1987 Formula One World Championship

The 1987 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 41st season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1987 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1987 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were contested concurrently over a sixteen-race series that commenced on 12 April and ended on 15 November.

The World Championship for Drivers was won by Nelson Piquet for the third and final time. He won just three races, compared to his teammate and main rival Nigel Mansell with six wins, but Mansell had to give up the challenge when he crashed in practice for the Japanese Grand Prix and injured his back. The World Championship for Constructors was won by Williams-Honda for the second consecutive year. The season also encompassed the Jim Clark Trophy and the Colin Chapman Trophy, which were respectively contested by drivers and constructors of Formula One cars powered by naturally aspirated engines.

This was the first season since 1976 that Renault were absent as an engine supplier in the sport due to ongoing company restructuring.

Pirelli's withdrawal from F1 at the end of 1986 meant that Goodyear was the sole tyre supplier for 1987. It was the first season since 1963 that the sport featured a standard single tyre supplier.

The following drivers and constructors competed in the 1987 season. All teams competed with tyres supplied by Goodyear as Pirelli exited the sport after six seasons.

It had already been determined that turbocharged engines would be banned from 1989 on. The FIA tried to make an early switch to naturally aspirated engines appealing:

The FIA banned super-soft (and sticky) qualifying tyres to eliminate the unpopular practice of having to find a clear lap on tyres which were good for two flying laps at best.^{[citation needed]}

The first race in April at the fast, rough and abrasive Jacarepagua Riocentro Autodrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil resulted in a dominant showing from Williams-Honda with Mansell ahead of Piquet. Then came Senna, Fabi, Prost, Boutsen, Berger, Warwick, Alboreto and Johansson.