1987 Australian Grand Prix

The 1987 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Adelaide on 15 November 1987. It was the sixteenth and final race of the 1987 Formula One World Championship.

1987 Australian Grand Prix
Race 16 of 16 in the 1987 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date 15 November 1987
Official name LII Foster's Australian Grand Prix
Location Adelaide Street Circuit
Adelaide, South Australia
Course Temporary street circuit
Course length 3.780 km (2.362 miles)
Distance 82 laps, 309.960 km (193.684 miles)
Weather Sunny
Pole position
Driver Ferrari
Time 1:17.267
Fastest lap
Driver Austria Gerhard Berger Ferrari
Time 1:20.416 on lap 72
Podium
First Ferrari
Second Ferrari
Third Benetton-Ford
Lap leaders

The 82-lap race was won by Austrian driver Gerhard Berger, who started from pole position and led every lap in his Ferrari. Also was the last Ferrari's win during the Enzo Ferrari's life, then he would die in August of the following year. Brazilian Ayrton Senna finished second in his Lotus-Honda but was subsequently disqualified, thus promoting Berger's Italian teammate Michele Alboreto to second and the Benetton-Ford of Belgian Thierry Boutsen to third.

Background edit

Nigel Mansell was still recovering from his accident in the previous race in Japan and so Riccardo Patrese, who had already signed for Williams to partner Mansell in 1988, was given permission by Brabham owner Bernie Ecclestone to stand in for the Briton in this race; he was replaced at Brabham by Formula 3000 champion Stefano Modena, making his Formula One debut.

Qualifying report edit

Despite being ill during qualifying, Gerhard Berger took pole position in his Ferrari by 0.7 seconds from Alain Prost in the McLaren. In his final race for Williams Nelson Piquet took third, with compatriot Ayrton Senna fourth in his final race for Lotus; they were followed by Thierry Boutsen in the Benetton and Michele Alboreto in the second Ferrari. Patrese was seventh in the second Williams, with Stefan Johansson in the second McLaren, Teo Fabi in the second Benetton and Andrea de Cesaris in the Brabham completing the top ten. Modena took 15th, just behind Satoru Nakajima in the second Lotus.

Qualifying classification edit

Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap
1 28   Gerhard Berger Ferrari 1:17.267 1:18.142
2 1   Alain Prost McLaren-TAG 1:18.200 1:17.967 +0.700
3 6   Nelson Piquet Williams-Honda 1:18.017 1:18.176 +0.750
4 12   Ayrton Senna Lotus-Honda 1:18.508 1:18.488 +1.221
5 20   Thierry Boutsen Benetton-Ford 1:18.943 1:18.523 +1.256
6 27   Michele Alboreto Ferrari 1:18.578 1:19.612 +1.311
7 5   Riccardo Patrese Williams-Honda 1:19.507 1:18.813 +1.546
8 2   Stefan Johansson McLaren-TAG 1:19.761 1:18.826 +1.559
9 19   Teo Fabi Benetton-Ford 1:19.461 1:20.301 +2.194
10 8   Andrea de Cesaris Brabham-BMW 1:19.768 1:19.590 +2.323
11 18   Eddie Cheever Arrows-Megatron 1:20.187 1:21.592 +2.920
12 17   Derek Warwick Arrows-Megatron 1:20.638 1:20.837 +3.371
13 24   Alessandro Nannini Minardi-Motori Moderni 1:20.701 1:21.523 +3.434
14 11   Satoru Nakajima Lotus-Honda 1:21.708 1:20.891 +3.624
15 7   Stefano Modena Brabham-BMW 1:21.887 1:21.014 +3.747
16 9   Martin Brundle Zakspeed 1:22.224 1:21.483 +4.216
17 30   Philippe Alliot Lola-Ford 1:21.888 1:22.846 +4.621
18 4   Philippe Streiff Tyrrell-Ford 1:21.971 1:22.434 +4.704
19 3   Jonathan Palmer Tyrrell-Ford 1:22.315 1:22.087 +4.820
20 25   René Arnoux Ligier-Megatron 1:24.833 1:22.303 +5.036
21 29   Yannick Dalmas Lola-Ford 1:25.021 1:22.650 +5.383
22 26   Piercarlo Ghinzani Ligier-Megatron 1:22.689 1:24.652 +5.422
23 16   Ivan Capelli March-Ford 1:22.698 1:22.704 +5.437
24 10   Christian Danner Zakspeed 1:23.046 1:22.736 +5.469
25 14   Roberto Moreno AGS-Ford 1:23.659 1:24.149 +6.392
26 23   Adrián Campos Minardi-Motori Moderni 1:25.760 1:24.121 +6.859
DNQ 21   Alex Caffi Osella-Alfa Romeo 1:25.872 1:27.331 +8.585
Source:[1][2][3]

Race report edit

At the green light, Piquet darted past Berger to take the lead into the first chicane, whilst Alessandro Nannini in the Minardi was out immediately after crashing into the wall on the exit. A confident Berger, fresh from his victory in the previous race in Japan, re-passed Piquet at Wakefield Corner and began to pull away from the field.

Early retirements included Philippe Streiff spinning off in his Tyrrell on lap 7 and Nakajima suffering a hydraulics failure on lap 23. Modena's debut ended on lap 32 when he stopped in the pits due to exhaustion.

The battle for second between Piquet, Prost, Alboreto and Senna changed little until lap 35, when Piquet pitted for tyres and dropped to sixth. On lap 42, Prost found himself baulked by former teammate René Arnoux in the Ligier on the pit straight and Alboreto slipped through, before Senna powered past both the McLaren and the Ferrari.

Attrition kicked in as the race continued, with brakes in particular becoming a big issue. Fabi was the first brake-related retirement on lap 47, followed by Johansson on lap 49 and Prost on lap 54. Piquet's brakes also failed on lap 59, leaving Berger, Senna and Alboreto as the top three followed by Boutsen and Patrese.

In the latter stages of the race Senna made a charge, closing to within eight seconds of Berger, before the Austrian pulled away again, setting the fastest lap of the race on lap 72. Berger crossed the finish line just under 35 seconds ahead of Senna, with Alboreto the only other driver on the lead lap and Boutsen, Jonathan Palmer in the second Tyrrell and Yannick Dalmas in the Larrousse completing the top six after Patrese suffered a late oil leak.

In post-race scrutineering it was discovered that the brake ducts on Senna's Lotus were oversized, resulting in his disqualification from the race. Alboreto was duly promoted to second, giving Ferrari a 1-2 finish, with Boutsen third, Palmer fourth, Dalmas fifth and Roberto Moreno sixth, scoring the AGS team's first World Championship point. The only other classified finishers were Christian Danner in the Zakspeed, de Cesaris and Patrese. Dalmas did not receive the two points for his fifth place, as he was driving Larrousse's second car and the team had officially entered only one car for the championship.

Race classification edit

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 28   Gerhard Berger Ferrari 82 1:52:56.144 1 9
2 27   Michele Alboreto Ferrari 82 + 1:07.884 6 6
3 20   Thierry Boutsen Benetton-Ford 81 + 1 lap 5 4
4 (1) 3   Jonathan Palmer Tyrrell-Ford 80 + 2 laps 19 3
5 (2) 29   Yannick Dalmas Lola-Ford 79 + 3 laps 21 0*
6 (3) 14   Roberto Moreno AGS-Ford 79 + 3 laps 25 1
7 10   Christian Danner Zakspeed 79 + 3 laps 24  
8 8   Andrea de Cesaris Brabham-BMW 78 Spun off 10  
9 5   Riccardo Patrese Williams-Honda 76 Oil leak 7  
DSQ 12   Ayrton Senna Lotus-Honda 82 Illegal brake ducts[4] 4  
Ret 6   Nelson Piquet Williams-Honda 58 Brakes 3  
Ret 16   Ivan Capelli March-Ford 58 Spun off 23  
Ret 1   Alain Prost McLaren-TAG 53 Brakes 2  
Ret 18   Eddie Cheever Arrows-Megatron 53 Overheating 11  
Ret 2   Stefan Johansson McLaren-TAG 48 Brakes 8  
Ret 19   Teo Fabi Benetton-Ford 46 Brakes 9  
Ret 23   Adrián Campos Minardi-Motori Moderni 46 Transmission 26  
Ret 30   Philippe Alliot Lola-Ford 45 Electrical 17  
Ret 25   René Arnoux Ligier-Megatron 41 Ignition 20  
Ret 7   Stefano Modena Brabham-BMW 31 Physical 15  
Ret 26   Piercarlo Ghinzani Ligier-Megatron 26 Ignition 22  
Ret 11   Satoru Nakajima Lotus-Honda 22 Hydraulics[4] 14  
Ret 17   Derek Warwick Arrows-Megatron 19 Transmission 12  
Ret 9   Martin Brundle Zakspeed 18 Engine 16  
Ret 4   Philippe Streiff Tyrrell-Ford 6 Spun off 18  
Ret 24   Alessandro Nannini Minardi-Motori Moderni 0 Accident 13  
Source:[5]

* Dalmas did not receive points towards the Drivers' Championship or the Jim Clark Trophy, as he was driving Larrousse-Lola's second car and the team had officially entered only one car for the entire championship.

Championship standings after the race edit

  • Bold text indicates the World Champions.
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for all four sets of standings.

References edit

  1. ^ "Foster's Australian Grand Prix - QUALIFYING 1". formula1.com. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  2. ^ "Foster's Australian Grand Prix - QUALIFYING 2". formula1.com. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  3. ^ "Foster's Australian Grand Prix - OVERALL QUALIFYING". formula1.com. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  4. ^ a b Pritchard, Anthony (March 2006). Lotus: The Competition Cars. Haynes Publishing. p. 246. ISBN 1-84425-006-7.
  5. ^ "1987 Australian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 10 December 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  6. ^ a b "Australia 1987 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 6 March 2019.


Previous race:
1987 Japanese Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1987 season
Next race:
1988 Brazilian Grand Prix
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1986 Australian Grand Prix
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1988 Australian Grand Prix