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The 1988 Canadian Grand Prix, otherwise known as the XXVI Molson Grand Prix du Canada, was the fifth race of the 1988 FIA Formula One World Championship, staged at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montréal, Quebec, Canada, on the 12 June 1988.[1] The race would see Ayrton Senna sweep to a dominant victory for McLaren-Honda, despite slipping behind teammate Alain Prost at the start.[1]

The Canadian Grand Prix made its return in 1988, having been skipped in 1987 after issues regarding sponsorship following the withdrawal of Labatt.[1] Fortunately a backer had been found for the race in 1988, with the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve getting a major update, including a new pit complex, for its return.[1]

Regardless, qualifying would see McLaren-Honda continue their domination of F1 in 1988, with Senna streaking to pole two tenths clear of teammate Prost.[1] Almost a full second then followed before Gerhard Berger appeared in third place for Ferrari, while Alessandro Nannini was the best placed non-turbocharged driver in fifth.[1]

On raceday it was Prost who got the initial advantage, sprinting ahead of Senna off the grid to claim an early lead.[1] The Brazilian duly led the chase from second, fending off Berger into the re-profiled first corner, while Michele Alboreto fought with the two Benetton-Ford Cosworths.[1]

Prost and Senna would would hold a temporary truce with one-another during the early stages, allowing them to pull clear at the head of the field.[1] Indeed, Berger was left in an increasingly lonely third place, until a fuel system issue caused his pace to collapse.[1]

Senna would wait until lap nineteen to attack Prost for the lead, and duly sent the #12 McLaren scything inside the sister car at the hairpin.[1] Prost's hopes of mustering a response were subsequently dashed by traffic, with Senna escaping up the road during the following laps.[1]

Indeed, there would be no on-track changes through to the chequered flag, with the only revisions to the order coming through mechanical failure.[1] Alboreto was one of those to fall foul, losing third place when his engine failed, while the two Williams-Judds of Nigel Mansell and Riccardo Patrese also disappeared in a cloud of engine smoke.[1]

Out front, meanwhile, Senna would cruise to the chequered flag six seconds clear of teammate Prost, making it five wins out of five for McLaren-Honda in 1988.[1] Thierry Boutsen was best of the rest in third, the only driver not to be lapped by the McLarens, while defending Champion Nelson Piquet fended off Ivan Capelli in the closing stages to claim fourth.[1]

Background[]

Another impressive victory for Alain Prost last time out in Mexico had allowed the Frenchman to extend his Championship lead once again, arriving in Canada with 33 points to his name. Gerhard Berger had remained his closest challenger, being the only other driver to score points in the opening four races in 1988, although the Austrian was already fifteen points behind. Ayrton Senna, meanwhile, had moved closer to Berger in third after his second place in Mexico, although he was eighteen off of his Championship leading teammate.

In the Constructors' Championship it had been a very productive afternoon for McLaren-Honda in Mexico City, with a one-two finish putting them onto 48 points after four races. That left them some 21 points ahead of second placed Ferrari, with those two the only teams in double figures with a quarter of the season gone. Best of the rest were Lotus-Honda in third, although they were level on points with Arrows-Megatron upon landing in Montreal.

Entry list[]

The full entry list for the 1988 Canadian 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 Nigel Mansell 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 Team El Charro AGS 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 Ltd. Benetton B188 Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8 G
20 Belgium Thierry Boutsen United Kingdom Benetton Formula Ltd. 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 Spain Adrián Campos Italy Lois Minardi Team Minardi M188 Ford Cosworth DFZ 3.5 V8 G
24 Spain Luis Pérez-Sala Italy Lois Minardi Team Minardi M188 Ford Cosworth DFZ 3.5 V8 G
25 France René Arnoux France Equipe Ligier Ligier JS31 Judd CV 3.5 V8 G
26 Sweden Stefan Johansson France Equipe Ligier Ligier JS31 Judd CV 3.5 V8 G
27 Italy Michele Alboreto Italy Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC Ferrari F187/88C Ferrari 033E 1.5 V6t G
28 Austria Gerhard Berger Italy Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC Ferrari F187/88C Ferrari 033E 1.5 V6t G
29 France Yannick Dalmas France Larrousse & Camels F1 Lola LC88 Ford Cosworth DFZ 3.5 V8 G
30 France Philippe Alliot France Larrousse & Camels F1 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 188 Ford Cosworth DFZ 3.5 V8 G
Source:[2]

Practice Overview[]

Qualifying[]

Friday Qualifying[]

Saturday Qualifying[]

Qualifying Results[]

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

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Time Gap
Q1 Q2
1 12 Brazil Ayrton Senna United Kingdom McLaren-Honda 1:22.392 1:21.681
2 11 France Alain Prost United Kingdom McLaren-Honda 1:22.499 1:21.863 +0.182s
3 28 Austria Gerhard Berger Italy Ferrari 1:22.719 1:22.785 +1.038s
4 27 Italy Michele Alboreto Italy Ferrari 1:23.976 1:23.296 +1.615s
5 19 Italy Alessandro Nannini United Kingdom Benetton-Ford Cosworth 1:25.561 1:23.968 +2.287s
6 1 Brazil Nelson Piquet United Kingdom Lotus-Honda 1:24.166 1:23.995 +2.314s
7 20 Belgium Thierry Boutsen United Kingdom Benetton-Ford Cosworth 1:25.173 1:24.115 +2.434s
8 18 United States Eddie Cheever United Kingdom Arrows-Megatron 1:24.679 1:25.068 +2.998s
9 5 United Kingdom Nigel Mansell United Kingdom Williams-Judd 1:24.844 1:25.251 +3.163s
10 14 France Philippe Streiff France AGS-Ford Cosworth 1:25.878 1:24.968 +3.287s
11 6 Italy Riccardo Patrese United Kingdom Williams-Judd 1:24.971 1:25.471 +3.290s
12 22 Italy Andrea de Cesaris West Germany Rial-Ford Cosworth 1:26.039 1:24.988 +3.307s
13 2 Japan Satoru Nakajima United Kingdom Lotus-Honda 1:25.373 1:26.650 +3.692s
14 16 Italy Ivan Capelli United Kingdom March-Judd 1:25.609 1:26.815 +3.928s
15 33 Italy Stefano Modena Italy EuroBrun-Ford Cosworth 1:26.652 1:25.713 +4.032s
16 17 United Kingdom Derek Warwick United Kingdom Arrows-Megatron 1:26.052 1:25.740 +4.059s
17 30 France Philippe Alliot France Lola-Ford Cosworth 1:27.543 1:25.765 +4.084s
18 15 Brazil Maurício Gugelmin United Kingdom March-Judd 1:25.910 1:25.982 +4.229s
19 3 United Kingdom Jonathan Palmer United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth 1:27.320 1:26.092 +4.411s
20 25 France René Arnoux France Ligier-Judd 1:26.716 1:26.327 +4.646s
21 24 Spain Luis Pérez-Sala Italy Minardi-Ford Cosworth 1:26.822 1:26.437 +4.756s
22 9 Italy Piercarlo Ghinzani West Germany Zakspeed 1:28.400 1:26.786 +5.105s
23 4 United Kingdom Julian Bailey United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth 1:28.737 1:27.139 +5.458s
24 32 Argentina Oscar Larrauri Italy EuroBrun-Ford Cosworth 1:27.676 1:27.321 +5.640s
25 26 Sweden Stefan Johansson France Ligier-Judd 1:28.614 1:27.637 +5.956s
26 31 Italy Gabriele Tarquini Italy Coloni-Ford Cosworth 1:27.655 +5.974s
DNQ 23 Spain Adrián Campos Italy Minardi-Ford Cosworth 1:27.885 1:27.979 +6.204s
DNQ 21 Italy Nicola Larini Italy Osella 1:39.782 1:27.981 +6.300s
DNQ 29 France Yannick Dalmas France Lola-Ford Cosworth 1:28.012 +6.331s
DNQ 10 West Germany Bernd Schneider West Germany Zakspeed 1:29.110 1:28.215 +6.534s
DNPQ 36 Italy Alex Caffi Italy Dallara-Ford Cosworth 1:29.103
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 Ayrton Senna
Alain Prost ______________
Row 2 ______________ 3
4 Gerhard Berger
Michele Alboreto ______________
Row 3 ______________ 5
6 Alessandro Nannini
Nelson Piquet ______________
Row 4 ______________ 7
8 Thierry Boutsen
Eddie Cheever ______________
Row 5 ______________ 9
10 Nigel Mansell
Philippe Streiff ______________
Row 6 ______________ 11
12 Riccardo Patrese
Andrea de Cesaris ______________
Row 7 ______________ 13
14 Satoru Nakajima
Ivan Capelli ______________
Row 8 ______________ 15
16 Stefano Modena
Derek Warwick ______________
Row 9 ______________ 17
18 Philippe Alliot
Maurício Gugelmin ______________
Row 10 ______________ 19
20 Jonathan Palmer
René Arnoux ______________
Row 11 ______________ 21
22 Luis Pérez-Sala
Piercarlo Ghinzani ______________
Row 12 ______________ 23
24 Julian Bailey
Oscar Larrauri ______________
Row 13 ______________ 25
26 Stefan Johansson
Gabriele Tarquini ______________

Race[]

Report[]

Results[]

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

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 12 Brazil Ayrton Senna United Kingdom McLaren-Honda 69 1:39:46.618 1 9
2 11 France Alain Prost United Kingdom McLaren-Honda 69 +5.934s 2 6
3 20 Belgium Thierry Boutsen United Kingdom Benetton-Ford Cosworth 69 +51.409s 7 4
4 1 Brazil Nelson Piquet United Kingdom Lotus-Honda 68 +1 Lap 6 3
5 16 Italy Ivan Capelli United Kingdom March-Judd 68 +1 Lap 14 2
6 3 United Kingdom Jonathan Palmer United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth 67 +2 Laps 19 1
7 17 United Kingdom Derek Warwick United Kingdom Arrows-Megatron 67 +2 Laps 16
8 31 Italy Gabriele Tarquini Italy Coloni-Ford Cosworth 67 +2 Laps 26
9* 22 Italy Andrea de Cesaris West Germany Rial-Ford Cosworth 66 Out of fuel 12
10* 30 France Philippe Alliot France Lola-Ford Cosworth 66 Electrical 17
11 2 Japan Satoru Nakajima United Kingdom Lotus-Honda 66 +3 Laps 13
12 33 Italy Stefano Modena Italy EuroBrun-Ford Cosworth 66 +3 Laps 15
13 24 Spain Luis Pérez-Sala Italy Minardi-Ford Cosworth 64 +5 Laps 21
14* 9 Italy Piercarlo Ghinzani West Germany Zakspeed 63 Engine 22
Ret 15 Brazil Maurício Gugelmin United Kingdom March-Judd 54 Gearbox 18
Ret 14 France Philippe Streiff France AGS-Ford Cosworth 41 Suspension 10
Ret 25 France René Arnoux France Ligier-Judd 36 Transmission 20
Ret 27 Italy Michele Alboreto Italy Ferrari 33 Engine 4
Ret 6 Italy Riccardo Patrese United Kingdom Williams-Judd 32 Engine 11
Ret 18 United States Eddie Cheever United Kingdom Arrows-Megatron 31 Throttle 8
Ret 5 United Kingdom Nigel Mansell United Kingdom Williams-Judd 28 Engine 9
Ret 26 Sweden Stefan Johansson France Ligier-Judd 24 Engine 25
Ret 28 Austria Gerhard Berger Italy Ferrari 22 Electrical 3
Ret 19 Italy Alessandro Nannini United Kingdom Benetton-Ford Cosworth 15 Ignition 5
Ret 32 Argentina Oscar Larrauri Italy EuroBrun-Ford Cosworth 8 Chassis 24
Ret 4 United Kingdom Julian Bailey United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth 0 Collision 23
DNQ 23 Spain Adrián Campos Italy Minardi-Ford Cosworth
DNQ 21 Italy Nicola Larini Italy Osella
DNQ 29 France Yannick Dalmas France Lola-Ford Cosworth
DNQ 10 West Germany Bernd Schneider West Germany Zakspeed
DNPQ 36 Italy Alex Caffi Italy Dallara-Ford Cosworth
Source:[6]
  • T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car.

Milestones[]

Standings[]

Victory for Ayrton Senna saw the Brazilian ace move into a clear second ahead of Gerhard Berger, and close the gap to Championship leading teammate Alain Prost. Yet, the Frenchman still held a daunting fifteen point lead at the head of the field, meaning Senna was almost two races behind after five races. Elsewhere, Berger himself was a clear third ahead of Nelson Piquet, while Michele Alboreto completed the top five.

Likewise, Prost and Senna's sparkling form during the early stages of the season had left McLaren-Honda with a huge lead in the Constructors' Championship, leaving Canada with a 36 point lead. Their closest "challengers" were still Ferrari, although with less than half the number of points of the Anglo-Japanese alliance there seemed little hope of them catching them. Behind them remained Lotus-Honda, who pulled themselves clear of Arrows-Megatron, while March-Judd were on the board and ahead of the similarly powered Williams-Judd squad.

World Championship for Drivers
Pos. Driver Pts. +/-
1 France Alain Prost 39
2 Brazil Ayrton Senna 24 ▲1
3 Austria Gerhard Berger 18 ▼1
4 Brazil Nelson Piquet 11 ▲1
5 Italy Michele Alboreto 9 ▼1
6 United Kingdom Derek Warwick 8
7 Belgium Thierry Boutsen 7
8 United Kingdom Jonathan Palmer 3
9 Italy Ivan Capelli 2 ▲6
10 United States Eddie Cheever 1 ▼1
11 Japan Satoru Nakajima 1 ▼1
12 Italy Alessandro Nannini 1 ▼1
13 Italy Riccardo Patrese 1 ▼1
World Championship for Constructors
Pos. Team Pts. +/-
1 United Kingdom McLaren-Honda 63
2 Italy Ferrari 27
3 United Kingdom Lotus-Honda 12
4 United Kingdom Arrows-Megatron 9
5 United Kingdom Benetton-Ford Cosworth 8
6 United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth 3
7 United Kingdom March-Judd 2 ▲1
8 United Kingdom Williams-Judd 1 ▼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 'Canadian GP, 1988', grandprix.com, (Inside F1 Inc., 2015), http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr457.html, (Accessed 09/04/2019)
  2. 'Canada 1988: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1988/canada/engages.aspx, (Accessed 09/04/2019)
  3. 'Molson Grand Prix of Canada - QUALIFYING 1', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2019), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1988/races/531/canada/qualifying-1.html, (Accessed 09/04/2019)
  4. 'Molson Grand Prix of Canada - QUALIFYING 2', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2019), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1988/races/531/canada/qualifying-2.html, (Accessed 09/04/2019)
  5. 'Canada 1988: Qualifications', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1988/canada/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 09/04/2019)
  6. 'Canada 1988: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1988/canada/classement.aspx, (Accessed 09/04/2019)
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 '1988 Canadian GP', chicanef1.com, (Chicane F1, 2014), http://www.chicanef1.com/racetit.pl?year=1988&gp=Canadian%20GP&r=1, (Accessed 09/04/2019)
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 '5. Canada 1988', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1988/canada.aspx, (Accessed 09/04/2019)
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 Canada Canadian Grand Prix
Circuits Mosport Park (1967, 1969, 1971–1974, 1976–1977), Mont-Tremblant (1968, 1970), Montreal (1978–1986, 1988–2008, 2010–present)
CircuitGillesVilleneuve
Races 196719681969197019711972197319741976197719781979198019811982198319841985198619881989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820102011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023
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