1988 Portuguese Grand Prix

  1988 Portuguese Grand Prix

Race details
Race 13 of 16 in the 1988 Formula One season
Date	25 September 1988
Official name	XXII Grande Prémio de Portugal
Location	Autódromo do Estoril, Estoril, Portugal
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	4.350 km (2.703 mi)
Distance	71 laps, 304.500 km (189.207 mi)
Weather	Sunny and hot
Pole position
Driver	Alain Prost	McLaren-Honda
Time	1:17.411
Fastest lap
Driver	Gerhard Berger	Ferrari
Time	1:21.961 on lap 31
Podium
First	Alain Prost	McLaren-Honda
Second	Ivan Capelli	March-Judd
Third	Thierry Boutsen	Benetton-Ford

The 1988 Portuguese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 25 September 1988 at the Autódromo do Estoril, Estoril. The race, contested over 71 laps, was the thirteenth race of the 1988 Formula One season and was won by Alain Prost, driving a McLaren-Honda, with Ivan Capelli second in a March-Judd and Thierry Boutsen third in a Benetton-Ford. Prost's team-mate and Drivers' Championship rival, Ayrton Senna, could only manage sixth.

Qualifying

McLaren gained their 9th front row of the year with Alain Prost in front of Ayrton Senna for the first time since France. Prost, whose MP4/4 had a brand new, stiffer chassis, set his fastest time early in Saturday qualifying, and then confident that Senna couldn't better the time, spent the rest of qualifying lounging around the McLaren pit in jeans and T-shirt while Senna simply couldn't find a clear lap. They were ahead of Ivan Capelli in the atmospheric March-Judd. In fact, both Marches were in the top five, with Maurício Gugelmin in fifth behind the Ferrari of Monza winner Gerhard Berger. Both Capelli and Gugelmin expressed delight with their cars, especially in the fast corners and many saw them as a chance to upset the McLaren apple cart in the race.

After their impressive performance in Italy which resulted in a 3-4 finish for the team, the Arrows-Megatrons of Derek Warwick (10th) and Eddie Cheever (18th) struggled in Portugal. Both drivers complained of little grip on the rarely used Estoril circuit, which was compounded by slow turns which exposed the Straight-4 Megatron engine's famous lack of throttle response.

After missing the previous two races in Belgium and Italy due to illness, Nigel Mansell was back in his Williams-Judd. Other than complaints of a sore neck he never missed a beat and qualified a fine 6th, less than 0.1 behind Gugelmin, though he knew it would be a long race which would test his fitness.

Julian Bailey (Tyrrell-Ford), Stefano Modena (EuroBrun-Ford), and the Zakspeeds of Piercarlo Ghinzani and Bernd Schneider all failed to qualify while Oscar Larrauri (EuroBrun-Ford) failed to pre-qualify.

Race

The first start was aborted when the Rial-Ford of Andrea de Cesaris stalled on the grid. The second start was aborted after Derek Warwick stalled his Arrows A10 and was hit by de Cesaris, with Luis Pérez-Sala (Minardi) and Satoru Nakajima (Lotus). Ayrton Senna led off at the third start, to the delight of the Portuguese crowd. At the start of lap 2, Alain Prost pulled out of Senna's slipstream to pass him. Senna moved violently over on Prost and forced him towards the pit wall at over 280 km/h (174 mph). The Frenchman nonetheless maintained his will to pass the Brazilian, not lifting off the throttle, and passed Senna into the first corner.

Prost was not impressed with Senna's tactics and this led to some strong, but controlled, words in the McLaren camp after the race (Senna countered Prost's anger by stating that he had almost been pushed onto the grass by Prost before the first corner after the start, though many saw this as a tactic used by almost all drivers, including Senna, at just about every start). Prost's lead built up to 7 seconds and would last until the flag, while Senna was being troubled by an erratic (and ultimately false) fuel readout which was telling him he was using too much. This allowed Capelli to close right up on him. On lap 22 the Italian out-braked Senna to excited acclaim and opened up a gap on him. It was the first time since Prost suffered from a severe misfire and poor handling from the start of the wet British Grand Prix (that ultimately led to an early retirement) that a McLaren had been passed on track by anything other than another McLaren. Soon after Gerhard Berger also passed the McLaren, leaving Senna exposed to the attacks of Nigel Mansell's Williams. The Briton was closer on the corners, but the Honda engine was superior in the fast sectors of the track.

Berger had claimed the fastest lap in his pursuit of Capelli, but spun off on lap 36. He had accidentally set off his fire extinguisher, with the resultant freezing of his leg with carbon dioxide causing his foot to slip off the pedals. Berger had been attempting a cockpit adjustment to his car but on the bumpy Estoril surface simply hit the wrong button. On lap 55, Mansell and Senna attempted to lap Jonathan Palmer: during this manoeuvre Mansell hit the back off the McLaren and spun into the barriers though without any damage to Senna who continued on. Maurício Gugelmin, Nelson Piquet, Michele Alboreto, Riccardo Patrese and Thierry Boutsen were hotly contesting the last point place in 6th. On lap 29 Patrese retired with a split radiator and the next lap Piquet retired with clutch and gearbox problems. On lap 57, Senna, still having problems with his fuel readout, pitted for a tyre change and was passed by Alboreto, Boutsen and Derek Warwick, falling to 6th.

Prost won convincing from a stunning Capelli; the gap at the line was just 9.5 seconds and Prost himself was marginal on fuel. Fuel problems were a notable feature of this race: on the very last corner of the race Alboreto's engine stuttered-his car was running out of fuel despite the gauge indicating he had plenty left. Boutsen passed him to get his 5th podium of the year and Warwick claimed 4th place. The dry Ferrari of Alboreto and McLaren of Senna were classified 5th and 6th.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Q1	Q2	Gap
1	11	Alain Prost	McLaren-Honda	1:18.378	1:17.411	—
2	12	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Honda	1:18.032	1:17.869	+0.458
3	16	Ivan Capelli	March-Judd	1:20.390	1:18.812	+1.401
4	28	Gerhard Berger	Ferrari	1:20.065	1:18.903	+1.492
5	15	Maurício Gugelmin	March-Judd	1:20.791	1:19.045	+1.634
6	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Judd	1:20.908	1:19.131	+1.720
7	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	1:21.647	1:19.372	+1.961
8	1	Nelson Piquet	Lotus-Honda	1:19.551	1:19.872	+2.140
9	19	Alessandro Nannini	Benetton-Ford	1:21.008	1:19.572	+2.161
10	17	Derek Warwick	Arrows-Megatron	1:21.240	1:19.603	+2.192
11	6	Riccardo Patrese	Williams-Judd	1:19.878	1:19.797	+2.386
12	22	Andrea de Cesaris	Rial-Ford	1:21.386	1:19.940	+2.529
13	20	Thierry Boutsen	Benetton-Ford	1:20.700	1:20.314	+2.903
14	23	Pierluigi Martini	Minardi-Ford	1:21.292	1:20.741	+3.330
15	29	Yannick Dalmas	Lola-Ford	1:21.655	1:20.748	+3.337
16	2	Satoru Nakajima	Lotus-Honda	1:22.496	1:20.783	+3.372
17	36	Alex Caffi	Dallara-Ford	1:22.349	1:20.922	+3.511
18	18	Eddie Cheever	Arrows-Megatron	1:21.519	1:20.965	+3.554
19	24	Luis Pérez-Sala	Minardi-Ford	1:21.909	1:21.094	+3.683
20	30	Philippe Alliot	Lola-Ford	1:21.809	1:21.096	+3.685
21	14	Philippe Streiff	AGS-Ford	1:21.644	1:21.418	+4.007
22	3	Jonathan Palmer	Tyrrell-Ford	1:22.797	1:21.788	+4.377
23	25	René Arnoux	Ligier-Judd	1:22.786	1:21.790	+4.379
24	26	Stefan Johansson	Ligier-Judd	1:22.778	1:22.035	+4.624
25	21	Nicola Larini	Osella	1:22.883	1:22.119	+4.708
26	31	Gabriele Tarquini	Coloni-Ford	1:23.057	1:22.170	+4.759
DNQ	4	Julian Bailey	Tyrrell-Ford	1:22.946	1:22.296	+4.885
DNQ	9	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Zakspeed	1:24.127	1:22.549	+5.138
DNQ	33	Stefano Modena	EuroBrun-Ford	1:23.075	1:23.232	+5.664
DNQ	10	Bernd Schneider	Zakspeed	1:23.393	1:23.300	+5.889
DNPQ	32	Oscar Larrauri	EuroBrun-Ford	1:25.146

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	11	Alain Prost	McLaren-Honda	70	1:37:40.958	1	9
2	16	Ivan Capelli	March-Judd	70	+ 9.553	3	6
3	20	Thierry Boutsen	Benetton-Ford	70	+ 44.619	13	4
4	17	Derek Warwick	Arrows-Megatron	70	+ 1:07.419	10	3
5	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	70	+ 1:11.884	7	2
6	12	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Honda	70	+ 1:18.269	2	1
7	36	Alex Caffi	Dallara-Ford	69	+ 1 Lap	17
8	24	Luis Pérez-Sala	Minardi-Ford	68	+ 2 Laps	19
9	14	Philippe Streiff	AGS-Ford	68	+ 2 Laps	21
10	25	René Arnoux	Ligier-Judd	68	+ 2 Laps	23
11	31	Gabriele Tarquini	Coloni-Ford	65	+ 5 Laps	26
12	21	Nicola Larini	Osella	63	+ 7 Laps	25
Ret	15	Maurício Gugelmin	March-Judd	59	Engine	5
Ret	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Judd	54	Spun Off	6
Ret	3	Jonathan Palmer	Tyrrell-Ford	53	Overheating	22
Ret	19	Alessandro Nannini	Benetton-Ford	52	Handling	9
Ret	28	Gerhard Berger	Ferrari	35	Spun Off	4
Ret	1	Nelson Piquet	Lotus-Honda	34	Clutch	8
Ret	6	Riccardo Patrese	Williams-Judd	29	Radiator	11
Ret	23	Pierluigi Martini	Minardi-Ford	27	Engine	14
Ret	29	Yannick Dalmas	Lola-Ford	20	Alternator	15
Ret	2	Satoru Nakajima	Lotus-Honda	16	Spun Off	16
Ret	22	Andrea de Cesaris	Rial-Ford	11	Halfshaft	12
Ret	18	Eddie Cheever	Arrows-Megatron	10	Turbo	18
Ret	30	Philippe Alliot	Lola-Ford	7	Engine	20
Ret	26	Stefan Johansson	Ligier-Judd	4	Engine	24
DNQ	4	Julian Bailey	Tyrrell-Ford
DNQ	9	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Zakspeed
DNQ	33	Stefano Modena	EuroBrun-Ford
DNQ	10	Bernd Schneider	Zakspeed
DNPQ	32	Oscar Larrauri	EuroBrun-Ford
Source:[1]

Championship standings after the race

• Bold Text indicates World Champions.

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Alain Prost 81 2 Ayrton Senna 76 3 Gerhard Berger 37 4 Thierry Boutsen 25 5 Michele Alboreto 24

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 McLaren-Honda 157 2 Ferrari 61 3 Benetton-Ford 34 4 Arrows-Megatron 20 5 March-Judd 19

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Points accurate at final declaration of results. The Benettons were subsequently disqualified from the Belgian Grand Prix and their points reallocated.

References