1988 Hungarian Grand Prix

The 1988 Hungarian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 7 August 1988 at the Hungaroring, Mogyoród, Pest, Hungary. It was the tenth race of the 1988 Formula One World Championship.

1988 Hungarian Grand Prix
Race 10 of 16 in the 1988 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date 7 August 1988
Official name Pop 84 Magyar Nagydíj[1]
Location Hungaroring, Mogyoród, Pest, Hungary[2]
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.014 km (2.494 miles)
Distance 76 laps, 305.064 km (189.558 miles)
Weather Sunny and hot
Pole position
Driver McLaren-Honda
Time 1:27.635
Fastest lap
Driver France Alain Prost McLaren-Honda
Time 1:30.639 on lap 51
Podium
First McLaren-Honda
Second McLaren-Honda
Third Benetton-Ford
Lap leaders

The 76-lap race was won from pole position by Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna, driving a McLaren-Honda, with French teammate Alain Prost second and Belgian Thierry Boutsen third in a Benetton-Ford. The win, Senna's sixth of the season, moved him level on points with Prost at the top of the Drivers' Championship.

Report edit

Qualifying edit

The tight and twisty Hungaroring offered a chance for the naturally-aspirated cars against the turbos, and they took seven of the top ten positions in qualifying. However, Ayrton Senna still took pole position in his McLaren-Honda, his eighth of the season, pipping the Williams of Nigel Mansell by 0.1 seconds. Mansell was driving against doctor's orders as he had developed chickenpox. On the second row of the grid were Thierry Boutsen in the Benetton and Ivan Capelli in the March, and on the third row were Alessandro Nannini in the second Benetton and Riccardo Patrese in the second Williams. Senna's teammate Alain Prost could only manage seventh, while Gerhard Berger was ninth in his Ferrari, the two separated by the second March of Maurício Gugelmin. Completing the top ten was Alex Caffi in the Dallara.

Race edit

 
Senna leads in front of the Williams cars and Benetton cars, next to the pit entry

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. 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. Capelli made a great start and in fact almost overtook Mansell into the first turn before his engine suddenly went sour and he pitted after just 2 laps to have a serious misfire investigated. 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 Nannini.

 
Senna took the chequered flag less than a second before Prost

On lap 32, Prost had climbed to 3rd place behind Senna and 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 crossed the line. Boutsen took the third spot on the podium, unable to challenge further due to a broken exhaust. Berger, Gugelmin and Patrese completed the points scorers.

Classification edit

Pre-qualifying edit

Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap
1 36   Alex Caffi Dallara-Ford 2:01.593
2 32   Oscar Larrauri EuroBrun-Ford 2:03.343 +1.750
3 31   Gabriele Tarquini Coloni-Ford 2:03.371 +1.778
4 33   Stefano Modena EuroBrun-Ford 2:04.168 +2.575
5 21   Nicola Larini Osella 2:05.626 +4.033

Qualifying edit

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

Race edit

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  
Source:[3]

Championship standings after the race edit

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

References edit

  1. ^ "Motor Racing Programme Covers: 1988". The Programme Covers Project. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
  2. ^ "1988 Hungarian Grand Prix". Motor Sport. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  3. ^ "1988 Hungarian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  4. ^ a b "Hungary 1988 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 18 March 2019.


Previous race:
1988 German Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1988 season
Next race:
1988 Belgian Grand Prix
Previous race:
1987 Hungarian Grand Prix
Hungarian Grand Prix Next race:
1989 Hungarian Grand Prix