1988 Hungarian Grand Prix

  1988 Hungarian Grand Prix

Race details
Race 10 of 16 in the 1988 Formula One season
Date	August 7, 1988
Official name	IV Pop 84 Magyar Nagydíj
Location	Hungaroring, Budapest, Hungary
Course	Permanent racing facility 4.014 km (2.494 mi)
Distance	76 laps, 305.064 km (189.558 mi)
Weather	Sunny and hot
Pole position
Driver	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Honda
Time	1:27.635
Fastest lap
Driver	Alain Prost	McLaren-Honda
Time	1:30.639 on lap 51
Podium
First	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Honda
Second	Alain Prost	McLaren-Honda
Third	Thierry Boutsen	Benetton-Ford

The 1988 Hungarian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on August 7, 1988 at the Hungaroring, Budapest. It was the tenth race of the 1988 season.

Qualifying

Qualifying at the tight, twisty, slippery and rarely used Hungaroring threw up a few surprises at this, the one venue on the calendar that it was generally felt gave the atmo their best chance of victory against the turbos. All drivers bettered their Friday time in Saturdays qualifying session which saw McLaren's Ayrton Senna grab his 8th pole position of the season and 24th of his career which at the time made him third on the all-time list after Jim Clark and Juan Manuel Fangio. There were five cars between Senna and World Championship leader, team mate Alain Prost and all were 'atmos' headed by Nigel Mansell in his Williams-Judd for his first front row start since the opening round in Brazil. In Hungary Mansell was driving against doctor's orders as he was recovering from chicken pox, which he caught from his son.

Following the McLaren and Williams on the grid were Thierry Boutsen (Benetton-Ford), Ivan Capelli (March-Judd), Alessandro Nannini (Benetton) and Riccardo Patrese (Williams) before Prost in the 2nd McLaren. World Champion Nelson Piquet was 13th in the Lotus while the Ferrari's of Gerhard Berger and Michele Alboreto were in 9th and 15th respectively, suffering from no grip, poor handling and bad throttle response from the Ferrari V6. It was a far cry from the 1987 race when Berger had qualified his Ferrari on the front row of the grid.

Race summary

Nigel Mansell made a good start and almost took the lead but Senna held onto his position, and thanks to the superior power of his Honda engine he pulled away slightly down the main straight to head the field into turn 1, vital at this track where passing is almost as hard as it is at Monaco. Patrese also made an excellent start climbing from 6th to 3rd while Prost was slow away and was only 9th at the end of the first lap (Prost wasn't given much of a chance of winning after qualifying, but served notice by again being fastest in the Sunday morning warm-up session). Capelli made a great start and in fact almost overtook Mansell into the first turn before his engine suddenly went sour and he was in after just 2 laps to have a serious misfire investigated. He was sent back out but one of the favorites for the race was out after just 5 laps. On lap 12, Mansell lost downforce running close behind the McLaren and spun down to 4th place, leaving Senna to fend off the attacks of the other Williams, that of Patrese. The Italian later dropped back with engine problems, while similar problems were afflicting Alessandro Nannini's Benetton.

On lap 32, Prost had climbed to 3rd place behind Senna and Thierry Boutsen. On lap 37, Mansell pitted to replace tyres, which were ragged and causing vibrations to the car. Prost passed Boutsen on lap 47 and set out chasing down Senna. Two laps later, while Senna prepared to lap Yannick Dalmas' Lola and Gabriele Tarquini's Coloni, Prost passed all three of them in a breathtaking move down the main straight. However he was too quick going into the first turn and ran wide enabling Senna to regain the lead. Prost set the fastest lap of the race but was forced to drop back with vibrations caused by a loose wheel bearing. On lap 58 Mansell retired still feeling the effects of chickenpox. He later admitted that racing in Hungary was a mistake as he was then forced to miss the next two races. Boutsen closed on Prost, but the Frenchman pressed on and pushed Senna. Just half a second covered the two McLarens as they passed the line. Boutsen the third spot on the podium, unable to challenge further due to a broken exhaust which hindered him. Gerhard Berger, Maurício Gugelmin and Riccardo Patrese completed the points scorers.

This was the final Hungarian Grand Prix to have the chicane installed at turn three. Prior to the 1989 Hungarian Grand Prix, a piece of track to bypass the chicane was installed in a bid to improve passing chances on the track. It worked almost immediately and was the scene of Nigel Mansell's race-winning pass on Ayrton Senna after the Brazilian had been slowed by the lapped Onyx of Stefan Johansson.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Q1	Q2	Gap
1	12	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Honda	1:30.422	1:27.635	—
2	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Judd	1:30.151	1:27.743	+0.108
3	20	Thierry Boutsen	Benetton-Ford	1:30.780	1:27.970	+0.335
4	16	Ivan Capelli	March-Judd	1:32.675	1:28.350	+0.715
5	19	Alessandro Nannini	Benetton-Ford	1:29.779	1:28.493	+0.858
6	6	Riccardo Patrese	Williams-Judd	1:30.382	1:28.569	+0.934
7	11	Alain Prost	McLaren-Honda	1:29.589	1:28.778	+1.143
8	15	Maurício Gugelmin	March-Judd	1:35.237	1:29.099	+1.464
9	28	Gerhard Berger	Ferrari	1:31.192	1:29.244	+1.609
10	36	Alex Caffi	Dallara-Ford	1:32.887	1:29.891	+2.346
11	24	Luis Pérez-Sala	Minardi-Ford	1:33.494	1:30.103	+2.468
12	17	Derek Warwick	Arrows-Megatron	1:32.514	1:30.185	+2.550
13	1	Nelson Piquet	Lotus-Honda	1:35.346	1:30.405	+2.770
14	18	Eddie Cheever	Arrows-Megatron	1:32.589	1:30.908	+3.273
15	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	1:32.304	1:31.052	+3.417
16	23	Pierluigi Martini	Minardi-Ford	1:33.597	1:31.123	+3.488
17	29	Yannick Dalmas	Lola-Ford	1:33.192	1:31.200	+3.565
18	22	Andrea de Cesaris	Rial-Ford	1:48.994	1:31.523	+3.888
19	2	Satoru Nakajima	Lotus-Honda	1:34.194	1:31.646	+4.011
20	30	Philippe Alliot	Lola-Ford	1:33.132	1:31.719	+4.084
21	3	Jonathan Palmer	Tyrrell-Ford	1:34.001	1:31.741	+4.106
22	31	Gabriele Tarquini	Coloni-Ford	1:35.991	1:32.160	+4.525
23	14	Philippe Streiff	AGS-Ford	1:32.973	1:32.265	+4.630
24	26	Stefan Johansson	Ligier-Judd	1:34.843	1:32.342	+4.707
25	25	René Arnoux	Ligier-Judd	1:35.685	1:32.477	+4.842
26	33	Stefano Modena	EuroBrun-Ford	1:35.389	1:32.614	+4.979
DNQ	32	Oscar Larrauri	EuroBrun-Ford	1:35.990	1:32.987	+5.352
DNQ	10	Bernd Schneider	Zakspeed	1:36.716	1:33.357	+5.722
DNQ	4	Julian Bailey	Tyrrell-Ford	1:35.693	1:33.694	+6.059
DNQ	9	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Zakspeed	1:36.223	1:34.701	+7.066
DNPQ	21	Nicola Larini	Osella

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	12	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Honda	76	1:57:47.081	1	9
2	11	Alain Prost	McLaren-Honda	76	+ 0.529	7	6
3	20	Thierry Boutsen	Benetton-Ford	76	+ 31.410	3	4
4	28	Gerhard Berger	Ferrari	76	+ 1:28.670	9	3
5	15	Maurício Gugelmin	March-Judd	75	+ 1 Lap	8	2
6	6	Riccardo Patrese	Williams-Judd	75	+ 1 Lap	6	1
7	2	Satoru Nakajima	Lotus-Honda	73	+ 3 Laps	19
8	1	Nelson Piquet	Lotus-Honda	73	+ 3 Laps	13
9	29	Yannick Dalmas	Lola-Ford	73	+ 3 Laps	17
10	24	Luis Pérez-Sala	Minardi-Ford	72	+ 4 Laps	11
11	33	Stefano Modena	EuroBrun-Ford	72	+ 4 Laps	26
12	30	Philippe Alliot	Lola-Ford	72	+ 4 Laps	20
13	31	Gabriele Tarquini	Coloni-Ford	71	+ 5 Laps	22
Ret	17	Derek Warwick	Arrows-Megatron	65	Brakes	12
Ret	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Judd	60	Driver Unwell	2
Ret	18	Eddie Cheever	Arrows-Megatron	55	Brakes	14
Ret	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	40	Electrical	15
Ret	25	René Arnoux	Ligier-Judd	32	Engine	25
Ret	22	Andrea de Cesaris	Rial-Ford	28	Halfshaft	18
Ret	19	Alessandro Nannini	Benetton-Ford	24	Overheating	5
Ret	36	Alex Caffi	Dallara-Ford	22	Engine	10
Ret	26	Stefan Johansson	Ligier-Judd	19	Throttle	24
Ret	23	Pierluigi Martini	Minardi-Ford	8	Collision	16
Ret	14	Philippe Streiff	AGS-Ford	8	Collision	23
Ret	16	Ivan Capelli	March-Judd	5	Engine	4
Ret	3	Jonathan Palmer	Tyrrell-Ford	3	Engine	21
DNQ	32	Oscar Larrauri	EuroBrun-Ford
DNQ	10	Bernd Schneider	Zakspeed
DNQ	4	Julian Bailey	Tyrrell-Ford
DNQ	9	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Zakspeed
DNPQ	21	Nicola Larini	Osella

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Ayrton Senna 66 2 Alain Prost 66 3 Gerhard Berger 28 4 Thierry Boutsen 16 5 Michele Alboreto 16

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 McLaren-Honda 132 2 Ferrari 44 3 Benetton-Ford 22 4 Lotus-Honda 16 5 Arrows-Megatron 10

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

References

• Unless otherwise indicated, all race results are taken from "The Official Formula 1 website". Retrieved 2007-07-12.