| 1988 Japanese Grand Prix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 15 of 16 in the1988 Formula One World Championship | |||
.svg) | |||
| Race details | |||
| Date | 30 October 1988 | ||
| Official name | XIV Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix | ||
| Location | Suzuka Circuit,Suzuka,Japan | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 5.860 km (3.641[1] miles) | ||
| Distance | 51 laps, 298.860 km (185.703 miles) | ||
| Weather | Cool and mainly dry, some rain toward the end | ||
| Attendance | 233,000[2] | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | McLaren-Honda | ||
| Time | 1:41.853 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |  Ayrton Senna | McLaren-Honda | |
| Time | 1:46.326 on lap 33 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | McLaren-Honda | ||
| Second | McLaren-Honda | ||
| Third | Benetton-Ford | ||
Lap leaders | |||
The1988 Japanese Grand Prix was aFormula One motor race held atSuzuka Circuit on 30 October 1988. It was the fifteenth and penultimate race of the1988 season.
OnHonda's home track, theMcLarens ofAyrton Senna andAlain Prost filled the front row. Senna's pole time was 1.8 seconds slower thanGerhard Berger's1987 time.
Just 30 minutes prior to the start of Friday morning's Free Practice session, local heroSatoru Nakajima was informed that his mother had died that morning. That he chose to drive in such circumstances won the much maligned Japanese driver new fans in the F1 paddock.
Berger himself could only manage third on the grid, joined on the second row byIvan Capelli in thenaturally aspiratedMarch-Judd. On the third row were the twoLotus-Hondas of outgoing World ChampionNelson Piquet, who was suffering from a virus, and home town favourite Nakajima. Lotus showed great faith in Nakajima by announcing that they had re-signed him for the1989 season, despite the fact that they would have to use Judd engines after Honda's decision to supply McLaren exclusively. According to US race broadcasterESPN throughout the second half of the season after Honda's announcement that they were leaving Lotus, Honda had allegedly offeredUS$2 million to any team willing to sign Nakajima as a driver.[citation needed]
French driverYannick Dalmas was declared medically unfit for the race and was replaced in theLarrousse team by Japan'sAguri Suzuki, who was on his way to winning the1988 Japanese Formula 3000 Championship. Suzuki qualified 20th on his F1 debut, one place behind temporary teammatePhilippe Alliot. Dalmas, originally thought to have an ear infection that kept him out of both Japan and the final race inAustralia, was diagnosed withLegionnaires' disease later in the year.
The all-McLaren front row was the 11th of the year, but its drivers had contrasting fortunes. Prost led away from Berger and Capelli, while Senna stalled on the grid. However, Suzuka had the only sloping grid of the year and so the Brazilian was able to bump start his car into action. He had dropped to 14th place, but immediately made a charge through the field, gaining six places by the end of the first lap and then passingRiccardo Patrese,Thierry Boutsen,Alessandro Nannini and Michele Alboreto to run fourth on lap 4. Meanwhile,Derek Warwick and Nigel Mansell collided and had to pit for a puncture and a new nose cone, respectively, while Capelli not only set the fastest lap but also passed Berger – who was already troubled with fuel consumption problems – on lap 5 to move into second place. Alboreto was nudged off track by Thierry Boutsen in the Benetton-Ford on lap 8 while he was in sixth place.
On lap 14 the weather started to come into contention as rain began on parts of the circuit, benefiting Senna. On lap 16 Capelli seized his chance to pass Prost for the lead, the first time a non-turbo car had led a Grand Prix since1983. Prost had been slowed when Suzuki'sLola had spun at the chicane and got going again just as Prost and Capelli were braking for the tight right-left complex. He then missed a gear coming out of the chicane thanks to a troublesome gearbox and was passed by the March, but Capelli's lead only lasted for a few hundred metres as the extra power of the Honda turbo engine allowed Prost to regain the lead going into the first turn. Capelli made several further attempts to overtake Prost before ultimately retiring three laps later with electrical failure.
Mansell's race lasted until lap 24 when he collided with Piquet's Lotus while trying to lap him. Piquet, still unwell with a virus and complaining of double vision, continued for another ten laps before retiring through fatigue.
By then Senna was catching Prost rapidly, and with traffic, Prost's malfunctioning gearbox, and a tricky wet and dry surface, conditions were favourable to the Brazilian. On lap 27, as they attempted to lapAndrea de Cesaris, Nakajima andMaurício Gugelmin, Senna managed to force his way through as Prost was delayed by de Cesaris'sRial. Senna then put in a succession of fast laps, breaking the former lap record and building a lead of over three seconds, despite being delayed while lapping Nakajima.
With slick tyres on a track that was now wet, Senna gestured for the race to be stopped. The race ran out its entire distance, however, with Senna finishing 13 seconds ahead of Prost. Boutsen took third place, whilst Berger recovered to fourth place after Alboreto held up Nannini, who had to settle for fifth. Patrese finished in sixth, and Nakajima was 7th.
With victory in the race, Senna clinched the World Championship. Due to the scoring system in 1988, Prost could only add three more points to his total even if he won in Australia, which would give him 87 points in total. If Senna then failed to score they would be equal on points, but Senna would still win the title, having taken more wins (8 to 7). Victory in Japan was also Senna's eighth win of the season, which beat the record for total wins in a single season, previously held byJim Clark (1963) and Prost (1984).
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 36 |  Alex Caffi | Dallara-Ford | 1:49.099 | — |
| 2 | 21 | Nicola Larini | Osella | 1:50.288 | +1.189 |
| 3 | 32 |  Oscar Larrauri | EuroBrun-Ford | 1:50.942 | +1.843 |
| 4 | 33 | Stefano Modena | EuroBrun-Ford | 1:51.141 | +2.042 |
| DNPQ | 31 | Gabriele Tarquini | Coloni-Ford | 1:52.234 | +3.135 |
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Q1 | Q2 | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | Ayrton Senna | McLaren-Honda | 1:42.157 | 1:41.853 | — |
| 2 | 11 |  Alain Prost | McLaren-Honda | 1:43.806 | 1:42.177 | +0.324 |
| 3 | 28 |  Gerhard Berger | Ferrari | 1:43.548 | 1:43.353 | +1.500 |
| 4 | 16 | Ivan Capelli | March-Judd | 1:44.583 | 1:43.605 | +1.752 |
| 5 | 1 | Nelson Piquet | Lotus-Honda | 1:45.171 | 1:43.693 | +1.840 |
| 6 | 2 |  Satoru Nakajima | Lotus-Honda | 1:45.156 | 1:43.693 | +1.840 |
| 7 | 17 |  Derek Warwick | Arrows-Megatron | 1:46.915 | 1:43.816 | +1.963 |
| 8 | 5 | Nigel Mansell | Williams-Judd | 1:44.448 | 1:43.893 | +2.040 |
| 9 | 27 | Michele Alboreto | Ferrari | 1:44.909 | 1:43.972 | +2.119 |
| 10 | 20 |  Thierry Boutsen | Benetton-Ford | 1:44.882 | 1:44.499 | +2.686 |
| 11 | 6 | Riccardo Patrese | Williams-Judd | 1:45.510 | 1:44.555 | +2.702 |
| 12 | 19 | Alessandro Nannini | Benetton-Ford | 1:45.047 | 1:44.611 | +2.758 |
| 13 | 15 | Maurício Gugelmin | March-Judd | 1:45.138 | 1:45.156 | +3.285 |
| 14 | 22 | Andrea de Cesaris | Rial-Ford | 1:48.393 | 1:45.558 | +3.705 |
| 15 | 18 |  Eddie Cheever | Arrows-Megatron | 1:45.845 | 1:46.189 | +3.992 |
| 16 | 3 | Jonathan Palmer | Tyrrell-Ford | 1:47.828 | 1:45.916 | +4.063 |
| 17 | 23 | Pierluigi Martini | Minardi-Ford | 1:47.638 | 1:46.449 | +4.596 |
| 18 | 14 | Philippe Streiff | AGS-Ford | 1:47.583 | 1:46.486 | +4.633 |
| 19 | 30 | Philippe Alliot | Lola-Ford | 1:47.057 | 1:46.521 | +4.668 |
| 20 | 29 | Aguri Suzuki | Lola-Ford | 1:48.448 | 1:46.920 | +5.067 |
| 21 | 36 | Alex Caffi | Dallara-Ford | 1:47.813 | 1:46.982 | +5.129 |
| 22 | 24 |  Luis Pérez-Sala | Minardi-Ford | 1:48.769 | 1:47.134 | +5.281 |
| 23 | 25 | René Arnoux | Ligier-Judd | 1:49.165 | 1:47.193 | +5.340 |
| 24 | 21 | Nicola Larini | Osella | 1:48.706 | 1:47.547 | +5.694 |
| 25 | 10 |  Bernd Schneider | Zakspeed | 1:49.897 | 1:47.599 | +5.746 |
| 26 | 4 | Julian Bailey | Tyrrell-Ford | 1:49.420 | 1:48.589 | +6.736 |
| DNQ | 26 |  Stefan Johansson | Ligier-Judd | 1:49.127 | 1:48.716 | +6.863 |
| DNQ | 32 | Oscar Larrauri | EuroBrun-Ford | 1:50.224 | 1:49.265 | +7.412 |
| DNQ | 9 | Piercarlo Ghinzani | Zakspeed | 1:49.706 | 1:50.550 | +7.853 |
| DNQ | 33 | Stefano Modena | EuroBrun-Ford | 1:49.812 | 1:50.047 | +7.959 |
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| Previous race: 1988 Spanish Grand Prix | FIA Formula One World Championship 1988 season | Next race: 1988 Australian Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 1987 Japanese Grand Prix | Japanese Grand Prix | Next race: 1989 Japanese Grand Prix |
