1988 Japanese Grand Prix

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1988 Japanese Grand Prix
Race 15 of 16 in the 1988 Formula One World Championship
Suzuka circuit map (1987-2002).svg
Race details
Date30 October 1988
Official name XIV Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix
Location Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka, Japan
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.860 km (3.641 [1] miles)
Distance 51 laps, 298.860 km (185.703 miles)
Weather Cool and mainly dry, some rain toward the end
Attendance 233,000 [2]
Pole position
Driver McLaren-Honda
Time 1:41.853
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda
Time 1:46.326 on lap 33
Podium
First McLaren-Honda
Second McLaren-Honda
Third Benetton-Ford
Lap leaders
  • 1988 Japanese Grand Prix

The 1988 Japanese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Suzuka Circuit on 30 October 1988. It was the fifteenth and penultimate race of the 1988 season.

Contents

Report

Qualifying

On Honda's home track, the McLarens of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost filled the front row. Senna's pole time was 1.8 seconds slower than Gerhard Berger's 1987 time.

Just 30 minutes prior to the start of Friday morning's Free Practice session, local hero Satoru Nakajima was informed that his mother had passed away that morning. That he chose to drive in such circumstances won the much maligned Japanese driver new fans in the F1 paddock.

Berger himself could only manage third on the grid, joined on the second row by Ivan Capelli in the naturally aspirated March-Judd. On the third row were the two Lotus-Hondas of outgoing World Champion Nelson Piquet, who was suffering from a virus, and home town favourite Nakajima. Lotus showed great faith in Nakajima by announcing that they had re-signed him for the 1989 season, despite the fact that they would have to use Judd engines after Honda's decision to supply McLaren exclusively. According to US race broadcaster ESPN throughout the second half of the season after Honda's announcement that they were leaving Lotus, Honda had allegedly offered US$2 million to any team willing to sign Nakajima as a driver.[ citation needed ]

French driver Yannick Dalmas was declared medically unfit for the race and was replaced in the Larrousse team by Japan's Aguri Suzuki, who was on his way to winning the 1988 Japanese Formula 3000 Championship. Suzuki qualified 20th on his F1 debut, one place behind temporary teammate Philippe Alliot. Dalmas, originally thought to have an ear infection that kept him out of both Japan and the final race in Australia, was diagnosed with Legionnaires' disease later in the year.

Race

The all-McLaren front row was the 11th of the year, but its drivers had contrasting fortunes. Prost led away from Berger and Capelli, while Senna stalled on the grid. However, Suzuka had the only sloping grid of the year and so the Brazilian was able to bump start his car into action. He had dropped to 14th place, but immediately made a charge through the field, gaining six places by the end of the first lap and then passing Riccardo Patrese, Thierry Boutsen, Alessandro Nannini and Michele Alboreto to run fourth on lap 4. Meanwhile, Derek Warwick and Nigel Mansell collided and had to pit for a puncture and a new nose cone, respectively, while Capelli not only set the fastest lap but also passed Berger – who was already troubled with fuel consumption problems – on lap 5 to move into second place. Alboreto was nudged off track by Thierry Boutsen in the Benetton-Ford on lap 8 while he was in sixth place.

On lap 14 the weather started to come into contention as rain began on parts of the circuit, benefiting Senna. On lap 16 Capelli seized his chance to pass Prost for the lead, the first time a non-turbo car had led a Grand Prix since 1983. Prost had been slowed when Suzuki's Lola had spun at the chicane and got going again just as Prost and Capelli were braking for the tight right-left complex. He then missed a gear coming out of the chicane thanks to a troublesome gearbox and was passed by the March, but Capelli's lead only lasted for a few hundred metres as the extra power of the Honda turbo engine allowed Prost to regain the lead going into the first turn. Capelli made several further attempts to overtake Prost before ultimately retiring three laps later with electrical failure.

Mansell's race lasted until lap 24 when he collided with Piquet's Lotus while trying to lap him. Piquet, still unwell with a virus and complaining of double vision, continued for another ten laps before retiring through fatigue.

By then Senna was catching Prost rapidly, and with traffic, Prost's malfunctioning gearbox, and a tricky wet and dry surface, conditions were favourable to the Brazilian. On lap 27, as they attempted to lap Andrea de Cesaris, Nakajima and Maurício Gugelmin, Senna managed to force his way through as Prost was delayed by de Cesaris's Rial. Senna then put in a succession of fast laps, breaking the former lap record and building a lead of over three seconds, despite being delayed while lapping Nakajima.

With slick tyres on a track that was now wet, Senna gestured for the race to be stopped. The race ran out its entire distance, however, with Senna finishing 13 seconds ahead of Prost. Boutsen took third place, whilst Berger recovered to fourth place after Alboreto held up Nannini, who had to settle for fifth. Patrese finished in sixth, and Nakajima was 7th.

With victory in the race, Senna clinched the World Championship. Due to the scoring system in 1988, Prost could only add three more points to his total even if he won in Australia, which would give him 87 points in total. If Senna then failed to score they would be equal on points, but Senna would still win the title, having taken more wins (8 to 7). Victory in Japan was also Senna's eighth win of the season, which beat the record for total wins in a single season, previously held by Jim Clark (1963) and Prost (1984).

Classification

Pre-qualifying

PosNoDriverConstructorTimeGap
136 Flag of Italy.svg Alex Caffi Dallara-Ford 1:49.099
221 Flag of Italy.svg Nicola Larini Osella 1:50.288+1.189
332 Flag of Argentina.svg Oscar Larrauri EuroBrun-Ford 1:50.942+1.843
433 Flag of Italy.svg Stefano Modena EuroBrun-Ford 1:51.141+2.042
DNPQ31 Flag of Italy.svg Gabriele Tarquini Coloni-Ford 1:52.234+3.135

Qualifying

PosNoDriverConstructorQ1Q2Gap
112 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 1:42.1571:41.853
211 Flag of France.svg Alain Prost McLaren-Honda 1:43.8061:42.177+0.324
328 Flag of Austria.svg Gerhard Berger Ferrari 1:43.5481:43.353+1.500
416 Flag of Italy.svg Ivan Capelli March-Judd 1:44.5831:43.605+1.752
51 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Nelson Piquet Lotus-Honda 1:45.1711:43.693+1.840
62 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Satoru Nakajima Lotus-Honda 1:45.1561:43.693+1.840
717 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Derek Warwick Arrows-Megatron 1:46.9151:43.816+1.963
85 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Nigel Mansell Williams-Judd 1:44.4481:43.893+2.040
927 Flag of Italy.svg Michele Alboreto Ferrari 1:44.9091:43.972+2.119
1020 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Thierry Boutsen Benetton-Ford 1:44.8821:44.499+2.686
116 Flag of Italy.svg Riccardo Patrese Williams-Judd 1:45.5101:44.555+2.702
1219 Flag of Italy.svg Alessandro Nannini Benetton-Ford 1:45.0471:44.611+2.758
1315 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Maurício Gugelmin March-Judd 1:45.1381:45.156+3.285
1422 Flag of Italy.svg Andrea de Cesaris Rial-Ford 1:48.3931:45.558+3.705
1518 Flag of the United States.svg Eddie Cheever Arrows-Megatron 1:45.8451:46.189+3.992
163 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jonathan Palmer Tyrrell-Ford 1:47.8281:45.916+4.063
1723 Flag of Italy.svg Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 1:47.6381:46.449+4.596
1814 Flag of France.svg Philippe Streiff AGS-Ford 1:47.5831:46.486+4.633
1930 Flag of France.svg Philippe Alliot Lola-Ford 1:47.0571:46.521+4.668
2029 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Aguri Suzuki Lola-Ford 1:48.4481:46.920+5.067
2136 Flag of Italy.svg Alex Caffi Dallara-Ford 1:47.8131:46.982+5.129
2224 Flag of Spain.svg Luis Pérez-Sala Minardi-Ford 1:48.7691:47.134+5.281
2325 Flag of France.svg René Arnoux Ligier-Judd 1:49.1651:47.193+5.340
2421 Flag of Italy.svg Nicola Larini Osella 1:48.7061:47.547+5.694
2510 Flag of Germany.svg Bernd Schneider Zakspeed 1:49.8971:47.599+5.746
264 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Julian Bailey Tyrrell-Ford 1:49.4201:48.589+6.736
DNQ26 Flag of Sweden.svg Stefan Johansson Ligier-Judd 1:49.1271:48.716+6.863
DNQ32 Flag of Argentina.svg Oscar Larrauri EuroBrun-Ford 1:50.2241:49.265+7.412
DNQ9 Flag of Italy.svg Piercarlo Ghinzani Zakspeed 1:49.7061:50.550+7.853
DNQ33 Flag of Italy.svg Stefano Modena EuroBrun-Ford 1:49.8121:50.047+7.959

Race

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
112 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 511:33:26.17319
211 Flag of France.svg Alain Prost McLaren-Honda 51+ 13.36326
320 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Thierry Boutsen Benetton-Ford 51+ 36.109104
428 Flag of Austria.svg Gerhard Berger Ferrari 51+ 1:26.71433
519 Flag of Italy.svg Alessandro Nannini Benetton-Ford 51+ 1:30.603122
66 Flag of Italy.svg Riccardo Patrese Williams-Judd 51+ 1:37.615111
72 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Satoru Nakajima Lotus-Honda 50+ 1 Lap6 
814 Flag of France.svg Philippe Streiff AGS-Ford 50+ 1 Lap18 
930 Flag of France.svg Philippe Alliot Lola-Ford 50+ 1 Lap19 
1015 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Maurício Gugelmin March-Judd 50+ 1 Lap13 
1127 Flag of Italy.svg Michele Alboreto Ferrari 50+ 1 Lap9 
123 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jonathan Palmer Tyrrell-Ford 50+ 1 Lap16 
1323 Flag of Italy.svg Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 49+ 2 Laps17 
144 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Julian Bailey Tyrrell-Ford 49+ 2 Laps26 
1524 Flag of Spain.svg Luis Pérez-Sala Minardi-Ford 49+ 2 Laps22 
1629 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Aguri Suzuki Lola-Ford 48+ 3 Laps20 
1725 Flag of France.svg René Arnoux Ligier-Judd 48+ 3 Laps23 
Ret22 Flag of Italy.svg Andrea de Cesaris Rial-Ford 36Overheating14 
Ret18 Flag of the United States.svg Eddie Cheever Arrows-Megatron 35Ignition15 
Ret21 Flag of Italy.svg Nicola Larini Osella 34Brakes24 
Ret1 Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Nelson Piquet Lotus-Honda 34Driver Unwell5 
Ret5 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Nigel Mansell Williams-Judd 24Collision8 
Ret36 Flag of Italy.svg Alex Caffi Dallara-Ford 22Spun Off21 
Ret16 Flag of Italy.svg Ivan Capelli March-Judd 19Electrical4 
Ret17 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Derek Warwick Arrows-Megatron 16Spun Off7 
Ret10 Flag of Germany.svg Bernd Schneider Zakspeed 14Driver Unfit25 
DNQ26 Flag of Sweden.svg Stefan Johansson Ligier-Judd   
DNQ32 Flag of Argentina.svg Oscar Larrauri EuroBrun-Ford   
DNQ9 Flag of Italy.svg Piercarlo Ghinzani Zakspeed   
DNQ33 Flag of Italy.svg Stefano Modena EuroBrun-Ford   
DNPQ31 Flag of Italy.svg Gabriele Tarquini Coloni-Ford
Source: [3]

Championship standings after the race

References

  1. "1988 Japanese Grand Prix | Motorsport Database".
  2. "Formula 1 Honda Japanese Grand Prix 2022 – Media Kit" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 5 October 2022. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  3. "1988 Japanese Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  4. 1 2 "Japan 1988 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
Previous race:
1988 Spanish Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1988 season
Next race:
1988 Australian Grand Prix
Previous race:
1987 Japanese Grand Prix
Japanese Grand Prix Next race:
1989 Japanese Grand Prix