1987 Australian Grand Prix

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1987 Australian Grand Prix
Race 16 of 16 in the 1987 Formula One World Championship
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Adelaide (long route).svg
Race details
Date15 November 1987
Official name LII Foster's Australian Grand Prix
Location Adelaide Street Circuit
Adelaide, South Australia
Course Temporary street circuit
Course length 3.780 km (2.362 miles)
Distance 82 laps, 309.960 km (193.684 miles)
Weather Sunny
Pole position
Driver Ferrari
Time 1:17.267
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of Austria.svg Gerhard Berger Ferrari
Time 1:20.416 on lap 72
Podium
First Ferrari
Second Ferrari
Third Benetton-Ford
Lap leaders
  • 1987 Australian Grand Prix

The 1987 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Adelaide on 15 November 1987. It was the sixteenth and final race of the 1987 Formula One World Championship.

Contents

The 82-lap race was won by Austrian driver Gerhard Berger, who started from pole position, achieved the fastest lap and led every lap in his Ferrari, earning him his only grand chelem in his career. The win would end up being the last Ferrari win during team founder Enzo Ferrari's life, who would die in August of the following year. Brazilian Ayrton Senna finished second in his Lotus-Honda but was subsequently disqualified, thus promoting Berger's Italian teammate Michele Alboreto to second and the Benetton-Ford of Belgian Thierry Boutsen to third.

Background

Nigel Mansell was still recovering from his accident in the previous race in Japan and so Riccardo Patrese, who had already signed for Williams to partner Mansell in 1988, was given permission by Brabham owner Bernie Ecclestone to stand in for the Briton in this race; he was replaced at Brabham by Formula 3000 champion Stefano Modena, making his Formula One debut.

Qualifying report

Despite being ill during qualifying, Gerhard Berger took pole position in his Ferrari by 0.7 seconds from Alain Prost in the McLaren. In his final race for Williams Nelson Piquet took third, with compatriot Ayrton Senna fourth in his final race for Lotus; they were followed by Thierry Boutsen in the Benetton and Michele Alboreto in the second Ferrari. Patrese was seventh in the second Williams, with Stefan Johansson in the second McLaren, Teo Fabi in the second Benetton and Andrea de Cesaris in the Brabham completing the top ten. Modena took 15th, just behind Satoru Nakajima in the second Lotus.

Qualifying classification

PosNoDriverConstructorQ1Q2Gap
128 Flag of Austria.svg Gerhard Berger Ferrari 1:17.2671:18.142
21 Flag of France.svg Alain Prost McLaren-TAG 1:18.2001:17.967+0.700
36 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Nelson Piquet Williams-Honda 1:18.0171:18.176+0.750
412 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Ayrton Senna Lotus-Honda 1:18.5081:18.488+1.221
520 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Thierry Boutsen Benetton-Ford 1:18.9431:18.523+1.256
627 Flag of Italy.svg Michele Alboreto Ferrari 1:18.5781:19.612+1.311
75 Flag of Italy.svg Riccardo Patrese Williams-Honda 1:19.5071:18.813+1.546
82 Flag of Sweden.svg Stefan Johansson McLaren-TAG 1:19.7611:18.826+1.559
919 Flag of Italy.svg Teo Fabi Benetton-Ford 1:19.4611:20.301+2.194
108 Flag of Italy.svg Andrea de Cesaris Brabham-BMW 1:19.7681:19.590+2.323
1118 Flag of the United States.svg Eddie Cheever Arrows-Megatron 1:20.1871:21.592+2.920
1217 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Derek Warwick Arrows-Megatron 1:20.6381:20.837+3.371
1324 Flag of Italy.svg Alessandro Nannini Minardi-Motori Moderni 1:20.7011:21.523+3.434
1411 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Satoru Nakajima Lotus-Honda 1:21.7081:20.891+3.624
157 Flag of Italy.svg Stefano Modena Brabham-BMW 1:21.8871:21.014+3.747
169 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Martin Brundle Zakspeed 1:22.2241:21.483+4.216
1730 Flag of France.svg Philippe Alliot Lola-Ford 1:21.8881:22.846+4.621
184 Flag of France.svg Philippe Streiff Tyrrell-Ford 1:21.9711:22.434+4.704
193 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jonathan Palmer Tyrrell-Ford 1:22.3151:22.087+4.820
2025 Flag of France.svg René Arnoux Ligier-Megatron 1:24.8331:22.303+5.036
2129 Flag of France.svg Yannick Dalmas Lola-Ford 1:25.0211:22.650+5.383
2226 Flag of Italy.svg Piercarlo Ghinzani Ligier-Megatron 1:22.6891:24.652+5.422
2316 Flag of Italy.svg Ivan Capelli March-Ford 1:22.6981:22.704+5.437
2410 Flag of Germany.svg Christian Danner Zakspeed 1:23.0461:22.736+5.469
2514 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Roberto Moreno AGS-Ford 1:23.6591:24.149+6.392
2623 Flag of Spain.svg Adrián Campos Minardi-Motori Moderni 1:25.7601:24.121+6.859
DNQ21 Flag of Italy.svg Alex Caffi Osella-Alfa Romeo 1:25.8721:27.331+8.585
Source: [1] [2] [3]

Race report

At the green light, Piquet darted past Berger to take the lead into the first chicane, whilst Alessandro Nannini in the Minardi was out immediately after crashing into the wall on the exit. A confident Berger, fresh from his victory in the previous race in Japan, re-passed Piquet at Wakefield Corner and began to pull away from the field.

Early retirements included Philippe Streiff spinning off in his Tyrrell on lap 7 and Nakajima suffering a hydraulics failure on lap 23. Modena's debut ended on lap 32 when he stopped in the pits due to exhaustion.

The battle for second between Piquet, Prost, Alboreto and Senna changed little until lap 35, when Piquet pitted for tyres and dropped to sixth. On lap 42, Prost found himself baulked by former teammate René Arnoux in the Ligier on the pit straight and Alboreto slipped through, before Senna powered past both the McLaren and the Ferrari.

Attrition kicked in as the race continued, with brakes in particular becoming a big issue. Fabi was the first brake-related retirement on lap 47, followed by Johansson on lap 49 and Prost on lap 54. Piquet's brakes also failed on lap 59, leaving Berger, Senna and Alboreto as the top three followed by Boutsen and Patrese.

In the latter stages of the race Senna made a charge, closing to within eight seconds of Berger, before the Austrian pulled away again, setting the fastest lap of the race on lap 72. Berger crossed the finish line just under 35 seconds ahead of Senna, with Alboreto the only other driver on the lead lap and Boutsen, Jonathan Palmer in the second Tyrrell and Yannick Dalmas in the Larrousse completing the top six after Patrese suffered a late oil leak.

In post-race scrutineering it was discovered that the brake ducts on Senna's Lotus were oversized, resulting in his disqualification from the race. Alboreto was duly promoted to second, giving Ferrari a 1-2 finish, with Boutsen third, Palmer fourth, Dalmas fifth and Roberto Moreno sixth, scoring the AGS team's first World Championship point. The only other classified finishers were Christian Danner in the Zakspeed, de Cesaris and Patrese. Dalmas did not receive the two points for his fifth place, as he was driving Larrousse's second car and the team had officially entered only one car for the championship.

Race classification

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
128 Flag of Austria.svg Gerhard Berger Ferrari 821:52:56.14419
227 Flag of Italy.svg Michele Alboreto Ferrari 82+ 1:07.88466
320 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Thierry Boutsen Benetton-Ford 81+ 1 lap54
4 (1)3 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jonathan Palmer Tyrrell-Ford 80+ 2 laps193
5 (2)29 Flag of France.svg Yannick Dalmas Lola-Ford 79+ 3 laps210*
6 (3)14 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Roberto Moreno AGS-Ford 79+ 3 laps251
710 Flag of Germany.svg Christian Danner Zakspeed 79+ 3 laps24 
88 Flag of Italy.svg Andrea de Cesaris Brabham-BMW 78Spun off10 
95 Flag of Italy.svg Riccardo Patrese Williams-Honda 76Oil leak7 
DSQ12 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Ayrton Senna Lotus-Honda 82Illegal brake ducts [4] 4 
Ret6 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Nelson Piquet Williams-Honda 58Brakes3 
Ret16 Flag of Italy.svg Ivan Capelli March-Ford 58Spun off23 
Ret1 Flag of France.svg Alain Prost McLaren-TAG 53Brakes2 
Ret18 Flag of the United States.svg Eddie Cheever Arrows-Megatron 53Overheating11 
Ret2 Flag of Sweden.svg Stefan Johansson McLaren-TAG 48Brakes8 
Ret19 Flag of Italy.svg Teo Fabi Benetton-Ford 46Brakes9 
Ret23 Flag of Spain.svg Adrián Campos Minardi-Motori Moderni 46Transmission26 
Ret30 Flag of France.svg Philippe Alliot Lola-Ford 45Electrical17 
Ret25 Flag of France.svg René Arnoux Ligier-Megatron 41Ignition20 
Ret7 Flag of Italy.svg Stefano Modena Brabham-BMW 31Physical15 
Ret26 Flag of Italy.svg Piercarlo Ghinzani Ligier-Megatron 26Ignition22 
Ret11 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Satoru Nakajima Lotus-Honda 22Hydraulics [4] 14 
Ret17 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Derek Warwick Arrows-Megatron 19Transmission12 
Ret9 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Martin Brundle Zakspeed 18Engine16 
Ret4 Flag of France.svg Philippe Streiff Tyrrell-Ford 6Spun off18 
Ret24 Flag of Italy.svg Alessandro Nannini Minardi-Motori Moderni 0Accident13 
Source: [5]

* Dalmas did not receive points towards the Drivers' Championship or the Jim Clark Trophy, as he was driving Larrousse-Lola's second car and the team had officially entered only one car for the entire championship.

Championship standings after the race

References

  1. "Foster's Australian Grand Prix - QUALIFYING 1". formula1.com. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  2. "Foster's Australian Grand Prix - QUALIFYING 2". formula1.com. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  3. "Foster's Australian Grand Prix - OVERALL QUALIFYING". formula1.com. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  4. 1 2 Pritchard, Anthony (March 2006). Lotus: The Competition Cars. Haynes Publishing. p. 246. ISBN   1-84425-006-7.
  5. "1987 Australian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 10 December 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  6. 1 2 "Australia 1987 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
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1987 Japanese Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1987 season
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1988 Brazilian Grand Prix
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1986 Australian Grand Prix
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