The 1988 Brazilian Grand Prix, known officially as the XVII Grande Prêmio do Brasil, was the opening round of the 1988 FIA Formula One World Championship, staged at the freshly renamed Autódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet in Rio de Janerio, Brazil, on the 3 April 1988.[1] The race would see Alain Prost claim a dominant victory for McLaren-Honda, against a field largely comprised on non-turbocharged cars.[1]
It had been a very busy winter after the end of the 1987 campaign, with FISA and FOCA both agreeing to a ban of turbocharged engines from 1989 onward.[1] This resulted in a large number of teams switching to new 3.5 litre V8s, with a new engine manufacturer Judd supplying three teams, including defending Constructors' Champions Williams.[1]
There had also been sweeping changes on the driver front with McLaren, having also become the de facto Honda factory team, signing Ayrton Senna to partner Prost.[1] Defending Champion Nelson Piquet, meanwhile, had moved to Lotus-Honda to partner Satoru Nakajima, while his seat at Williams had been filled by Riccardo Patrese.[1]
Qualifying for the opening race would see Senna claim pole in his turbocharged McLaren, although Nigel Mansell caused a stir by putting his Williams-Judd onto second.[1] Prost was next ahead of Gerhard Berger in the #28 Ferrari, while Piquet opened his title defence from fifth.[1]
An issue for Senna at the end of the formation lap saw the start delayed, with the Brazilian hastily jumping into his spare car to start from the pitlane.[1] This would later result in Senna getting disqualified from the race, the FIA having banned swapping to spare cars after the formation lap during the winter.[1]
With Senna gone it was clear for Mansell to claim the lead off the grid, although he was unsurprisingly mugged by Prost and Berger on the run to the first corner.[1] Indeed, the two turbocharged cars powered away from the Williams to duel for the lead through the first corner, with Prost ultimately emerging ahead.[1]
Mansell briefly got ahead of Berger through the first corner, although the Ferrari would pounce back later on during the opening lap.[1] He duly stayed glued to the Austrian's tail during the early stages of the race, while Prost escaped out front.[1]
Mansell's race was effectively ended on lap nineteen, when his Judd engine overheated in the wake of Berger's Ferrari. Piquet was hence promoted into third for Lotus, only to briefly lose the position to a charging Senna who had moved from 21st to third in twenty laps.
Senna was disqualified a few laps later, as Prost and co. made their stops for fresh tyres. Yet, there would be no changes to the overall order, with Prost holding a decisive lead over Berger for the rest of the afternoon.
Indeed, Prost would remain ten seconds clear of Berger through to the chequered flag, having paced himself against the Austrian's times.[1] Piquet was a relatively happy third ahead of Derek Warwick, while Michele Alboreto and Satoru Nakajima collected the remaining points.[1]
Background[]
Entry list[]
The full entry list for the 1988 Brazilian Grand Prix is outlined below:
Practice Overview[]
Qualifying[]
Friday Qualifying[]
Saturday Qualifying[]
Qualifying Results[]
The full qualifying results for the 1988 Brazilian Grand Prix are outlined below:
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | Q2 | |||||
| 1 | 12 |  Ayrton Senna
|
 McLaren-Honda
|
1:30.218 | 1:28.096 | — |
| 2 | 5 | Nigel Mansell
|
Williams-Judd
|
1:30.928 | 1:28.632 | +0.536s |
| 3 | 11 |  Alain Prost
|
McLaren-Honda
|
1:31.975 | 1:28.782 | +0.686s |
| 4 | 28 |  Gerhard Berger
|
 Ferrari
|
1:32.123 | 1:29.026 | +0.930s |
| 5 | 1 | Nelson Piquet
|
Lotus-Honda
|
1:32.888 | 1:30.087 | +1.991s |
| 6 | 27 | Michele Alboreto
|
Ferrari
|
1:32.523 | 1:30.114 | +2.018s |
| 7 | 20 |  Thierry Boutsen
|
Benetton-Ford Cosworth
|
1:32.060 | 1:30.140 | +2.044s |
| 8 | 6 | Riccardo Patrese
|
Williams-Judd
|
1:34.070 | 1:40.439 | +2.343s |
| 9 | 16 | Ivan Capelli
|
March-Judd
|
1:33.546 | 1:30.929 | +2.833s |
| 10 | 2 |  Satoru Nakajima
|
Lotus-Honda
|
1:33.293 | 1:31.280 | +3.184s |
| 11 | 17 | Derek Warwick
|
Arrows-Megatron
|
1:34.323 | 1:31.713 | +3.617s |
| 12 | 19 | Alessandro Nannini
|
Benetton-Ford Cosworth
|
1:31.722 | 1:32.748 | +3.626s |
| 13 | 15 | Maurício Gugelmin
|
March-Judd
|
1:34.037 | 1:31.833 | +3.737s |
| 14 | 22 | Andrea de Cesaris
|
 Rial-Ford Cosworth
|
1:34.988 | 1:32.275 | +4.179s |
| 15 | 18 |  Eddie Cheever
|
Arrows-Megatron
|
1:33.787 | 1:32.843 | +4.747s |
| 16 | 30 | Philippe Alliot
|
Lola-Ford Cosworth
|
1:35.930 | 1:32.933 | +4.837s |
| 17 | 29 | Yannick Dalmas
|
Lola-Ford Cosworth
|
1:36.832 | 1:33.408 | +5.312s |
| 18 | 25 | René Arnoux
|
Ligier-Judd
|
1:37.214 | 1:34.474 | +6.378s |
| 19 | 14 | Philippe Streiff
|
AGS-Ford Cosworth
|
1:37.601 | 1:34.481 | +6.385s |
| 20 | 24 |  Luis Pérez-Sala
|
Minardi-Ford Cosworth
|
1:36.593 | 1:34.532 | +6.436s |
| 21 | 26 |  Stefan Johansson
|
Ligier-Judd
|
1:37.454 | 1:34.579 | +6.483s |
| 22 | 3 | Jonathan Palmer
|
Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth
|
1:38.628 | 1:34.686 | +6.590s |
| 23 | 23 | Adrián Campos
|
Minardi-Ford Cosworth
|
1:36.593 | 1:34.886 | +6.790s |
| 24 | 33 | Stefano Modena
|
EuroBrun-Ford Cosworth
|
1:37.506 | 1:34.910 | +6.814s |
| 25 | 31 | Gabriele Tarquini
|
Coloni-Ford Cosworth
|
1:41.149 | 1:35.407 | +7.311s |
| 26 | 32 |  Oscar Larrauri
|
EuroBrun-Ford Cosworth
|
1:38.927 | 1:35.711 | +7.615s |
| DNQ | 4 | Julian Bailey
|
Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth
|
1:39.711 | 1:36.137 | +8.041s |
| DNQ | 9 | Piercarlo Ghinzani
|
Zakspeed
|
1:40.431 | 1:37.621 | +9.525s |
| DNQ | 21 | Nicola Larini
|
Osella
|
1:38.927 | 1:38.371 | +10.275s |
| DNQ | 10 | Bernd Schneider
|
Zakspeed
|
1:45.540 | 1:38.614 | +10.518s |
| DNPQ | 36 | Alex Caffi
|
Dallara-Ford Cosworth
|
1:46.442 | ||
| Source:[3][4][5] | ||||||
- 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 | ||
| Nigel Mansell | ______________ | |
| Row 2 | ______________ | 3 |
| 4 | Alain Prost | |
| Gerhard Berger | ______________ | |
| Row 3 | ______________ | 5 |
| 6 | Nelson Piquet | |
| Michele Alboreto | ______________ | |
| Row 4 | ______________ | 7 |
| 8 | Thierry Boutsen | |
| Riccardo Patrese | ______________ | |
| Row 5 | ______________ | 9 |
| 10 | ||
| Satoru Nakajima | ______________ | |
| Row 6 | ______________ | 11 |
| 12 | Derek Warwick | |
| Alessandro Nannini | ______________ | |
| Row 7 | ______________ | 13 |
| 14 | Maurício Gugelmin | |
| Andrea de Cesaris | ______________ | |
| Row 8 | ______________ | 15 |
| 16 | Eddie Cheever | |
| Philippe Alliot | ______________ | |
| Row 9 | ______________ | 17 |
| 18 | Yannick Dalmas | |
| René Arnoux | ______________ | |
| Row 10 | ______________ | 19 |
| 20 | Philippe Streiff | |
| Luis Pérez-Sala | ______________ | |
| Row 11 | ______________ | 21 |
| 22 | ||
| Jonathan Palmer | ______________ | |
| Row 12 | ______________ | 23 |
| 24 | Adrián Campos | |
| Stefano Modena | ______________ | |
| Row 13 | ______________ | 25 |
| 26 | Gabriele Tarquini | |
| Oscar Larrauri | ______________ |
- * Senna and Capelli would start from the pit lane.[6]
- † Johansson was forced to start from the back of the grid.[6]
Race[]
Report[]
Results[]
The full results for the 1988 Brazilian Grand Prix are outlined below:
- T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car.
- * Senna was disqualified for an illegal car change.[6]
Milestones[]
- March appeared at their 150th Grand Prix.[7]
- Judd made their debut as an engine supplier.[8]
- Debut race for Rial and EuroBrun as constructors.[8]
- Dallara entered their first Grand Prix as a constructor.[8]
- Debut race for Luis Pérez-Sala, Maurício Gugelmin and Oscar Larrauri.[8]
- Maiden entries for Bernd Schneider and Julian Bailey.[8]
- Alain Prost claimed his 29th career victory.[7]
- 56th win for McLaren as a constructor.[7]
- Nelson Piquet claimed the 170th podium finish for a Lotus chassis.[7]
- First race since the 1984 San Marino Grand Prix not to feature an entry by Brabham.
Standings[]
An opening day victory unsurprisingly left Alain Prost at the head of the Championship, three ahead of second placed finisher Gerhard Berger. Defending World Champion Nelson Piquet, meanwhile, would open his title defence with a third place finish, while Derek Warwick, Michele Alboreto and Satoru Nakajima secured their first points of the campaign.
Prost's victory left McLaren-Honda atop the Constructors' Championship after the opening race, albeit just a point ahead of Ferrari in second. Indeed, Ferrari were one of two teams to claim two points finishes at the opener, the other being third placed Lotus-Honda, meaning they were both closer to the leaders than they otherwise would have been. Arrows-Megatron were the only other scorers in fourth.
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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, 1988', grandprix.com, (Inside F1 Inc., 2015), http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr453.html, (Accessed 01/04/2019)
- ↑ 'Brazil 1988: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1988/bresil/engages.aspx, (Accessed 08/04/2019)
- ↑ 'Brazilian Grand Prix - QUALIFYING 1', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2019), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1988/races/527/brazil/qualifying-1.html, (Accessed 08/04/2019)
- ↑ 'Brazilian Grand Prix - QUALIFYING 2', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2019), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1988/races/527/brazil/qualifying-2.html, (Accessed 08/04/2019)
- ↑ 'Brazil 1988: Qualifications', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1988/bresil/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 08/04/2019)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 'Brazil 1988: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1988/bresil/classement.aspx, (Accessed 08/04/2019)
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 '1. Brazil 1988', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), http://www.statsf1.com/en/1988/bresil.aspx, (Accessed 08/04/2019)
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 '1988 Brazilian GP', chicanef1.com, (Chicane F1, 2015), http://www.chicanef1.com/racetit.pl?year=1988&gp=Brazilian%20GP&r=1, (Accessed 08/04/2019)
| 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 |
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