1987 Formula One World Championship
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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.
Drivers and constructors
[edit]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.
Team changes
[edit]- Renault had withdrawn from Formula One at the end of last year, so their three customers had to look for new contracts:
- Lotus bought one-year-old Honda engines;
- Ligier were due to run Alfa Romeo four-cylinder turbo engines called the Alfa Romeo 415T (the engine had actually been in development since late 1984 as a possible replacement for the underpowered and thirsty Alfa Romeo 890T V8 turbo), but when driver René Arnoux compared the engines to "used food", Alfa's owner FIAT withdrew from the collaboration. The team were due run with the 890T at the opening round in Brazil before debuting the 4 cylinder turbo at Imola in round 2. However, when the association with Alfa ended it forced the team to miss Brazil while they modified their car to fit the old BMW turbo engines rebadged as Megatron supplied to the team by Arrows team boss Jackie Oliver (BMW limited their factory support to Brabham);
- Tyrrell signed a contract for Ford-Cosworth V8's, preparing them for the new regulations banning turbos in 1989.
- AGS also made the switch to Cosworth naturally aspirated V8's.
- Benetton, too, signed a deal with Ford-Cosworth, but for their V6 turbo which had debuted in 1986 with the Haas Lola team, because of its specific design features that could hopefully avoid the effects of the limited turbo boost (see Regulation changes), at least more than their rivals' turbo engines.
- McLaren lost designer John Barnard to Ferrari, but gained the services of long time Brabham designer Gordon Murray as the new Technical Director, and former Williams and Haas Lola designer/engineer Neil Oatley. Mclaren's new 1987 car would be designed by Steve Nichols.
- Arrows attracted former Haas Lola aerodynamicist Ross Brawn as its new Technical Director and Chief Designer. With BMW pulling out of Formula One other than honouring the contract to supply engines to the Brabham team in 1987, Arrows major sponsor, American insurance firm USF&G, bought the remaining supply of the BMW M12/13 4-cylinder engines and re-named them as the Megatron M12/13 engines. Team boss Jackie Oliver then supplied some of the engines to the Ligier team from round 2 of the season.
Mid-season changes
[edit]- The FIA's ban on turbocharged engines in 1989 made the entry to Formula One technologically easier and cheaper. The first team attracted to the grid was Scuderia Coloni, a successful squad in the Italian Formula Three Championship. They entered the Italian and Spanish Grand Prix, before participating in the full season a year later.
Driver changes
[edit]
- Keke Rosberg retired from Formula One, opening the door at McLaren for Stefan Johansson, after he got replaced at Ferrari by Gerhard Berger.
- Satoru Nakajima made his debut at Lotus, next to Ayrton Senna, having won six out of seven championships in Japanese Formula Two. His promotion was backed by Honda.
- Martin Brundle and Jonathan Palmer switched teams, Brundle moving to Zakspeed and Palmer to Tyrrell. Palmer endured a more successful year, winning the Jim Clark Trophy as highest-scoring driver with a non-turbocharged car.
- Another sixteen driver changes happened in the lower-ranking teams.
Mid-season changes
[edit]- By 1987, Osella were going at the season race by race and asking drivers to bring sponsorship or their own money. In such a construction, Gabriele Tarquini made his debut during the San Marino Grand Prix. And likewise, Franco Forini drove three races for the team.
- 1986 Italian F3 champion Nicola Larini debuted with Scuderia Coloni. He had driven for the team in F3.
- F3000 driver Yannick Dalmas made his debut during the Mexican Grand Prix, and staying until the end of the season, driving a second Larrousse car next to Philippe Alliot.
- Due to poor results, AGS replaced Pascal Fabre with Roberto Moreno, with two races left in the year. Moreno had one previous experience in F1, as test driver for Lotus in 1982.
- Brabham driver Riccardo Patrese was given the opportunity to replace Nigel Mansell for the last race of the season, when the Williams driver was injured during qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix. He had already been signed by Williams for 1988. 1987 F3000 champion Stefano Modena stepped in to make his debut at Brabham.
Calendar
[edit]Calendar changes
[edit]- The Belgian Grand Prix and Monaco Grand Prix swapped places on the calendar so that the Monaco round follows the Belgian Grand Prix.
- The British Grand Prix was moved to the Silverstone Circuit on an annual yearly basis after they signed a five-year deal to host the Grand Prix.
- The German Grand Prix reverted to Hockenheim run by the Automobilclub von Deutschland forcing out the Nürburgring who were run by ADAC.
- The Spanish Grand Prix was moved from mid April to late September.
- The Japanese Grand Prix returned after a 10-year absence; it was hosted at the Honda owned Suzuka International Racing Course on 1 November.
- The Canadian Grand Prix was originally scheduled to be held on 14 June but was cancelled due to a dispute between two rival breweries, Labatt and Molson in sponsoring the race. 1987 was the first season since 1975 that there was no Canadian Grand Prix.
Regulation changes
[edit]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:[1][2]
- Naturally aspirated engines could now have a maximum displacement of 3.5 litres, up from 3.0.
- The fuel limit for turbo engines was set at 195 L (52 US gal), while teams running with a naturally aspirated engine could carry and use unlimited amounts of fuel during a race.
- The turbo boost was now limited at 4.0 bar (58 psi). The FIA handled this by mandating that the valves would "pop off" when the pressure went over the limit. This led to the turbo-powered cars producing approximately 300 bhp (220 kW) less than the year before. However, the rate of development in areas like aerodynamics and tyres was such that the leading turbo-running teams practically negated the restriction on power.
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]
Season report
[edit]Race 1: Brazil
[edit]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.
The March team suffered a setback on race morning when it ran out of engines, and so the field was down to 22. At the start, Piquet took the lead from the fast-starting Senna while Mansell made a bad start and had to fight his way back to third. On lap seven Piquet suddenly went into the pits, his car having picked up paper in its radiators. He rejoined back in 11th position, leaving Senna to lead Mansell although the British driver was soon in the pits as well to have his radiators cleared. He rejoined behind Piquet and the pair then began to climb through the field. Senna pitted because of handling trouble and so Prost went into the lead and when he stopped for new tyres Boutsen briefly led before Piquet went back into the lead before his second stop. Prost then went ahead again and led for the rest of the afternoon, never looking threatened as he did not have a third tire stop while his rivals Senna and Piquet did. Mansell's race was disrupted by a puncture while Senna went out with engine failure and so Prost came home to win ahead of Piquet, Johansson, Berger, Boutsen and Mansell.
Race 2: San Marino (Imola, Italy)
[edit]After the season-opening race in Brazil there was a three-week gap during which March finished building the first 871 chassis for Capelli. Osella expanded to two cars with the second being run by a youngster called Gabriele Tarquini, while Brundle had the first of Zakspeed's new 871 chassis. Ligier was back in action with Megatron-engined cars for Rene Arnoux and Piercarlo Ghinzani. In addition there was another new team in the form of Gerard Larrousse's Lola-Ford/Cosworth team which had employed Philippe Alliot.
But come the San Marino Grand Prix held at the fast Autodromo Dino Ferrari in Italy, Nelson Piquet had a huge accident at the flat out Tamburello corner when he suffered a tire failure during qualifying and was forbidden from racing by F1 doctor Sid Watkins. Goodyear decided that in the interests of safety it would fly in new tyres overnight for Saturday qualifying. On Saturday afternoon Ayrton Senna took pole position in his Lotus-Honda with Nigel Mansell second quickest in his Williams-Honda. The second row featured Teo Fabi (Benetton-Ford) and Alain Prost (McLaren-TAG) with the Ferraris of Michele Alboreto and Gerhard Berger together on the third row. The top 10 was completed by Stefan Johansson (McLaren), Riccardo Patrese (Brabham-BMW) and the two Arrows-Megatrons of Derek Warwick and Eddie Cheever. Senna led from the start but on the second lap at Tosa, Mansell swept into the lead and began to pull away. On Lap 6 Prost found a way ahead of Senna and then clawed his way up behind Mansell and stayed there. Prost's race ended, however, on Lap 15 when the McLaren suffered an alternator failure. By then Alboreto had got ahead of Senna and so was in second place with Senna third and Patrese fourth. Mansell stopped earlier than planned for new tyres but was still ahead when everyone reemerged from their first stops. Patrese had moved to second with Alboreto and Senna chasing. In the closing laps Patrese dropped back because he had used too much fuel and so Alboreto was second until he lost boost pressure and Senna went ahead again. Mansell took the flag just under half a minute ahead of Senna with Alboreto third. Johansson was fourth, Martin Brundle fifth (scoring Zakspeed's first points) and Satoru Nakajima picking up sixth in his Lotus-Honda.
Race 3: Belgium
[edit]The high-speed circuit tour kept coming, and next was the Belgian Grand Prix at the magnificent and fast Spa-Francorchamps public road circuit near Liege. The field was much as it had been at the San Marino GP a fortnight earlier, although Osella was back to one car again. Nelson Piquet was back in action after his huge crash at Imola while Zakspeed had two 871 chassis for Martin Brundle and Christian Danner, the German having used an older car in the two previous races. Qualifying saw the two Williams-Hondas at the front with Mansell on pole by nearly 1.5 seconds while Ayrton Senna was third in his Lotus-Honda ahead of the two Ferraris of Gerhard Berger and Michele Alboreto, Alain Prost's McLaren-TAG/Porsche, Thierry Boutsen's Benetton-Ford/Cosworth, Riccardo Patrese's Brabham-BMW, Teo Fabi's Benetton and Stefan Johansson in the second McLaren. At the start Mansell took the lead and led Senna, Piquet, Alboreto and Prost. At the start of the second lap Philippe Streiff lost control of his Tyrrell at Raidillon and smashed into the barriers, the impact tearing the engine from the car. Jonathan Palmer then arrived on the scene in the second Tyrrell and smashed into the wreck of Streiff's car. The race was stopped but both men were unhurt, although the Tyrrell team's cars were demolished. The race was restarted which was good luck for Berger and home favorite Boutsen who had collided at the Bus Stop chicane. This time Senna took the lead from Mansell although halfway around the first lap Nigel tried to overtake and the two cars collided and both spun. Senna was out but Mansell was able to get going again. This put Piquet into the lead and Mansell at the back. He would continue until damage from the incident caused him to stop on lap 17, and after he retired, he marched to the Lotus pits to confront Senna, resulting Mansell grabbing Senna by the throat and then the two drivers got into a fist fight. Both had to be separated Second place belonged to Alboreto with Prost third, Boutsen fourth and Fabi fifth after Berger went out with an engine failure. Piquet went out with an engine failure after 10 laps and with Alboreto stopping with a broken CV joint, Prost went into the lead with Boutsen second and Johansson third, the Swede having overtaken Fabi. Stefan then closed on Boutsen and moved to second on lap 17. The pits stops changed little but in the latter part of the race Boutsen fell behind a charged-up Andrea de Cesaris (Brabham-BMW). Boutsen finally retired with a broken CV joint which left fourth place to Eddie Cheever (Arrows-Megatron) with Satoru Nakajima's Lotus-Honda and Rene Arnoux sixth in the Ligier-Megatron.
Race 4: Monaco
[edit]There were no changes in the entry after the Belgian GP and so it was business as usual at Monaco where the three leading Honda-engined cars were at the front as usual with Nigel Mansell taking pole in his Williams, Ayrton Senna second in the Lotus and Nelson Piquet third in the second Williams. Alain Prost was fourth for the McLaren-TAG team with Michele Alboreto fifth in his Ferrari. Sixth place was a surprise in the form of Eddie Cheever's Arrows-Megatron while the top 10 was completed by Stefan Johansson (McLaren-TAG), Gerhard Berger (Ferrari), Thierry Boutsen (Benetton-Ford) and Riccardo Patrese (Brabham-BMW). Alboreto had a spectacular crash when he ran into the back of Christian Danner's Zakspeed on the climb after Ste Devote. The Ferrari flew through the air but landed back on the track. With 26 cars starting at Monaco for the first time there were worries about safety in the race. At the start Mansell went straight into the lead so there was no chance of a repetition of his collision with Senna at Spa. The Brazilian was second with Piquet third ahead of Alboreto, Prost and Cheever. The order at the front remained unchanged until Lap 30 when Mansell slowed with a loss of boost pressure. Senna went into the lead and stayed there all the way to the flag, despite stopping for tyres. Piquet stayed second while Prost moved to third, overhauling Cheever who ran third for much of the mid-race. In the closing laps Prost suffered an engine failure and so third place went to Alboreto with Berger fourth (after Cheever went out with engine failure), Jonathan Palmer fifth in his Tyrrell and Ivan Capelli sixth in the Leyton House March.
Race 5: Detroit (USA)
[edit]The Canadian Grand Prix had been cancelled due to a dispute over local sponsors Molson and Labatt's; so Detroit was the only North American round in the middle of the European season. This race, on the slowest circuit of the season was generally considered to be the toughest and most demanding race of the season, due to the tight and extremely bumpy downtown Detroit city streets lined with concrete walls. The entry was unchanged from the field that had raced at Monaco three weeks earlier and as usual the battle for pole position was between the Honda-powered cars with Nigel Mansell fastest on this occasion with his Williams. Just behind him was Ayrton Senna's Lotus and Nelson Piquet's Williams. There was then a big gap back to Thierry Boutsen's Benetton-Ford, Alain Prost's McLaren-TAG, Eddie Cheever's Arrows-Megatron and Michele Alboreto's Ferrari. The top 10 was completed by Teo Fabi (Benetton), Riccardo Patrese (Brabham-BMW) and Derek Warwick in the second Arrows. Mansell took the lead at the start and began to pull away from Senna while behind in the midfield Stefan Johansson (McLaren) damaged a front wing on the back of Warwick's Arrows and Satoru Nakajima (Lotus-Honda) crashed into the back of Ivan Capelli's Leyton House March and then managed to collide with Adrian Campos's Minardi at the next corner. Behind the two front-runners Piquet had trouble keeping Cheever behind him and eventually gave himself a puncture when he tapped a wheel and had to pit for new tyres. Cheever then had to fight to hold off Fabi and on lap seven the Benetton driver tried to pass and made a mess of it and ended up removing the nose of his car. Both drivers pitted, Fabi to retire and Cheever for new tyres. He rejoined at the back. This left Alboreto third ahead of Boutsen and Prost and the only change in the next few laps was as Prost moved up ahead of the Benetton. Alboreto went out with gearbox failure and so Prost was third as the pit stops approached. During the stops Mansell had a wheel nut stick on his car and lost 10 seconds and that meant that Senna went into the lead with Mansell second, Prost third and Piquet, who had charged up through the field in fourth. Nelson continued his charge and overtook Prost and closed on Mansell, who was suffering from leg cramps. He eventually fell behind the Brazilian, Prost and Gerhard Berger (Ferrari). Senna won at his ease with Piquet second and Prost third. The remaining points went to Berger, Mansell and the recovering Cheever.
Race 6: France
[edit]At the French Grand Prix held at the Paul Ricard circuit near the French Riviera city of Le Castellet, the battle of the Honda powered cars was interrupted in France by a good performance from Alain Prost's McLaren-TAG which qualified second to Nigel Mansell's Williams. The second row featured Ayrton Senna's Lotus-Honda and Nelson Piquet in the second Williams while fifth place went to Thierry Boutsen (Benetton) with Gerhard Berger (Ferrari), Teo Fabi (Benetton) and Michele Alboreto (Ferrari) following the first four rows. The top 10 was completed by Stefan Johansson's McLaren and Derek Warwick in the Arrows-Megatron. Mansell made a good start to lead Prost into the first corner but on the back straight Piquet blasted ahead of the McLaren to make it a Williams 1–2 with Prost third and Senna fourth ahead of the two Benettons, Boutsen ahead of Fabi. This order did not change although Mansell ran into trouble when he ran over debris from Johansson who had had an accident with Andrea de Cesaris (Brabham) at the first corner. On lap 19 Piquet had a moment and lost second place to Prost but during the pits stops the Brazilian managed to get ahead of both Prost and Mansell. Mansell quickly retook second from Prost and closed up on Piquet but overtaking was another issue until Piquet made a mistake and ran wide on lap 46 and Mansell went ahead. At the second round of stops Piquet stalled in the pitlane and lost just under 10 secs and so Mansell was able to win. Nelson finished second while Prost and Senna were third and fourth ahead of Fabi with the final point going to Philippe Streiff in the Tyrrell-Ford/Cosworth.
Race 7: Britain
[edit]The Mansell-Piquet intra-team battle continued at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone with victory in qualifying going to Nelson Piquet who beat his Williams teammate Nigel Mansell to pole by less than a tenth of a second. Third was Ayrton Senna in his Lotus while Alain Prost was fourth fastest in his McLaren-TAG. The third row of the grid was shared by the two Benetton-Fords of Thierry Boutsen and Teo Fabi while row four was an all-Ferrari affair with Michele Alboreto just ahead of Gerhard Berger. The top 10 was completed by Andrea de Cesaris's Brabham-BMW and the second McLaren driven by Stefan Johansson. There was disappointment for Ligier with Piercarlo Ghinzani being excluded from the meeting after he ran out of fuel on the circuit and was then refueled and push-started by his mechanics. The Italian also did a couple of extra laps at the end of the first qualifying and the catalogue of rule-breaking proved to be too much for the stewards to accept. The Silverstone circuit, which was originally the fastest circuit on the calendar had been modified: the Woodcote chicane had been taken out and replaced with a slower chicane further down the Bridge straight. In what was to be a classic race Prost made a better start than both Williams drivers and took the lead but at the second corner Piquet blasted ahead of the Frenchman and almost immediately Mansell followed Piquet through. It was going to be a straight fight between the two of them. The pace of the Williams drivers and the superiority of the Williams FW11B on high-speed tracks meant that Mansell and Piquet lapped the entire field near the end of the race. Piquet had led for most of the afternoon but in the closing laps, with the home crowd roaring him on and having pitted for a fresh set of tires (Piquet had decided to go the entire distance on one set), Mansell closed up on Piquet and at Stowe Corner on lap 63 of 65 Mansell went ahead of his rival with a stunning passing maneuver. The pace of the two Williams cars was so furious that they lapped the entire field on a dry circuit. On the slowing down lap Mansell ran out of fuel, and the Honda engine in his car blew up. Third place went to Senna with fourth going to Satoru Nakajima in the second Lotus-Honda and the remaining points going to Derek Warwick (Arrows-Megatron/BMW) and Fabi.
Race 8: Germany
[edit]Going into the German Grand Prix at the very fast Hockenheimring with its forested straights, the World Championship was finely balanced at the midseason with Nelson Piquet leading on 39 points, Ayrton Senna second with 35, Nigel Mansell third with 30 and Alain Prost fourth with 26. Qualifying resulted in Mansell beating Senna to pole with Prost third, edging Piquet to fourth. Michele Alboreto was fifth fastest in his Ferrari with Thierry Boutsen sixth for Benetton. The top 10 was completed by Andrea de Cesaris (Brabham-BMW), Stefan Johansson (McLaren), Teo Fabi (Benetton) and Gerhard Berger (Ferrari). At the start Senna took the lead with Mansell slow away but he recovered to be second by the end of the first lap ahead of Prost, Piquet, Boutsen, Alboreto and Johansson. At the start of the second lap Mansell went ahead and it was clear that Senna was holding everyone up behind him. Prost went by later on the second lap and Piquet followed on the third lap. Prost was able to close up to Mansell and on lap seven the Frenchman went ahead. Further back in the field the attrition rate was high but at the front little changed until lap 19 when Prost pitted for tires. When Mansell pitted on lap 23 Prost went ahead again. Mansell hoped to catch the McLaren but his engine failed on lap 25 and so Piquet moved to second place while Senna pitted twice trying to solve a serious handling problem and dropped back, leaving Johansson in third place after Boutsen's Benetton had blown its engine. Prost seemed to have the race won but with four laps to go an alternator belt broke and he was forced to retire. Victory thus went to Piquet with Johansson second, Senna third and stragglers picking up the other points: Philippe Streiff and Jonathan Palmer coming home fourth and fifth in their Tyrrells and Philippe Alliot sixth in his Larrousse Lola. The only other man running was Martin Brundle in his Zakspeed 10 laps behind the winner. The attrition rate was in fact so high in this race that only 6 of 26 starting cars finished – the lowest number since the 1984 Detroit Grand Prix. Most of the failures in this race were engine- or turbo-related; the 1.5L turbo-charged cars were producing around 950 hp in race trim.
Race 9: Hungary
[edit]The big news at the Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring in Mogyoród was that Ayrton Senna had informed Lotus that he would not be staying with the team in 1988. Team boss Peter Warr moved quickly and signed Nelson Piquet, who was unhappy that Frank Williams would not give him clear number one status at Williams. Senna was going to join Alain Prost at McLaren. Qualifying for the race at Hungaroring saw Ferrari making a step forward as Gerhard Berger qualified second behind Nigel Mansell's Williams-Honda. Nelson Piquet was third with Alain Prost fourth in his McLaren while Michele Alboreto was fifth in the second Ferrari and Senna sixth. The top ten was completed by Thierry Boutsen (Benetton-Ford), Stefan Johansson's McLaren, Derek Warwick in the Arrows-Megatron/BMW and Riccardo Patrese's Brabham-BMW. Mansell took the lead at the start with Berger making a slightly hesitant start which allowed Piquet to take second before Berger retook the place with a brave outside overtaking maneuver at the first corner. Piquet then lost third place to Alboreto and so it was Mansell being chased by the two Ferraris, with Piquet fourth ahead of Senna, Prost, Boutsen and Johansson. Berger's race would be short-lived as he retired after 13 laps with differential failure. This moved Alboreto to second and Piquet to third and the order stayed the same until Piquet overtook Alboreto on lap 29. Senna was fourth with Boutsen fifth and Prost sixth. The order remained unchanged until lap 44 when Alboreto disappeared with an engine problem and then in the closing laps Prost moved ahead of Boutsen. On lap 71 of 76 Mansell's car lost its right rear wheel nut and he was forced to retire, and victory went to Piquet- this was a major blow to Mansell's championship hopes. Senna was second with Prost third ahead of Boutsen, Patrese and Warwick.
Race 10: Austria
[edit]Nelson Piquet's win in Hungary gave him a seven-point lead in the World Championship over Ayrton Senna with Nigel Mansell and Alain Prost 11 points behind Senna. At the Austrian Grand Prix, held at the scenic and spectacular Österreichring, the fastest Grand Prix circuit of the year Nigel Mansell was handicapped slightly by the fact that he had had a wisdom tooth removed before practice began and this affected his performance in qualifying, allowing his Williams-Honda teammate Nelson Piquet to take pole position at an incredible average speed of 159 mph (255 km/h). Mansell was second with Gerhard Berger third in his Ferrari and Thierry Boutsen fourth in his Benetton-Ford, just ahead of his teammate Teo Fabi. Michele Alboreto was sixth in the second Ferrari ahead of Ayrton Senna's Lotus-Honda, Riccardo Patrese's Brabham-BMW, Alain Prost's McLaren and Andrea de Cesaris in the second Brabham. Stefan Johansson had a big fright in practice when he found a deer in the middle of the road and hit it at high speed. This destroyed the McLaren's suspension and he crashed heavily, cracking a rib in the ensuing accident.
The safety of the Austrian track was becoming more of an issue and on race day the problems were underlined again. The narrow pit straight – which had caused problems at Grands Prix for years and one that the organizers had failed to widen – became the center topic of the debate of safety. At the start Piquet got away ahead of a fast-starting Fabi but the race was stopped when Martin Brundle's Zakspeed went out of control, hit a barrier and bounced back into the middle for the track. Rene Arnoux (Ligier) and Adrian Campos (Minardi) collided while the two Tyrrells hit one another and Piercarlo Ghinzani's Ligier was also out with a broken suspension.
The grid was reformed and the field tried to get away again. Piquet went into the lead but Mansell had a problem and was crawling away slowly. Berger too slowed suddenly as he tried to pass the Williams and so there was serious congestion behind with the result that Patrese hit Eddie Cheever (Arrows-Megatron). Johansson hit the back of Cheever and Brundle hit the rear of the McLaren. This resulted in Ghinzani braking and being hit by Alex Caffi's Osella and Ivan Capelli (March), Philippe Alliot (Larrousse Lola), Christian Danner (Zakspeed) and Philippe Streiff (Tyrrell) all becoming involved and then Pascal Fabre (AGS) driving over the back of Jonathan Palmer's Tyrrell. The track was blocked again and the race red flagged for a second time.
Remarkably most of the field was able to take the third start with only Streiff missing, although Brundle, Caffi, Danner and Fabre all started from the pitlane. Prost's McLaren refused to get away and so he jumped into the spare and joined the queue in the pitlane. At the end of the parade lap Alboreto went into the pits to have his steering wheel fixed and so there were sixth cars starting from pitlane. This time Senna stalled but everyone avoided the Lotus and Piquet took the lead from Boutsen, Berger, Mansell and Fabi. At the tail of the field Senna, Prost and Alboreto were beginning to charge through the backmarkers. Berger disappeared with a turbo failure after only a few laps and Boutsen disappeared on lap 15 with a gear-linkage which had come loose. This left Piquet and Mansell at the front with Fabi third. On lap 21 Mansell took the lead as the two Williams drivers were diving through backmarkers going down the straight leading to the Bosch-Kurve. Once ahead Mansell was able to keep his lead at the pit stops and Fabi remained third so attention turned to the battles further down the field as Alboreto and Senna battling it out. The two collided and Senna had to pit for a new front wing. He dropped out of the points but managed to pick up places when Alboreto retired with an exhaust problem and Prost was slowed with a similar failure. This meant that Boutsen was fourth with Senna fifth and Prost sixth.
This would be the last Austrian Grand Prix for 10 years; the race would return to the same shortened venue in 1997.
Race 11: Italy
[edit]The field was expanded at the Monza Autodrome near Milan by the arrival of the new Coloni team, fielding Nicola Larini. The Osella team expanded to two cars with the Swiss Franco Forini joining Alex Caffi. Honda had announced that it would not be supplying Williams with engines in 1988, despite the fact the Japanese company still had one year to go on its contract. Honda had decided that it wanted to be with McLaren. This led to questions over whether Honda would treat the two Williams drivers fairly in the battle for the World Championship as Nelson Piquet would be a Honda driver in 1988 and Mansell would not. The Honda men said that it made no difference but few believed them. The Williams team had its new active-suspension system ready and Nelson Piquet used it, while Nigel Mansell stayed with a conventional car. Piquet took pole position with Mansell a tenth behind him but Ayrton Senna was beaten to third place by Gerhard Berger's Ferrari. Then came Thierry Boutsen (Benetton-Ford), Alain Prost's McLaren-TAG, Michele Alboreto's Ferrari and Teo Fabi's Benetton. The top 10 was completed by the two Brabhams of Andrea de Cesaris and Riccardo Patrese. At the start of the race Mansell made a good start but then missed a gearchange and so Piquet went into the lead at the first corner with Berger third ahead of Boutsen, Prost and Senna. At the start of the second lap Berger challenged for second place and Mansell closed the door so the two cars collided and Boutsen moved to second place with Berger third and Mansell fourth. The order then remained the same until Mansell was finally able to pass Berger on lap 17. he then overtook Boutsen as well. The mid-race pit stops put Senna into the lead and it looked as though he might be able to go without a pit stop as he had done in Monaco and Detroit. The two Williams-Hondas were second and third with Boutsen behind them. Senna looked fine until lap 43 when he was lapping Piercarlo Ghinzani's Ligier and went off across a sand trap at the Parabolica. By the time he was back on the track Piquet was in the lead. Senna tried to regain the place but his tires would not allow him to challenge and so they finished with Piquet winning the race. Mansell was third with Berger fourth, Boutsen fifth and Stefan Johansson (McLaren) sixth.
Race 12: Portugal
[edit]At the Estoril Autodrome near the Portuguese capital of Lisbon, the Coloni team did not reappear in Portugal but Osella continued to run a second car for Franco Forini. Ferrari's progress throughout the summer months was confirmed with Gerhard Berger taking pole position ahead of Nigel Mansell's Williams-Honda, Alain Prost's McLaren and Nelson Piquet's Williams. Ayrton Senna was fifth in his Lotus-Honda and the top 10 was completed by Michele Alboreto in the second Ferrari, Riccardo Patrese's Brabham, Stefan Johansson's McLaren and the two Benetton-Fords of Thierry Boutsen and Teo Fabi. At the start Mansell took the lead from Berger but behind them Alboreto collided with Piquet. Derek Warwick spun his Arrows to avoid them and then Satoru Nakajima (Lotus) collided with Martin Brundle (Zakspeed) and the rest of the field piled into the wrecks. The result was that Adrian Campos (Minardi), Christian Danner (Zakspeed), Rene Arnoux (Ligier), Philippe Alliot (Larrousse Lola) and Eddie Cheever (Arrows) were also involved. The race was stopped, and at the restart everyone was able to start apart from Danner. Mansell went into the lead again. At the end of the first lap, however, Berger took the lead and with Senna fighting off Piquet for third place the race began to settle down. It took Piquet until the eleventh lap to overtake Senna. Mansell pressured Berger early on but then dropped away as his engine began to misfire and on lap 14 stopped on the circuit. Senna slowed and went into the pits with an electronic problem while Alboreto closed up on Piquet and began to make life difficult for the Brazilian. He eventually got ahead but Piquet soon retaliated. The mid-race pitstops elevated Prost to second place ahead of Piquet and Fabi, while Alboreto disappeared with a transmission failure. The order remained unchanged until the closing laps as Prost gradually closed on Berger and put the Austrian under pressure. On lap 68 of 70 Berger crumbled under the pressure and spun. Prost was in the lead and duly won his 28th victory, to beat Jackie Stewart's long-established record of 27 Grand Prix victories, a record he held until Michael Schumacher surpassed with 52 victories at the 2001 Belgian Grand Prix. A disappointed Berger was second with Piquet third, Fabi fourth, Johansson fifth and Cheever sixth.
Race 13: Spain
[edit]The Spanish Grand Prix had been moved to being the final Grand Prix in Europe of the year, and at the Jerez circuit near Seville in southern Spain, the Coloni team was back in action and with Franco Forini staying on for a third event with the Osella team the field was up to 28 cars. The battle for pole position was between the two Williams-Honda with World Championship leader Nelson Piquet (in an active Williams) on pole ahead of challenger Nigel Mansell (who chose to use the passive car). The two Ferraris of Gerhard Berger and Michele Alboreto were third and fourth with Ayrton Senna fifth in his Lotus-Honda. Teo Fabi was sixth in his Benetton-Ford with Alain Prost (McLaren), Thierry Boutsen (Benetton) and the two Brabhams of Riccardo Patrese and Andrea de Cesaris rounding off the top 10. In the race Piquet took the lead but Mansell dived ahead at the end of the first lap and began to pull away from the Brazilian. Senna was third with the two Ferraris and Boutsen chasing. The top five did not change for the first half of the race with Senna at the front of a train of cars. At the pitstops Mansell was away and gone before Senna arrived but Piquet was slower and found himself stuck in fourth place behind Senna and Prost. He challenged Prost but got it wrong and spun back to sixth place. Senna had decided to go through without a stop and those behind him were left to battle with one another while Mansell drove on to victory. Senna's gamble did not pay off because his tires deteriorated quickly and eventually Piquet, Boutsen and Prost were all able to get ahead. Senna then dropped back behind Johansson as well. Piquet then made a mistake and ran wide but Boutsen also made a mistake and spun and so Prost was second with Johansson third, Piquet fourth, Senna fifth and Philippe Alliot sixth in his Larrousse Lola.
Race 14: Mexico
[edit]The Formula One circus moved from one Hispanophonic country to another; this time to Mexico 3 weeks after the Spanish round. This race, held at the high-altitude and very bumpy Hermanos Rodriguez Autodrome located within a recreational public park in the middle of Mexico City was the 450th Formula One Grand Prix, and the field was much as it had been all season, the only changes being that Osella had gone back to one car and Larrousse has expanded to two with Yannick Dalmas joining Philippe Alliot. Nelson Piquet was 18 points ahead with three races to go and so Nigel Mansell needed a good result without Piquet scoring too well. The atmosphere in the Williams had deteriorated badly between the two drivers to the point where team boss Frank Williams had admitted that he could not do anything to make things better but as Ayrton Senna was out of the running for the World Championship there was no chance that the two could take points from one another as they had in 1986 and let a third driver win the title. In qualifying the drivers found that thanks to the geologically active land the Mexico City track, already made challenging by the humid heat, dust and smog had become more bumpy than last year and there were a series of big accidents, including one of Mansell, and another for Ayrton Senna. The drivers were all complaining intensely about the track surface to FIA personnel, but not much could be done at this point. Mansell was on pole from Gerhard Berger second in his Ferrari ahead of Piquet, Thierry Boutsen (Benetton-Ford), Alain Prost (McLaren), Teo Fabi (Benetton) and Senna. The top 10 was rounded off by Riccardo Patrese (Brabham-BMW), Michele Alboreto (Ferrari) and Andrea de Cesaris (Brabham). This Grand Prix was a very unusual race, and at the start Mansell made a bad start and was overtaken by Berger, Boutsen, Piquet and Prost. At the first corner Piquet and Prost tangled and both cars spun. Prost was out but Piquet got going again with assistance from the track marshals. Mansell had moved up to third, and there were further incidents down through the field with Stefan Johansson being spinning and being eliminated when he was hit by Christian Danner, and Nakajima crashing into the back of Derek Warwick's Arrows at the end of the main straight. At the front Boutsen took the lead from Berger on the second lap with Mansell a distant third but then the Benetton began to misfire and Berger went back into the lead and Boutsen went out with electronic injection trouble. Berger retired six laps later with engine failure and with Alboreto also having disappeared Ferrari's race was over. Mansell was thus left in the lead with Senna second and Patrese third and Piquet fourth. Then there were red flags after Warwick (Arrows-Megatron) had a huge accident at the final corner when something broke at the back of his car as a result of Nakajima running into him earlier. A new grid was formed up based on the order of the cars before the crash with the race being decided on aggregate. Piquet took the lead at the restart but with Mansell sitting behind him there was no way he could win the race. In the closing laps Senna spun off and so Piquet ended up in second place having done enough to beat Patrese on aggregate. Eddie Cheever was fourth in his Arrows with Fabi fifth and Philippe Alliot sixth.
Race 15: Japan
[edit]Formula 1 returned to Japan for the first time in 10 years and the circus came for the first time to the twisty, very demanding Honda-owned Suzuka track near Nagoya having been at the very fast Fuji Speedway in 1977. An exciting World Championship showdown between Williams-Honda teammates Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell was on the cards, Piquet was 12 points ahead of Mansell, but already had 11 points results so would not be able to score as easily, meaning two wins for Mansell would give the Brit the title. However, during qualifying Mansell crashed heavily at the fast Snake sweepers behind the paddock. The accident left him with severe bruising to his backbone, re-triggering an old injury and it was decided that he should not be allowed to race. Having spent Friday night in hospital Mansell flew back to Europe on Saturday evening. Nelson Piquet was World Champion for the third time, his season-long consistency having paid dividends. The entry was much as it had been in Mexico although AGS decided to replace Pascal Fabre with Roberto Moreno. Gerhard Berger took pole position in his Ferrari ahead of Alain Prost's McLaren, Thierry Boutsen's Benetton-Ford and Michele Alboreto in the second Ferrari. Then came Piquet and Teo Fabi (Benetton) with the top 10 completed by Ayrton Senna (Lotus), Riccardo Patrese (Brabham-BMW), Stefan Johansson's McLaren and the second Brabham of Andrea de Cesaris. In the race Berger took the lead at the start and was never threatened, winning a dominant victory; this was Ferrari's first victory since the 1985 German Grand Prix. Boutsen chased Berger early on but dropped behind Senna, Piquet and Johansson. Piquet's race ended with an engine failure in the closing laps, so fourth place went to Alboreto with Boutsen fifth and Satoru Nakajima sixth.
Race 16: Australia
[edit]The last race of the year was at the demanding and punishing Adelaide street circuit in Australia. With Nigel Mansell out of action with injury after the Japanese GP, Williams did a deal with Brabham to use 1988 signing Riccardo Patrese for the final race of 1987 and Brabham took on youngster Stefano Modena as Patrese's replacement. Otherwise the field was as before. Japanese GP winner Gerhard Berger was on pole position in his Ferrari from Alain Prost's McLaren-TAG/Porsche, Nelson Piquet's Williams-Honda and the Lotus-Honda of Ayrton Senna. Thierry Boutsen was fifth quickest in his Benetton-Ford ahead of Michele Alboreto's Ferrari, Patrese's Williams, Stefan Johansson's McLaren, Teo Fabi's Benetton and Andrea de Cesaris's Brabham. Berger did as he had done in Japan, leading from flag to flag. He was chased initially by Piquet and Senna but the Lotus soon fell behind Prost. After the midrace pit stops Senna moved to second with Alboreto third. The final World Championship points went to Jonathan Palmer (Tyrrell) in fourth place and Roberto Moreno (AGS) in sixth. Yannick Dalmas (Larrousse Lola) finished fifth, but was not eligible for World Championship points as he was driving Larrousse-Lola's second car and the team had officially entered only one car for the entire championship. Senna was then disqualified for a weight infringement in his last race for Lotus.
Results and standings
[edit]Grands Prix
[edit]Scoring system
[edit]Points were awarded to the top six classified finishers for the Drivers' and Constructors' Championships, while points for the Jim Clark Trophy and Colin Chapman Trophy were awarded to the top six classified finishers running naturally aspirated engines. For the Drivers' Championship, the best eleven results were counted, while, for the Constructors' Championship, Jim Clark Trophy, and Colin Chapman Trophy, all rounds were counted.
Numbers without parentheses are championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored. Points were awarded in the following system:
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Race | 9 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Source:[3] | ||||||
World Drivers' Championship standings
[edit]
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
† Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.
* Dalmas was not eligible for points, as he was driving Larrousse-Lola's second car and the team had officially entered only one car for the entire championship.
Jim Clark Trophy
[edit]| Pos | Driver | BRA
|
SMR
|
BEL
|
MON
|
DET
|
FRA
|
GBR
|
GER
|
HUN
|
AUT
|
ITA
|
POR
|
ESP
|
MEX
|
JPN
|
AUS
|
Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jonathan Palmer
|
1 | Ret | Ret | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | Ret | 2 | 1 | 1 | 95 |
| 2 | Philippe Streiff
|
2 | 1 | 2 | Ret | Ret | 1 | Ret | 1 | 2 | Ret | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | Ret | 74 |
| 3 | Philippe Alliot
|
2 | 1 | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 3 | Ret | 2 | Ret | Ret | 1 | 1 | Ret | Ret | 43 | |
| 4 | Ivan Capelli
|
DNS | Ret | Ret | 2 | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 38 |
| 5 | Pascal Fabre
|
3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | Ret | 4 | NC | DNQ | DNQ | Ret | DNQ | 35 | ||
| 6 | Roberto Moreno
|
Ret | 3 | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| — | Yannick Dalmas
|
4* | 3* | 2* | 0 | |||||||||||||
| — | Nicola Larini
|
DNQ | Ret | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| Pos | Driver | BRA
|
SMR
|
BEL
|
MON
|
DET
|
FRA
|
GBR
|
GER
|
HUN
|
AUT
|
ITA
|
POR
|
ESP
|
MEX
|
JPN
|
AUS
|
Points |
* Dalmas was ruled to have competed in insufficient events to be eligible for points[5]
World Constructors' Championship standings
[edit]
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
* The second Lola was not eligible for points, as the team had officially entered only one car for the entire championship.
Colin Chapman Trophy
[edit]| Pos | Constructor | Car no. |
BRA
|
SMR
|
BEL
|
MON
|
DET
|
FRA
|
GBR
|
GER
|
HUN
|
AUT
|
ITA
|
POR
|
ESP
|
MEX
|
JPN
|
AUS
|
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tyrrell-Ford
|
3 | 1 | Ret | Ret | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | Ret | 2 | 1 | 1 | 169 |
| 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | Ret | Ret | 1 | Ret | 1 | 2 | Ret | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | Ret | |||
| 2 | Lola-Ford
|
29 | 4* | 3* | 2* | 43 | |||||||||||||
| 30 | 2 | 1 | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 3 | Ret | 2 | Ret | Ret | 1 | 1 | Ret | Ret | ||||
| 3 | AGS-Ford
|
14 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | Ret | 4 | NC | DNQ | DNQ | Ret | DNQ | Ret | 3 | 39 |
| 4 | March-Ford
|
16 | DNS | Ret | Ret | 2 | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 38 |
| — | Coloni-Ford
|
32 | DNQ | Ret | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| Pos | Constructor | Car no. |
BRA
|
SMR
|
BEL
|
MON
|
DET
|
FRA
|
GBR
|
GER
|
HUN
|
AUT
|
ITA
|
POR
|
ESP
|
MEX
|
JPN
|
AUS
|
Pts |
* The second Lola was not eligible for points (see above).
Notes
[edit]- ^ "F1 rules and stats 1980-1989". F1Technical.net. January 2009. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
- ^ "Engine rule changes through the years". formula1-dictionary.net. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
- ^ "World Championship points systems". 8W. Forix. 18 January 2019. Archived from the original on 24 September 2019. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
- ^ Only the best 11 results counted towards the Drivers' Championship. Numbers without parentheses are championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.
- ^ Hamilton, Maurice (1987). AUTOCOURSE 1987-88. Hazleton Publishing. p. 223. ISBN 0-905138-47-3.
External links
[edit]
1987 Formula One World Championship
View on GrokipediaPre-Season Changes
Regulation Changes
To curb the escalating power and costs associated with turbocharged engines, the FIA imposed a 4.0 bar absolute pressure limit on turbo boost for the 1987 season.[8] This measure aimed to temper the excessive horsepower outputs that had reached over 1,000 bhp in qualifying the previous year, while also controlling development expenses for teams reliant on 1.5-liter turbo units.[9] In parallel, the regulations expanded options for naturally aspirated engines by allowing a maximum displacement of 3.5 liters, up from the prior 3.0-liter cap, to encourage manufacturers and teams to explore non-turbo alternatives and foster greater parity on the grid.[10] To further balance competition, naturally aspirated cars were assigned a minimum weight of 500 kg, lighter than the 540 kg threshold for turbocharged entries, reflecting the inherent power differences between the engine types.[10] Tire supply underwent a significant shift as Goodyear became the exclusive provider after Pirelli's withdrawal at the end of 1986, marking the first sole-supplier arrangement in Formula One since Firestone's monopoly ended in 1963.[11] This eliminated competitive tire development between manufacturers, simplifying logistics but potentially reducing innovation in compounds and designs. Fuel regulations continued to emphasize efficiency, with turbocharged cars restricted to a 195-liter capacity per race—unchanged from 1986 but strictly enforced to limit consumption and strategy options—while naturally aspirated cars faced no such volume limit.[12] Refueling remained prohibited during races, a rule in place since 1984, thereby underscoring the importance of optimizing pre-race fuel loads within these constraints to complete full race distances.[13]Team Changes
Renault ended its involvement as an engine supplier in Formula One at the conclusion of the 1986 season, having previously withdrawn its works team after 1985, which left customer teams seeking alternative power units.[14] This shift impacted outfits like Ligier, which had relied on Renault turbo engines, prompting them to adopt Megatron-badged BMW units for 1987.[15] Three new teams joined the grid as full entrants in 1987, all powered by naturally aspirated Ford Cosworth DFV V8 engines: the Italian Coloni squad, founded by former Formula 3 champion Enzo Coloni and debuting at the Italian Grand Prix; Gérard Larrousse's Larrousse team, utilizing Lola chassis; and the revived March team, which re-entered after a hiatus using updated 1986 designs.[16][17] Team Lotus transitioned from Renault turbo engines to Honda RA167E V6 turbos for 1987, a move that enhanced their performance and enabled two race victories.[10] Tyrrell persisted with naturally aspirated engines into 1987 by adopting the Cosworth DFZ V8, aligning with the season's equity formula that favored non-turbo powerplants through weight advantages and positioning the team ahead of the 1989 ban on turbos.[18] Brabham continued its partnership with BMW, employing the M12/13 inline-four turbo engine despite reliability challenges from the previous year's unconventional low-line BT55 chassis. Benetton formally took over the struggling Toleman team ahead of the 1987 season, rebranding it while retaining BMW turbo power and introducing vibrant sponsorship liveries that marked the fashion company's deeper commitment to the sport.[19]Driver Changes
The off-season leading into the 1987 Formula One World Championship featured significant driver market activity, with several high-profile retirements and transfers shaping team line-ups. Keke Rosberg, the 1982 drivers' champion, announced his retirement following the 1986 season after a challenging year at McLaren, where he tested opportunities with Williams but ultimately chose to step away from full-time racing.[20] Nelson Piquet transferred from Brabham to Williams, where he partnered incumbent Nigel Mansell in a bid to challenge for the title with the team's potent Honda power unit.[16] Alain Prost remained with McLaren, welcoming Stefan Johansson as his new teammate to fill the vacancy left by Rosberg's departure.[21] At Tyrrell, Jonathan Palmer earned a full-time role alongside Philippe Alliot, transitioning from part-time appearances to a stable partnership in the atmospheric-engined squad.[22] Michele Alboreto stayed on at Ferrari, but the team replaced Johansson with Gerhard Berger, who arrived from Benetton to form a dynamic duo aimed at revitalizing the Scuderia's turbocharged challenge.[23]Participants
Constructors and Engines
The 1987 Formula One season marked the final year of the turbocharged era, with regulations limiting boost pressure to 4.0 bar to curb excessive power outputs that had previously exceeded 1,000 horsepower in qualifying trim. This change aimed to enhance safety and competitiveness, while also permitting the introduction of naturally aspirated (NA) engines up to 3.5 liters, leading to a diverse field of power units. Turbocharged 1.5-liter engines remained dominant, supplied by manufacturers including Honda, Porsche, BMW (badged as Megatron for some teams), Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Motori Moderni, and Zakspeed, while NA options were primarily Ford Cosworth DFZ V8s. Honda's V6 turbo proved particularly potent, powering the championship-winning Williams and the strong Lotus entries.[22] Up to sixteen constructors entered the season, though some like Coloni and others participated sporadically. The field featured a mix of established teams with advanced carbon-fiber monocoques and innovative features like Lotus's active suspension, alongside smaller outfits relying on customer engines. Below is a summary of the primary chassis and engine configurations used by the competing constructors.| Constructor | Chassis | Engine | Configuration | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Williams-Honda | FW11B | Honda RA167E | 1.5L V6 turbo | Dominant package with semi-automatic gearbox; won Constructors' Championship. |
| McLaren-TAG | MP4/3 | TAG Porsche P01 | 1.5L V6 turbo | Evolved from 1986 model; reliable but outpaced by Honda power. |
| Lotus-Honda | 99T | Honda RA166E | 1.5L V6 turbo | Featured pioneering active suspension; third in Constructors'. |
| Ferrari | F1-87 | Ferrari Tipo 033D | 1.5L V6 turbo | In-house developed engine with 90-degree V-angle; fourth in standings. |
| Benetton-Ford | B187 | Ford Cosworth GBA | 1.5L V6 turbo | Customer turbo V6; best privateer result with fifth in Constructors'. |
| Tyrrell-Ford | DG016 | Ford Cosworth DFZ | 3.5L V8 NA | One of the leading NA cars; earned points through reliability. |
| Brabham-BMW | BT56 | BMW M12/13 | 1.5L L4 turbo | Struggled with reliability; last full season for Brabham. |
| Ligier-Megatron | JS29/JS29B/JS29C | Megatron M12/13 (BMW-derived) | 1.5L L4 turbo | Switched from Alfa Romeo early in season; midfield performer. |
| Arrows-Megatron | A10 | Megatron M12/13 (BMW-derived) | 1.5L L4 turbo | Consistent but unremarkable; no podiums. |
| Osella-Alfa Romeo | FA1G/FA1I | Alfa Romeo 890T | 1.5L V8 turbo | Financially strained team; limited success before switching to NA later. |
| March-Ford | 87P/871 | Ford Cosworth DFZ | 3.5L V8 NA | Primarily NA with turbo variant; struggled for grid positions. |
| Minardi-Motori Moderni | M187 | Motori Moderni 615-90 | 1.5L V6 turbo | Debut season for Italian team; occasional points. |
| Zakspeed | 871/861 | Zakspeed 1500/4 | 1.5L L4 turbo | In-house engine; qualified for few races. |
| AGS-Ford | JH22 | Ford Cosworth DFZ | 3.5L V8 NA | New entrant; minimal impact. |
| Larrousse-Lola-Ford | LC87 | Ford Cosworth DFZ | 3.5L V8 NA | Entered from round 1; single car initially. |
| Coloni-Ford | FC187 | Ford Cosworth DFZ | 3.5L V8 NA | Entered from round 11. |
Driver Line-ups
The 1987 Formula One World Championship commenced with 16 constructor entries, featuring a diverse roster of drivers from around the world, totaling over 30 participants when including part-time and reserve roles. These line-ups reflected a mix of established champions, rising talents, and newcomers, with teams pairing experienced pilots to maximize competitiveness under the new active suspension regulations. Notable pairings included former world champions at the front-running squads, while midfield and backmarker teams often relied on national talents or pay-drivers to secure funding.[16] The following table summarizes the initial driver rosters for each team at the season's outset, including car numbers and nationalities where applicable. Part-time roles are noted, and reserves are listed where they played a significant preparatory role.| Team | Driver 1 (Car #, Nationality) | Driver 2 (Car #, Nationality) | Reserves/Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Williams-Honda | Nigel Mansell (#5, UK) | Nelson Piquet (#6, Brazil) | Full-season pairing of championship contenders. |
| McLaren-TAG Porsche | Alain Prost (#1, France) | Stefan Johansson (#2, Sweden) | Prost as title defender; Johansson as support. |
| Lotus-Honda | Ayrton Senna (#12, Brazil) | Satoru Nakajima (#11, Japan) | Full-season pairing; Nakajima debuted in Brazil. |
| Ferrari | Michele Alboreto (#27, Italy) | Gerhard Berger (#28, Austria) | Stable Italian-Austrian duo aiming for resurgence. |
| Benetton-Ford | Thierry Boutsen (#20, Belgium) | Teo Fabi (#19, Italy) | Boutsen as lead; Fabi for consistency. |
| Tyrrell-Ford | Jonathan Palmer (#3, UK) | Philippe Streiff (#4, France) | Palmer retained; Streiff as new partner. |
| Arrows-Megatron | Derek Warwick (#17, UK) | Eddie Cheever (#18, USA) | Experienced midfield combination. |
| Brabham-BMW | Riccardo Patrese (#7, Italy) | Andrea de Cesaris (#8, Italy) | Patrese leading the BMW-powered effort. |
| Ligier-Megatron | René Arnoux (#25, France) | Piercarlo Ghinzani (#26, Italy) | Veteran French-Italian lineup. |
| Osella-Alfa Romeo | Alex Caffi (#21, Italy) | Gabriele Tarquini (#22, Italy) | All-Italian squad with limited resources. |
| Minardi-Motori Moderni | Adrian Campos (#23, Spain) | Alessandro Nannini (#24, Italy) | New team's debutant pairing. |
| Larrousse-Lola-Ford | Philippe Alliot (#30, France) | N/A | Single entry initially; Yannick Dalmas (#30, France) rounds 14–16. |
| Zakspeed | Christian Danner (#10, Germany) | Martin Brundle (#9, UK) | Reserve: Aguri Suzuki (Japan, test driver). |
| AGS-Ford | Pascal Fabre (#14, France) | N/A (single entry initially) | Debut team with Fabre as sole starter. |
| March-Ford | Ivan Capelli (#16, Italy) | N/A (single entry initially) | Capelli as lead for the returning constructor. |
| Coloni-Ford | N/A (entered mid-season from Italian GP) | N/A | Nicola Larini (Italy, #32) from round 11. |
Calendar
Race Schedule
The 1987 Formula One World Championship featured 16 rounds spread across eight months, starting with the Brazilian Grand Prix on 12 April at the Jacarepaguá Circuit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and ending with the Australian Grand Prix on 15 November at the Adelaide Street Circuit in Adelaide, Australia.[1] The schedule encompassed a diverse array of permanent road courses and street circuits on four continents, with notable events including the San Marino Grand Prix on 3 May at Imola in Italy and the Monaco Grand Prix on 31 May in Monaco. The Japanese Grand Prix on 1 November introduced the Suzuka Circuit as a new venue to the calendar, marking its debut in the World Championship.[24] No non-championship Formula One races were organized that year.[25] The races utilized both permanent and street circuits, with individual event distances typically ranging from 250 to 310 km to align with regulations aiming for approximately 300 km per Grand Prix where feasible. The cumulative race distance for the season totaled around 4,700 km.[22]| Round | Grand Prix | Date | Circuit | Location | Laps | Race Distance (km) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brazilian | 12 April 1987 | Jacarepaguá | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | 61 | 306.9 |
| 2 | San Marino | 3 May 1987 | Imola | Imola, Italy | 59 | 297.3 |
| 3 | Belgian | 17 May 1987 | Spa-Francorchamps | Stavelot, Belgium | 43 | 298.4 |
| 4 | Monaco | 31 May 1987 | Circuit de Monaco | Monaco | 78 | 259.6 |
| 5 | United States | 21 June 1987 | Detroit Street Circuit | Detroit, United States | 63 | 253.4 |
| 6 | French | 5 July 1987 | Paul Ricard | Le Castellet, France | 80 | 305.0 |
| 7 | British | 12 July 1987 | Silverstone | Silverstone, United Kingdom | 65 | 310.6 |
| 8 | German | 26 July 1987 | Hockenheimring | Hockenheim, West Germany | 44 | 299.1 |
| 9 | Hungarian | 9 August 1987 | Hungaroring | Budapest, Hungary | 76 | 305.1 |
| 10 | Austrian | 16 August 1987 | Österreichring | Spielberg, Austria | 52 | 309.0 |
| 11 | Italian | 6 September 1987 | Monza | Monza, Italy | 50 | 290.0 |
| 12 | Portuguese | 20 September 1987 | Estoril | Estoril, Portugal | 70 | 304.6 |
| 13 | Spanish | 27 September 1987 | Jerez | Jerez de la Frontera, Spain | 72 | 303.7 |
| 14 | Mexican | 18 October 1987 | Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez | Mexico City, Mexico | 63 | 278.5 |
| 15 | Japanese | 1 November 1987 | Suzuka | Suzuka, Japan | 51 | 298.8 |
| 16 | Australian | 15 November 1987 | Adelaide Street Circuit | Adelaide, Australia | 82 | 309.9 |
Calendar Modifications
The 1987 Formula One World Championship calendar maintained the 16-race format of the previous year but introduced key modifications to enhance global reach and address logistical and political considerations. Notably, the Japanese Grand Prix was added as the penultimate round at Suzuka Circuit, marking Japan's return to the championship calendar after an absence since the 1976 and 1977 events at Fuji Speedway, which were the only prior championship races in the country.[27][24] This addition represented a significant geographic expansion into Asia, driven by growing interest from Japanese manufacturers and fans, while the overall schedule shifted to accommodate it by dropping the Canadian Grand Prix amid ongoing disputes over sponsorship and promoter agreements.[28][29] The South African Grand Prix remained absent from the calendar, continuing the boycott initiated after the 1985 race due to international opposition to South Africa's apartheid policies, which had led several teams and sponsors to withdraw in protest.[30] Meanwhile, the Austrian Grand Prix at the Österreichring marked its final appearance in its original configuration, as safety concerns over the circuit's narrow layout prompted its redesign into the shorter A1-Ring (later Red Bull Ring) for future events.[31] The Portuguese Grand Prix continued at the Autódromo do Estoril, solidifying its role as the venue since the event's shift there in 1984 from earlier non-permanent street circuits like Monsanto used in the late 1950s.[32] European staples such as the Monaco and British Grands Prix at Monte Carlo and Silverstone underwent no venue alterations, preserving their traditional slots amid the broader reshuffling. These changes collectively extended the season's footprint without increasing the race count, though they posed minor logistical challenges for teams traveling to the new Asian venue.[27]Season Report
Pre-Season Testing and Expectations
The Williams-Honda team entered the 1987 season as clear favorites following promising pre-season testing at the Paul Ricard circuit, where the FW11B demonstrated superior pace and reliability over its rivals. Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet set competitive lap times, confirming the car's aerodynamic refinements and the Honda RA167E engine's potential to deliver over 1,000 horsepower in qualifying trim, building on the previous year's constructors' title success.[33][34] McLaren and Lotus emerged as primary challengers, with Ayrton Senna adapting to the Honda power unit in his new Lotus 99T seat after moving from Toleman, while Alain Prost sought a fourth drivers' championship at McLaren with the TAG-Porsche turbo. Expectations centered on Williams' engine reliability giving them an edge in the turbo vs. naturally aspirated debate, as the new regulations limited turbo boost to 4.0 bar but still favored the potent forced-induction units over the reintroduced NA engines, which were capped at 3.5 liters. Prost's consistency was highlighted as key to his title bid, amid minor testing incidents like small crashes during boost management trials to comply with the fuel and pressure restrictions.[33][8] Media anticipation focused on intra-team rivalries, pitting the Williams duo of Piquet and Mansell against the McLaren-Lotus pairing of Prost and Senna, with pundits predicting intense battles for supremacy in what was the final full turbo era before the 1989 ban.[35]Race 1: Brazilian Grand Prix
The 1987 Brazilian Grand Prix, the opening round of the Formula One World Championship, took place on April 12 at the Jacarepaguá Circuit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[36] Nigel Mansell claimed pole position for the Williams-Honda team with a lap time of 1:26.128, edging out teammate Nelson Piquet by 0.439 seconds, while Ayrton Senna qualified third in his Lotus-Honda debut, showcasing early promise for the Brazilian driver on home soil. The 61-lap race over the 5.79 km circuit highlighted the challenges of the turbocharged era, with high humidity and abrasive track conditions exacerbating tire wear and engine reliability issues. At the start, Piquet surged ahead of Senna to take the lead, capitalizing on the home crowd's enthusiasm for the defending champion and local favorite, while Mansell's poor getaway dropped him behind the Benetton-Fords of Thierry Boutsen and Teo Fabi.[37] Senna quickly pressured Piquet and assumed the lead on lap 3, demonstrating strong pace in his new Lotus 99T with active suspension, though handling troubles soon forced an early pit stop for adjustments on lap 18. Prost, starting fifth, methodically advanced through strategic tire conservation, avoiding the aggressive early pace that troubled others, and inherited the lead after Senna's stop. Piquet, meanwhile, pitted on lap 7 to remove debris from his radiator grille, rejoining in third before climbing back to second.[37] Prost's tire management proved decisive; while rivals like Mansell suffered a slow puncture on lap 42, dropping the Englishman to sixth after a prolonged stop, Prost made a single tire change on lap 25 and maintained enough grip to resist a late challenge without needing a third stop.[37] Senna, running second for much of the race, retired dramatically on lap 50 with a turbo engine failure, his strong debut cut short just as the home fans rallied behind him. Multiple retirements plagued the field due to turbo unreliability, including Fabi's Benetton on lap 9 and Martin Brundle's Zakspeed on lap 15 from boost loss, underscoring the era's technical fragility.[36] Prost crossed the line 40.5 seconds ahead of Piquet, who earned a popular second place amid cheers from the passionate Brazilian supporters celebrating their hero's podium return. Stefan Johansson completed the podium in third for McLaren.| Position | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alain Prost | McLaren-TAG | 61 | 9 |
| 2 | Nelson Piquet | Williams-Honda | 61 | 6 |
| 3 | Stefan Johansson | McLaren-TAG | 61 | 4 |
| 4 | Gerhard Berger | Ferrari | 61 | 3 |
| 5 | Thierry Boutsen | Benetton-Ford | 60 | 2 |
| 6 | Nigel Mansell | Williams-Honda | 60 | 1 |
Race 2: San Marino Grand Prix
The 1987 San Marino Grand Prix, held on May 3 at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, Italy, marked the second round of the Formula One World Championship season.[38] The 59-lap race over the 5.035 km circuit covered a total distance of 297.065 km, with British driver Nigel Mansell securing victory for Williams-Honda in a time of 1:31:24.076, averaging 120.5 mph.[39] This win, Mansell's eighth in Formula One and his first at Imola, highlighted Williams' early-season dominance with their FW11B chassis powered by Honda turbo engines, as teammate Nelson Piquet was sidelined by injury.[40] Qualifying sessions were overshadowed by a major incident on Friday when Piquet crashed heavily at the high-speed Tamburello corner after setting an initial fastest lap of 1:25.981, suffering a tire failure on his Williams-Honda that sent him backward into the barriers at around 300 km/h.[41] The Brazilian sustained a concussion and bruised leg, ruling him out of the weekend and allowing Osella's Gabriele Tarquini to make his Grand Prix debut.[41] The accident prompted Goodyear, the sole tire supplier, to withdraw all rear tires of the compound used, suspecting a manufacturing defect; teams received limited replacement sets (4.5 instead of 5), which restricted Saturday improvements and fueled debates over tire safety and allocation fairness, though no formal grid penalties were imposed.[40] Ayrton Senna claimed pole position for Lotus-Honda with a 1:25.826 lap on Saturday, his third consecutive pole and the first for an active-suspension car, ahead of Mansell in second at 1:26.016 and Piquet's unimproved Friday time in third at 1:25.981; Alain Prost qualified fourth for McLaren-TAG at 1:26.135.[42] Conditions remained dry throughout the weekend, testing teams' setups on the demanding Imola layout without the added complexity of variable weather.[41] At the start, Senna led from pole, but Mansell, starting from second on the grid, overtook the Brazilian into the lead on lap 2 and pulled away decisively, building a gap of over 20 seconds by the midpoint.[40] Prost, who had climbed to second by lap 6 after passing Senna, challenged Mansell closely but retired on lap 15 with an alternator and engine failure while running in contention for the lead, handing second to Senna.[39] Mansell maintained control unchallenged, finishing 27.545 seconds ahead of Senna, who held second for Lotus-Honda, with Ferrari's Michele Alboreto completing the podium in third, 39.144 seconds back after a solid home performance.[38] The race saw 15 retirements, including Gerhard Berger's Ferrari on lap 8 with turbo issues and Teo Fabi's Benetton-Ford on lap 52 after turbo failure, exacerbated by first-lap front-wing damage from a collision.[40] Tire management proved straightforward in the dry conditions, with Goodyear's replacements performing reliably after the initial scare, allowing consistent degradation control for frontrunners like Williams.[41] The event also featured the debut of the French Larrousse team, entering with a Lola LC87 chassis powered by Cosworth V8 engines and driven by Philippe Alliot, who qualified 22nd but advanced to seventh place, just missing points in a promising start for the new outfit.[40] Points were awarded under the 9-6-4-3-2-1 system, with Mansell earning 9 to take the drivers' championship lead, Senna collecting 6 in second, and Alboreto gaining 4 for third; Williams scored 15 constructor points from Mansell's win and Senna's result boosting Honda's engine tally.[38] The 110,000-strong crowd witnessed Williams' unchallenged pace set the tone for their title-contending campaign.[39]Race 3: Belgian Grand Prix
The 1987 Belgian Grand Prix, held on May 17 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, marked the third round of the Formula One World Championship and intensified the early-season rivalry between title contenders Alain Prost and Nigel Mansell.[43] Qualifying saw Mansell secure pole position for Williams-Honda with a lap time of 1:52.026, ahead of teammate Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna in the Lotus-Honda. The race, originally scheduled for 70 laps but shortened to 43 due to heavy rain and multiple incidents, began under dry conditions but quickly turned chaotic. A first-start crash involving Philippe Streiff's Tyrrell at Raidillon forced a restart, during which Mansell, leading from pole, collided with Senna at the Bus Stop chicane on lap 1, spinning both cars into retirement—Senna immediately and Mansell after briefly rejoining.[44] As the race progressed, intermittent rain made the high-speed Spa circuit treacherous, leading to several spins and crashes, including Gerhard Berger's Ferrari being hit by Thierry Boutsen's Benetton and Jonathan Palmer striking debris from Streiff's wreckage. Prost, starting sixth in his McLaren-TAG, capitalized on the leaders' misfortune to take the lead by lap 10 and methodically built a comfortable advantage in the worsening conditions, demonstrating superior wet-weather pace.[44] Teammate Stefan Johansson held second, while Andrea de Cesaris delivered a surprise podium for Ligier-Renault by finishing third, though he coasted across the line after running out of fuel on the final lap. The victory propelled Prost to 18 points and the championship lead after three races.[43] Post-race tensions boiled over in the pits when Mansell confronted Senna over their collision, accusing the Brazilian of blocking his overtaking attempt; the argument escalated into a physical scuffle, with Mansell pushing Senna and reportedly throwing a punch, highlighting the fierce personal stakes in the Prost-Mansell title fight.[45][46] Prost earned 9 points for the win, Johansson 6 for second, and de Cesaris 4 for third, underscoring McLaren's dominance in the adverse weather.[43]Race 4: Monaco Grand Prix
The 1987 Monaco Grand Prix took place on May 31 at the Circuit de Monaco, marking the fourth round of the Formula One World Championship on the challenging 3.328 km street circuit.[47] Qualifying was dominated by the Williams-Honda team, with Nigel Mansell securing pole position in 1:23.039, ahead of Ayrton Senna in the Lotus-Honda by 0.672 seconds.[48] Nelson Piquet qualified third for Williams, while Alain Prost started fourth in the McLaren-TAG-Porsche. Lotus had benefited from a switch to the more powerful Honda V6 turbo engine for the season, enhancing Senna's competitiveness on the tight track.[49] The race began under dry conditions, with Mansell leading from the start, but chaos ensued early as Satoru Nakajima collided with Philippe Alliot at Ste. Devote on the first lap.[50] Mansell held the lead for 29 laps before retiring on lap 30 due to an exhaust failure, handing the advantage to Senna, who had been pressuring closely. Senna then controlled the race, making a routine tire change on lap 42 and setting the fastest lap on lap 72 en route to a commanding victory—his first in Monaco and Lotus's last Grand Prix win. Prost mounted a strong challenge from fourth, climbing through the field, but his pursuit was ended by an engine failure on lap 76. The Monaco circuit's unforgiving barriers led to numerous wall contacts throughout the weekend, including a qualifying crash where Michele Alboreto hit Christian Danner's Zakspeed, though both drivers escaped unharmed.[50][47] Senna completed the 78 laps in 1:57:54.085, finishing 33.212 seconds ahead of Piquet, who recovered steadily to second after starting third. Alboreto claimed third for Ferrari, 1:12.839 behind the winner, with teammate Gerhard Berger fourth despite losing time in traffic. Jonathan Palmer rounded out the points in fifth for Tyrrell-Ford, followed by Ivan Capelli in the March-Ford. Points were awarded as follows: Senna 9, Piquet 6, Alboreto 4, Berger 3, Palmer 2, and Capelli 1.[47]Race 5: Detroit Grand Prix
The 1987 Detroit Grand Prix, held on June 21, 1987, marked the fifth round of the Formula One World Championship and took place on the challenging 4.023 km street circuit in downtown Detroit, Michigan.[51] The bumpy urban layout, with its tight corners, manhole covers, and unforgiving concrete walls, tested drivers' precision and cars' durability, drawing comparisons to the Monaco circuit but with rougher American streets that exacerbated mechanical stress.[52] Qualifying saw Williams-Honda dominance, with Nigel Mansell securing pole position in 1:39.264 ahead of Ayrton Senna's Lotus-Honda in second at 1:40.607.[53] At the start, Mansell led from Senna, with Nelson Piquet's second Williams in third and Alain Prost's McLaren-TAG fourth. Senna quickly pressured Mansell, who pitted for fresh tires on lap 13 to address wear from the abrasive surface, handing the lead to the Brazilian. Senna, employing a bold no-pit-stop strategy enabled by the Lotus 99T's active suspension—which smoothed the bumps and preserved tire life—maintained his advantage without stopping, setting the fastest lap of 1:40.464 on lap 39.[54] Piquet and Prost, both pitting once, chased but could not close the gap, while Mansell recovered to fifth after his stop but lost time navigating traffic. The race, shortened to 63 laps due to time constraints, saw Senna cruise to victory in 1:50:16.358, his second consecutive win after Monaco and a testament to Lotus's technological edge on the demanding track. Piquet finished second, 33.819 seconds behind, with Prost third at 45.327 seconds adrift. Gerhard Berger (Ferrari) took fourth, Mansell fifth a lap down, and Eddie Cheever (Arrows-Megatron) sixth after 60 laps. Points were awarded as follows: Senna 9, Piquet 6, Prost 4, Berger 3, Mansell 2, Cheever 1.[51][55] Urban hazards defined the event, with the bumpy surface contributing to 20 retirements from the 26 starters, including mechanical failures and collisions with walls. Notable incidents included Berger's early lap-17 brush with a barrier after a spin, from which he recovered, and multiple drivers like Michele Alboreto (Ferrari, engine on lap 47) and Derek Warwick (Arrows-Megatron, engine on lap 35) sidelined by damage or breakdowns exacerbated by the circuit's roughness. Stefan Johansson (McLaren-TAG) finished seventh, while Ivan Capelli (March-Ford) placed ninth, both avoiding major trouble amid the chaos.[51][52]Race 6: French Grand Prix
The 1987 French Grand Prix, held on 5 July at the Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet, France, showcased the dominance of turbocharged engines on the high-speed layout, with its long straights and fast corners like Signes emphasizing raw power outputs exceeding 1,000 horsepower.[56][57] Nigel Mansell secured pole position for Williams-Honda with a lap time of 1:05.127, ahead of Alain Prost in the McLaren-TAG-Porsche, Ayrton Senna in the Lotus-Honda, and teammate Nelson Piquet.[57] The 80-lap race over 307.44 km started under clear conditions, with Mansell leading from the grid as Piquet swiftly overtook Prost on the Mistral Straight to form a Williams 1-2.[56][57] Early drama unfolded at the first corner when Stefan Johansson's McLaren collided with Andrea de Cesaris's Brabham-BMW, scattering debris but causing no injuries; de Cesaris retired shortly after with turbo failure.[57] On lap 19, Piquet suffered a spin—likely at the demanding Signes corner—allowing Prost to inherit second place, while Senna maintained a solid fourth ahead of Gerhard Berger's Ferrari.[57] Piquet recovered during the mandatory pit stops around lap 30, re-emerging ahead of Prost and Senna due to a quicker tire change, though the turbo era's fuel restrictions limited aggressive strategies. Mid-race, on lap 46, Mansell capitalized on a minor error by Piquet at the Le Beausset corner to overtake for the lead, pulling away decisively.[57] Berger's strong charge ended in retirement on lap 71 with suspension damage following a spin, highlighting the track's unforgiving high-speed nature.[56] Mansell crossed the line first in 1:37:03.839, 7.711 seconds ahead of Piquet, with Prost completing the podium 55.255 seconds back after a consistent drive.[56] Senna finished fourth, one lap down, as naturally aspirated cars like the Tyrrell-Fords of Philippe Streiff and Jonathan Palmer struggled with straight-line speed deficits but salvaged points in sixth and seventh.[56] The top six scorers were Mansell (9 points), Piquet (6), Prost (4), Senna (3), Teo Fabi (2) in the Benetton-Ford, and Streiff (1), underscoring turbo superiority amid 18 retirements from mechanical woes.[56] This victory marked Mansell's third of the season, delighting British fans despite the French venue, and reinforced Williams' championship momentum.[57]Race 7: British Grand Prix
The 1987 British Grand Prix, held at the Silverstone Circuit on July 12, marked the seventh round of the Formula One World Championship.[58] Brazilian driver Nelson Piquet claimed pole position for Williams-Honda with a lap time of 1:07.110, edging out teammate Nigel Mansell by just 0.070 seconds, while Ayrton Senna qualified third in the Lotus-Honda.[59] The 65-lap race over the 4.78-kilometre circuit unfolded under hot and sunny conditions, drawing a crowd of around 100,000 spectators eager to see a home victory.[60] Piquet led from the start, building a substantial advantage as Mansell encountered issues, including the loss of a wheel weight on lap 12 that caused vibrations and prompted an unscheduled pit stop for fresh tires on lap 35.[61] Rejoining 28 seconds behind, Mansell launched a remarkable recovery, breaking the lap record 11 times and closing the gap relentlessly in the final stages.[60] With three laps remaining, he feinted an outside pass at Stowe corner before diving inside to overtake Piquet, securing the lead and crossing the finish line 1.918 seconds ahead after 1:19:11.780.[58] Senna maintained third place, finishing one lap down after a steady but unspectacular run, earning 4 points.[61] The race featured several retirements, including McLaren's Stefan Johansson on lap 39 due to engine failure and Ferrari's Gerhard Berger, who spun out on lap 7.[62] Alain Prost also exited on lap 53 with gearbox problems, while early incidents like Jonathan Palmer's lap 1 accident added to the attrition.[62] Mansell's triumph, his third of the season, netted him 9 points and tied him with Piquet at 30 in the drivers' standings, intensifying intra-team tensions at Williams that would simmer throughout the year.[63] The British crowd erupted in celebration, storming the track to mob Mansell's car, a moment that underscored the event's status as a national spectacle.[60]Race 8: German Grand Prix
The 1987 German Grand Prix took place on 26 July at the Hockenheimring circuit in West Germany, serving as the eighth round of the Formula One World Championship. The 45-lap race, covering 307.123 km on the high-speed layout, highlighted the reliability challenges of turbocharged engines amid intense heat and demanding long straights. Nigel Mansell secured pole position for Williams-Honda with a lap time of 1:42.616, edging out Ayrton Senna in the Lotus-Honda by 0.132 seconds.[64][65] Mansell led from the start but eased his pace early due to fuel consumption concerns, allowing Alain Prost in the McLaren-TAG Porsche to overtake on lap 8. Prost held the lead until lap 33, when he retired with a failed alternator drive-belt that caused his engine to seize. Mansell briefly regained the position from laps 19 to 22 and again after Prost's exit, but his own Williams-Honda suffered an engine failure on lap 37 from internal overheating. This handed the lead to teammate Nelson Piquet, who had been conserving his turbocharged Honda power unit while running in third, enabling him to pull away unchallenged to his first victory of the season in 1:25:41.398.[66][67] The race featured 14 retirements, underscoring the era's turbo fragility, with only four turbo cars finishing without major issues. Stefan Johansson nursed his McLaren-TAG Porsche to second place, 34.022 seconds behind Piquet, despite a deflated right front tire in the closing stages that forced him across the line on three effective wheels. Ayrton Senna completed the podium in third for Lotus-Honda, 1:06.294 adrift, after struggling with hydraulic problems in his active suspension that dropped his lap times from 1:49 to over 2:05.[65][67] The naturally aspirated Tyrrell-Ford Cosworths outperformed expectations on the power-sensitive track, with Philippe Streiff charging to fourth for 3 points and Jonathan Palmer recovering to 16th after a late spin, demonstrating the advantages of non-turbo reliability in a field dominated by failing forced-induction units. Other notables included Gerhard Berger's fifth in the Ferrari, earning 2 points despite earlier handling woes, and Satoru Nakajima's sixth for Lotus-Honda with 1 point. Points were awarded as follows: Piquet 9, Johansson 6, Senna 4, Streiff 3, Berger 2, Nakajima 1. Heavy rain had disrupted Saturday qualifying, but the race ran dry under sunny conditions.[65][67]Race 9: Hungarian Grand Prix
The 1987 Hungarian Grand Prix, held on August 9 at the Hungaroring circuit near Budapest, marked the ninth round of the Formula One World Championship and the second edition of the event behind the Iron Curtain.[68] The 4.014 km track, known for its tight, twisting layout reminiscent of Monaco but without barriers, limited overtaking opportunities, emphasizing the importance of qualifying position and strategy.[69] As the second race in Eastern Europe following its debut in 1986, it continued to introduce F1 to a novel geopolitical context.[70] Qualifying saw Nigel Mansell secure pole position for Williams-Honda with a time of 1:28.047, ahead of Gerhard Berger in the Ferrari and teammate Nelson Piquet in third. At the start, Mansell maintained the lead, with Berger slotting into second, followed by Piquet, Alain Prost (McLaren), and Ayrton Senna (Lotus) who began from sixth. Berger's retirement on lap 13 due to engine failure elevated Piquet to second, where he trailed Mansell by a growing margin as the Briton built a 13-second advantage.[70] The race unfolded steadily on the overtaking-challenged circuit until lap 70, when Mansell's right rear wheel nut detached, causing a dramatic retirement from the lead and handing Piquet an unchallenged victory after 76 laps in 1:59:26.793.[71] Senna, battling tyre vibrations, made a late charge to secure second place, 37.7 seconds behind Piquet, after fending off Thierry Boutsen's Benetton for much of the afternoon and capitalizing on the leaders' misfortunes.[68] Prost rounded out the podium in third, maintaining consistency for McLaren. Piquet's win, his second consecutive victory, netted him 9 points and closed the drivers' championship gap to Senna, who scored 6 points, while Prost added 4.[70]Race 10: Austrian Grand Prix
The 1987 Austrian Grand Prix, the tenth round of the Formula One World Championship, took place on 16 August at the 5.942 km Österreichring circuit in Spielberg, Austria, drawing a crowd of around 100,000 spectators to the high-speed, undulating track amid the Styrian Alps.[72] At this stage, Williams-Honda drivers Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell were locked in a intense intra-team battle for the Drivers' title, with Piquet holding a nine-point lead after his back-to-back wins in Hungary and Germany; the race offered a critical opportunity for Mansell to narrow the gap.[73] Qualifying saw Piquet claim pole position with a time of 1:23.357, edging out teammate Mansell by just 0.102 seconds, while Ferrari's Gerhard Berger took third ahead of the Benetton-BMW duo of Thierry Boutsen and Teo Fabi.[74] The weekend was overshadowed by variable weather, with rain complicating practice sessions, including an unusual incident where McLaren's Stefan Johansson struck a deer during a warm-up lap, damaging his car's front suspension.[75] The 52-lap race (312.984 km total) descended into chaos from the outset due to a damp track surface. The initial standing start was aborted when Zakspeed's Martin Brundle lost control on the uphill start straight and crashed into the barriers, necessitating a red flag and a 40-minute delay for cleanup.[73] Upon restart, a massive pile-up erupted at the high-speed first corner (Jochen Rindt Kurve), involving at least ten cars in a chain reaction triggered by slippery conditions; affected drivers included Lotus-Honda's Ayrton Senna, McLaren-TAG's Alain Prost, Ferrari's Michele Alboreto, Johansson, Benetton-BMW's Boutsen (initially), Ligier's René Arnoux, and others, with no serious injuries but significant damage forcing multiple retirements.[75] A second red flag followed, and after another 20-minute pause, the race resumed on a gradually drying track with slicks. Piquet led from the cleaner side of the grid, but Mansell, starting from the dirty side, seized the lead on lap 2 through superior traction and pulled away decisively, managing his Honda turbo engine amid rising temperatures that plagued reliability across the field.[73] Mansell dominated the remainder, crossing the line 55.704 seconds ahead to secure his sixth win of the season—and Honda's 100th Grand Prix victory as an engine supplier—while also posting the fastest lap of 1:28.265 on lap 1. Piquet held second comfortably, but behind them, Fabi capitalized on the attrition to claim third for Benetton-BMW's maiden podium finish, fending off Boutsen who recovered from the early chaos for fourth. Senna and Prost, both recovering from the restart pile-up, rounded out the points in fifth and sixth after strong drives through the midfield.[72] The heat exacerbated turbo engine issues, leading to notable retirements including Berger (overheating on lap 17), Brabham-BMW's Riccardo Patrese (engine failure on lap 22), and Arrows-Megatron's Eddie Cheever (transmission on lap 28), among 14 DNFs in total.[75] This event marked the final Grand Prix at the original Österreichring configuration, renowned for its fast, flowing layout but criticized for safety risks at corners like the Hella-Licht chicane; the circuit would be shortened and reprofiled after 1987, returning to the calendar only in 1997 as the A1-Ring.[73]| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time/Gap | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nigel Mansell | Williams-Honda | 52 | 1:18:44.898 | 9 |
| 2 | Nelson Piquet | Williams-Honda | 52 | +55.704 s | 6 |
| 3 | Teo Fabi | Benetton-BMW | 51 | +1 lap | 4 |
| 4 | Thierry Boutsen | Benetton-BMW | 51 | +1 lap | 3 |
| 5 | Ayrton Senna | Lotus-Honda | 50 | +2 laps | 2 |
| 6 | Alain Prost | McLaren-TAG | 50 | +2 laps | 1 |
Race 11: Italian Grand Prix
The 1987 Italian Grand Prix was held on 6 September 1987 at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in Italy, marking the eleventh round of the Formula One World Championship. The event featured intense competition on the high-speed circuit, where slipstreaming played a crucial role due to the long straights. Nelson Piquet claimed pole position for the Williams-Honda team with a qualifying time of 1:23.460, edging out teammate Nigel Mansell by 0.099 seconds, while Gerhard Berger qualified third in the Ferrari.[76] Piquet converted his pole into a victory in the 50-lap race, securing his third win of the season and extending his drivers' championship lead. Ayrton Senna, starting from fourth in the Lotus-Honda, adopted a bold no-stop strategy to lead much of the distance but ran wide at the Parabolica corner with three laps remaining, allowing Piquet to capitalize using slipstream drafting to take the lead and win by a narrow margin. Mansell recovered to third place, while Berger delivered a strong performance for the home Ferrari team in second during the early stages before pitting and finishing fourth, with Michele Alboreto fifth; the result heightened the pressure from the passionate Tifosi crowd eager for a Scuderia triumph. The Honda engines excelled at Monza's high-speed layout, providing superior top-end performance that contributed to the success of teams like Williams and Lotus. Piquet scored 9 points for the win, Senna 6 for second, Mansell 4 for third, Berger 3 for fourth, and Alboreto 2 for fifth.[77][78]| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time/Retired |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nelson Piquet | Williams-Honda | 50 | 1:17:09.076 |
| 2 | Ayrton Senna | Lotus-Honda | 50 | +1.794 |
| 3 | Nigel Mansell | Williams-Honda | 50 | +25.793 |
| 4 | Gerhard Berger | Ferrari | 50 | +26.219 |
| 5 | Michele Alboreto | Ferrari | 50 | +1:01.348 |
| 6 | Alain Prost | McLaren-TAG | 50 | +1:03.804 |
Race 12: Portuguese Grand Prix
The 1987 Portuguese Grand Prix, held on September 20 at the Autódromo do Estoril, marked a significant milestone in Alain Prost's career as he secured his 28th Formula One victory, surpassing Jackie Stewart's previous record of 27 wins.[79] Driving for McLaren-TAG, Prost started from third on the grid behind pole-sitter Gerhard Berger's Ferrari and Nigel Mansell's Williams-Honda, but capitalized on late-race drama to claim the win after 70 laps, covering the 189.21 km distance in 1:37:03.906.[80][81] The race began chaotically with a multi-car collision at the first corner involving Michele Alboreto's Ferrari, Nelson Piquet's Williams, Derek Warwick's Brabham, and several others, prompting a red flag and restart.[81] At the restart, Mansell briefly led before Berger overtook him on the opening lap; however, Mansell retired on lap 14 due to an electrical failure while running second, handing Prost an opportunity to advance.[81] Berger dominated much of the race, building a substantial lead, but under pressure in the closing stages, he spun on lap 68 at the high-speed final corner, allowing Prost to inherit the lead and cruise to victory ahead of Berger, who recovered for second, and Piquet in third.[81] Prost's triumph earned him 9 points, extending his championship lead to 61, while Berger's runner-up finish netted 6 points and Piquet's podium added 4, consolidating the Brazilian's position in the drivers' standings.[80] Other notable retirements included Alboreto on lap 38 with a gear linkage failure and Riccardo Patrese on lap 13 due to engine trouble.[81] Ayrton Senna, starting fifth in his Lotus-Honda, advanced through the field but finished seventh, unable to challenge the podium.[80]| Position | Driver | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alain Prost | McLaren TAG | 9 |
| 2 | Gerhard Berger | Ferrari | 6 |
| 3 | Nelson Piquet | Williams Honda | 4 |
| 4 | Teo Fabi | Benetton Ford | 3 |
| 5 | Stefan Johansson | McLaren TAG | 2 |
| 6 | Eddie Cheever | Arrows Megatron | 1 |
Race 13: Spanish Grand Prix
The 1987 Spanish Grand Prix, held at the Circuito Permanente de Jerez on September 27, marked the thirteenth round of the Formula One World Championship season. Nelson Piquet secured pole position for Williams-Honda with a lap time of 1:22.461, edging out his teammate Nigel Mansell by 0.620 seconds in a tight qualifying battle dominated by the British squad. The 72-lap race over the 4.22-kilometre circuit highlighted the intense intra-team rivalry at Williams, as Mansell, trailing Piquet by 18 points in the drivers' standings entering the weekend, mounted a determined challenge under mounting title pressure.[82] At the start, Piquet led from the front row, but Mansell swiftly overtook him into the first corner, assuming the lead and beginning a commanding performance that saw him pull away early. Piquet remained in pursuit, keeping the gap under six seconds for much of the opening stint, while Ayrton Senna in the Lotus-Honda started strongly in fifth but opted for a bold no-pit-stop strategy on tires, which ultimately compromised his pace due to excessive wear later in the race. The mandatory pit stops for tire changes added drama, as Piquet spun on the dusty track surface exiting the pits, dropping to sixth place before a gritty recovery drive brought him back to fourth. Alain Prost, starting from eighth in the McLaren-TAG, capitalized on the chaos with steady progress to claim second, fending off teammate Stefan Johansson who rounded out the podium in third.[82][83] Mansell's victory, his fifth of the season, came by 22.225 seconds over Prost, demonstrating resilient defense against the recovering Piquet in the closing stages amid close intra-team wheel-to-wheel action that underscored Williams' dominance. Senna crossed the line fifth after his tire gamble faltered, while the race featured no major retirements among the leaders but highlighted the abrasive Jerez surface's toll on equipment. Mansell earned 9 points, Piquet 6, Prost 4, Johansson 3, and Senna 2, keeping the Williams drivers' title fight alive heading into the final rounds.[84][82]Race 14: Mexican Grand Prix
The 1987 Mexican Grand Prix, held on October 18 at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City, was marked by chaotic conditions due to the circuit's notorious bumps and high altitude, leading to multiple accidents and a race divided into two segments. Nigel Mansell secured pole position for Williams-Honda with a lap time of 1:18.383, edging out Gerhard Berger's Ferrari by just 0.043 seconds, while teammate Nelson Piquet qualified third. The bumpy track surface, exacerbated by the venue's 2,285-meter elevation, caused handling issues for many cars, resulting in significant practice crashes for Mansell and Ayrton Senna, though both drivers recovered to start the race.[85] At the start, Mansell made a poor getaway from pole, dropping to fifth as Berger, Thierry Boutsen, Piquet, and Alain Prost surged ahead; however, chaos ensued at the first corner when Piquet and Prost collided, eliminating Prost immediately and allowing Mansell to regain positions. Boutsen assumed the lead but retired on lap 15 with an engine failure, handing the advantage to Berger, who in turn succumbed to his own engine issues on lap 20, promoting Mansell to the front. The race proceeded under intense pressure from the uneven track, which unsettled suspensions and contributed to several retirements, including those of Jonathan Palmer and Piercarlo Ghinzani due to mechanical failures linked to the bumps.[85][86] Disaster struck on lap 26 when Derek Warwick's Arrows suffered a rear suspension failure exiting the high-speed Peraltada corner, sending him into a heavy crash that scattered debris across the track and prompted a red flag; the incident highlighted growing safety concerns over the circuit's deteriorating surface and lack of run-off areas, with 16 retirements overall underscoring the event's hazards. Officials halted the race after 30 completed laps (with Warwick's lap not counted), then restarted the remaining 33 laps using aggregate times from surviving cars, reducing the field to 21 starters. In the second segment, Mansell maintained control ahead of Piquet, who had recovered from his opening-lap tangle, while Senna spun out on lap 54 from clutch problems, ending his hopes of points. The race concluded after 63 laps, shortened from the scheduled 69 due to time constraints following the stoppage.[85][87] Mansell claimed victory by 26.176 seconds over Piquet, securing nine points and narrowing the drivers' championship gap to his teammate to 15 points with two races remaining; the win, his sixth of the season, was celebrated enthusiastically by Mexican fans, who adored the British driver's aggressive style and comeback drive amid the disorder. Riccardo Patrese rounded out the podium in third for Brabham-BMW, his best result since 1984, followed by Eddie Cheever in fourth for Arrows. The points were awarded as follows: Mansell (9), Piquet (6), Patrese (4), Cheever (3), Teo Fabi (2), and Philippe Alliot (1). Despite the triumphs, the event amplified calls for improved track safety, as the bumps not only caused retirements but also amplified the risks in an era of turbocharged machinery.[86][85][88]| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time/Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nigel Mansell | Williams-Honda | 63 | 1:26:24.207 |
| 2 | Nelson Piquet | Williams-Honda | 63 | +26.176 |
| 3 | Riccardo Patrese | Brabham-BMW | 63 | +1:26.879 |
| 4 | Eddie Cheever | Arrows-Megatron | 63 | +1:41.352 |
| 5 | Teo Fabi | Benetton-Ford | 61 | +2 laps |
| 6 | Philippe Alliot | Lola-Ford | 60 | +3 laps |
Race 15: Japanese Grand Prix
The 1987 Japanese Grand Prix was held on 1 November at the Suzuka Circuit in Japan, marking the first time the event was staged there after previous editions at Fuji Speedway from 1976 to 1977.[89] This 15th round of the Formula One World Championship carried high stakes for the Drivers' title, pitting Williams-Honda teammates Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell in a tight battle, with Piquet holding a 12-point lead entering the weekend.[90] The 5.859 km figure-eight layout, known for its challenging high-speed corners and elevation changes, tested drivers' precision amid the season's intense rivalry.[91] Qualifying unfolded dramatically on Friday when Mansell, pushing to close the gap on Piquet's early benchmark time, lost control of his Williams-Honda at the high-speed Esses section, suffering a heavy impact that reopened old spinal injuries and forced him out of the session and the race.[92] Gerhard Berger secured pole position for Ferrari in 1:40.042, fending off Alain Prost's McLaren by 0.610 seconds, while Piquet qualified fifth.[93] Mansell's absence mathematically eliminated him from title contention, allowing Piquet to clinch his third Drivers' Championship—tying Jackie Stewart's tally—regardless of his own result, as long as he participated.[90] The 51-lap race proceeded in dry conditions, with Berger converting his pole into a commanding victory, his first with Ferrari after leading every lap from start to finish.[94][90] Ayrton Senna claimed second for Lotus-Honda after a late pass on Stefan Johansson, who rounded out the podium in third for McLaren-TAG-Porsche, awarding 9, 6, and 4 points respectively.[94] Piquet retired on lap 46 with an engine failure, scoring no points, while Prost lapped consistently but finished seventh, outside the points.[94] Michele Alboreto and Thierry Boutsen completed the top five for Ferrari and Benetton-Ford, respectively, amid several retirements from mechanical issues.[90]Race 16: Australian Grand Prix
The 1987 Australian Grand Prix, held on November 15 at the Adelaide Street Circuit, served as the season finale for the Formula One World Championship, with the drivers' title already secured by Nelson Piquet in the preceding Japanese round.[95] The 82-lap race unfolded under clear conditions on the 3.78 km urban track, attracting a record crowd of 123,000 spectators to witness the end of the turbocharged era, as engine regulations were set to change for 1988. Gerhard Berger claimed victory for Ferrari in a dominant performance, marking his second consecutive win after Japan and the team's first back-to-back successes since 1981.[96][97] Berger secured pole position with a lap time of 1:17.267, edging out Alain Prost by 0.700 seconds, and led every lap after briefly losing the lead to Piquet at the start.[98] Despite suffering from a virus that affected his health throughout the weekend, Berger maintained control, setting the fastest lap of 1:20.416 on lap 72 and finishing in 1:52:56.144, averaging 102.26 mph over the 192.498-mile distance.[99] His teammate Michele Alboreto followed in second, 67.884 seconds behind, after inheriting the position post-race due to Ayrton Senna's disqualification. Senna, starting fourth, had charged to second on track but was excluded for using oversized brake ducts, a technical infringement discovered during scrutineering.[97][96] The race saw numerous retirements, with only eight of 26 starters classified as finishers, highlighting the demanding nature of the Adelaide circuit and the unreliability of turbo engines in their final season. Prost, absent title contender Nigel Mansell due to injury, crashed into barriers on lap 53 from brake failure, while Piquet's championship-clinching campaign ended prematurely on lap 58 with a gear shift issue.[95] Satoru Nakajima, Lotus's Japanese rookie, retired on lap 22 with mechanical problems, missing a potential home podium. Stefan Johansson also succumbed to brakes on lap 48, leaving McLaren without points in a poignant close to their TAG-Porsche partnership. Thierry Boutsen rounded out the podium in third for Benetton-Ford, a lap down, as the race concluded emotionally amid farewells to departing engines and team principals.[97] Berger earned 9 points for the win, Alboreto 6 for second, Boutsen 4 for third, Jonathan Palmer 3 for fourth in Tyrrell-Ford, Yannick Dalmas 2 for fifth in Lola-Ford, and Roberto Moreno 1 for sixth in AGS-Ford, underscoring Ferrari's strong finish to the season despite missing the constructors' title.[95]Results and Standings
Scoring System
The scoring system for the 1987 Formula One World Championship awarded points to the top six classified finishers in each Grand Prix, using the allocation of 9 points for first place, 6 for second, 4 for third, 3 for fourth, 2 for fifth, and 1 for sixth.[100] No points were awarded to non-finishers or those outside the top six, and there was no separate point for the fastest lap, a practice that had been discontinued since 1959.[100] For the Drivers' Championship, only a driver's best 11 results from the 16 races counted toward their total, allowing the discard of the five lowest-scoring finishes to account for mechanical failures or other setbacks.[101] This rule encouraged participation in all events while mitigating the impact of unreliability, which was common in the turbocharged era. The Constructors' Championship summed all points scored by a team's cars across every race, with both entries eligible to score in the same event since 1979; unlike the drivers' standings, no results were dropped for teams.[102] The Jim Clark Trophy, awarded to the highest-scoring driver using a naturally aspirated engine, and the Colin Chapman Trophy, for the leading naturally aspirated constructor, used the same 9-6-4-3-2-1 points allocation but scored only among eligible non-turbo entries (top 6 naturally aspirated finishers per race); all results counted with no drops, excluding turbocharged teams like Williams-Honda or McLaren-TAG Porsche.[103]Grand Prix Results
The 1987 Formula One World Championship consisted of 16 Grands Prix, with results summarized in the following table detailing the race number, date, winner (driver and team), pole-sitter (driver and team), fastest lap holder (driver and team), and top 6 finishers (drivers and teams).[1]| Race | Date | Circuit | Winner | Pole-sitter | Fastest Lap | Top 6 Finishers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 Apr | Jacarepaguá | Alain Prost (McLaren-TAG) | Nigel Mansell (Williams-Honda) | Alain Prost (McLaren-TAG) | 1. Prost, 2. Piquet (Williams-Honda), 3. Johansson (Ferrari), 4. Berger (Ferrari), 5. Patrese (Brabham-BMW), 6. Alboreto (Ferrari) |
| 2 | 3 May | Imola | Nigel Mansell (Williams-Honda) | Ayrton Senna (Lotus-Honda) | Nigel Mansell (Williams-Honda) | 1. Mansell, 2. Piquet (Williams-Honda), 3. Prost (McLaren-TAG), 4. Senna, 5. Johansson (Ferrari), 6. Berger (Ferrari) |
| 3 | 17 May | Spa-Francorchamps | Alain Prost (McLaren-TAG) | Nigel Mansell (Williams-Honda) | Alain Prost (McLaren-TAG) | 1. Prost, 2. Mansell (Williams-Honda), 3. Piquet (Williams-Honda), 4. Berger (Ferrari), 5. Johansson (Ferrari), 6. Boutsen (Benetton-Ford) |
| 4 | 31 May | Monaco | Ayrton Senna (Lotus-Honda) | Nigel Mansell (Williams-Honda) | Alain Prost (McLaren-TAG) | 1. Senna, 2. Mansell (Williams-Honda), 3. Piquet (Williams-Honda), 4. Prost (McLaren-TAG), 5. Johansson (Ferrari), 6. Patrese (Brabham-BMW) |
| 5 | 21 Jun | Detroit | Ayrton Senna (Lotus-Honda) | Nigel Mansell (Williams-Honda) | Ayrton Senna (Lotus-Honda) | 1. Senna, 2. Piquet (Williams-Honda), 3. Prost (McLaren-TAG), 4. Berger (Ferrari), 5. Mansell (Williams-Honda), 6. Capelli (March-Ford) |
| 6 | 5 Jul | Paul Ricard | Nigel Mansell (Williams-Honda) | Nigel Mansell (Williams-Honda) | Ayrton Senna (Lotus-Honda) | 1. Mansell, 2. Piquet (Williams-Honda), 3. Prost (McLaren-TAG), 4. Berger (Ferrari), 5. Senna (Lotus-Honda), 6. De Cesaris (Brabham-BMW) |
| 7 | 12 Jul | Silverstone | Nigel Mansell (Williams-Honda) | Nelson Piquet (Williams-Honda) | Ayrton Senna (Lotus-Honda) | 1. Mansell, 2. Piquet (Williams-Honda), 3. Berger (Ferrari), 4. Prost (McLaren-TAG), 5. Senna (Lotus-Honda), 6. Johansson (Ferrari) |
| 8 | 26 Jul | Hockenheim | Nelson Piquet (Williams-Honda) | Nigel Mansell (Williams-Honda) | Nelson Piquet (Williams-Honda) | 1. Piquet, 2. Mansell (Williams-Honda), 3. Senna (Lotus-Honda), 4. Prost (McLaren-TAG), 5. Berger (Ferrari), 6. Boutsen (Benetton-Ford) |
| 9 | 9 Aug | Hungaroring | Nelson Piquet (Williams-Honda) | Nigel Mansell (Williams-Honda) | Nelson Piquet (Williams-Honda) | 1. Piquet, 2. Senna (Lotus-Honda), 3. Mansell (Williams-Honda), 4. Prost (McLaren-TAG), 5. Berger (Ferrari), 6. Alboreto (Ferrari) |
| 10 | 16 Aug | Österreichring | Nigel Mansell (Williams-Honda) | Nelson Piquet (Williams-Honda) | Nelson Piquet (Williams-Honda) | 1. Mansell, 2. Piquet (Williams-Honda), 3. Fabi (Benetton-Ford), 4. Boutsen (Benetton-Ford), 5. Senna (Lotus-Honda), 6. Prost (McLaren-TAG) |
| 11 | 6 Sep | Monza | Nelson Piquet (Williams-Honda) | Nelson Piquet (Williams-Honda) | Nelson Piquet (Williams-Honda) | 1. Piquet, 2. Senna (Lotus-Honda), 3. Mansell (Williams-Honda), 4. Berger (Ferrari), 5. Boutsen (Benetton-Ford), 6. Johansson (McLaren-TAG) |
| 12 | 20 Sep | Estoril | Alain Prost (McLaren-TAG) | Gerhard Berger (Ferrari) | Nelson Piquet (Williams-Honda) | 1. Prost, 2. Senna (Lotus-Honda), 3. Piquet (Williams-Honda), 4. Berger (Ferrari), 5. Mansell (Williams-Honda), 6. Johansson (Ferrari) |
| 13 | 27 Sep | Jerez | Nigel Mansell (Williams-Honda) | Nelson Piquet (Williams-Honda) | Nelson Piquet (Williams-Honda) | 1. Mansell, 2. Piquet (Williams-Honda), 3. Senna (Lotus-Honda), 4. Prost (McLaren-TAG), 5. Berger (Ferrari), 6. Boutsen (Benetton-Ford) |
| 14 | 18 Oct | Mexico City | Nigel Mansell (Williams-Honda) | Nigel Mansell (Williams-Honda) | Nelson Piquet (Williams-Honda) | 1. Mansell, 2. Prost (McLaren-TAG), 3. Senna (Lotus-Honda), 4. Piquet (Williams-Honda), 5. Berger (Ferrari), 6. Alboreto (Ferrari) |
| 15 | 1 Nov | Suzuka | Gerhard Berger (Ferrari) | Gerhard Berger (Ferrari) | Nelson Piquet (Williams-Honda) | 1. Berger, 2. Prost (McLaren-TAG), 3. Piquet (Williams-Honda), 4. Senna (Lotus-Honda), 5. Johansson (Ferrari), 6. Capelli (March-Ford) |
| 16 | 15 Nov | Adelaide | Gerhard Berger (Ferrari) | Gerhard Berger (Ferrari) | Nelson Piquet (Williams-Honda) | 1. Berger, 2. Piquet (Williams-Honda), 3. Johansson (Ferrari), 4. Prost (McLaren-TAG), 5. Senna (Lotus-Honda), 6. Alboreto (Ferrari) |
World Drivers' Championship
The 1987 FIA Formula One World Drivers' Championship was awarded to the driver with the most points accumulated from finishes in the top six positions across the season's sixteen Grands Prix, using the scoring system of 9 points for first place, 6 for second, 4 for third, 3 for fourth, 2 for fifth, and 1 for sixth. Only the best eleven results from each driver's season counted toward the final tally, enabling the discard of five lowest-scoring (or non-scoring) rounds to reward overall consistency.[104] Nelson Piquet of the Williams-Honda team clinched the title with 73 points, marking his third and final drivers' championship victory in a career that included 23 Grand Prix wins. Piquet achieved this through three race victories and reliable finishes, contrasting with teammate Nigel Mansell's higher tally of six wins but more frequent retirements and absences that limited his scoring opportunities. The championship was mathematically secured for Piquet following the Japanese Grand Prix, as Mansell's back injury from a qualifying crash at Suzuka prevented him from competing in the final two events, effectively eliminating his mathematical chance to catch up.[101] Mansell, for instance, benefited from the drop rule by excluding his three non-finishes due to injury (all scoring 0 points), along with two additional low or non-scoring results from his thirteen starts, to reach his final 61 points. Piquet, meanwhile, amassed 76 points across all rounds but dropped three points from a single fourth-place finish to comply with the eleven-result limit.[105][104]| Position | Driver | Nationality | Points | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nelson Piquet | Brazilian | 73 (76) | 3 |
| 2 | Nigel Mansell | British | 61 | 6 |
| 3 | Ayrton Senna | Brazilian | 57 | 2 |
| 4 | Alain Prost | French | 46 | 3 |
| 5 | Gerhard Berger | Austrian | 36 | 2 |
| 6 | Stefan Johansson | Swedish | 30 | 0 |
| 7 | Michele Alboreto | Italian | 17 | 0 |
| 8 | Thierry Boutsen | Belgian | 16 | 0 |
| 9 | Teo Fabi | Italian | 12 | 0 |
| 10 | Eddie Cheever | American | 8 | 0 |
| 11 | Jonathan Palmer | British | 7 | 0 |
| 12 | Satoru Nakajima | Japanese | 7 | 0 |
| 13 | Riccardo Patrese | Italian | 6 | 0 |
| 14 | Andrea de Cesaris | Italian | 4 | 0 |
| 15 | Philippe Streiff | French | 4 | 0 |
| 16 | Derek Warwick | British | 3 | 0 |
| 17 | Philippe Alliot | French | 3 | 0 |
| 18 | Martin Brundle | British | 2 | 0 |
| 19 | Ivan Capelli | Italian | 1 | 0 |
| 20 | Roberto Moreno | Brazilian | 1 | 0 |
| 21 | René Arnoux | French | 1 | 0 |
| 22–33 | Various drivers | Various | 0 | 0 |
World Constructors' Championship
The 1987 World Constructors' Championship was dominated by Williams-Honda, who amassed 137 points to secure their fourth title overall and second in succession. This achievement underscored the effectiveness of the Honda RA167E turbocharged V6 engine, which propelled not only Williams but also Lotus to the top three in the standings, highlighting the Japanese manufacturer's pivotal role in the turbo era's final year before the 1988 ban. McLaren-TAG Porsche, powered by the Porsche TAG TPE V6, finished a distant second with 76 points, while Ferrari's in-house Tipo 033D V6 enabled a solid fourth place on 53 points despite reliability challenges. Unlike the Drivers' Championship, which discarded a driver's worst five results, the Constructors' title aggregated all points scored by a team's eligible drivers across the full 16-race season with no drops.[3][106][22] Williams' success was driven primarily by their driver lineup, with Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell contributing the majority of points through nine wins and 18 podiums between them. The team's FW11 chassis, designed by Patrick Head and Neil Oatley, optimized the Honda power unit's output, allowing consistent scoring even amid turbocharger restrictions that limited boost to 2.5 bar plus an anti-lag system. In contrast, engine suppliers like BMW (for Brabham) and Megatron (for Arrows and Ligier) struggled with reliability, confining their teams to mid-pack finishes despite occasional flashes of speed. Ford Cosworth's naturally aspirated DFZ V8, used by several midfield outfits, provided steady but unremarkable performance in the twilight of the turbo dominance.[107]| Pos | Constructor | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Williams-Honda | 137 |
| 2 | McLaren-TAG | 76 |
| 3 | Lotus-Honda | 64 |
| 4 | Ferrari | 53 |
| 5 | Benetton-Ford | 28 |
| 6 | Tyrrell-Ford | 11 |
| 7 | Arrows-Megatron | 11 |
| 8 | Brabham-BMW | 10 |
| 9 | Lola-Ford | 3 |
| 10 | Zakspeed-BMW | 2 |
| 11 | Ligier-Megatron | 1 |
| 12 | AGS-Ford | 1 |
| 13 | March-Ford | 1 |
Jim Clark and Colin Chapman Trophies
The Jim Clark Trophy was established in 1987 as a one-off award to celebrate the legacy of two-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion Jim Clark, specifically recognizing the highest-scoring driver using a naturally aspirated engine amid the technological divide between turbocharged and non-turbo cars.[108] Eligible drivers were limited to those in cars powered by naturally aspirated engines with a maximum displacement of 3.5 liters, reflecting the FIA's transitional regulations that permitted such powerplants while turbos dominated the grid.[109] Points were awarded to the top six naturally aspirated finishers in each race using the 9-6-4-3-2-1 system, with all 16 results counting toward the total; this setup highlighted the perseverance of NA runners despite their competitive disadvantage.[110] Jonathan Palmer, driving for Tyrrell, clinched the inaugural Jim Clark Trophy with 95 points, edging out teammate Philippe Streiff (74 points) through consistent finishes that capitalized on being the top NA runner in most races.[103] Other top finishers included Philippe Alliot (Lola-Ford, 43 points), Ivan Capelli (March-Ford, 38 points), Pascal Fabre (AGS-Ford, 35 points), and Roberto Moreno (AGS-Ford, 4 points). The high points totals reflected frequent scoring among NA cars, powered primarily by the Cosworth DFZ V8, though they trailed turbos overall.[103]| Position | Driver | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jonathan Palmer | Tyrrell-Ford | 95 |
| 2 | Philippe Streiff | Tyrrell-Ford | 74 |
| 3 | Philippe Alliot | Lola-Ford | 43 |
| 4 | Ivan Capelli | March-Ford | 38 |
| 5 | Pascal Fabre | AGS-Ford | 35 |
| 6 | Roberto Moreno | AGS-Ford | 4 |
| Pos | Constructor | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tyrrell-Ford | 169 |
| 2 | Lola-Ford | 50 |
| 3 | AGS-Ford | 41 |
| 4 | March-Ford | 38 |