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Home / Seasons / 1987 F1 World Championship Season / 1987 Japanese Grand Prix

1987 Japanese Grand Prix

DateSunday, 1 November 1987
Winner
  • Gerhard Berger
  • Ferrari
Pole position
  • Gerhard Berger
  • Ferrari
Fastest lap
  • Alain Prost
  • McLaren-TAG
CircuitSuzuka, 51 laps
Round15 of 16
Race numbers

The 1987 Japanese Grand Prix was the:

  • 451st World Championship race
  • 3rd World Championship Japanese Grand Prix (first since 1977)
  • 1st World Championship race at Suzuka
  • 1987 Drivers’ title decider
More 1987 season
More Japanese Grands Prix

On this page

  • Race result
  • Starting grid
  • Qualifying result
  • Championship standings
  • Statistics & milestones

Race result

PosDriverConstructorLapsTimePoints
1 (AUT) Gerhard BergerFerrari511hr 32m 58.072s9
2+5(BRA) Ayrton SennaLotus-Honda51+17.384s6
3+6(SWE) Stefan JohanssonMcLaren-TAG51+17.694s4
4 (ITA) Michele AlboretoFerrari51+1m 20.441s3
5-2(BEL) Thierry BoutsenBenetton-Ford Cosworth51+1m 25.576s2
6+5(JPN) Satoru NakajimaLotus-Honda51+1m 36.479s1
7-5(FRA) Alain ProstMcLaren-TAG50+1 lap 
8+11(GBR) Jonathan PalmerTyrrell-Ford Cosworth50+1 lap 
9+3(USA) Eddie CheeverArrows-Megatron50+1 lap 
10+3(GBR) Derek WarwickArrows-Megatron50+1 lap 
11-3(ITA) Riccardo PatreseBrabham-BMW49DNF 
12+11(FRA) Philippe StreiffTyrrell-Ford Cosworth49+2 laps 
13+11(ITA) Piercarlo GhinzaniLigier-Megatron48DNF 
14+8(FRA) Yannick DalmasLola-Ford Cosworth47DNF 
15-10(BRA) Nelson PiquetWilliams-Honda46DNF 
R (FRA) Rene ArnouxLigier-Megatron44DNF 
R (ITA) Alex CaffiOsella-Alfa Romeo43DNF 
R (BRA) Roberto MorenoAGS-Ford Cosworth38DNF 
R (ITA) Alessandro NanniniMinardi-Motori Moderni35DNF 
R (GBR) Martin BrundleZakspeed32DNF 
R (ITA) Andrea de CesarisBrabham-BMW26DNF 
R (ITA) Teo FabiBenetton-Ford Cosworth16DNF 
R (DEU) Christian DannerZakspeed13DNF 
R (ITA) Ivan CapelliMarch-Ford Cosworth13DNF 
R (ESP) Adrian CamposMinardi-Motori Moderni2DNF 
R (FRA) Philippe AlliotLola-Ford Cosworth0DNF 
Did not start
  (GBR) Nigel MansellWilliams-Honda   

Notes

  • Riccardo Patrese ended lap 49 in P10 before retiring on the following lap.
  • Piercarlo Ghinzani ended lap 48 in P12 before retiring on the following lap.
  • Yannick Dalmas ended lap 47 in P14 before retiring on the following lap.
  • Nelson Piquet ended lap 46 in P4 before retiring on the following lap.

Starting grid

PosDriverConstructor
1(AUT) Gerhard BergerFerrari
2(FRA) Alain ProstMcLaren-TAG
3(BEL) Thierry BoutsenBenetton-Ford Cosworth
4(ITA) Michele AlboretoFerrari
5(BRA) Nelson PiquetWilliams-Honda
6(ITA) Teo FabiBenetton-Ford Cosworth
7(BRA) Ayrton SennaLotus-Honda
8(ITA) Riccardo PatreseBrabham-BMW
9(SWE) Stefan JohanssonMcLaren-TAG
10(ITA) Andrea de CesarisBrabham-BMW
11(JPN) Satoru NakajimaLotus-Honda
12(USA) Eddie CheeverArrows-Megatron
13(GBR) Derek WarwickArrows-Megatron
14(ITA) Alessandro NanniniMinardi-Motori Moderni
15(GBR) Martin BrundleZakspeed
16(DEU) Christian DannerZakspeed
17(FRA) Rene ArnouxLigier-Megatron
18(FRA) Philippe AlliotLola-Ford Cosworth
19(GBR) Jonathan PalmerTyrrell-Ford Cosworth
20(ITA) Ivan CapelliMarch-Ford Cosworth
21(ESP) Adrian CamposMinardi-Motori Moderni
22(FRA) Yannick DalmasLola-Ford Cosworth
23(ITA) Alex CaffiOsella-Alfa Romeo
24(ITA) Piercarlo GhinzaniLigier-Megatron
25(FRA) Philippe StreiffTyrrell-Ford Cosworth
26(BRA) Roberto MorenoAGS-Ford Cosworth

Qualifying result

PosDriverConstructorTimeGap
1(AUT) Gerhard BergerFerrari1:40.042 
2(FRA) Alain ProstMcLaren-TAG1:40.6520.610
3(BEL) Thierry BoutsenBenetton-Ford Cosworth1:40.8500.808
4(ITA) Michele AlboretoFerrari1:40.9840.942
5(BRA) Nelson PiquetWilliams-Honda1:41.1441.102
6(ITA) Teo FabiBenetton-Ford Cosworth1:41.6791.637
7(GBR) Nigel MansellWilliams-Honda1:42.6162.574
8(BRA) Ayrton SennaLotus-Honda1:42.7232.681
9(ITA) Riccardo PatreseBrabham-BMW1:43.3043.262
10(SWE) Stefan JohanssonMcLaren-TAG1:43.3713.329
11(ITA) Andrea de CesarisBrabham-BMW1:43.6183.576
12(JPN) Satoru NakajimaLotus-Honda1:43.6853.643
13(USA) Eddie CheeverArrows-Megatron1:44.2774.235
14(GBR) Derek WarwickArrows-Megatron1:44.6264.584
15(ITA) Alessandro NanniniMinardi-Motori Moderni1:45.6125.570
16(GBR) Martin BrundleZakspeed1:46.0235.981
17(DEU) Christian DannerZakspeed1:46.1166.074
18(FRA) Rene ArnouxLigier-Megatron1:46.2006.158
19(FRA) Philippe AlliotLola-Ford Cosworth1:47.3957.353
20(GBR) Jonathan PalmerTyrrell-Ford Cosworth1:47.7757.733
21(ITA) Ivan CapelliMarch-Ford Cosworth1:48.2128.170
22(ESP) Adrian CamposMinardi-Motori Moderni1:48.3378.295
23(FRA) Yannick DalmasLola-Ford Cosworth1:48.8878.845
24(ITA) Alex CaffiOsella-Alfa Romeo1:49.0178.975
25(ITA) Piercarlo GhinzaniLigier-Megatron1:49.6419.599
26(FRA) Philippe StreiffTyrrell-Ford Cosworth1:49.7419.699
27(BRA) Roberto MorenoAGS-Ford Cosworth1:50.21210.170

Championship standings

How the championship standings stood post-race.

Driver

PosDriverPoints
1(BRA) Nelson Piquet73
2(GBR) Nigel Mansell61
3(BRA) Ayrton Senna57
4(FRA) Alain Prost46
5(SWE) Stefan Johansson30
6(AUT) Gerhard Berger27
7(ITA) Teo Fabi12
8(BEL) Thierry Boutsen12
9(ITA) Michele Alboreto11
10(USA) Eddie Cheever8
11(JPN) Satoru Nakajima7
12(ITA) Riccardo Patrese6
13(ITA) Andrea de Cesaris4
14(FRA) Philippe Streiff4
15(GBR) Jonathan Palmer4
16(GBR) Derek Warwick3
17(FRA) Philippe Alliot3
18(GBR) Martin Brundle2
19(FRA) Rene Arnoux1
=(ITA) Ivan Capelli1

Constructor

PosConstructorPoints
1Williams-Honda137
2McLaren-TAG76
3Lotus-Honda64
4Ferrari38
5Benetton-Ford Cosworth24
6Arrows-Megatron11
7Brabham-BMW10
8Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth8
9Lola-Ford Cosworth3
10Zakspeed2
11Ligier-Megatron1
=March-Ford Cosworth1

Statistics & milestones

Race debut
Roberto Moreno
Milestone race start
150th for Arrows (9th constructor to start 150 races)
World Champion
3rd and last title for Nelson Piquet (5th driver to win three championships, 1st Brazilian driver; first Brazilian champion since 1983)
Wins
2nd for Gerhard Berger (first for Ferrari)
92nd for Ferrari
Podiums
25th for Ayrton Senna (last for Lotus)
11th for Stefan Johansson (last podium until 1989; last for McLaren)
4th for Gerhard Berger
310th for Ferrari
169th for Lotus
146th for McLaren
Poles
2nd for Gerhard Berger
105th for Ferrari
Fastest laps
20th for Alain Prost (5th driver to set 20 fastest laps, 1st French driver)
38th for McLaren
Front row starts
37th for Alain Prost
6th for Gerhard Berger
Pole & win
1st for Gerhard Berger (38th different driver to win from pole, 3rd Austrian driver; first Austrian driver to win from pole since 1976)

See also

  • Japanese Grand Prix
  • Suzuka circuit
  • 1987 World Championship season

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