1988 Australian Grand Prix

Last updated

1988 Australian Grand Prix
Race 16 of 16 in the 1988 Formula One World Championship
  Previous race Next race  
Adelaide (long route).svg
Race details
Date13 November 1988
Official name LIII 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 Cloudy and hot
Pole position
Driver McLaren-Honda
Time 1:17.748
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of France.svg Alain Prost McLaren-Honda
Time 1:21.216 on lap 59
Podium
First McLaren-Honda
Second McLaren-Honda
Third Lotus-Honda
Lap leaders
  • 1988 Australian Grand Prix

The 1988 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Adelaide Street Circuit on 13 November 1988. It was the sixteenth and final race of the 1988 Formula One World Championship, and the last race for which turbocharged engines would be eligible until the 2014 Australian Grand Prix.

Contents

The 82-lap race was won by Frenchman Alain Prost, driving a McLaren-Honda. It was Prost's seventh victory of the season, and the McLaren team's fifteenth, a record for a constructor in a single season that would stand until 2014. Prost's Brazilian teammate and new World Champion Ayrton Senna finished second, having started from pole position, while Senna's compatriot and outgoing champion Nelson Piquet came third in a Lotus-Honda, achieving what would turn out to be the final podium finish for the original Team Lotus.

Qualifying

As had become normal in 1988, qualifying was the domain of the McLaren-Hondas. Senna and Prost easily led the time sheets on both Friday and Saturday, with Prost initially fastest on Friday with a 1:18.179 lap, 0.153 ahead of his teammate. The pair traded pole laps in the second qualifying session, with Senna doing his usual act of snatching pole on the last lap of qualifying with a 1:17.748 lap, only 0.132 in front of his teammate, but 1.7 seconds faster than the next fastest car, Nigel Mansell in the Williams-Judd. During qualifying Senna was hampered by a sprained left wrist having injured it during a game of beach soccer in Bali, Indonesia, where he had taken a small holiday after winning the championship in Japan. His injury was such that there was speculation the teams test driver Emanuele Pirro would drive in his place, but the new World Champion refused to be sidelined and took his place in Adelaide, though he admitted that driving the MP4/4 on a tight, bumpy street circuit while nursing a sprained wrist was hard. Prost on the other hand had spent his time between Suzuka and Adelaide playing golf at a resort in the Australian state of Queensland. There was also speculation that Honda would run their V10 engines (intended for 1989) in Adelaide instead of the V6 turbo. However, team boss Ron Dennis explained that racing the V10 was never part of the 1988 plan, and that with the RA168-E proving so dominant, Honda wanted to finish the turbo era on the highest possible note.

Third on the grid on both days was Nigel Mansell in his atmospheric Williams-Judd, though he was 1.7 seconds slower than Senna. Mansell was ahead of 1987 pole winner Gerhard Berger in his turbocharged Ferrari. Fifth was Nelson Piquet, finally finding some balance in his Lotus on the only street circuit he liked, despite a couple of spins in qualifying. Mansell's teammate Riccardo Patrese lined up sixth.

Gabriele Tarquini (Coloni), Julian Bailey (Tyrrell), Pierre-Henri Raphanel (Larrousse-Lola making his first appearance in F1 in place of Yannick Dalmas who had contracted Legionaire's Disease) and Bernd Schneider (Zakspeed) all failed to qualify. The Osella of Nicola Larini with its ancient "Osella V8" turbocharged engine (which started life as the Alfa Romeo 890T in 1983 and was actually the most powerful car in the 1988 field with approximately 700 bhp (522 kW; 710 PS)) failed to pre-qualify.

For the most part in 1988, qualifying and race times had generally been faster than those set in 1987, showing the advances in development despite the leading turbo powered cars having approximately 300 bhp (224 kW; 304 PS) less than they had the previous year. In Adelaide the drop in power meant a big difference to the top speeds on the 900-metre-long Brabham Straight and times were slower as a result. In 1987 the faster cars were topping 320 km/h (199 mph) on the straight, while in 1988 those speeds were down to 300 km/h (186 mph) or less. Senna's 1988 pole time was 0.481 slower than Berger's time in 1987 while Berger himself, driving an updated version of his 1987 Ferrari, was 2.25 seconds slower than his 1987 pole time of 1:17.267.

Race

Prost led off the start from Senna, Berger, Piquet, and Mansell in his last race for Williams before joining Ferrari in 1989. By lap 4, Prost's lead over Senna was 5.5 seconds, with Berger close behind the Brazilian. Michele Alboreto's last race for Ferrari ended in retirement shortly after the start, when he collided with Alex Caffi's Dallara.

Berger passed Senna on lap 5 at the Racetrack Hairpin, a tight second-gear right hander at the end of the Brabham Straight, and began a determined drive, catching and passing Prost at the same place on lap 14. He had a three-second lead when he came up to lap Stefano Modena in the EuroBrun and René Arnoux in the Ligier on lap 23. Arnoux appeared to ignore his mirrors and the blue flags instructing him to let Berger past, causing the Ferrari's left front wheel to ride the Ligier's rear right wheel and send both cars into a spin. Berger retired immediately with suspension damage, putting Prost back into the lead with Senna second.

Behind the McLarens, Piquet was maintaining third ahead of the Williams pair of Patrese and Mansell. The Italian opened a small gap on his teammate and closed on Piquet, making several attempts to pass the Brazilian. However, he spun on lap 53, letting Mansell past. The Englishman was no more successful in trying to pass Piquet, and he retired on lap 66 when his brakes failed and he spun into the wall. By lap 59 Prost was putting in a succession of fast laps, extending his lead to over 30 seconds and lapping the whole field up to the fifth-placed Rial of Andrea de Cesaris.

On lap 46, Pierluigi Martini spun his Minardi at the chicane and was almost collected by Stefan Johansson's Ligier. Maurício Gugelmin slowed his March to avoid the pair, only to be hit from behind by Satoru Nakajima's Lotus, putting both cars out. This crash also had an effect on Prost who was the first car upon the scene. The McLaren ran over some debris which broke off part of the front wing end plate, causing the car to understeer for the rest of the race, though Prost was able to play with his car's onboard settings to compensate and would set the fastest race lap later in the race.

Alessandro Nannini spun his Benetton; Jonathan Palmer's Tyrrell suffered transmission problems; and Arrows drivers Derek Warwick and Eddie Cheever both suffered engine failures. Driveshaft trouble accounted for the EuroBruns of Modena and Oscar Larrauri, while Caffi succumbed to clutch failure in his Dallara.

At the finish, only eleven cars were classified, of which just seven saw the chequered flag: de Cesaris, Johansson and Philippe Alliot's Larrousse-Lola all ran out of fuel in the closing laps, while Philippe Streiff's AGS suffered an electrical failure. Prost led home Senna in yet another McLaren 1–2, with Piquet third and Patrese fourth. De Cesaris' misfortune handed fifth place to Thierry Boutsen in the Benetton despite a spin and a stuttering engine, with Ivan Capelli taking the final point for sixth in his March despite a puncture.

In the last race in which cars with turbocharged engines were allowed to compete until 2014, all three podium positions were taken by cars powered by Honda turbos.

Classification

Pre-qualifying

PosNoDriverConstructorTimeGap
136 Flag of Italy.svg Alex Caffi Dallara-Ford 1:21.519
233 Flag of Italy.svg Stefano Modena EuroBrun-Ford 1:21.901+0.382
331 Flag of Italy.svg Gabriele Tarquini Coloni-Ford 1:22.022+0.503
432 Flag of Argentina.svg Oscar Larrauri EuroBrun-Ford 1:24.634+3.115
DNPQ21 Flag of Italy.svg Nicola Larini Osella 1:28.440+6.921

Qualifying

PosNoDriverConstructorQ1Q2Gap
112 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 1:18.3321:17.748
211 Flag of France.svg Alain Prost McLaren-Honda 1:18.1791:17.880+0.132
35 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Nigel Mansell Williams-Judd 1:19.4271:19.508+1.760
428 Flag of Austria.svg Gerhard Berger Ferrari 1:20.0191:19.517+1.769
51 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Nelson Piquet Lotus-Honda 1:20.4771:19.535+1.787
66 Flag of Italy.svg Riccardo Patrese Williams-Judd 1:19.9251:19.998+2.177
717 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Derek Warwick Arrows-Megatron 1:20.0861:20.495+2.338
819 Flag of Italy.svg Alessandro Nannini Benetton-Ford 1:20.3311:20.182+2.434
916 Flag of Italy.svg Ivan Capelli March-Judd 1:21.1361:20.459+2.711
1020 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Thierry Boutsen Benetton-Ford 1:21.1141:20.486+2.738
1136 Flag of Italy.svg Alex Caffi Dallara-Ford 1:20.7811:20.881+3.033
1227 Flag of Italy.svg Michele Alboreto Ferrari 1:20.8441:20.964+3.096
132 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Satoru Nakajima Lotus-Honda 1:21.5421:20.852+3.104
1423 Flag of Italy.svg Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 1:21.9051:21.133+3.385
1522 Flag of Italy.svg Andrea de Cesaris Rial-Ford 1:21.9441:21.164+3.416
1614 Flag of France.svg Philippe Streiff AGS-Ford 1:22.1701:21.262+3.514
173 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jonathan Palmer Tyrrell-Ford 1:21.9591:21.307+3.559
1818 Flag of the United States.svg Eddie Cheever Arrows-Megatron 1:21.3931:21.514+3.645
1915 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Maurício Gugelmin March-Judd 1:21.8711:21.554+3.806
2033 Flag of Italy.svg Stefano Modena EuroBrun-Ford 1:21.9721:21.856+4.108
2124 Flag of Spain.svg Luis Pérez-Sala Minardi-Ford 1:23.0221:21.893+4.145
2226 Flag of Sweden.svg Stefan Johansson Ligier-Judd 1:23.4171:21.988+4.240
2325 Flag of France.svg René Arnoux Ligier-Judd 1:23.5471:22.028+4.280
2430 Flag of France.svg Philippe Alliot Lola-Ford 1:22.4201:22.211+4.463
2532 Flag of Argentina.svg Oscar Larrauri EuroBrun-Ford 1:23.4131:22.213+4.465
269 Flag of Italy.svg Piercarlo Ghinzani Zakspeed 1:22.3481:22.271+4.523
2731 Flag of Italy.svg Gabriele Tarquini Coloni-Ford 1:23.6501:22.393+4.645
284 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Julian Bailey Tyrrell-Ford 1:23.5301:22.529+4.781
2929 Flag of France.svg Pierre-Henri Raphanel Lola-Ford 1:23.3931:22.733+4.985
3010 Flag of Germany.svg Bernd Schneider Zakspeed 1:24.2211:23.025+5.277

Race

Pos.No.DriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
111 Flag of France.svg Alain Prost McLaren-Honda 821:53:14.67629
212 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 82+36.38716
31 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Nelson Piquet Lotus-Honda 82+47.54654
46 Flag of Italy.svg Riccardo Patrese Williams-Judd 82+1:20.08863
520 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Thierry Boutsen Benetton-Ford 81+1 lap102
616 Flag of Italy.svg Ivan Capelli March-Judd 81+1 lap91
723 Flag of Italy.svg Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 80+2 laps14 
822 Flag of Italy.svg Andrea de Cesaris Rial-Ford 77Out of fuel15 
926 Flag of Sweden.svg Stefan Johansson Ligier-Judd 76Out of fuel22 
1030 Flag of France.svg Philippe Alliot Lola-Ford 75Out of fuel24 
1114 Flag of France.svg Philippe Streiff AGS-Ford 73Electrical16 
Ret9 Flag of Italy.svg Piercarlo Ghinzani Zakspeed 69Fuel system26 
Ret5 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Nigel Mansell Williams-Judd 65Brake failure3 
Ret19 Flag of Italy.svg Alessandro Nannini Benetton-Ford 63Spun off8 
Ret33 Flag of Italy.svg Stefano Modena EuroBrun-Ford 63Halfshaft20 
Ret17 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Derek Warwick Arrows-Megatron 52Engine7 
Ret18 Flag of the United States.svg Eddie Cheever Arrows-Megatron 51Engine18 
Ret15 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Maurício Gugelmin March-Judd 46Collision19 
Ret2 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Satoru Nakajima Lotus-Honda 45Collision13 
Ret24 Flag of Spain.svg Luis Pérez-Sala Minardi-Ford 41Engine21 
Ret36 Flag of Italy.svg Alex Caffi Dallara-Ford 32Clutch11 
Ret28 Flag of Austria.svg Gerhard Berger Ferrari 25Collision4 
Ret25 Flag of France.svg René Arnoux Ligier-Judd 24Collision23 
Ret3 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jonathan Palmer Tyrrell-Ford 16Transmission17 
Ret32 Flag of Argentina.svg Oscar Larrauri EuroBrun-Ford 12Halfshaft25 
Ret27 Flag of Italy.svg Michele Alboreto Ferrari 0Collision12 
DNQ31 Flag of Italy.svg Gabriele Tarquini Coloni-Ford   
DNQ4 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Julian Bailey Tyrrell-Ford   
DNQ29 Flag of France.svg Pierre-Henri Raphanel Lola-Ford   
DNQ10 Flag of Germany.svg Bernd Schneider Zakspeed   
DNPQ21 Flag of Italy.svg Nicola Larini Osella   
Fastest lap: Flag of France.svg Alain Prost (McLaren-Honda) – 1:21.216 (lap 59)
Source: [1]

Championship standings after the race

References

  1. "1988 Australian Grand Prix". Formula One. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Australia 1988 – Championship". StatsF1.com. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
Previous race:
1988 Japanese Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1988 season
Next race:
1989 Brazilian Grand Prix
Previous race:
1987 Australian Grand Prix
Australian Grand Prix Next race:
1989 Australian Grand Prix