1987 Detroit Grand Prix

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1987 Detroit Grand Prix
Race 5 of 16 in the 1987 Formula One World Championship
Downtown Detroit Street Circuit.svg
Race details
DateJune 21, 1987
Official name 6th Detroit Grand Prix
Location Detroit street circuit
Detroit, Michigan
Course Temporary street course
Course length 4.023 km (2.5 miles)
Distance 63 laps, 253.449 km (157.5 miles)
Weather Clear with rain showers later on; temperatures reaching up to 78.1 °F (25.6 °C); wind speeds up to 19.6 miles per hour (31.5 km/h) [1]
Pole position
Driver Williams-Honda
Time 1:39.264
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Ayrton Senna Lotus-Honda
Time 1:40.464 on lap 39
Podium
First Lotus-Honda
Second Williams-Honda
Third McLaren-TAG
Lap leaders
  • 1987 Detroit Grand Prix

The 1987 Detroit Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on June 21, 1987, in Detroit, Michigan. It was the sixth Detroit Grand Prix. It was held over 63 laps of the four kilometre circuit for a race distance of 253 kilometres.

Contents

The race was won by Ayrton Senna in the Lotus 99T with its computer-controlled active suspension. It was the second win in succession for Senna after his victory at Monaco. The Lotus rode the bumpy street circuit far better than the competition allowing Senna to take care of his tyres and cruise to a 33-second victory over the Williams FW11B of Nelson Piquet with reigning world champion Alain Prost finishing third in his McLaren MP4/3.

Poleman Nigel Mansell, the only driver ever to lap the 4.023 km (2.5 mi) Detroit circuit in under 1:40 during qualifying, led the race until his stop for tyres, but soon after began to fall away with cramp in his right leg making it hard to push the brake pedal. He later said that he had almost retired due to the pain but managed to finish in 5th place, one lap down on Senna.

Prost tried to convince McLaren via the radio that his tyres were OK and he did not need to stop, but he gave in to orders and pitted for fresh tyres. It was there that Goodyear technicians discovered Prost was correct and he had not needed to stop, though this did not alter the call for Piquet to stop as Prost had a reputation of being easier on his tyres than most.

Senna's back-to-back victories gave him a two-point lead in the championship over Prost, but it would be a brief surge. Senna would not win again this year. It would also be the last win in the very long history of Team Lotus which began with their first win in the 1961 United States Grand Prix. The next occasion on which a car bearing the Lotus name would win a Grand Prix was the 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, won by Kimi Räikkönen driving for the Lotus F1 team.

Summary

Qualifying

Ayrton Senna repeated his 1986 win in Detroit and won his second 1987 race in a row and the second win for a car with active suspension. The win in Monaco three weeks before had proven that Lotus's new system worked, and on the bumpy Detroit circuit, it was even more of an advantage. Superior tyre wear allowed Senna to run the entire race without stopping, and he came home over half a minute ahead of the Williams-Honda of eventual Driver's Champion Nelson Piquet.

Normally, the Detroit race was immediately preceded or followed by the Canadian Grand Prix. In 1987, however, FISA had demanded improvements to the circuit in Montreal, including new pits. When it was determined that these changes could not be completed in time, along with sponsorship problems, the race was cancelled and there would be no Canadian race for only the second time since 1967.

On Friday, Nigel Mansell's Williams was fastest in both qualifying sessions, ahead of Senna's Lotus and Piquet, in the second Williams. It rained on Friday night, but the track was dry for the afternoon session on Saturday. In the final session, Senna briefly took the top spot, but Mansell took it back and ended up more than a second quicker for his fourth pole in five races on the season. American Eddie Cheever was sixth for Arrows, just behind Alain Prost's McLaren MP4/3.

Race

It rained again on Saturday night and Sunday morning, but, after a soaked warm-up on race morning, the start was dry. The first three got away from the grid in order, while Cheever jumped up to fourth and Teo Fabi went from eighth to fifth in the Benetton B187, followed by Michele Alboreto (Ferrari F1/87), Prost, Thierry Boutsen (Benetton B187) and Stefan Johansson (McLaren MP4/3). On lap three, Piquet went wide in a corner and picked up debris that led to a slow puncture. Cheever and Fabi got by Piquet before he was forced to pit. Three laps later, after repeated attempts to get around Cheever, Fabi put his front wing into Cheever's rear tire, puncturing it and breaking the nose of his Benetton B187. Fabi came around to the pits, driving without a nosecone, but retired the vehicle there. Speaking with CBS' Dave Despain directly after, Fabi confirmed the only problem was a missing wing. Cheever made it to the pits around the same time, losing a lap and rejoining in 19th position.

By lap ten, Mansell was five seconds ahead of Senna, with Alboreto another 23 seconds back in third. Suddenly, Senna felt his brake pedal go soft entering a turn and he narrowly avoided hitting the wall. He decided to back off and allow the brakes to cool, dropping three seconds per lap from his times. Primarily concerned about staying ahead of Alboreto, Senna got a break when the Ferrari F1/87's gearbox failed on lap 25, handing third place to Prost. On the next lap, Senna began to go after Mansell.

On lap 26, Mansell's lead was 18.8 seconds over Senna, but he was beginning to experience cramps in his right leg. A stop for tyres on lap 34 took 18 seconds when the right rear wheel nut refused to seat properly. Holding the brakes on much longer than normal made the Englishman's cramp even worse. Prost, now in second, was struggling with brake and gearbox problems as he stopped for tyres.

Senna set the race's fastest lap on lap 39 at 1:40.464, faster than his qualifying time. Realizing that he was faster on his original tyres than the others were on new ones, he decided to finish the race without stopping to change tyres. The Lotus crew emerged in the pit lane for a time as if preparing for a stop, but it became clear that the Brazilian was not in fact coming in. By that time, he was nearly a minute ahead.

Mansell, by this time, was exhausted, his head rolling from side to side in the cockpit. He said after the race that every time he passed the pits, he thought of stopping. On lap 53, Piquet and Prost passed him, and on lap 56, Gerhard Berger did as well. His perseverance gained him two points for fifth, a lap down, while Cheever took the final point.

Senna eased up toward the end, and with three laps to go the skies were threatening rain. It never became an issue, however, as the rain started to fall after the finish, with Senna crossing the line thirty-three seconds ahead. It was the sixth win of his career, but his last in 1987 and the last for the Lotus team, which eventually folded in 1994. Senna said that his tyres were able to last the entire distance for two reasons: the laps he slowed to cool the brakes, and the smooth ride given by the active suspension.

Classification

Qualifying

PosNoDriverConstructorQ1Q2Gap
15 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Nigel Mansell Williams-Honda 1:42.2231:39.264
212 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Ayrton Senna Lotus-Honda 1:42.9851:40.607+1.343
36 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Nelson Piquet Williams-Honda 1:43.1521:40.942+1.678
420 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Thierry Boutsen Benetton-Ford 1:44.6861:42.050+2.786
51 Flag of France.svg Alain Prost McLaren-TAG 1:46.0421:42.357+3.093
618 Flag of the United States.svg Eddie Cheever Arrows-Megatron 1:45.2961:42.361+3.097
727 Flag of Italy.svg Michele Alboreto Ferrari 1:45.4371:42.684+3.420
819 Flag of Italy.svg Teo Fabi Benetton-Ford 1:47.0641:42.918+3.654
97 Flag of Italy.svg Riccardo Patrese Brabham-BMW 1:46.9321:43.479+4.215
1017 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Derek Warwick Arrows-Megatron 1:45.2341:43.541+4.277
112 Flag of Sweden.svg Stefan Johansson McLaren-TAG 1:46.6231:43.797+4.533
1228 Flag of Austria.svg Gerhard Berger Ferrari 1:45.0541:43.816+4.552
133 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jonathan Palmer Tyrrell-Ford 1:47.0101:44.350+5.086
144 Flag of France.svg Philippe Streiff Tyrrell-Ford 1:47.9631:45.037+5.773
159 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Martin Brundle Zakspeed 1:48.9321:45.291+6.027
1610 Flag of Germany.svg Christian Danner Zakspeed 1:48.8671:45.740+6.476
178 Flag of Italy.svg Andrea de Cesaris Brabham-BMW 1:47.6701:46.046+6.782
1824 Flag of Italy.svg Alessandro Nannini Minardi-Motori Moderni 1:46.4491:46.083+6.819
1921 Flag of Italy.svg Alex Caffi Osella-Alfa Romeo 1:55.7871:46.124+6.860
2030 Flag of France.svg Philippe Alliot Lola-Ford 1:47.4701:46.194+6.930
2125 Flag of France.svg René Arnoux Ligier-Megatron 1:48.3381:46.211+6.947
2216 Flag of Italy.svg Ivan Capelli March-Ford 1:49.9691:46.269+7.005
2326 Flag of Italy.svg Piercarlo Ghinzani Ligier-Megatron 1:48.6611:47.471+8.207
2411 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Satoru Nakajima Lotus-Honda 1:51.3551:48.801+9.537
2523 Flag of Spain.svg Adrián Campos Minardi-Motori Moderni 1:50.4953:26.319+11.231
2614 Flag of France.svg Pascal Fabre AGS-Ford 1:57.4751:53.644+14.380

Race

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
112 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Ayrton Senna Lotus - Honda 631:50:16.35829
26 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Nelson Piquet Williams - Honda 63+ 33.81936
31 Flag of France.svg Alain Prost McLaren - TAG 63+ 45.32754
428 Flag of Austria.svg Gerhard Berger Ferrari 63+ 1:02.601123
55 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Nigel Mansell Williams - Honda 62+ 1 Lap12
618 Flag of the United States.svg Eddie Cheever Arrows - Megatron 60+ 3 Laps61
72 Flag of Sweden.svg Stefan Johansson McLaren-TAG 60+ 3 Laps11 
810 Flag of Germany.svg Christian Danner Zakspeed 60+ 3 Laps16 
97 Flag of Italy.svg Riccardo Patrese Brabham-BMW 60+ 3 Laps9 
1025 Flag of France.svg René Arnoux Ligier-Megatron 60+ 3 Laps21 
11 (1)3 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jonathan Palmer Tyrrell-Ford 60+ 3 Laps13 
12 (2)14 Flag of France.svg Pascal Fabre AGS-Ford 58+ 5 Laps26 
Ret20 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Thierry Boutsen Benetton-Ford 52Brakes4 
Ret26 Flag of Italy.svg Piercarlo Ghinzani Ligier-Megatron 51Clutch23 
Ret4 Flag of France.svg Philippe Streiff Tyrrell-Ford 44Wheel14 
Ret30 Flag of France.svg Philippe Alliot Lola-Ford 38Accident20 
Ret27 Flag of Italy.svg Michele Alboreto Ferrari 25Gearbox7 
Ret24 Flag of Italy.svg Alessandro Nannini Minardi-Motori Moderni 22Gearbox18 
Ret9 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Martin Brundle Zakspeed 16Turbo15 
Ret17 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Derek Warwick Arrows-Megatron 12Accident10 
Ret16 Flag of Italy.svg Ivan Capelli March-Ford 9Electrical22 
Ret19 Flag of Italy.svg Teo Fabi Benetton-Ford 6Accident8 
Ret21 Flag of Italy.svg Alex Caffi Osella-Alfa Romeo 3Transmission19 
Ret8 Flag of Italy.svg Andrea de Cesaris Brabham-BMW 2Gearbox17 
Ret23 Flag of Spain.svg Adrián Campos Minardi-Motori Moderni 1Accident25 
Ret11 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Satoru Nakajima Lotus-Honda 0Collision24 
Source: [2]

Championship standings after the race

References

  1. "1987 Detroit Grand Prix weather information". Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
  2. "1987 United States Grand Prix". formula1.com. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 "USA 1987 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved March 15, 2019.

Further reading

Previous race:
1987 Monaco Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1987 season
Next race:
1987 French Grand Prix
Previous race:
1986 Detroit Grand Prix
Detroit Grand Prix Next race:
1988 Detroit Grand Prix