1988 Belgian Grand Prix
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| Race details | ||
|---|---|---|
| Race 11 of 16 in the 1988 Formula One season. | ||
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| Date | August 28, 1988 | |
| Official name | Champion Belgian Grand Prix | |
| Location | Champion Belgian Grand Prix | |
| Course | Permanent racing facility 4.312 mi / 6.940 km |
|
| Distance | 43 laps, 185.429 mi / 298.420 km | |
| Weather | Warm, dry and overcast | |
| Pole position | ||
| Driver |  Ayrton Senna |
McLaren-Honda |
| Time | 1:54.128 | |
| Fastest lap | ||
| Driver |  Gerhard Berger |
Ferrari |
| Time | 2:00.772 on lap 10 | |
| Podium | ||
| First | Ayrton Senna |
McLaren-Honda |
| Second |  Alain Prost |
McLaren-Honda |
| Third |  Ivan Capelli |
March-Judd |
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The 1988 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on August 28, 1988 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Francorchamps. It was the eleventh race of the 1988 Formula One season.
Contents |
[edit] Race summary
This was the first race after the death of Enzo Ferrari, the most famous personality of the Circus. Nigel Mansell was forced to miss the race due to chicken pox, and was replaced by Martin Brundle. The McLarens diminated once again the qualifying sessions, occupying the whole front row for the 7th time in 11 races.
At the start, polesitter Ayrton Senna had too much wheelspin and his teammate Alain Prost was able to take the lead. On the Eau Rouge corner the Brazilian was faster, he slipstreamed Prost on the Kemmel straight, and outbraked him at Les Combes, then went into the lead, which he maintained until the end of the race.
Gerhard Berger managed to get his Ferrari up to 3rd challenging Prost briefly before pitting on lap 3 with electrical problems. He managed to rejoin, setting the fastest lap, before retiring on lap 12. Due to his retirement Thierry Boutsen climbed to 4th behind Michele Alboreto and ahead of a thrilling battle between Alessandro Nannini, Satoru Nakajima, Nelson Piquet, and the two Arrows. Piquet passed teammate Nakajima on lap 17 and the Japanese pitted with an acute misfire from a jammed plug, which caused him to retire. In the meantime Ivan Capelli was putting in a very good performance, climbing from 9th to 6th with great passing manoeuvres.
On lap 36 Alboreto's engine blew up, sendim him out of the race from 3rd. Just 2 laps later Nannini capped his progresses by passing Piquet with a great move at the Source hairpin. The Brazilian was suffering to brake bias problems: attempting to keep the correct balance of the brakes, he wore his tyres, which ultimately caused him to run wide, and in the process grass gathered in the sidepods, overheating the engine. On lap 42, Capelli passed Piquet to seize 5th place.
McLaren's 1-2 sealed the Constructors' Championship for the British team, with Benetton coming home third and fourth; Boutsen's fourth put him in a good place to threaten Berger's 3rd place in the Drivers' Championship. Capelli and Piquet rounded out the points.
Both Benettons were later disqualified for using irregular fuel, so the third podium spot went to Capelli, and the two Arrows of Derek Warwick and Eddie Cheever went into the points.
[edit] Classification
[edit] Notes
- The disqualification of the Benettons was not made official until long after the season had finished, so many published records list them as having finished 3rd and 4th. The 3 points Arrows gained from the disqualification brought the team to 4th in the Constructors' Championship.
[edit] References
- Unless otherwise indicated, all race results are taken from The Official Formula 1 website. Retrieved on 2007-07-12.
| Previous race: 1988 Hungarian Grand Prix |
FIA Formula One World Championship 1988 season |
Next race: 1988 Italian Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 1987 Belgian Grand Prix |
Belgian Grand Prix | Next race: 1989 Belgian Grand Prix |
