1988 Italian Grand Prix

  1988 Italian Grand Prix
Race details
Race 13 of 16 in the 1988 Formula One season

Date September 11, 1988
Official name LIX Coca-Cola Gran Premio d'Italia
Location Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza, Italy
Course Permanent racing facility
5.80 km (3.603 mi)
Distance 51 laps, 295.800 km (183.801 mi)
Weather Sunny and hot
Pole position
Driver Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda
Time 1:25.974
Fastest lap
Driver Michele Alboreto Ferrari
Time 1:29.070 on lap 44
Podium
First Gerhard Berger Ferrari
Second Michele Alboreto Ferrari
Third Eddie Cheever Arrows-Megatron

The 1988 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on September 11, 1988 at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza. It was the twelfth race of the 1988 season. It is often remembered for the extremely improbable 1-2 finish for the Ferrari team, and the only race of the 1988 season that McLaren-Honda failed to win.

Contents

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Report

Qualifying

Qualifying at Monza went as expected with the McLaren's of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost heading the field, Senna the only driver to lap the 5.80km (3.603mi) under 1:26. In the first Italian Grand Prix since the death of Ferrari founder Enzo Ferrari his beloved scarlet cars were 3rd and 4th on the grid, Gerhard Berger in front of Michele Alboreto.

The third row of the grid was a surprise, even at this power circuit. For much of the season the Arrows team had been experiencing problems with the FIA pop-off valve on their Megatron turbo engines meant that drivers Derek Warwick and Eddie Cheever were often only as fast as the atmos. The teams engine guru Heini Mader had finally solved the pop-off valve problem and suddenly with an extra 30hp at their disposal the Arrows' were actually faster than the Honda powered McLaren's and Lotus' (but slower than the Ferrari's) on Monza's long straights allowing Cheever and Warwick to line up 5th and 6th respectively, one place in front of World Champion Nelson Piquet in his Lotus.[1]

Race

The tifosi prayed for a Ferrari victory at this the Meca of motor racing. However, with the McLaren dominance, hopes for a home victory seemed bleak. The season was dominated by McLaren, who had won all 11 of the season's races before the Italian Grand Prix, and would go on to win the 4 remaining races.

Nigel Mansell was still affected by chicken pox, and was still forced to sit out. Martin Brundle, his replacement in Belgium, was scheduled to race with Jaguar on the weekend and so the second Williams seat went to test driver Jean-Louis Schlesser.

Prost managed to jump Senna at the start but as he changed from 2nd to 3rd on the run to the Rettifilo his engine began to misfire and would not run properly again. Berger followed Prost with Alboreto, Cheever, Boutsen, Patrese and Piquet. Prost, realising that the misfire wasn't going away decided to turn his boost up to full and give chase to his team mate. Many people in the F1 Paddock believed that Prost, knowing he wouldn't finish, hoped to make Senna use too much fuel in his bid to keep ahead, something which could have consequences for Senna later in the race if he was forced to back off to try and finish.

Prost continued to chase Senna despite the misfire, his full boost run saw him able to stay within 5 seconds of the Brazilian. By lap 30 he had reduced Senna's lead to only 2 seconds but as he went by the pits at the end of lap 30 the misfire got worse and by lap 35 had been passed by Berger and Alboreto and was heading for the pits and his first mechanical retirement of the season. While this was happening Alboreto, troubled by gear selection problems had dropped back from Berger to allow his gearbox oil to cool hoping it would come good. It did and the Italian in the All-Italian car began to charge at the Italian Grand Prix and was catching his team mate.

Later in the race Berger and Alboreto began closing on Senna rapidly, though it was assumed that Senna was merely pacing himself to the finish. With two laps remaining in the race, Senna attempted to lap the Williams of Schlesser at the Rettifilo Chicane. Senna headed to the left to pass the Frenchman on the inside of the first chicane, however Schlesser locked his brakes and the Williams slid forward towards the gravel trap. Somehow Schlesser managed to collect the car and turned left to avoid going off. Senna, who had taken his normal line and hadn't counted on Schlesser regaining control was t-boned in the right rear by Schlesser's Williams causing broken rear suspension for the Mclaren. Senna spun onto the exit kerb of the first part of the chicane and with the car stuck on the kerb he was forced to retire from the race. BBC commentator James Hunt placed the blame on Schlesser although many felt that Senna had not given any allowance for Schlesser to come back on the track.[2] It was also generally thought that Senna had used too much fuel in the first half of the race in his bid to keep in front of Prost and that was why the Ferrari's were catching him rapidly at the end with Berger only 5 seconds behind when Senna and Schlesser collided.

The Tifosi was beyond overjoyed as Berger inherited the win, with Alboreto taking second place only half a second behind in the first Italian Grand Prix since the death of the great Enzo Ferrari. Eddie Cheever finished in 3rd place for Arrows, 35 seconds behind the Ferrari's and only half a second in front of his team mate Derek Warwick in a great race for the Arrows team. The remaining points went to Italian Ivan Capelli, a considerable achievement by the atmo March on a circuit which requires powerful engines but showed just how aerodynamic the Adrian Newey designed 881 was. Sixth place went to the Benetton-Ford of Thierry Boutsen.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos↓ No↓ Driver↓ Constructor↓ Q1↓ Q2↓
1 12 Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 1:26.160 1:25.974
2 11 Alain Prost McLaren-Honda 1:26.277 1:26.428
3 28 Gerhard Berger Ferrari 1:28.082 1:26.654
4 27 Michele Alboreto Ferrari 1:27.618 1:26.988
5 18 Eddie Cheever Arrows-Megatron 1:28.101 1:27.660
6 17 Derek Warwick Arrows-Megatron 1:28.258 1:27.815
7 1 Nelson Piquet Lotus-Honda 1:28.440 1:28.044
8 20 Thierry Boutsen Benetton-Ford 1:29.607 1:28.870
9 19 Alessandro Nannini Benetton-Ford 1:28.969 1:28.958
10 6 Riccardo Patrese Williams-Judd 1:30.124 1:29.435
11 16 Ivan Capelli March-Judd 1:29.513 1:29.696
12 2 Satoru Nakajima Lotus-Honda 1:29.541 1:30.570
13 15 Mauricio Gugelmin March-Judd 1:30.145 1:30.035
14 23 Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 1:30.734 1:30.125
15 10 Bernd Schneider Zakspeed 1:30.773 1:30.161
16 9 Piercarlo Ghinzani Zakspeed 1:31.182 1:30.035
17 21 Nicola Larini Osella 1:31.721 1:30.481
18 22 Andrea de Cesaris Rial-Ford 1:31.263 1:30.560
19 24 Luis Perez-Sala Minardi-Ford 1:30.944 1:30.698
20 30 Philippe Alliot Lola-Ford 1:31.168 1:30.962
21 36 Alex Caffi Dallara-Ford 1:30.989 1:31.009
22 5 Jean-Louis Schlesser Williams-Judd 1:31.548 1:31.620
23 14 Philippe Streiff AGS-Ford 1:31.676 1:31.687
24 25 René Arnoux Ligier-Judd 1:32.049 1:32.316
25 29 Yannick Dalmas Lola-Ford 1:32.164 1:32.686
26 4 Julian Bailey Tyrrell-Ford 1:32.573 1:32.290
DNQ 3 Jonathan Palmer Tyrrell-Ford 1:32.405 1:33.067
DNQ 26 Stefan Johansson Ligier-Judd 1:33.272 1:32.438
DNQ 31 Gabriele Tarquini Coloni-Ford 1:32.829 1:35.805
DNQ 33 Stefano Modena EuroBrun-Ford 1:34.727 1:33.226
DNPQ 32 Oscar Larrauri EuroBrun-Ford 1:34.044

Race

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 28 Gerhard Berger Ferrari 51 1:17:39.744 3 9
2 27 Michele Alboreto Ferrari 51 + 0.502 4 6
3 18 Eddie Cheever Arrows-Megatron 51 + 35.532 5 4
4 17 Derek Warwick Arrows-Megatron 51 + 36.114 6 3
5 16 Ivan Capelli March-Judd 51 + 52.522 11 2
6 20 Thierry Boutsen Benetton-Ford 51 + 59.878 8 1
7 6 Riccardo Patrese Williams-Judd 51 + 1:14.743 10  
8 15 Maurício Gugelmin March-Judd 51 + 1:32.566 13  
9 19 Alessandro Nannini Benetton-Ford 50 + 1 Lap 9  
10 12 Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda 49 Collision 1  
11 5 Jean-Louis Schlesser Williams-Judd 49 + 2 Laps 22  
12 4 Julian Bailey Tyrrell-Ford 49 + 2 Laps 26  
13 25 René Arnoux Ligier-Judd 49 + 2 Laps 24  
Ret 11 Alain Prost McLaren-Honda 34 Engine 2  
Ret 30 Philippe Alliot Lola-Ford 33 Engine 20  
Ret 14 Philippe Streiff AGS-Ford 31 Clutch 23  
Ret 10 Bernd Schneider Zakspeed 28 Engine 15  
Ret 22 Andrea de Cesaris Rial-Ford 27 Chassis 18  
Ret 9 Piercarlo Ghinzani Zakspeed 25 Engine 16  
Ret 36 Alex Caffi Dallara-Ford 24 Engine 21  
Ret 29 Yannick Dalmas Lola-Ford 17 Radiator 25  
Ret 23 Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 15 Engine 14  
Ret 2 Satoru Nakajima Lotus-Honda 14 Engine 12  
Ret 24 Luis Perez-Sala Minardi-Ford 12 Gearbox 19  
Ret 1 Nelson Piquet Lotus-Honda 11 Clutch 7  
Ret 21 Nicola Larini Osella 2 Engine 17  
DNQ 3 Jonathan Palmer Tyrrell-Ford        
DNQ 26 Stefan Johansson Ligier-Judd        
DNQ 31 Gabriele Tarquini Coloni-Ford        
DNQ 33 Stefano Modena Euro Brun-Ford        
DNPQ 32 Oscar Larrauri Euro Brun-Ford    

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 Ayrton Senna 75
2 Alain Prost 72
3 Gerhard Berger 37
4 Michele Alboreto 22
5 Nelson Piquet 18
Constructors' Championship standings
Pos Constructor Points
1 McLaren-Honda 147
2 Ferrari 59
3 Benetton-Ford 23
4 Arrows-Megatron 20
5 Lotus-Honda 19

References

Previous race:
1988 Belgian Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1988 season
Next race:
1988 Portuguese Grand Prix
Previous race:
1987 Italian Grand Prix
Italian Grand Prix Next race:
1989 Italian Grand Prix