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The 59° Coca-Cola Gran Premio d'Italia, otherwise known as the 1988 Italian Grand Prix, was the twelfth round of the 1988 FIA Formula One World Championship, staged at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza on the 11 September 1988.[1] The race would see Gerhard Berger end McLaren-Honda's dominant run of victories at the wheel of his Ferrari, a win that was also the first for the Scuderia since the death of founder Enzo Ferrari.[1]

Qualifying would see Ayrton Senna record his tenth pole of the season, once again beating teammate Alain Prost in a straight fight for the top position.[1] The two scarlet Ferraris were best of the rest, Berger ahead of teammate Michele Alboreto, while the two Arrows-Megatrons shared the third row.[1]

Senna and Prost would duly sprint away from the back at the start of the race, with the Brazilian ahead of the Frenchman.[1] Berger was hence left to the lead the rest of the field on the opening lap, fending off a challenge from Alboreto into the Rettifilo.[1]

The two McLarens soon disappeared out of sight, although Prost's engine was suffering from a noticeable misfire that had appeared shortly after the start.[2] Prost, however, was determined to disprove his critics for simply giving up (as he reportedly had at the 1988 British Grand Prix), and so turned up the boost pressure to attack Senna.[2]

Unfortunately for Prost his race was effectively over on lap 30, for his misfire worsened drastically and caused him to slip from the back of Senna.[2] Five laps later and the #11 McLaren had been overtaken by the two Ferraris, amid a huge roar from the tifosi, prompting Prost to retire at the end of lap 35.[2]

That move seemed to motivate Berger, who duly sprinted after Senna as Alboreto briefly eased off to cool his gearbox oil.[2] After a brief respite he too would go chasing off after Senna, with the two Ferraris steadily making ground as the race wore on.[2]

Yet, Senna appeared to have everything in hand, with the gains that the Ferraris were making written off as the Brazilian pacing himself.[2] That was, until Senna tried to lap Jean-Louis Schlesser at the Rettifilo, only to be collected by the Frenchman as he tried to avoid sliding off into the gravel.[2]

The Williams-Judd smashed into the right rear of the McLaren-Honda, breaking the suspension and leaving Senna beached on the kerb.[2] A few seconds later and the two Ferraris swept through the scene, prompting more cheers from the tifosi as they realised that they were to witness a fabled victory.[2]

Indeed, a little over three minutes later and Berger charged across the line to claim the win, fending off a last lap challenge from Alboreto to do so.[1] Eddie Cheever was best of the rest in third, having kept teammate Derek Warwick at bay throughout the race, while Ivan Capelli and Riccardo Patrese completed the points.[1]

There would be some controversy after the race, however, for Berger's Ferrari would fail three fuel tank capacity checks during post-race scrutineering.[1] Indeed, it was only on the fourth attempt of checking the Austrian's fuel tank that FISA cleared the car, with a similar issue on Cheever's car suggesting that there was an issue with their testing equipment.[1]

Background

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.

Entry list

The full entry list for the 1988 Italian 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 France Jean-Louis Schlesser 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 881B Zakspeed 1500/4 1.5 L4t G
10 West Germany Bernd Schneider West Germany West Zakspeed Racing Zakspeed 881B 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 Italian Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Time Gap
Q1 Q2
1 12 Brazil Nelson Piquet United Kingdom McLaren-Honda 1:26.160 1:25.974
2 11 France Alain Prost United Kingdom McLaren-Honda 1:26.277 1:26.428 +0.303s
3 28 Austria Gerhard Berger Italy Ferrari 1:28.082 1:26.654 +0.680s
4 27 Italy Michele Alboreto Italy Ferrari 1:27.618 1:26.988 +1.014s
5 18 United States Eddie Cheever United Kingdom Arrows-Megatron 1:28.101 1:27.660 +1.686s
6 17 United Kingdom Derek Warwick United Kingdom Arrows-Megatron 1:28.258 1:27.815 +1.841s
7 1 Brazil Nelson Piquet United Kingdom Lotus-Honda 1:28.440 1:28.044 +2.070s
8 20 Belgium Thierry Boutsen United Kingdom Benetton-Ford Cosworth 1:29.607 1:28.870 +2.896s
9 19 Italy Alessandro Nannini United Kingdom Benetton-Ford Cosworth 1:28.969 1:28.958 +2.984s
10 6 Italy Riccardo Patrese United Kingdom Williams-Judd 1:30.214 1:29.435 +3.461s
11 16 Italy Ivan Capelli United Kingdom March-Judd 1:29.513 1:29.696 +3.539s
12 2 Japan Satoru Nakajima United Kingdom Lotus-Honda 1:29.541 1:30.570 +3.567s
13 15 Brazil Maurício Gugelmin United Kingdom March-Judd 1:30.145 1:30.035 +4.061s
14 23 Italy Pierluigi Martini Italy Minardi-Ford Cosworth 1:30.734 1:30.125 +4.151s
15 10 West Germany Bernd Schneider West Germany Zakspeed 1:30.773 1:30.161 +4.187s
16 9 Italy Piercarlo Ghinzani West Germany Zakspeed 1:31.182 1:30.476 +4.502s
17 21 Italy Nicola Larini Italy Osella 1:31.721 1:30.481 +4.507s
18 22 Italy Andrea de Cesaris West Germany Rial-Ford Cosworth 1:31.263 1:30.560 +4.586s
19 24 Spain Luis Pérez-Sala Italy Minardi-Ford Cosworth 1:30.944 1:30.698 +4.724s
20 30 France Philippe Alliot France Lola-Ford Cosworth 1:31.168 1:30.962 +4.988s
21 36 Italy Alex Caffi Italy Dallara-Ford Cosworth 1:30.989 1:31.009 +5.015s
22 5 France Jean-Louis Schlesser United Kingdom Williams-Judd 1:31.548 1:31.620 +5.574s
23 14 France Philippe Streiff France AGS-Ford Cosworth 1:31.676 1:31.687 +5.702s
24 25 France René Arnoux France Ligier-Judd 1:32.049 1:32.316 +6.075s
25 29 France Yannick Dalmas France Lola-Ford Cosworth 1:32.164 1:32.686 +6.190s
26 4 United Kingdom Julian Bailey United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth 1:32.573 1:32.290 +6.316s
DNQ 3 United Kingdom Jonathan Palmer United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth 1:32.405 1:33.067 +6.431s
DNQ 26 Sweden Stefan Johansson France Ligier-Judd 1:33.272 1:32.438 +6.464s
DNQ 31 Italy Gabriele Tarquini Italy Coloni-Ford Cosworth 1:32.829 1:35.805 +6.855s
DNQ 33 Italy Stefano Modena Italy EuroBrun-Ford Cosworth 1:34.727 1:33.226 +7.252s
DNPQ 32 Argentina Oscar Larrauri Italy EuroBrun-Ford Cosworth 1:34.044
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 ______________
Ayrton Senna 2
______________ Alain Prost
Row 2 3 ______________
Gerhard Berger 4
______________ Michele Alboreto
Row 3 5 ______________
Eddie Cheever 6
______________ Derek Warwick
Row 4 7 ______________
Nelson Piquet 8
______________ Thierry Boutsen
Row 5 9 ______________
Alessandro Nannini* 10
______________ Riccardo Patrese
Row 6 11 ______________
Ivan Capelli 12
______________ Satoru Nakajima
Row 7 13 ______________
Maurício Gugelmin 14
______________ Pierluigi Martini
Row 8 15 ______________
Bernd Schneider 16
______________ Piercarlo Ghinzani
Row 9 17 ______________
Nicola Larini 18
______________ Andrea de Cesaris
Row 10 19 ______________
Luis Pérez-Sala 20
______________ Philippe Alliot
Row 11 21 ______________
Alex Caffi 22
______________ Jean-Louis Schlesser
Row 12 23 ______________
Philippe Streiff 24
______________ René Arnoux
Row 13 25 ______________
Yannick Dalmas 26
______________ Julian Bailey
  • * Nannini would start the race from the pit lane.[7]

Race

Report

Results

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

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 28 Austria Gerhard Berger Italy Ferrari 51 1:17:39.744 3 9
2 27 Italy Michele Alboreto Italy Ferrari 51 +0.502s 4 6
3 18 United States Eddie Cheever United Kingdom Arrows-Megatron 51 +35.532s 5 4
4 17 United Kingdom Derek Warwick United Kingdom Arrows-Megatron 51 +36.114s 6 3
5 16 Italy Ivan Capelli United Kingdom March-Judd 51 +52.522s 11 2
6 20 Belgium Thierry Boutsen United Kingdom Benetton-Ford Cosworth 51 +59.878s 8 1
7 6 Italy Riccardo Patrese United Kingdom Williams-Judd 51 +1:14.743 10
8 15 Brazil Maurício Gugelmin United Kingdom March-Judd 51 +1:32.566 13
9 19 Italy Alessandro Nannini United Kingdom Benetton-Ford Cosworth 50 +1 Lap 9
10* 12 Brazil Ayrton Senna United Kingdom McLaren-Honda 49 Collision 1
11 5 France Jean-Louis Schlesser United Kingdom Williams-Judd 49 +2 Laps 22
12 4 United Kingdom Julian Bailey United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth 49 +2 Laps 26
13 25 France René Arnoux France Ligier-Judd 49 +2 Laps 14
Ret 11 France Alain Prost United Kingdom McLaren-Honda 34 Engine 2
Ret 30 France Philippe Alliot France Lola-Ford Cosworth 33 Engine 20
Ret 14 France Philippe Streiff France AGS-Ford Cosworth 31 Clutch 23
Ret 10 West Germany Bernd Schneider West Germany Zakspeed 28 Engine 15
Ret 22 Italy Andrea de Cesaris West Germany Rial-Ford Cosworth 27 Chassis 18
Ret 9 Italy Piercarlo Ghinzani West Germany Zakspeed 25 Engine 16
Ret 36 Italy Alex Caffi Italy Dallara-Ford Cosworth 24 Engine 21
Ret 29 France Yannick Dalmas France Lola-Ford Cosworth 17 Radiator 25
Ret 23 Italy Pierluigi Martini Italy Minardi-Ford Cosworth 15 Engine 14
Ret 2 Japan Satoru Nakajima United Kingdom Lotus-Honda 14 Engine 12
Ret 24 Spain Luis Pérez-Sala Italy Minardi-Ford Cosworth 12 Gearbox 19
Ret 1 Brazil Nelson Piquet United Kingdom Lotus-Honda 11 Clutch/Spin 7
Ret 21 Italy Nicola Larini Italy Osella 2 Engine 17
DNQ 3 United Kingdom Jonathan Palmer United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth
DNQ 26 Sweden Stefan Johansson France Ligier-Judd
DNQ 31 Italy Gabriele Tarquini Italy Coloni-Ford Cosworth
DNQ 33 Italy Stefano Modena Italy EuroBrun-Ford Cosworth
DNPQ 32 Argentina Oscar Larrauri Italy EuroBrun-Ford Cosworth
Source:[7]
  • T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car.
  • * Senna was still classified despite retiring as he had completed 90% of the race distance.[7]

Milestones

Standings

With both Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost retiring there had been no changes to the order at the head of the Championship, with Senna remaining three points ahead. Behind, Gerhard Berger had tightened his grip on third after his first victory of the campaign, moving fifteen clear of teammate Michele Alboreto. The Italian had leapt past Nelson Piquet and Thierry Boutsen to claim fourth, but remained an outsider to finish in the top three.

In the Constructors' Championship, meanwhile, the Italian Grand Prix had proved to be a very positive race for Ferrari, with their one-two further bolstering their hold on second. Indeed, with McLaren-Honda already declared as Champions the Scuderia were fighting for second, but had opened a significant 36 point gap to third placed Benetton-Ford Cosworth. Whether the British squad would overcome that gap would largely depend on how reliable the two McLaren-Hondas remained for the rest of the season, for Senna and Prost were still expected to win all of the remaining four races.

World Championship for Drivers
Pos. Driver Pts. +/-
1 Brazil Ayrton Senna 75
2 France Alain Prost 72
3 Austria Gerhard Berger 37
4 Italy Michele Alboreto 22 ▲2
5 Brazil Nelson Piquet 18 ▼1
6 Belgium Thierry Boutsen 17 ▼1
7 United Kingdom Derek Warwick 14
8 Italy Ivan Capelli 10
9 United Kingdom Nigel Mansell 6
10 United States Eddie Cheever 6 ▲5
11 Italy Alessandro Nannini 6 ▼1
12 Brazil Maurício Gugelmin 5 ▼1
13 United Kingdom Jonathan Palmer 5 ▼1
14 Italy Andrea de Cesaris 3 ▼1
15 Italy Riccardo Patrese 2 ▼1
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 59
3 United Kingdom Benetton-Ford Cosworth 23
4 United Kingdom Arrows-Megatron 20 ▲2
5 United Kingdom Lotus-Honda 19 ▼1
6 United Kingdom March-Judd 15 ▼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. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 'Italian GP, 1988', grandprix.com, (Inside F1 Inc., 2015), http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr464.html, (Accessed 11/04/2019)
  2. 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 '12. Italy 1988', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1988/italie.aspx, (Accessed 11/04/2019)
  3. 'Italy 1988: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1988/italie/engages.aspx, (Accessed 11/04/2019)
  4. 'Brazilian Grand Prix 1985 - QUALIFYING 1', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2019), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1985/races/482/brazil/qualifying-1.html, (Accessed 01/04/2019)
  5. 'Brazilian Grand Prix 1985 - QUALIFYING 2', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2019), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1985/races/482/brazil/qualifying-2.html, (Accessed 01/04/2019)
  6. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named QR
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 'Italy 1988: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1988/italie/classement.aspx, (Accessed 12/04/2019)
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 '1988 Italy GP', chicanef1.com, (Chicane F1, 2015), http://www.chicanef1.com/racetit.pl?year=1988&gp=Italian%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 Italy Italian Grand Prix
Circuits Monza (1950 - 1979, 1981 - Present), Imola (1980)
Monza2000
Races 19501951195219531954195519561957195819591960196119621963196419651966196719681969197019711972197319741975197619771978197919801981198219831984198519861987198819891990199119921993199419951996199719981999200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023
European Championship Races 193119321935193619371938
Non-Championship Races 1921192219231924192519261927192819331934194719481949
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