1988 Japanese Grand Prix

F1 Japanese Japan 1947 Suzuka circuit map (1987-2002).svg XIV Fuji Television Japan Grand Prix 30 October 1988 15 16 Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka, Japan Permanent racing facility 3.641https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/database/races/1988-japanese-grand-prix/ 1988 Japanese Grand Prix | Motorsport Database 5.860 51 185.703 298.860 Cool and mainly dry, some rain toward the end 233,000https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/2022_japanesegp_mediakit_english.pdf Formula 1 Honda Japanese Grand Prix 2022 – Media Kit Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile 5 October 2022 5 October 2022 Ayrton Senna Brazil 1968 McLaren-Honda 1:41.853 Ayrton Senna Brazil 1968 McLaren-Honda 1:46.326 33 Ayrton Senna Brazil 1968 McLaren-Honda Alain Prost France McLaren-Honda Thierry Boutsen Belgium Benetton-Ford JPN 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. The race was won by McLaren's Ayrton Senna, who had clinched his first world championship in doing so. He finished ahead of his teammate and championship rival Alain Prost and Thierry Boutsen from Benetton who came in third. By winning the race, he took his eighth Grand Prix victory of the season, eclipsing the record previously held by Prost in 1984 and Jim Clark in 1963 for the most wins in a season with seven, before his record was beaten by Nigel Mansell in 1992. 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 died 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.April 2025 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 PosNoDriverConstructorTimeGap136ITA Alex CaffiDallara-Ford1:49.099—221ITA Nicola LariniOsella1:50.288 +1.189332ARG Oscar LarrauriEuroBrun-Ford1:50.942 +1.843433ITA Stefano ModenaEuroBrun-Ford1:51.141 +2.042DNPQ Did not pre-qualify31ITA Gabriele TarquiniColoni-Ford1:52.234 +3.135 Qualifying Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap 1 12 BRA 1968 Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 1:42.157 1:41.853 — 2 11 FRA Alain Prost McLaren-Honda 1:43.806 1:42.177 +0.324 3 28 AUT Gerhard Berger Ferrari 1:43.548 1:43.353 +1.500 4 16 ITA Ivan Capelli March-Judd 1:44.583 1:43.605 +1.752 5 1 BRA 1968 Nelson Piquet Lotus-Honda 1:45.171 1:43.693 +1.840 6 2 JPN 1947 Satoru Nakajima Lotus-Honda 1:45.156 1:43.693 +1.840 7 17 GBR Derek Warwick Arrows-Megatron 1:46.915 1:43.816 +1.963 8 5 GBR Nigel Mansell Williams-Judd 1:44.448 1:43.893 +2.040 9 27 ITA Michele Alboreto Ferrari 1:44.909 1:43.972 +2.119 10 20 BEL Thierry Boutsen Benetton-Ford 1:44.882 1:44.499 +2.686 11 6 ITA Riccardo Patrese Williams-Judd 1:45.510 1:44.555 +2.702 12 19 ITA Alessandro Nannini Benetton-Ford 1:45.047 1:44.611 +2.758 13 15 BRA 1968 Maurício Gugelmin March-Judd 1:45.138 1:45.156 +3.285 14 22 ITA Andrea de Cesaris Rial-Ford 1:48.393 1:45.558 +3.705 15 18 USA Eddie Cheever Arrows-Megatron 1:45.845 1:46.189 +3.992 16 3 GBR Jonathan Palmer Tyrrell-Ford 1:47.828 1:45.916 +4.063 17 23 ITA Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 1:47.638 1:46.449 +4.596 18 14 FRA Philippe Streiff AGS-Ford 1:47.583 1:46.486 +4.633 19 30 FRA Philippe Alliot Lola-Ford 1:47.057 1:46.521 +4.668 20 29 JPN 1947 Aguri Suzuki Lola-Ford 1:48.448 1:46.920 +5.067 21 36 ITA Alex Caffi Dallara-Ford 1:47.813 1:46.982 +5.129 22 24 ESP Luis Pérez-Sala Minardi-Ford 1:48.769 1:47.134 +5.281 23 25 FRA René Arnoux Ligier-Judd 1:49.165 1:47.193 +5.340 24 21 ITA Nicola Larini Osella 1:48.706 1:47.547 +5.694 25 10 FRG Bernd Schneider Zakspeed 1:49.897 1:47.599 +5.746 26 4 GBR Julian Bailey Tyrrell-Ford 1:49.420 1:48.589 +6.736 DNQ Did not qualify 26 SWE Stefan Johansson Ligier-Judd 1:49.127 1:48.716 +6.863 DNQ Did not qualify 32 ARG Oscar Larrauri EuroBrun-Ford 1:50.224 1:49.265 +7.412 DNQ Did not qualify 9 ITA Piercarlo Ghinzani Zakspeed 1:49.706 1:50.550 +7.853 DNQ Did not qualify 33 ITA Stefano Modena EuroBrun-Ford 1:49.812 1:50.047 +7.959 Race Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 12 BRA 1968 Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 51 1:33:26.173 1 9 2 11 FRA Alain Prost McLaren-Honda 51 +13.363 2 6 3 20 BEL Thierry Boutsen Benetton-Ford 51 +36.109 10 4 4 28 AUT Gerhard Berger Ferrari 51 +1:26.714 3 3 5 19 ITA Alessandro Nannini Benetton-Ford 51 +1:30.603 12 2 6 6 ITA Riccardo Patrese Williams-Judd 51 +1:37.615 11 1 7 2 JPN 1947 Satoru Nakajima Lotus-Honda 50 +1 lap 6   8 14 FRA Philippe Streiff AGS-Ford 50 +1 lap 18   9 30 FRA Philippe Alliot Lola-Ford 50 +1 lap 19   10 15 BRA 1968 Maurício Gugelmin March-Judd 50 +1 lap 13   11 27 ITA Michele Alboreto Ferrari 50 +1 lap 9   12 3 GBR Jonathan Palmer Tyrrell-Ford 50 +1 lap 16   13 23 ITA Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 49 +2 laps 17   14 4 GBR Julian Bailey Tyrrell-Ford 49 +2 laps 26   15 24 ESP Luis Pérez-Sala Minardi-Ford 49 +2 laps 22   16 29 JPN 1947 Aguri Suzuki Lola-Ford 48 +3 laps 20   17 25 FRA René Arnoux Ligier-Judd 48 +3 laps 23   Ret Retired 22 ITA Andrea de Cesaris Rial-Ford 36 Overheating 14   Ret Retired 18 USA Eddie Cheever Arrows-Megatron 35 Ignition 15   Ret Retired 21 ITA Nicola Larini Osella 34 Brakes 24   Ret Retired 1 BRA 1968 Nelson Piquet Lotus-Honda 34 Driver unwell 5   Ret Retired 5 GBR Nigel Mansell Williams-Judd 24 Collision 8   Ret Retired 36 ITA Alex Caffi Dallara-Ford 22 Spun off 21   Ret Retired 16 ITA Ivan Capelli March-Judd 19 Electrical 4   Ret Retired 17 GBR Derek Warwick Arrows-Megatron 16 Spun off 7   Ret Retired 10 DEU Bernd Schneider Zakspeed 14 Driver unfit 25   DNQ Did not qualify 26 SWE Stefan Johansson Ligier-Judd     DNQ Did not qualify 32 ARG Oscar Larrauri EuroBrun-Ford     DNQ Did not qualify 9 ITA Piercarlo Ghinzani Zakspeed     DNQ Did not qualify 33 ITA Stefano Modena EuroBrun-Ford     DNPQ Did not pre-qualify 31 ITA Gabriele Tarquini Coloni-FordSource:http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1988/277/ 1988 Japanese Grand Prix formula1.com 23 December 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20150118195714/http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1988/277/ 18 January 2015 Championship standings after the race Bold text indicates the World Champions. Drivers' Championship standings PosDriverPoints 1 BRA 1968 Ayrton Senna 87 (88) 2 FRA Alain Prost 84 (96) 3 AUT Gerhard Berger 41 4 BEL Thierry Boutsen 29 5 ITA Michele Alboreto 24Source:https://www.statsf1.com/en/1988/japon/championnat.aspx Japan 1988 – Championship • STATS F1 www.statsf1.com 18 March 2019 Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 GBR McLaren-Honda184 2 ITA Ferrari65 3 GBR Benetton-Ford44 4 GBR Arrows-Megatron20 5 GBR March-Judd19Source: Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Drivers could only count their best 11 results; numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored. Points accurate at final declaration of results. The Benettons were subsequently disqualified from the Belgian Grand Prix and their points reallocated. References Japanese Grand Prix 1988 1988 Spanish Grand Prix 1988 Australian Grand Prix 1987 Japanese Grand Prix 1989 Japanese Grand Prix Japanese Grand Prix Category:Japanese Grand Prix Grand Prix Category:October 1988 sports events in Japan