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The XVII Grande Prémio de Portugal, otherwise known as the 1988 Portuguese Grand Prix, was the thirteenth round of the 1988 FIA Formula One World Championship, staged on the 25 September 1988 at the Autódromo do Estoril near Estoril, Portugal.[2] The race would see Alain Prost return to the top of the Championship as he swept to a fifth victory of the season, as teammate Ayrton Senna only managed to claim a point.[2]

Qualifying proved that the Italian Grand Prix had been something of a false dawn, for the McLaren-Hondas were back to their dominant best, locking out the front row.[2] On this occasion it was Prost who emerged ahead, beating Senna by half a second, while Ivan Capelli put the March-Judd into a shock third, albeit almost one and a half seconds off the pace.[2]

The start of the race would prove to be rather chaotic, with the first attempt having to be abandoned when Andrea de Cesaris stalled on the grid.[2] The field was reset and the start procedure restarted, only for Derek Warwick to stall as the lights went out.[2]

Ironically, and somewhat inevitably, the Brit's Arrows-Megatron was hit by de Cesaris, with their accident also collecting Luis Pérez-Sala and Satoru Nakajima, blocking the circuit.[2] Once again the order was reset, those four jumping in their spare cars, and the start procedure restarted for a second time.[2]

The race would get underway at the third attempt, with Prost easing ahead of Senna on the run to the first corner, only for the Brazilian to seize the lead with a dive on the brakes.[2] Those two quickly set sail at the head of the field, leaving Capelli to fend off Gerhard Berger to hold third.[2]

A duel for the lead would rage during the opening laps, although Senna's forceful and very questionable defending was not enough to prevent Prost claiming the lead.[2] Indeed, Prost would get a better run out of the final corner at the end of the opening tour, only for Senna to swerve across his nose as they ran down the start-finish straight.[2] Fortunately for Prost the Brazilian had left a car's width between his car and the pitwall, a space that the Frenchman used to dive past Senna into the first corner.[2]

With that Prost was away, and duly eased clear of Senna to prevent the Brazilian retaliating.[2] Indeed, Senna soon found himself having to manage his fuel consumption, and hence came under threat from Capelli and Berger.[2]

Indeed, Capelli would cause quite a stir when he dived past Senna on lap 21, before chasing off, and slowly catching, Prost out front.[2] Senna would also slip behind Berger a short while later, before the Austrian spun himself out of the race by accidentally activating his on-board fire extinguisher.[2]

Senna was subsequently caught by Nigel Mansell and Jonathan Palmer, although Mansell would only succeed in smacking into the back of the McLaren before smashing into the barriers.[2] Senna, meanwhile, would release Palmer after deciding to stop for fresh tyres, only for the Brit's podium aspirations expire in a cloud of engine smoke.[2]

Out front, meanwhile, Prost cruised home, ten seconds clear of a delighted Capelli in the March-Judd.[2] Thierry Boutsen, meanwhile, would inherit third ahead of Warwick, while Michele Alboreto kept a recovering Senna at bay to claim sixth.[2]

Background[]

With both Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost retiring in Italy there had been no changes to the order at the head of the Championship last time out, with Senna having remained 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 himself, meanwhile, 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 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.

Entry list[]

The full entry list for the 1988 Portuguese 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 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 FC188B 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 Portuguese Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Time Gap
Q1 Q2
1 11 France Alain Prost United Kingdom McLaren-Honda 1:18.378 1:17.411
2 12 Brazil Ayrton Senna United Kingdom McLaren-Honda 1:18.032 1:17.869 +0.458s
3 16 Italy Ivan Capelli United Kingdom March-Judd 1:20.390 1:18.812 +1.401s
4 28 Austria Gerhard Berger Italy Ferrari 1:20.065 1:18.903 +1.492s
5 15 Brazil Maurício Gugelmin United Kingdom March-Judd 1:20.791 1:19.045 +1.634s
6 5 United Kingdom Nigel Mansell United Kingdom Williams-Judd 1:20.908 1:19.131 +1.720s
7 27 Italy Michele Alboreto Italy Ferrari 1:21.647 1:19.372 +1.961s
8 1 Brazil Nelson Piquet United Kingdom Lotus-Honda 1:19.551 1:19.872 +2.140s
9 19 Italy Alessandro Nannini United Kingdom Benetton-Ford Cosworth 1:21.008 1:19.572 +2.161s
10 17 United Kingdom Derek Warwick United Kingdom Arrows-Megatron 1:21.240 1:19.603 +2.192s
11 6 Italy Riccardo Patrese United Kingdom Williams-Judd 1:19.878 1:19.797 +2.386s
12 22 Italy Andrea de Cesaris West Germany Rial-Ford Cosworth 1:21.386 1:19.940 +2.529s
13 20 Belgium Thierry Boutsen United Kingdom Benetton-Ford Cosworth 1:20.700 1:20.314 +2.903s
14 23 Italy Pierluigi Martini Italy Minardi-Ford Cosworth 1:21.292 1:20.741 +3.330s
15 29 France Yannick Dalmas France Lola-Ford Cosworth 1:21.655 1:20.748 +3.337s
16 2 Japan Satoru Nakajima United Kingdom Lotus-Honda 1:22.496 1:20.783 +3.372s
17 36 Italy Alex Caffi Italy Dallara-Ford Cosworth 1:22.349 1:20.922 +3.511s
18 18 United States Eddie Cheever United Kingdom Arrows-Megatron 1:21.519 1:20.965 +3.554s
19 24 Spain Luis Pérez-Sala Italy Minardi-Ford Cosworth 1:21.909 1:21.094 +3.683s
20 30 France Philippe Alliot France Lola-Ford Cosworth 1:21.809 1:21.096 +3.685s
21 14 France Philippe Streiff France AGS-Ford Cosworth 1:21.644 1:21.418 +4.007s
22 3 United Kingdom Jonathan Palmer United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth 1:22.797 1:21.788 +4.377s
23 25 France René Arnoux France Ligier-Judd 1:22.786 1:21.790 +4.379s
24 26 Sweden Stefan Johansson France Ligier-Judd 1:22.778 1:22.035 +4.624s
25 21 Italy Nicola Larini Italy Osella 1:22.883 1:22.119 +4.708s
26 31 Italy Gabriele Tarquini Italy Coloni-Ford Cosworth 1:23.057 1:22.170 +4.759s
DNQ 4 United Kingdom Julian Bailey United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth 1:22.946 1:22.296 +4.885s
DNQ 9 Italy Piercarlo Ghinzani West Germany Zakspeed 1:24.127 1:22.549 +5.138s
DNQ 33 Italy Stefano Modena Italy EuroBrun-Ford Cosworth 1:23.075 1:23.232 +5.664s
DNQ 10 West Germany Bernd Schneider West Germany Zakspeed 1:23.393 1:23.300 +5.889s
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
2 Alain Prost
Ayrton Senna ______________
Row 2 ______________ 3
4 Ivan Capelli
Gerhard Berger ______________
Row 3 ______________ 5
6 Maurício Gugelmin
Nigel Mansell ______________
Row 4 ______________ 7
8 Michele Alboreto
Nelson Piquet ______________
Row 5 ______________ 9
10 Alessandro Nannini
Derek Warwick ______________
Row 6 ______________ 11
12 Riccardo Patrese
Andrea de Cesaris ______________
Row 7 ______________ 13
14 Thierry Boutsen
Pierluigi Martini ______________
Row 8 ______________ 15
16 Yannick Dalmas
Satoru Nakajima ______________
Row 9 ______________ 17
18 Alex Caffi
Eddie Cheever ______________
Row 10 ______________ 19
20 Luis Pérez-Sala
Philippe Alliot ______________
Row 11 ______________ 21
22 Philippe Streiff
Jonathan Palmer ______________
Row 12 ______________ 23
24 René Arnoux
Stefan Johansson ______________
Row 13 ______________ 25
26 Nicola Larini
Gabriele Tarquini ______________

Race[]

Report[]

Results[]

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

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 11 France Alain Prost United Kingdom McLaren-Honda 70 1:37:40.958 1 9
2 16 Italy Ivan Capelli United Kingdom March-Judd 70 +9.553s 3 6
3 20 Belgium Thierry Boutsen United Kingdom Benetton-Ford Cosworth 70 +44.619s 13 4
4 17 United Kingdom Derek Warwick United Kingdom Arrows-Megatron 70 +1:07.419 10 3
5 27 Italy Michele Alboreto Italy Ferrari 70 +1:11.884 7 2
6 12 Brazil Ayrton Senna United Kingdom McLaren-Honda 70 +1:18.269 2 1
7 36 Italy Alex Caffi Italy Dallara-Ford Cosworth 69 +1 Lap 17
8 24 Spain Luis Pérez-Sala Italy Minardi-Ford Cosworth 68 +2 Laps 19
9 14 France Philippe Streiff France AGS-Ford Cosworth 68 +2 Laps 21
10 25 France René Arnoux France Ligier-Judd 68 +2 Laps 23
11 31 Italy Gabriele Tarquini Italy Coloni-Ford Cosworth 65 +5 Laps 26
12 21 Italy Nicola Larini Italy Osella 63 +7 Laps 25
Ret 15 Brazil Maurício Gugelmin United Kingdom March-Judd 59 Engine 5
Ret 5 United Kingdom Nigel Mansell United Kingdom Williams-Judd 54 Spin 6
Ret 3 United Kingdom Jonathan Palmer United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth 53 Overheating 22
Ret 19 Italy Alessandro Nannini United Kingdom Benetton-Ford Cosworth 52 Handling 9
Ret 28 Austria Gerhard Berger Italy Ferrari 35 Spin 4
Ret 1 Brazil Nelson Piquet United Kingdom Lotus-Honda 34 Clutch 8
Ret 6 Italy Riccardo Patrese United Kingdom Williams-Judd 29 Radiator 11
Ret 23 Italy Pierluigi Martini Italy Minardi-Ford Cosworth 27 Engine 14
Ret 29 France Yannick Dalmas France Lola-Ford Cosworth 20 Alternator 15
Ret 2 Japan Satoru Nakajima United Kingdom Lotus-Honda 16 Spin 16
Ret 22 Italy Andrea de Cesaris West Germany Rial-Ford Cosworth 11 Halfshaft 12
Ret 18 United States Eddie Cheever United Kingdom Arrows-Megatron 10 Turbo 18
Ret 30 France Philippe Alliot France Lola-Ford Cosworth 7 Engine 20
Ret 26 Sweden Stefan Johansson France Ligier-Judd 4 Engine 24
DNQ 4 United Kingdom Julian Bailey United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth
DNQ 9 Italy Piercarlo Ghinzani West Germany Zakspeed
DNQ 33 Italy Stefano Modena Italy EuroBrun-Ford Cosworth
DNQ 10 West Germany Bernd Schneider West Germany Zakspeed
DNPQ 32 Argentina Oscar Larrauri Italy EuroBrun-Ford Cosworth
Source:[7]
  • T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car.

Milestones[]

Standings[]

Alain Prost returned to the top of the Championship with his fifth victory of the season, opening out a five point lead over teammate Ayrton Senna. However, the Frenchman had reached the eleven race limit for scoring points, meaning he would be losing dropped scores for the rest of the season. Senna, meanwhile, had one race's grace before he began losing potential points, a small advantage heading into the final three races.

McLaren-Honda had added to their Constructors' Championship winning tally in Portugal, ending the weekend on 157 points. Ferrari were now a race away from securing second, having opened out a 34 point gap back to Benetton-Ford Cosworth in third. The young British squad were instead set to spend the final three races trying to hold onto said position, with Arrows-Megatron, March-Judd and Lotus-Honda all within a win's worth of points.

World Championship for Drivers
Pos. Driver Pts. +/-
1 France Alain Prost 81
2 Brazil Ayrton Senna 76 ▼1
3 Austria Gerhard Berger 37
4 Italy Michele Alboreto 24
5 Belgium Thierry Boutsen 21 ▲1
6 Brazil Nelson Piquet 18 ▼1
7 United Kingdom Derek Warwick 17
8 Italy Ivan Capelli 16
9 United Kingdom Nigel Mansell 6
10 United States Eddie Cheever 6
11 Italy Alessandro Nannini 6
12 Brazil Maurício Gugelmin 5
13 United Kingdom Jonathan Palmer 5
14 Italy Andrea de Cesaris 3
15 Italy Riccardo Patrese 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 61
3 United Kingdom Benetton-Ford Cosworth 27
4 United Kingdom Arrows-Megatron 23
5 United Kingdom March-Judd 21 ▲1
6 United Kingdom Lotus-Honda 19 ▼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 '13. Portugal 1988', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1988/portugal.aspx, (Accessed 12/04/2019)
  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 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 'Portuguese GP, 1988', grandprix.com, (Inside F1 Inc., 2015), http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr465.html, (Accessed 12/04/2019)
  3. 'Portugal 1988: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1988/portugal/engages.aspx, (Accessed 12/04/2019)
  4. 'Portuguese Grand Prix - QUALIFYING 1', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2019), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1988/races/539/portugal/qualifying-1.html, (Accessed 12/04/2019)
  5. 'Portuguese Grand Prix - QUALIFYING 2', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2019), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1988/races/539/portugal/qualifying-2.html, (Accessed 12/04/2019)
  6. 'Portugal 1988: Qualifications', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1988/portugal/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 12/04/2019)
  7. 'Portugal 1988: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1988/portugal/classement.aspx, (Accessed 12/04/2019)
  8. '1988 Portuguese GP', chicanef1.com, (Chicane F1, 2015), http://www.chicanef1.com/racetit.pl?year=1988&gp=Portuguese%20GP&r=1, (Accessed 12/04/2019)
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 Portugal Portuguese Grand Prix
Circuits Boavista (1958, 1960), Monsanto (1959), Estoril (1984-1996), Algarve (2020-2021)
Autódromo de Algarve
Formula One Races 1958 • 1959 • 1960 • 1961–1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989 • 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997–2019 • 2020 • 2021
Non-F1 races
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