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:
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 |  Ayrton Senna
|
 McLaren-Honda
|
1:22.392 | 1:21.681 | — |
| 2 | 11 |  Alain Prost
|
McLaren-Honda
|
1:22.499 | 1:21.863 | +0.182s |
| 3 | 28 |  Gerhard Berger
|
 Ferrari
|
1:22.719 | 1:22.785 | +1.038s |
| 4 | 27 | Michele Alboreto
|
Ferrari
|
1:23.976 | 1:23.296 | +1.615s |
| 5 | 19 | Alessandro Nannini
|
Benetton-Ford Cosworth
|
1:25.561 | 1:23.968 | +2.287s |
| 6 | 1 | Nelson Piquet
|
Lotus-Honda
|
1:24.166 | 1:23.995 | +2.314s |
| 7 | 20 |  Thierry Boutsen
|
Benetton-Ford Cosworth
|
1:25.173 | 1:24.115 | +2.434s |
| 8 | 18 |  Eddie Cheever
|
Arrows-Megatron
|
1:24.679 | 1:25.068 | +2.998s |
| 9 | 5 | Nigel Mansell
|
Williams-Judd
|
1:24.844 | 1:25.251 | +3.163s |
| 10 | 14 | Philippe Streiff
|
AGS-Ford Cosworth
|
1:25.878 | 1:24.968 | +3.287s |
| 11 | 6 | Riccardo Patrese
|
Williams-Judd
|
1:24.971 | 1:25.471 | +3.290s |
| 12 | 22 | Andrea de Cesaris
|
 Rial-Ford Cosworth
|
1:26.039 | 1:24.988 | +3.307s |
| 13 | 2 |  Satoru Nakajima
|
Lotus-Honda
|
1:25.373 | 1:26.650 | +3.692s |
| 14 | 16 | Ivan Capelli
|
March-Judd
|
1:25.609 | 1:26.815 | +3.928s |
| 15 | 33 | Stefano Modena
|
EuroBrun-Ford Cosworth
|
1:26.652 | 1:25.713 | +4.032s |
| 16 | 17 | Derek Warwick
|
Arrows-Megatron
|
1:26.052 | 1:25.740 | +4.059s |
| 17 | 30 | Philippe Alliot
|
Lola-Ford Cosworth
|
1:27.543 | 1:25.765 | +4.084s |
| 18 | 15 | Maurício Gugelmin
|
March-Judd
|
1:25.910 | 1:25.982 | +4.229s |
| 19 | 3 | Jonathan Palmer
|
Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth
|
1:27.320 | 1:26.092 | +4.411s |
| 20 | 25 | René Arnoux
|
Ligier-Judd
|
1:26.716 | 1:26.327 | +4.646s |
| 21 | 24 |  Luis Pérez-Sala
|
Minardi-Ford Cosworth
|
1:26.822 | 1:26.437 | +4.756s |
| 22 | 9 | Piercarlo Ghinzani
|
Zakspeed
|
1:28.400 | 1:26.786 | +5.105s |
| 23 | 4 | Julian Bailey
|
Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth
|
1:28.737 | 1:27.139 | +5.458s |
| 24 | 32 |  Oscar Larrauri
|
EuroBrun-Ford Cosworth
|
1:27.676 | 1:27.321 | +5.640s |
| 25 | 26 |  Stefan Johansson
|
Ligier-Judd
|
1:28.614 | 1:27.637 | +5.956s |
| 26 | 31 | Gabriele Tarquini
|
Coloni-Ford Cosworth
|
— | 1:27.655 | +5.974s |
| DNQ | 23 | Adrián Campos
|
Minardi-Ford Cosworth
|
1:27.885 | 1:27.979 | +6.204s |
| DNQ | 21 | Nicola Larini
|
Osella
|
1:39.782 | 1:27.981 | +6.300s |
| DNQ | 29 | Yannick Dalmas
|
Lola-Ford Cosworth
|
— | 1:28.012 | +6.331s |
| DNQ | 10 | Bernd Schneider
|
Zakspeed
|
1:29.110 | 1:28.215 | +6.534s |
| DNPQ | 36 | Alex Caffi
|
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:
- T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car.
Milestones[]
- First race to be staged on the 4.390 km (2.728 mi) layout of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.[7]
- 25th entry for Ivan Capelli.[7]
- Ayrton Senna claimed the 30th pole position for McLaren as a constructor.[8]
- Eighth career victory for Senna.[8]
- McLaren claimed their 60th victory in Formula One as a constructor.[8]
- Alain Prost recorded Honda's 70th podium finish.[8]
- Prost also set a new record for most races finished in the points - 74.[7]
- Senna claimed the 200th fastest lap recorded using Goodyear tyres.[7]
- Riccardo Patrese became the first driver to retire from 100 Grand Prix.[7]
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.
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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 'Canadian GP, 1988', grandprix.com, (Inside F1 Inc., 2015), http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr457.html, (Accessed 09/04/2019)
- ↑ 'Canada 1988: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1988/canada/engages.aspx, (Accessed 09/04/2019)
- ↑ '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)
- ↑ '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)
- ↑ 'Canada 1988: Qualifications', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1988/canada/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 09/04/2019)
- ↑ 'Canada 1988: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1988/canada/classement.aspx, (Accessed 09/04/2019)
- ↑ 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)
- ↑ 8.0 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)
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