1988 Italian Grand Prix
| Race details | ||
|---|---|---|
| Race 13 of 16 in the 1988 Formula One season | ||
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| 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) |
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| 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 |
[edit] Report
[edit] 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]
[edit] 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 to 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 Ferraris 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.
[edit] Classification
[edit] Qualifying
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Q1 | Q2 | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | Ayrton Senna |
McLaren-Honda | 1:26.160 | 1:25.974 | — |
| 2 | 11 |  Alain Prost |
McLaren-Honda | 1:26.277 | 1:26.428 | +0.303 |
| 3 | 28 | Gerhard Berger |
Ferrari | 1:28.082 | 1:26.654 | +0.680 |
| 4 | 27 | Michele Alboreto |
Ferrari | 1:27.618 | 1:26.988 | +1.014 |
| 5 | 18 | Eddie Cheever |
Arrows-Megatron | 1:28.101 | 1:27.660 | +1.686 |
| 6 | 17 |  Derek Warwick |
Arrows-Megatron | 1:28.258 | 1:27.815 | +1.841 |
| 7 | 1 | Nelson Piquet |
Lotus-Honda | 1:28.440 | 1:28.044 | +2.070 |
| 8 | 20 |  Thierry Boutsen |
Benetton-Ford | 1:29.607 | 1:28.870 | +2.896 |
| 9 | 19 | Alessandro Nannini |
Benetton-Ford | 1:28.969 | 1:28.958 | +2.984 |
| 10 | 6 | Riccardo Patrese |
Williams-Judd | 1:30.124 | 1:29.435 | +3.461 |
| 11 | 16 | Ivan Capelli |
March-Judd | 1:29.513 | 1:29.696 | +3.539 |
| 12 | 2 |  Satoru Nakajima |
Lotus-Honda | 1:29.541 | 1:30.570 | +3.567 |
| 13 | 15 | Mauricio Gugelmin |
March-Judd | 1:30.145 | 1:30.035 | +4.061 |
| 14 | 23 | Pierluigi Martini |
Minardi-Ford | 1:30.734 | 1:30.125 | +4.151 |
| 15 | 10 |  Bernd Schneider |
Zakspeed | 1:30.773 | 1:30.161 | +4.187 |
| 16 | 9 | Piercarlo Ghinzani |
Zakspeed | 1:31.182 | 1:30.035 | +4.061 |
| 17 | 21 | Nicola Larini |
Osella | 1:31.721 | 1:30.481 | +4.507 |
| 18 | 22 | Andrea de Cesaris |
Rial-Ford | 1:31.263 | 1:30.560 | +4.586 |
| 19 | 24 |  Luis Perez-Sala |
Minardi-Ford | 1:30.944 | 1:30.698 | +4.724 |
| 20 | 30 | Philippe Alliot |
Lola-Ford | 1:31.168 | 1:30.962 | +4.988 |
| 21 | 36 | Alex Caffi |
Dallara-Ford | 1:30.989 | 1:31.009 | +5.015 |
| 22 | 5 | Jean-Louis Schlesser |
Williams-Judd | 1:31.548 | 1:31.620 | +5.574 |
| 23 | 14 | Philippe Streiff |
AGS-Ford | 1:31.676 | 1:31.687 | +5.702 |
| 24 | 25 | René Arnoux |
Ligier-Judd | 1:32.049 | 1:32.316 | +6.075 |
| 25 | 29 | Yannick Dalmas |
Lola-Ford | 1:32.164 | 1:32.686 | +6.190 |
| 26 | 4 | Julian Bailey |
Tyrrell-Ford | 1:32.573 | 1:32.290 | +6.316 |
| DNQ | 3 | Jonathan Palmer |
Tyrrell-Ford | 1:32.405 | 1:33.067 | +6.431 |
| DNQ | 26 |  Stefan Johansson |
Ligier-Judd | 1:33.272 | 1:32.438 | +6.464 |
| DNQ | 31 | Gabriele Tarquini |
Coloni-Ford | 1:32.829 | 1:35.805 | +6.855 |
| DNQ | 33 | Stefano Modena |
EuroBrun-Ford | 1:34.727 | 1:33.226 | +7.252 |
| DNPQ | 32 |  Oscar Larrauri |
EuroBrun-Ford | 1:34.044 |
[edit] Race
[edit] Notes
- This was the last Formula One Grand Prix in which all turbo powered cars that were entered actually qualified for the race.
[edit] Standings after the race
- Bold Text indicates World Champions.
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- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
[edit] References
- Unless otherwise indicated, all race results are taken from "The Official Formula 1 website". http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1988/274/. Retrieved 2007-07-12.
| 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 |
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