1988 Hungarian Grand Prix

1988 Hungarian Grand Prix
Race 10 of 16 in the 1988 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date	7 August 1988
Official name	Pop 84 Magyar Nagydíj [1]
Location	Hungaroring, Mogyoród, Pest, Hungary [2]
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	4.014 km (2.494 miles)
Distance	76 laps, 305.064 km (189.558 miles)
Weather	Sunny and hot
Pole position
Driver	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Honda
Time	1:27.635
Fastest lap
Driver	Alain Prost	McLaren-Honda
Time	1:30.639 on lap 51
Podium
First	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Honda
Second	Alain Prost	McLaren-Honda
Third	Thierry Boutsen	Benetton-Ford
Lap leaders

The 1988 Hungarian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 7 August 1988 at the Hungaroring, Mogyoród, Pest, Hungary. It was the tenth race of the 1988 Formula One World Championship.

The 76-lap race was won from pole position by Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna, driving a McLaren-Honda, with French teammate Alain Prost second and Belgian Thierry Boutsen third in a Benetton-Ford. The win, Senna's sixth of the season, moved him level on points with Prost at the top of the Drivers' Championship.

Gallery

• 
  Senna leads Mansell
• 
  Senna in his helmet
• 
  Berger and Alboreto
• 
  Prost

Report

Qualifying

The tight and twisty Hungaroring offered a chance for the naturally-aspirated cars against the turbos, and they took seven of the top ten positions in qualifying. However, Ayrton Senna still took pole position in his McLaren-Honda, his eighth of the season, pipping the Williams of Nigel Mansell by 0.1 seconds. Mansell was driving against doctor's orders as he had developed chickenpox. On the second row of the grid were Thierry Boutsen in the Benetton and Ivan Capelli in the March, and on the third row were Alessandro Nannini in the second Benetton and Riccardo Patrese in the second Williams. Senna's teammate Alain Prost could only manage seventh, while Gerhard Berger was ninth in his Ferrari, the two separated by the second March of Maurício Gugelmin. Completing the top ten was Alex Caffi in the Dallara.

Race

Senna leads in front of the Williams cars and Benetton cars, next to the pit entry

Mansell made a good start and almost took the lead but Senna held onto his position, and thanks to the superior power of his Honda engine he pulled away slightly down the main straight to head the field into turn 1. Patrese also made an excellent start climbing from 6th to 3rd while Prost was slow away and was only 9th at the end of the first lap. Capelli made a great start and in fact almost overtook Mansell into the first turn before his engine suddenly went sour and he pitted after just 2 laps to have a serious misfire investigated. On lap 12, Mansell lost downforce running close behind the McLaren and spun down to 4th place, leaving Senna to fend off the attacks of the other Williams, that of Patrese. The Italian later dropped back with engine problems, while similar problems were afflicting Nannini.

Senna took the chequered flag less than a second before Prost

On lap 32, Prost had climbed to 3rd place behind Senna and Boutsen. On lap 37, Mansell pitted to replace tyres, which were ragged and causing vibrations to the car. Prost passed Boutsen on lap 47 and set out chasing down Senna. Two laps later, while Senna prepared to lap Yannick Dalmas' Lola and Gabriele Tarquini's Coloni, Prost passed all three of them in a breathtaking move down the main straight. However he was too quick going into the first turn and ran wide enabling Senna to regain the lead. Prost set the fastest lap of the race but was forced to drop back with vibrations caused by a loose wheel bearing. On lap 58 Mansell retired still feeling the effects of chickenpox. He later admitted that racing in Hungary was a mistake as he was then forced to miss the next two races. Boutsen closed on Prost, but the Frenchman pressed on and pushed Senna. Just half a second covered the two McLarens as they crossed the line. Boutsen took the third spot on the podium, unable to challenge further due to a broken exhaust. Berger, Gugelmin and Patrese completed the points scorers.

Alain Prost of France (L) waves with his cap to the audience, while his team mate Ayrton Senna of Brazil puts his cap on in Budapest on August 7, 1988. Prost finished second in today's Hungarian F1 Grand Prix after Senna.

Classification

Pre-qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	36	Alex Caffi	Dallara-Ford	2:01.593
2	32	Oscar Larrauri	EuroBrun-Ford	2:03.343	+1.750
3	31	Gabriele Tarquini	Coloni-Ford	2:03.371	+1.778
4	33	Stefano Modena	EuroBrun-Ford	2:04.168	+2.575
DNPQ	21	Nicola Larini	Osella	2:05.626	+4.033

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Q1	Q2	Gap
1	12	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Honda	1:30.422	1:27.635
2	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Judd	1:30.151	1:27.743	+0.108
3	20	Thierry Boutsen	Benetton-Ford	1:30.780	1:27.970	+0.335
4	16	Ivan Capelli	March-Judd	1:32.675	1:28.350	+0.715
5	19	Alessandro Nannini	Benetton-Ford	1:29.779	1:28.493	+0.858
6	6	Riccardo Patrese	Williams-Judd	1:30.382	1:28.569	+0.934
7	11	Alain Prost	McLaren-Honda	1:29.589	1:28.778	+1.143
8	15	Maurício Gugelmin	March-Judd	1:35.237	1:29.099	+1.464
9	28	Gerhard Berger	Ferrari	1:31.192	1:29.244	+1.609
10	36	Alex Caffi	Dallara-Ford	1:32.887	1:29.891	+2.346
11	24	Luis Pérez-Sala	Minardi-Ford	1:33.494	1:30.103	+2.468
12	17	Derek Warwick	Arrows-Megatron	1:32.514	1:30.185	+2.550
13	1	Nelson Piquet	Lotus-Honda	1:35.346	1:30.405	+2.770
14	18	Eddie Cheever	Arrows-Megatron	1:32.589	1:30.908	+3.273
15	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	1:32.304	1:31.052	+3.417
16	23	Pierluigi Martini	Minardi-Ford	1:33.597	1:31.123	+3.488
17	29	Yannick Dalmas	Lola-Ford	1:33.192	1:31.200	+3.565
18	22	Andrea de Cesaris	Rial-Ford	1:48.994	1:31.523	+3.888
19	2	Satoru Nakajima	Lotus-Honda	1:34.194	1:31.646	+4.011
20	30	Philippe Alliot	Lola-Ford	1:33.132	1:31.719	+4.084
21	3	Jonathan Palmer	Tyrrell-Ford	1:34.001	1:31.741	+4.106
22	31	Gabriele Tarquini	Coloni-Ford	1:35.991	1:32.160	+4.525
23	14	Philippe Streiff	AGS-Ford	1:32.973	1:32.265	+4.630
24	26	Stefan Johansson	Ligier-Judd	1:34.843	1:32.342	+4.707
25	25	René Arnoux	Ligier-Judd	1:35.685	1:32.477	+4.842
26	33	Stefano Modena	EuroBrun-Ford	1:35.389	1:32.614	+4.979
DNQ	32	Oscar Larrauri	EuroBrun-Ford	1:35.990	1:32.987	+5.352
DNQ	10	Bernd Schneider	Zakspeed	1:36.716	1:33.357	+5.722
DNQ	4	Julian Bailey	Tyrrell-Ford	1:35.693	1:33.694	+6.059
DNQ	9	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Zakspeed	1:36.223	1:34.701	+7.066

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	12	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Honda	76	1:57:47.081	1	9
2	11	Alain Prost	McLaren-Honda	76	+ 0.529	7	6
3	20	Thierry Boutsen	Benetton-Ford	76	+ 31.410	3	4
4	28	Gerhard Berger	Ferrari	76	+ 1:28.670	9	3
5	15	Maurício Gugelmin	March-Judd	75	+ 1 Lap	8	2
6	6	Riccardo Patrese	Williams-Judd	75	+ 1 Lap	6	1
7	2	Satoru Nakajima	Lotus-Honda	73	+ 3 Laps	19
8	1	Nelson Piquet	Lotus-Honda	73	+ 3 Laps	13
9	29	Yannick Dalmas	Lola-Ford	73	+ 3 Laps	17
10	24	Luis Pérez-Sala	Minardi-Ford	72	+ 4 Laps	11
11	33	Stefano Modena	EuroBrun-Ford	72	+ 4 Laps	26
12	30	Philippe Alliot	Lola-Ford	72	+ 4 Laps	20
13	31	Gabriele Tarquini	Coloni-Ford	71	+ 5 Laps	22
Ret	17	Derek Warwick	Arrows-Megatron	65	Brakes	12
Ret	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Judd	60	Driver Unwell	2
Ret	18	Eddie Cheever	Arrows-Megatron	55	Brakes	14
Ret	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	40	Electrical	15
Ret	25	René Arnoux	Ligier-Judd	32	Engine	25
Ret	22	Andrea de Cesaris	Rial-Ford	28	Halfshaft	18
Ret	19	Alessandro Nannini	Benetton-Ford	24	Overheating	5
Ret	36	Alex Caffi	Dallara-Ford	22	Engine	10
Ret	26	Stefan Johansson	Ligier-Judd	19	Throttle	24
Ret	23	Pierluigi Martini	Minardi-Ford	8	Collision	16
Ret	14	Philippe Streiff	AGS-Ford	8	Collision	23
Ret	16	Ivan Capelli	March-Judd	5	Engine	4
Ret	3	Jonathan Palmer	Tyrrell-Ford	3	Engine	21
DNQ	32	Oscar Larrauri	EuroBrun-Ford
DNQ	10	Bernd Schneider	Zakspeed
DNQ	4	Julian Bailey	Tyrrell-Ford
DNQ	9	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Zakspeed
DNPQ	21	Nicola Larini	Osella
Source: [3]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Ayrton Senna 66 2 Alain Prost 66 3 Gerhard Berger 28 4 Thierry Boutsen 16 5 Michele Alboreto 16 Source: [4]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 McLaren-Honda 132 2 Ferrari 44 3 Benetton-Ford 22 4 Lotus-Honda 16 5 Arrows-Megatron 10 Source: [4]

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

1. "Motor Racing Programme Covers: 1988". The Programme Covers Project. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
2. "1988 Hungarian Grand Prix". Motor Sport . Retrieved 8 June 2022.
3. "1988 Hungarian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
4. "Hungary 1988 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 18 March 2019.

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