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1987 Belgian Grand Prix
Race 3 of 16 in the1987 Formula One World Championship
Race details[1]
Date	17 May 1987
Official name	XLVGrand Prix de Belgique
Location	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Francorchamps,Wallonia,Belgium[2]
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	6.940 km (4.312 miles)
Distance	43 laps, 298.420 km (185.429 miles)
Weather	Cloudy and cool
Pole position
Driver	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Honda
Time	1:52.026
Fastest lap
Driver	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG
Time	1:57.153 on lap 26
Podium
First	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG
Second	Stefan Johansson	McLaren-TAG
Third	Andrea de Cesaris	Brabham-BMW
Lap leaders

The1987 Belgian Grand Prix was aFormula One motor race held on 17 May 1987 at theCircuit de Spa-Francorchamps,Francorchamps,Wallonia. Contested over 43 laps, the race was the 45thBelgian Grand Prix, the 33rd to be held at Spa and the fourth since the circuit was redeveloped in 1979, and the third race of the1987 Formula One season.

The race was won by France'sAlain Prost driving aMcLaren-TAG. This was Prost's second victory of the 1987 season and his second in the Belgian Grand Prix (after1983), as well as his 27th Grand Prix victory overall, equallingJackie Stewart's all-time record. Prost's Swedish team-mateStefan Johansson finished second, the only other driver on the same lap, giving McLaren their first 1-2 finish since the previous year'sMonaco Grand Prix. Italy'sAndrea de Cesaris, driving aBrabham-BMW, finished third despite having to push his car over the line as he had run out of fuel.

The win gave Prost a five-point lead over Johansson in the Drivers' Championship.Williams driverNigel Mansell was three points further back; a first-lap collision withAyrton Senna'sLotus had ultimately led to his retirement from the race, after which he angrily confronted the Brazilian driver in the Lotus garage.

The event, officially called theGrand Prix de Belgique, was held at the 6.940-kilometre (4.312 mi)Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps outside the Belgian village ofFrancorchamps.^[1] Untimed free practice sessions were held on the mornings of Friday 15 May, Saturday 16 May, and Sunday 17 May 1987, with timed qualifying practice sessions held on the Friday and Saturday afternoons and the main Grand Prix race itself held on the Sunday afternoon.^[1] Twenty-six cars were entered by fifteenconstructors.^[1] All teams usedGoodyear tyres.^[1]Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives (AGS),Arrows,Benetton Formula,Scuderia Ferrari,Ligier,Team Lotus,McLaren,Minardi,Tyrrell Racing,Williams, andZakspeed had all modified their cars to varying extents ahead of this event.^[1] Friday practice was wet with temperatures below 7 °C (45 °F).^[1] The race was held in dry conditions with temperatures around 11 °C (52 °F).^[1]

Qualifying runs saw the twoWilliams FW11Bs take the front row, withNigel Mansell on the pole, nearly 1.5 seconds faster thanNelson Piquet. Certainly, Piquet was still suffering the results of his accident at Imola.Ayrton Senna took the third place in hisLotus 99T ahead of the twoFerrari F1/87s ofGerhard Berger andMichele Alboreto.

The race required two starts. On the first start Mansell took the lead ahead of Senna, Piquet and Alboreto. At the back of the gridRené Arnoux (Ligier JS29B) andAndrea de Cesaris (Brabham BT56) tangled, whilstThierry Boutsen (Benetton B187) hit Berger's spinning Ferrari F1/87. A more serious accident befellPhilippe Streiff who crashed heavily at theEau Rouge before the wreckage was hit by Tyrrell teammateJonathan Palmer; both were unhurt but theirTyrrell DG016s were reduced to scrap. By virtue of qualifying 23rd to his teammate's 24th, and ironically by crashing first, Streiff was given the spare car for the restart forcing Palmer out of the race.

On the second start, Senna led Mansell away, but during lap one the Briton tried to overtake the Brazilian. The two controversially tangled, leading to the retirement of the Lotus 99T. Mansell rejoined the race at the back, until the damage sustained in the collision finally forced him to retire on lap 17. Mansell subsequently visited the Lotus garage where harsh words were exchanged and punches were thrown.

Berger retired on lap three with a broken piston whilst on lap 10 second placeMichele Alboreto's wheel bearing broke andNelson Piquet retired with a broken turbo pipe, handing the lead toAlain Prost fromTeo Fabi andStefan Johansson. The pitstops changed little in the situation, and he maintained this to win easily by 25 seconds, despite concerns with his fuel consumption due to a faulty gauge.

This was Prost's 27th win, equallingJackie Stewart's record with team-mate Johansson making it aMcLaren 1-2.Andrea de Cesaris drove superbly to finish third forBrabham despite having to push his car over the line withEddie Cheever (Arrows A10),Satoru Nakajima (Lotus 99T) and Arnoux taking the remaining points. With the setbacks to the Tyrrell drivers, the Jim Clark points were won by theLola LC87 ofPhilippe Alliot. As of 2025^[update], this was also the last time that theBelgian Grand Prix was held at the beginning of the season; since1988, it has always been held in July, August or September.

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Q1	Q2	Gap	Grid
1	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Honda	2:06.965	1:52.026	—	1
2	6	Nelson Piquet	Williams-Honda	2:08.143	1:53.416	+1.390	2
3	12	Ayrton Senna	Lotus-Honda	2:08.450	1:53.426	+1.400	3
4	28	Gerhard Berger	Ferrari	2:06.216	1:53.451	+1.425	4
5	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	2:07.459	1:53.511	+1.485	5
6	1	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG	2:11.203	1:54.186	+2.160	6
7	20	Thierry Boutsen	Benetton-Ford	2:08.752	1:54.300	+2.274	7
8	7	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham-BMW	2:12.914	1:55.064	+3.038	8
9	19	Teo Fabi	Benetton-Ford	2:12.358	1:55.339	+3.313	9
10	2	Stefan Johansson	McLaren-TAG	2:12.063	1:55.781	+3.755	10
11	18	Eddie Cheever	Arrows-Megatron	2:15.321	1:55.899	+3.873	11
12	17	Derek Warwick	Arrows-Megatron	2:10.946	1:56.359	+4.333	12
13	8	Andrea de Cesaris	Brabham-BMW	2:13.871	1:57.101	+5.075	13
14	24	Alessandro Nannini	Minardi-Motori Moderni	2:09.650	1:58.132	+6.106	14
15	11	Satoru Nakajima	Lotus-Honda	2:11.441	1:58.649	+6.623	15
16	25	René Arnoux	Ligier-Megatron	2:15.012	1:59.117	+7.091	16
17	26	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Ligier-Megatron	2:15.339	1:59.291	+7.265	17
18	9	Martin Brundle	Zakspeed	2:14.432	2:00.433	+8.407	18
19	23	Adrián Campos	Minardi-Motori Moderni	2:14.945	2:00.763	+8.737	19
20	10	Christian Danner	Zakspeed	2:20.610	2:01.072	+9.046	20
21	16	Ivan Capelli	March-Ford	2:13.355	2:02.036	+10.010	21
22	30	Philippe Alliot	Lola-Ford	2:13.082	2:02.347	+10.321	22
23	4	Philippe Streiff	Tyrrell-Ford	2:18.900	2:03.098	+11.072	23
24	3	Jonathan Palmer	Tyrrell-Ford	2:14.931	2:04.677	+12.651	24
25	14	Pascal Fabre	AGS-Ford	2:26.498	2:07.361	+15.335	25
26	21	Alex Caffi	Osella-Alfa Romeo	2:16.268	2:12.086	+20.060	26
Source:[3][4][5][6]

Numbers in brackets refer to positions ofnormally aspirated entrants competing for theJim Clark Trophy.

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	1	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG	43	1:27:03.217	6	9
2	2	Stefan Johansson	McLaren-TAG	43	+ 24.764	10	6
3	8	Andrea de Cesaris	Brabham-BMW	42	Out of Fuel	13	4
4	18	Eddie Cheever	Arrows-Megatron	42	+ 1 Lap	11	3
5	11	Satoru Nakajima	Lotus-Honda	42	+ 1 Lap	15	2
6	25	René Arnoux	Ligier-Megatron	41	+ 2 Laps	16	1
7	26	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Ligier-Megatron	40	Out of Fuel	17
8 (1)	30	Philippe Alliot	Lola-Ford	40	+ 3 Laps	22
9 (2)	4	Philippe Streiff	Tyrrell-Ford	39	+ 4 Laps	23
10 (3)	14	Pascal Fabre	AGS-Ford	38	Ignition	25
Ret	19	Teo Fabi	Benetton-Ford	34	Engine	9
Ret	9	Martin Brundle	Zakspeed	19	Overheating	18
Ret	20	Thierry Boutsen	Benetton-Ford	18	Wheel Bearing	7
Ret	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Honda	17	Accident	1
Ret	16	Ivan Capelli	March-Ford	14	Engine	21
Ret	6	Nelson Piquet	Williams-Honda	11	Exhaust	2
Ret	21	Alex Caffi	Osella-Alfa Romeo	11	Fuel Leak	26
Ret	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	9	Transmission	5
Ret	10	Christian Danner	Zakspeed	9	Brakes	20
Ret	17	Derek Warwick	Arrows-Megatron	8	Radiator	12
Ret	7	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham-BMW	5	Clutch	8
Ret	28	Gerhard Berger	Ferrari	2	Engine	4
Ret	24	Alessandro Nannini	Minardi-Motori Moderni	1	Turbo	14
Ret	12	Ayrton Senna	Lotus-Honda	0	Collision	3
Ret	23	Adrián Campos	Minardi-Motori Moderni	0	Gearbox	19
Ret	3	Jonathan Palmer	Tyrrell-Ford	0	Collision	24
Source:[7]

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Alain Prost 18 2 Stefan Johansson 13 3 Nigel Mansell 10 4 Nelson Piquet 6 5 Ayrton Senna 6 Source:[8]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 McLaren-TAG 31 2 Williams-Honda 16 3 Lotus-Honda 9 4 Ferrari 7 5 Brabham-BMW 4 Source:[8]

Jim Clark Trophy standings Pos Driver Points 1 Philippe Streiff 21 2 Philippe Alliot 15 3 Pascal Fabre 12 4 Jonathan Palmer 9

Colin Chapman trophy standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Tyrrell-Ford 30 2 Lola-Ford 15 3 AGS-Ford 12

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for all four sets of standings.

• 1987 Formula One races
• 1987 in Belgian motorsport
• Belgian Grand Prix

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