Saturday Qualifying[]

Qualifying Results[]

The full qualifying results for the 1988 Belgian Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Time Gap
Q1 Q2
1 12 Brazil Ayrton Senna United Kingdom McLaren-Honda 1:53.718 2:15.196
2 11 France Alain Prost United Kingdom McLaren-Honda 1:54.128 +0.410s
3 28 Austria Gerhard Berger Italy Ferrari 1:54.581 2:17.115 +0.863s
4 27 Italy Michele Alboreto Italy Ferrari 1:55.665 2:15.667 +1.947s
5 6 Italy Riccardo Patrese United Kingdom Williams-Judd 1:57.138 2:15.358 +3.420s
6 20 Belgium Thierry Boutsen United Kingdom Benetton-Ford Cosworth 1:57.455 2:15.236 +3.737s
7 19 Italy Alessandro Nannini United Kingdom Benetton-Ford Cosworth 1:57.535 2:17.077 +3.817s
8 2 Japan Satoru Nakajima United Kingdom Lotus-Honda 1:57.616 2:14.739 +3.898s
9 1 Brazil Nelson Piquet United Kingdom Lotus-Honda 1:57.821 2:15.027 +4.103s
10 17 United Kingdom Derek Warwick United Kingdom Arrows-Megatron 1:57.925 2:16.770 +4.207s
11 18 United States Eddie Cheever United Kingdom Arrows-Megatron 1:57.980 2:19.908 +4.262s
12 5 United Kingdom Martin Brundle United Kingdom Williams-Judd 1:58.206 2:14.517 +4.488s
13 15 Brazil Maurício Gugelmin United Kingdom March-Judd 1:58.361 +4.643s
14 16 Italy Ivan Capelli United Kingdom March-Judd 1:58.439 2:22.821 +4.721s
15 36 Italy Alex Caffi Italy Dallara-Ford Cosworth 1:59.736 2:18.052 +6.018s
16 30 France Philippe Alliot France Lola-Ford Cosworth 1:59.906 2:21.219 +6.188s
17 25 France René Arnoux France Ligier-Judd 2:00.037 2:19.260 +6.319s
18 14 France Philippe Streiff France AGS-Ford Cosworth 2:00.410 2:23.953 +6.692s
19 22 Italy Andrea de Cesaris West Germany Rial-Ford Cosworth 2:00.521 2:17.028 +6.803s
20 26 Sweden Stefan Johansson France Ligier-Judd 2:00.857 +7.139s
21 3 United Kingdom Jonathan Palmer United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth 2:01.078 2:20.594 +7.360s
22 31 Italy Gabriele Tarquini Italy Coloni-Ford Cosworth 2:01.359 2:19.939 +7.641s
23 29 France Yannick Dalmas France Lola-Ford Cosworth 2:01.467 2:19.909 +7.749s
24 9 Italy Piercarlo Ghinzani West Germany Zakspeed 2:01.889 2:22.064 +8.181s
25 10 West Germany Bernd Schneider West Germany Zakspeed 2:01.938 2:19.825 +8.220s
26 21 Italy Nicola Larini Italy Osella 2:02.029 2:17.127 +8.311s
DNQ 24 Spain Luis Pérez-Sala Italy Minardi-Ford Cosworth 2:02.129 +8.411s
DNQ 23 Italy Pierluigi Martini Italy Minardi-Ford Cosworth 2:02.314 +8.596s
DNQ 33 Italy Stefano Modena Italy EuroBrun-Ford Cosworth 2:02.322 2:19.880 +8.604s
DNQ 4 United Kingdom Julian Bailey United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth 2:02.519 +8.801s
DNPQ 32 Argentina Oscar Larrauri Italy EuroBrun-Ford Cosworth 2:04.208
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.

Grid[]

Pos. Pos.
Driver Driver
______________
Row 1 ______________ 1
2 Ayrton Senna
Alain Prost ______________
Row 2 ______________ 3
4 Gerhard Berger
Michele Alboreto ______________
Row 3 ______________ 5
6 Riccardo Patrese
Thierry Boutsen ______________
Row 4 ______________ 7
8 Alessandro Nannini
Satoru Nakajima ______________
Row 5 ______________ 9
10 Nelson Piquet
Derek Warwick ______________
Row 6 ______________ 11
12 Eddie Cheever
Martin Brundle ______________
Row 7 ______________ 13
14 Maurício Gugelmin
Ivan Capelli ______________
Row 8 ______________ 15
16 Alex Caffi
Philippe Alliot ______________
Row 9 ______________ 17
18 René Arnoux
Philippe Streiff ______________
Row 10 ______________ 19
20 Andrea de Cesaris
Stefan Johansson ______________
Row 11 ______________ 21
22 Jonathan Palmer
Gabriele Tarquini ______________
Row 12 ______________ 23
24 Yannick Dalmas
Piercarlo Ghinzani ______________
Row 13 ______________ 25
26 Bernd Schneider
Nicola Larini ______________

Race[]

Report[]

Results[]

The full results for the 1988 Belgian Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 12 Brazil Ayrton Senna United Kingdom McLaren-Honda 43 1:28.00.549 1 9
2 11 France Alain Prost United Kingdom McLaren-Honda 43 +30.470s 2 6
3 16 Italy Ivan Capelli United Kingdom March-Judd 43 +1:15.768 14 4
4 1 Brazil Nelson Piquet United Kingdom Lotus-Honda 43 +1:23.628 9 3
5 17 United Kingdom Derek Warwick United Kingdom Arrows-Megatron 43 +1:25.355 10 2
6 18 United States Eddie Cheever United Kingdom Arrows-Megatron 42 +1 Lap 11 1
7 5 United Kingdom Martin Brundle United Kingdom Williams-Judd 42 +1 Lap 12
8 36 Italy Alex Caffi Italy Dallara-Ford Cosworth 42 +1 Lap 15
9 30 France Philippe Alliot France Lola-Ford Cosworth 42 +1 Lap 16
10 14 France Philippe Streiff France AGS-Ford Cosworth 42 +1 Lap 18
11* 26 Sweden Stefan Johansson France Ligier-Judd 39 Engine 20
12* 3 United Kingdom Jonathan Palmer United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth 39 Throttle 21
13* 10 West Germany Bernd Schneider West Germany Zakspeed 38 Gearbox 25
NC 31 Italy Gabriele Tarquini Italy Coloni-Ford Cosworth 36 +7 Laps 22
DSQ 20 Belgium Thierry Boutsen United Kingdom Benetton-Ford Cosworth 43 Disqualified 6
DSQ 19 Italy Alessandro Nannini United Kingdom Benetton-Ford Cosworth 43 Disqualified 7
Ret 27 Italy Michele Alboreto Italy Ferrari 35 Engine 4
Ret 6 Italy Riccardo Patrese United Kingdom Williams-Judd 30 Engine 5
Ret 15 Brazil Maurício Gugelmin United Kingdom March-Judd 29 Spin 13
Ret 9 Italy Piercarlo Ghinzani West Germany Zakspeed 25 Oil leak 24
Ret 2 Japan Satoru Nakajima United Kingdom Lotus-Honda 22 Engine 8
Ret 21 Italy Nicola Larini Italy Osella 14 Fuel system 26
Ret 28 Austria Gerhard Berger Italy Ferrari 11 Injection 3
Ret 29 France Yannick Dalmas France Lola-Ford Cosworth 9 Engine 23
Ret 22 Italy Andrea de Cesaris West Germany Rial-Ford Cosworth 2 Collision 19
Ret 25 France René Arnoux France Ligier-Judd 2 Collision 17
DNQ 24 Spain Luis Pérez-Sala Italy Minardi-Ford Cosworth
DNQ 23 Italy Pierluigi Martini Italy Minardi-Ford Cosworth
DNQ 33 Italy Stefano Modena Italy EuroBrun-Ford Cosworth
DNQ 4 United Kingdom Julian Bailey United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth
DNPQ 32 Argentina Oscar Larrauri Italy EuroBrun-Ford Cosworth
Source:[7]
  • T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car.
  • * Johansson, Palmer and Schneider were all still classified despite retiring as they had completed 90% of the race distance.[7]
  • Tarquini was unable to be classified as he failed to complete 90% of the race distance.[7]
  • Boutsen and Nannini were retroactively disqualified from the results after using illegal fuel.[7]

Milestones[]

Standings[]

Ayrton Senna had moved three points clear of Alain Prost at the head of the Championship, with the Frenchman set to hit the eleven race points limit with his next point score. Those two were the only two drivers mathematically in the title fight, for Gerhard Berger had slipped 47 points off the lead with just 45 left to fight for. He was hence leading his own fight for third, ten points ahead of Nelson Piquet.

In the Constructors' Championship, meanwhile, McLaren-Honda had already secured the crown, their eleventh straight win of the season, and eighth one-two, putting them onto 147 points. Incredibly, that translated into a 103 point lead with a third of the season still to go, with Ferrari only able to score 75 points across the rest of the season. They were now officially in a fight to finish the season in second, with double the points of Benetton-Ford Cosworth in third.

World Championship for Drivers
Pos. Driver Pts. +/-
1 Brazil Ayrton Senna 75
2 France Alain Prost 72
3 Austria Gerhard Berger 28
4 Brazil Nelson Piquet 18 ▲2
5 Belgium Thierry Boutsen 16 ▼1
6 Italy Michele Alboreto 16 ▼1
7 United Kingdom Derek Warwick 11
8 Italy Ivan Capelli 8 ▲4
9 United Kingdom Nigel Mansell 6 ▼1
10 Italy Alessandro Nannini 6 ▼1
11 Brazil Maurício Gugelmin 5 ▼1
12 United Kingdom Jonathan Palmer 5 ▼1
13 Italy Andrea de Cesaris 3
14 Italy Riccardo Patrese 2
15 United States Eddie Cheever 2
16 Japan Satoru Nakajima 1
17 Italy Pierluigi Martini 1
World Championship for Constructors
Pos. Team Pts. +/-
1 United Kingdom McLaren-Honda 147
2 Italy Ferrari 44
3 United Kingdom Benetton-Ford Cosworth 22
4 United Kingdom Lotus-Honda 19
5 United Kingdom March-Judd 13 ▲1
6 United Kingdom Arrows-Megatron 13 ▼1
7 United Kingdom Williams-Judd 8
8 United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth 5
9 West Germany Rial-Ford Cosworth 3
10 Italy Minardi-Ford Cosworth 1

Only point scoring drivers and constructors are shown.

References[]

Images and Videos:

References:

  1. 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 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named GP
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 '11. Belgium 1988', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1988/belgique.aspx, (Accessed 11/04/2019)
  3. 'Belgium 1988: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1988/belgique/engages.aspx, (Accessed 11/04/2019)
  4. 'Belgian Grand Prix - QUALIFYING 1', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2019), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1988/races/537/belgium/qualifying-1.html, (Accessed 11/04/2019)
  5. 'Belgian Grand Prix - QUALIFYING 2', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2019), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1988/races/537/belgium/qualifying-2.html, (Accessed 11/04/2019)
  6. 'Belgium 1988: Qualifications', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1988/belgique/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 11/04/2019)
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 'Belgium 1988: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1988/belgique/classement.aspx, (Accessed 11/04/2019)
  8. '1988 Belgian GP', chicanef1.com, (Chicane F1, 2014), http://www.chicanef1.com/racetit.pl?year=1988&gp=Belgian%20GP&r=1, (Accessed 11/04/2019)
V T E 1988 Formula One Season
Teams Lotus • Tyrrell • Williams • Zakspeed • McLaren • AGS • March • Arrows • Benetton • Osella • Rial • Minardi • Ligier • Ferrari • Lola • Coloni • EuroBrun • Dallara
Engines Ferrari • Ford • Honda • Judd • Megatron • Osella • Zakspeed
Drivers Piquet • 2 Nakajima • 3 Palmer • 4 Bailey • 5 Mansell • 5 Brundle • 5 Schlesser • 6 Patrese • 9 Ghinzani • 10 Schneider • 11 Prost • 12 Senna • 14 Streiff • 15 Gugelmin • 16 Capelli • 17 Warwick • 18 Cheever • 19 Nannini • 20 Boutsen • 21 Larini • 22 De Cesaris • 23 Campos • 23 Martini • 24 Pérez-Sala • 25 Arnoux • 26 Johansson • 27 Alboreto • 28 Berger • 29 Dalmas • 29 Suzuki • 29 Raphanel • 30 Alliot • 31 Tarquini • 32 Larrauri • 33 Modena • 36 Caffi
Other Drivers Brabham • Donnelly • Dumfries
Cars McLaren MP4/4 • Ferrari F1/87/88C • Benetton B188 • Lotus 100T • Arrows A10B • March 881 • Williams FW12 • Tyrrell 017 • Rial ARC1 • Minardi M188 • Lola LC88 • Dallara 3087 • Dallara F188 • AGS JH22 • AGS JH23 • Coloni FC188 • Ligier JS31 • Osella FA1I • Osella FA1L • EuroBrun ER188 • Zakspeed 881
Tyres Goodyear
Races Brazil • San Marino • Monaco • Mexico • Canada • Detroit • France • Britain • Germany • Hungary • Belgium • Italy • Portugal • Spain • Japan • Australia
See also 1987 Formula One Season • 1989 Formula One Season • Category
V T E Belgium Belgian Grand Prix
Circuits Spa-Francorchamps (1950 - 1970, 1983, 1985 - Present), Nivelles (1972, 1974), Zolder (1973, 1975 - 1982, 1984)
Track map of Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium
Races 195019511952195319541955195619571958195919601961196219631964196519661967196819691970197119721973197419751976197719781979198019811982198319841985198619871988198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024
Pre-1950 races 1925193019311933193419351937193919471949
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