| Race details | ||
|---|---|---|
| Race 3 of 16 in the 1988 Formula One season | ||
| Date | May 15, 1988 | |
| Official name | 46e Grand Prix de Monaco | |
| Location | Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo, Monaco | |
| Course | Street circuit 3.328 km (2.068 mi) |
|
| Distance | 78 laps, 259.584 km (161.298 mi) | |
| Weather | Warm and dry | |
| Pole position | ||
| Driver | Ayrton Senna | McLaren-Honda |
| Time | 1:23.998 | |
| Fastest lap | ||
| Driver | Ayrton Senna | McLaren-Honda |
| Time | 1:26.321 on lap 59 | |
| Podium | ||
| First | Alain Prost | McLaren-Honda |
| Second | Gerhard Berger | Ferrari |
| Third | Michele Alboreto | Ferrari |
The 1988 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on May 15, 1988 at the Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo. It was the third race of the 1988 Formula One season.
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The domination that the McLaren-Hondas had showed in qualifying at Imola continued in Monaco. Ayrton Senna was in a class of his own being the only driver to get under 1:24.0 and finishing an astonishing 1.4 seconds quicker than team mate and Monaco specialist Alain Prost and 2.7 seconds faster than third placed Gerhard Berger in his Ferrari. The quickest atmo car was the Williams of Nigel Mansell in 5th place, 3.7 seconds off the pace set by Senna.
Lotus-Honda driver Satoru Nakajima failed to qualify for the 26 car grid (in previous years Monaco only had a 20 car grid due to the narrow nature of the Monaco circuit), generally confirming that he was only in Formula One because of his nationality and connection with Honda. Also failing to qualify on the tight circuit were the Zakspeed of Bernd Schneider, the Minardi of Adrián Campos and the Tyrrell of Julian Bailey.
Senna led from the start, with Berger overtaking Prost when the Frenchman missed a gearchange. The first corner at St.Devote saw a variety of accidents: Alex Caffi in his new Dallara hit the wall, AGS's Philippe Streiff retired from a stunning 12th place on the grid when an accelerator cable broke, and Nelson Piquet retired after colliding with Eddie Cheever.
The running order of Senna-Berger-Prost-Mansell-Alboreto-Nannini was maintained until lap 33 when Alboreto took Mansell off at the Swimming Pool with a late passing manoeuvre. On lap 51, there were some dramatic moments when, at the Mirabeau turn, Philippe Alliot in the Lola had a violent collision with Riccardo Patrese's Williams. By lap 54 Prost had finally got past Berger on the run to the first corner and took second place. He then started trading fastest laps with Senna as a way of not only showing he was still in the race but that the Ferrari driver had held him up for those 54 laps as Senna now had a 46 second lead with only 30 laps remaining. Assured by team manager Ron Dennis that his lead was safe, Senna slowed down. But after Prost gained an astonishing 6 seconds in one lap on Senna, this was to be Senna's downfall, as he panicked, set 2 fastest laps and on lap 67 he lost concentration and spun into the barrier at Portier, and the race was won, for the 4th time in 5 years, by Prost. Senna then promptly disappeared and McLaren didn't hear from him until the day after the race. Since he lived in Monaco speculation rose that the Brazilian simply went to his home to contemplate losing a race he had dominated from the first time he took to the track for free practice on Thursday morning.
The Ferraris took 2nd and 3rd with Derek Warwick in the Arrows-Megatron putting in a fine drive to finish 4th after a race-long battle with the Tyrrell-Ford of Jonathan Palmer. Patrese recovered from his collision to gain the final point by passing the other Lola of Yannick Dalmas on the last lap. Patrese's single point was also the first ever World Championship point scored by a Judd powered car.
Years later, former McLaren Team Coordinator Jo Ramirez revealed that Senna's crash had been caused by the steering wheel coming out of his hands when he was driving to the absolute limit to beat Prost.
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Q1 | Q2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | Ayrton Senna | McLaren-Honda | 1:26.464 | 1:23.998 |
| 2 | 11 | Alain Prost | McLaren-Honda | 1:28.375 | 1:25.425 |
| 3 | 28 | Gerhard Berger | Ferrari | 1:29.001 | 1:26.685 |
| 4 | 27 | Michele Alboreto | Ferrari | 1:29.931 | 1:27.297 |
| 5 | 5 | Nigel Mansell | Williams-Judd | 1:28.475 | 1:27.665 |
| 6 | 19 | Alessandro Nannini | Benetton-Ford | 1:29.093 | 1:27.869 |
| 7 | 17 | Derek Warwick | Arrows-Megatron | 1:29.928 | 1:27.872 |
| 8 | 6 | Riccardo Patrese | Williams-Judd | 1:29.130 | 1:28.016 |
| 9 | 18 | Eddie Cheever | Arrows-Megatron | 1:32.889 | 1:28.227 |
| 10 | 3 | Jonathan Palmer | Tyrrell-Ford | 1:30.679 | 1:28.358 |
| 11 | 1 | Nelson Piquet | Lotus-Honda | 1:30.924 | 1:28.403 |
| 12 | 14 | Philippe Streiff | AGS-Ford | 1:29.597 | 1:28.527 |
| 13 | 30 | Philippe Alliot | Lola-Ford | 1:31.375 | 1:28.536 |
| 14 | 15 | Mauricio Gugelmin | March-Judd | 1:32.148 | 1:28.610 |
| 15 | 24 | Luis Perez-Sala | Minardi-Ford | 1:31.662 | 1:28.625 |
| 16 | 20 | Thierry Boutsen | Benetton-Ford | 1:29.539 | 1:28.640 |
| 17 | 36 | Alex Caffi | Dallara-Ford | 1:33.691 | 1:29.075 |
| 18 | 32 | Oscar Larrauri | EuroBrun-Ford | 1:31.861 | 1:29.093 |
| 19 | 22 | Andrea de Cesaris | Rial-Ford | 1:33.183 | 1:29.298 |
| 20 | 25 | René Arnoux | Ligier-Judd | 1:31.964 | 1:29.480 |
| 21 | 29 | Yannick Dalmas | Lola-Ford | 1:33.158 | 1:29.601 |
| 22 | 16 | Ivan Capelli | March-Judd | 1:35.216 | 1:29.603 |
| 23 | 9 | Piercarlo Ghinzani | Zakspeed | 1:33.005 | 1:30.121 |
| 24 | 31 | Gabriele Tarquini | Coloni-Ford | 1:32.792 | 1:30.252 |
| 25 | 21 | Nicola Larini | Osella | 1:36.705 | 1:30.335 |
| 26 | 26 | Stefan Johansson | Ligier-Judd | 1:36.036 | 1:30.505 |
| DNQ | 2 | Satoru Nakajima | Lotus-Honda | 1:30.611 | 1:31.573 |
| DNQ | 10 | Bernd Schneider | Zakspeed | 1:33.585 | 1:30.613 |
| DNQ | 23 | Adrián Campos | Minardi-Ford | 1:32.627 | 1:30.793 |
| DNQ | 4 | Julian Bailey | Tyrrell-Ford | 1:34.192 | 1:30.816 |
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| Previous race: 1988 San Marino Grand Prix |
FIA Formula One World Championship 1988 season |
Next race: 1988 Mexican Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 1987 Monaco Grand Prix |
Monaco Grand Prix | Next race: 1989 Monaco Grand Prix |
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