1988 Detroit Grand Prix

August 2024 January 2025 F1 United States Detroit Circuit Detroit F1 1983-1988.png 7th Enichem Detroit Grand Prix June 19 1988 6 16 Detroit Street CircuitDetroit, Michigan Temporary street course 2.5 4.023 63 157.5 253.449 Warm and sunny with temperatures up to 91.9 F C; wind speeds up to 11.1 mph km/hhttp://www.almanac.com/weather/history/MI/Detroit/1988-06-19 1988 Detroit Grand Prix weather information The Old Farmers' Almanac September 7, 2014 BRA 1968 Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 1:40.606 FRA 1974 Alain Prost McLaren-Honda 1:44.836 4 BRA 1968 Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda FRA 1974 Alain Prost McLaren-Honda BEL Thierry Boutsen Benetton-Ford DET The 1988 Detroit Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on June 19, 1988, in Detroit, Michigan. It was the sixth race of the 1988 Formula One season and the last of three back-to-back races in the continent of North America. Summary Qualifying Ayrton Senna's third win of the season made it six out of six for McLaren in 1988, on the way to an unprecedented 15 wins and ten 1-2 finishes in 16 races. Senna's victory matched the season total of teammate Alain Prost, who finished 38 seconds behind the Brazilian in second place. Thierry Boutsen took third for Benetton, as he had a week before in Canada, and Andrea de Cesaris scored the first points ever for the Rial team by finishing fourth. Minardi also scored their first point with Pierluigi Martini's sixth place. With turbocharged engines scheduled to be eliminated prior to 1989, and their effectiveness intended to be curtailed by two rule changes for 1988, few teams opted to develop totally new equipment that would only be used for one season. Only Honda, who defected to McLaren from defending Constructor's Champion Williams, and Ferrari developed new engines to meet the revised turbo rules– boost reduced from 4 bars to 2.5, and fuel capacity reduced from 195 liters to 150 (refueling was banned from 1984 through 1993), and only McLaren developed a completely new chassis. Though the new rules were intended to narrow or eliminate the performance gap between the turbos and the normally aspirated engines, Honda and Ferrari were able to display a 50 hp advantage over the best 3.5-liter equipment of the opposition. With that kind of power differential, the only new chassis in the field, and Senna and Prost behind the wheel, McLaren quickly turned the season into a two-man show. Detroit's tight 90-degree turns and short straight sections had given the underpowered "atmo" cars a chance at several times during the turbo era, and some teams were hoping that the circuit would offer them a chance. Senna took the 22nd pole of his career by more than eight-tenths of a second, but the Ferraris of Gerhard Berger and Michele Alboreto both lined up ahead of Prost, who was fourth and openly admitted that he simply did not like the circuit. The teams were all hoping for cooler temperatures for the race on Sunday, after the track had begun to break up during qualifying, expedited by a Trans-Am race on Saturday. There was a push from the F1 teams to have the Trans-Am race cancelled, but with that series having guaranteed television coverage of each round (of which Detroit was a part), the race went ahead and as feared, the powerful, heavy saloons tore the track surface up even more. Hasty concrete repairs made the surface extremely abrasive for the soft compound tires most teams had brought, and teams were forced to reconsider their plans for a non-stop race. On Sunday morning, Berger said, "Really, I think today is a lottery.... which probably gives us our best chance of the season." Ivan Capelli broke a bone in his left foot when he crashed into the pit wall during Saturday practice, having set a time in Friday qualifying that would have put him 21st on the grid. Nicola Larini was thus promoted to the last grid spot. Race In front of 61,000 fans on race day, Senna took the lead off the grid. The Ferraris held onto second and third before Prost got by Alboreto on lap 5, and Berger on lap 6. By then, Senna was over six seconds ahead. On lap 7 Boutsen, having already passed Alboreto, attempted to pass Berger as well, but his Benetton hit the Ferrari's left rear wheel and punctured the tire, sending Berger into retirement. Two laps later, Boutsen's team-mate Alessandro Nannini collided with Alboreto while trying to overtake him. Both cars continued, but on lap 15 Nannini pitted with a damaged right front suspension and failing brakes. Alboreto continued until lap 46 when he spun off, having worked his way back up to seventh. The collisions enabled Nigel Mansell to move up to fourth in the Williams, only for his Judd engine to fail on lap 19. Team-mate Riccardo Patrese assumed the position until lap 27, when he suffered an electrical failure. Any hope of a threat to the McLarens was gone. The red and white cars, with Senna eight seconds ahead, seemed to be carefree. In fact, Prost had been struggling the entire race with an uncooperative gearchange. "It was strange– the gearbox felt as though it was seizing up. The worst change was from fourth to fifth, which I think I missed at least once a lap right the way through." Pierluigi Martini, driving in his first Grand Prix in almost three years, was running extremely well for Minardi and got up to fifth place on lap 35 when Maurício Gugelmin's March retired. He would likely have finished there, if not for the relentless and resilient performance of Jonathan Palmer for Tyrrell. Palmer had come together with Stefano Modena in the EuroBrun on the first lap, requiring a stop to replace the nosecone, and leaving him dead last by a sizable margin. By lap 47, he had worked his way into the points, and in the closing laps, he was the fastest car on the circuit. Palmer's two points for fifth place were his reward for what was probably the most impressive performance of the race. Senna and Prost both had time to make leisurely stops for new tires, and Senna went on to lead all 63 laps. Prost finished nearly 40 seconds behind Senna, despite setting the fastest lap of the race on lap 4; no other drivers finished on the lead lap. Prost said, "Over the years I've developed a style of driving which involves braking into the apex of a corner. I don't think most of the guys do that, but it works for me. On this surface today, though, it was impossible to do it without simply sliding straight on. So I had to change my whole way of driving, brake carefully in a straight line, then turn in. No excuse, you understand, but it meant adapting, doing something which isn't my natural style." The drivers became outspoken about their dislike of the race. Senna likened the last laps to driving in heavy rain as the track had broken up so badly, while he, Prost and Boutsen argued that if Formula One wanted to stay in Detroit, it needed to move elsewhere in the city. Even though there were some negotiations to move the event to another street circuit on nearby Belle Isle, these plans ultimately fell through,http://www.f1archives.com/blog/archives/detroit88 f1archives.com www.f1archives.com 29 November 2022 December 5, 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20131205223331/http://www.f1archives.com/blog/archives/detroit88 dead and thus this was the last Formula One Detroit Grand Prix. For the next three years, F1 raced at a street circuit in Phoenix, Arizona, in an event officially known as the United States Grand Prix. The Detroit street circuit hosted three CART races in 1989, 1990 and 1991 (the unpopular chicane before the pits being removed), before CART moved to the Belle Isle Circuit in 1992. Classification Pre-qualifying PosNoDriverConstructorTimeGap136ITA 1946 Alex CaffiDallara-Ford1:46.280—233ITA 1946 Stefano ModenaEuroBrun-Ford1:46.522 +0.242332ARG 1868 Oscar LarrauriEuroBrun-Ford1:46.650 +0.370422ITA 1946 Andrea de CesarisRial-Ford1:46.709 +0.429DNPQ Did not pre-qualify31ITA 1946 Gabriele TarquiniColoni-Ford1:47.312 +1.032 Qualifying Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap 1 12 BRA 1968 Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 1:40.606 1:41.719 — 2 28 AUT Gerhard Berger Ferrari 1:42.283 1:41.464 +0.858 3 27 ITA 1946 Michele Alboreto Ferrari 1:43.925 1:41.700 +1.094 4 11 FRA 1974 Alain Prost McLaren-Honda 1:42.019 1:43.420 +1.413 5 20 BEL Thierry Boutsen Benetton-Ford 1:45.718 1:42.690 +2.084 6 5 GBR Nigel Mansell Williams-Judd 1:43.458 1:42.697 +2.091 7 19 ITA 1946 Alessandro Nannini Benetton-Ford 1:43.117 1:45.345 +2.511 8 1 BRA 1968 Nelson Piquet Lotus-Honda 1:44.352 1:43.314 +2.708 9 17 GBR Derek Warwick Arrows-Megatron 1:44.614 1:43.799 +3.193 10 6 ITA 1946 Riccardo Patrese Williams-Judd 1:43.810 1:45.016 +3.204 11 14 FRA 1974 Philippe Streiff AGS-Ford 1:44.204 1:44.743 +3.598 12 22 ITA 1946 Andrea de Cesaris Rial-Ford 1:45.866 1:44.216 +3.610 13 15 BRA 1968 Maurício Gugelmin March-Judd 1:44.474 1:53.243 +3.868 14 30 FRA 1974 Philippe Alliot Lola-Ford 1:44.590 3:40.532 +3.984 15 18 USA Eddie Cheever Arrows-Megatron 1:45.159 1:44.948 +4.342 16 23 ITA 1946 Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 1:47.094 1:45.049 +4.443 17 3 GBR Jonathan Palmer Tyrrell-Ford 1:45.268 1:45.662 +4.662 18 26 SWE Stefan Johansson Ligier-Judd 1:45.275 1:47.135 +4.669 19 33 ITA 1946 Stefano Modena EuroBrun-Ford 1:45.304 +4.698 20 25 FRA 1974 René Arnoux Ligier-Judd 1:45.437 1:47.483 +4.831 21 36 ITA 1946 Alex Caffi Dallara-Ford 1:47.493 1:45.750 +5.144 22 4 GBR Julian Bailey Tyrrell-Ford 1:46.286 1:47.801 +5.680 23 32 ARG 1868 Oscar Larrauri EuroBrun-Ford 1:46.390 1:48.116 +5.784 24 29 FRA 1974 Yannick Dalmas Lola-Ford 1:46.422 1:46.447 +5.816 25 24 ESP Luis Pérez-Sala Minardi-Ford 1:48.186 1:46.593 +5.987 26 21 ITA 1946 Nicola Larini Osella 1:46.623 1:51.623 +6.017 DNQ Did not qualify 2 JPN 1947 Satoru Nakajima Lotus-Honda 1:47.243 1:49.353 +6.637 DNQ Did not qualify 10 FRG Bernd Schneider Zakspeed 1:48.423 1:48.249 +7.643 DNQ Did not qualify 9 ITA 1946 Piercarlo Ghinzani Zakspeed 1:48.925 1:48.990 +8.319 DNS Did not start 16 ITA 1946 Ivan Capelli March-Judd 1:45.546 +4.940 Race Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 12 BRA 1968 Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 63 1:54:56.035 1 9 2 11 FRA 1974 Alain Prost McLaren-Honda 63 + 38.713 4 6 3 20 BEL Thierry Boutsen Benetton-Ford 62 + 1 Lap 5 4 4 22 ITA 1946 Andrea de Cesaris Rial-Ford 62 + 1 Lap 12 3 5 3 GBR Jonathan Palmer Tyrrell-Ford 62 + 1 Lap 17 2 6 23 ITA 1946 Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 62 + 1 Lap 16 1 7 29 FRA 1974 Yannick Dalmas Lola-Ford 61 + 2 Laps 24   8 36 ITA 1946 Alex Caffi Dallara-Ford 61 + 2 Laps 21   9 4 GBR Julian Bailey Tyrrell-Ford 59 Spun Off 22   Ret Retired 24 ESP Luis Pérez-Sala Minardi-Ford 54 Gearbox 25   Ret Retired 30 FRA 1974 Philippe Alliot Lola-Ford 46 Halfshaft 14   Ret Retired 33 ITA 1946 Stefano Modena EuroBrun-Ford 46 Spun Off 19   Ret Retired 27 ITA 1946 Michele Alboreto Ferrari 45 Collision 3   Ret Retired 25 FRA 1974 René Arnoux Ligier-Judd 45 Overheating 20   Ret Retired 15 BRA 1968 Maurício Gugelmin March-Judd 34 Engine 13   Ret Retired 6 ITA 1946 Riccardo Patrese Williams-Judd 26 Electrical 10   Ret Retired 1 BRA 1968 Nelson Piquet Lotus-Honda 26 Spun Off 8   Ret Retired 32 ARG 1868 Oscar Larrauri EuroBrun-Ford 26 Gearbox 23   Ret Retired 17 GBR Derek Warwick Arrows-Megatron 24 Spun Off 9   Ret Retired 5 GBR Nigel Mansell Williams-Judd 18 Engine 6   Ret Retired 14 FRA 1974 Philippe Streiff AGS-Ford 15 Suspension 11   Ret Retired 19 ITA 1946 Alessandro Nannini Benetton-Ford 14 Suspension 7   Ret Retired 18 USA Eddie Cheever Arrows-Megatron 14 Electrical 15   Ret Retired 21 ITA 1946 Nicola Larini Osella 7 Engine 26   Ret Retired 28 AUT Gerhard Berger Ferrari 6 Puncture 2   Ret Retired 26 SWE Stefan Johansson Ligier-Judd 2 Overheating 18   DNS Did not start 16 ITA 1946 Ivan Capelli March-Judd 0 Driver Injured   DNQ Did not qualify 2 JPN 1947 Satoru Nakajima Lotus-Honda       DNQ Did not qualify 10 FRG Bernd Schneider Zakspeed       DNQ Did not qualify 9 ITA 1946 Piercarlo Ghinzani Zakspeed       DNPQ Did not pre-qualify 31 ITA 1946 Gabriele Tarquini Coloni-Ford      Source:https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1988/races/532/detroit.html 1988 United States Grand Prix formula1.com 23 November 2017 March 27, 2023 https://web.archive.org/web/20230327081842/https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1988/races/532/detroit.html dead Championship standings after the race Drivers' Championship standings PosDriverPoints 1 FRA 1974 Alain Prost 45 2 BRA 1968 Ayrton Senna 33 3 AUT Gerhard Berger 18 4 BEL Thierry Boutsen 11 5 BRA 1968 Nelson Piquet 11Source:https://www.statsf1.com/en/1988/etats-unis/championnat.aspx USA 1988 - Championship • STATS F1 www.statsf1.com 15 March 2019 Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 GBR McLaren-Honda78 2 ITA 1946 Ferrari27 3 GBR Benetton-Ford12 4 GBR Lotus-Honda12 5 GBR Arrows-Megatron9Source: Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. References Further reading Nigel Roebuck (June 23, 1988). "Detroit GP: Makes You Six!". Autosport, 30–41. Detroit Grand Prix 1988 1988 Canadian Grand Prix 1988 French Grand Prix 1987 Detroit Grand Prix N/A Detroit Grand Prix Category:Detroit Grand Prix (Formula One) Detroit Grand Prix Detroit Grand Prix