1988 Belgian Grand Prix
463rd World Championship race, 35th World Championship Belgian Grand Prix, 23rd World Championship race at Spa-Francorchamps
Fact File
| Date: | Sunday, 28 August 1988 |
|---|---|
| Winner: |  Ayrton Senna  McLaren-Honda |
| Pole position: | Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda |
| Fastest lap: |  Gerhard Berger  Ferrari |
| Circuit: | Spa-Francorchamps, 43 laps |
| Round: | 11 of 16 |
Race Result
| Pos | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ayrton Senna | McLaren-Honda | 43 | 1hr 28m 00.549s | 9 | |
| 2 |  Alain Prost | McLaren-Honda | 43 | +30.470s | 6 | |
| DQ |  Thierry Boutsen | Benetton-Ford Cosworth | 43 | +59.681s | ||
| DQ | Alessandro Nannini | Benetton-Ford Cosworth | 43 | +1m 08.594s | ||
| 3 | +11 | Ivan Capelli | March-Judd | 43 | +1m 15.768s | 4 |
| 4 | +5 | Nelson Piquet | Lotus-Honda | 43 | +1m 23.628s | 3 |
| 5 | +5 | Derek Warwick | Arrows-Megatron | 43 | +1m 25.355s | 2 |
| 6 | +5 |  Eddie Cheever | Arrows-Megatron | 42 | +1 lap | 1 |
| 7 | +5 | Martin Brundle | Williams-Judd | 42 | +1 lap | |
| 8 | +7 | Alex Caffi | Dallara-Ford Cosworth | 42 | +1 lap | |
| 9 | +7 | Philippe Alliot | Lola-Ford Cosworth | 42 | +1 lap | |
| 10 | +8 | Philippe Streiff | AGS-Ford Cosworth | 42 | +1 lap | |
| 11 | +9 |  Stefan Johansson | Ligier-Judd | 39 | DNF | |
| 12 | +9 | Jonathan Palmer | Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth | 39 | DNF | |
| 13 | +12 |  Bernd Schneider | Zakspeed | 38 | DNF | |
| NC | Gabriele Tarquini | Coloni-Ford Cosworth | 36 | +7 laps | ||
| R | Michele Alboreto | Ferrari | 35 | DNF | ||
| R | Riccardo Patrese | Williams-Judd | 30 | DNF | ||
| R | Mauricio Gugelmin | March-Judd | 29 | DNF | ||
| R | Piercarlo Ghinzani | Zakspeed | 25 | DNF | ||
| R |  Satoru Nakajima | Lotus-Honda | 22 | DNF | ||
| R | Nicola Larini | Osella | 14 | DNF | ||
| R | Gerhard Berger | Ferrari | 11 | DNF | ||
| R | Yannick Dalmas | Lola-Ford Cosworth | 9 | DNF | ||
| R | Andrea de Cesaris | Rial-Ford Cosworth | 2 | DNF | ||
| R | Rene Arnoux | Ligier-Judd | 2 | DNF |
- Both Benetton drivers, Thierry Boutsen and Alessandro Nannini, were disqualified post-race for fuel irregularities.
Starting Grid
- Highlight: race winner
- Highlight: second place
- Highlight: third place
Qualifying Result
| Pos | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ayrton Senna | McLaren-Honda | 1:53.718 | |
| 2 | Alain Prost | McLaren-Honda | 1:54.128 | 0.410 |
| 3 | Gerhard Berger | Ferrari | 1:54.581 | 0.863 |
| 4 | Michele Alboreto | Ferrari | 1:55.665 | 1.947 |
| 5 | Riccardo Patrese | Williams-Judd | 1:57.138 | 3.420 |
| 6 | Thierry Boutsen | Benetton-Ford Cosworth | 1:57.455 | 3.737 |
| 7 | Alessandro Nannini | Benetton-Ford Cosworth | 1:57.535 | 3.817 |
| 8 | Satoru Nakajima | Lotus-Honda | 1:57.616 | 3.898 |
| 9 | Nelson Piquet | Lotus-Honda | 1:57.821 | 4.103 |
| 10 | Derek Warwick | Arrows-Megatron | 1:57.925 | 4.207 |
| 11 | Eddie Cheever | Arrows-Megatron | 1:57.980 | 4.262 |
| 12 | Martin Brundle | Williams-Judd | 1:58.206 | 4.488 |
| 13 | Mauricio Gugelmin | March-Judd | 1:58.361 | 4.643 |
| 14 | Ivan Capelli | March-Judd | 1:59.439 | 5.721 |
| 15 | Alex Caffi | Dallara-Ford Cosworth | 1:59.776 | 6.058 |
| 16 | Philippe Alliot | Lola-Ford Cosworth | 1:59.906 | 6.188 |
| 17 | Rene Arnoux | Ligier-Judd | 2:00.037 | 6.319 |
| 18 | Philippe Streiff | AGS-Ford Cosworth | 2:00.410 | 6.692 |
| 19 | Andrea de Cesaris | Rial-Ford Cosworth | 2:00.521 | 6.803 |
| 20 | Stefan Johansson | Ligier-Judd | 2:00.857 | 7.139 |
| 21 | Jonathan Palmer | Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth | 2:01.078 | 7.360 |
| 22 | Gabriele Tarquini | Coloni-Ford Cosworth | 2:01.359 | 7.641 |
| 23 | Yannick Dalmas | Lola-Ford Cosworth | 2:01.467 | 7.749 |
| 24 | Piercarlo Ghinzani | Zakspeed | 2:01.899 | 8.181 |
| 25 | Bernd Schneider | Zakspeed | 2:01.938 | 8.220 |
| 26 | Nicola Larini | Osella | 2:02.029 | 8.311 |
| Did not qualify | ||||
| 27 |  Luis Perez-Sala | Minardi-Ford Cosworth | 2:02.129 | 8.411 |
| 28 | Pierluigi Martini | Minardi-Ford Cosworth | 2:02.314 | 8.596 |
| 29 | Stefano Modena | EuroBrun-Ford Cosworth | 2:02.322 | 8.604 |
| 30 | Julian Bailey | Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth | 2:02.519 | 8.801 |
| Did not pre-qualify | ||||
| 31 |  Oscar Larrauri | EuroBrun-Ford Cosworth | 2:04.208 | 10.490 |
Championship Standings
How the championship standings stood post-race.
- Highlight: driver/constructor confirmed as world champion for 1988
Driver
| Pos | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ayrton Senna | 75 |
| 2 | Alain Prost | 72 |
| 3 | Gerhard Berger | 28 |
| 4 | Nelson Piquet | 18 |
| 5 | Thierry Boutsen | 16 |
| 6 | Michele Alboreto | 16 |
| 7 | Derek Warwick | 11 |
| 8 | Ivan Capelli | 8 |
| 9 | Nigel Mansell | 6 |
| 10 | Alessandro Nannini | 6 |
| 11 | Mauricio Gugelmin | 5 |
| 12 | Jonathan Palmer | 5 |
| 13 | Andrea de Cesaris | 3 |
| 14 | Riccardo Patrese | 2 |
| = | Eddie Cheever | 2 |
| 16 | Satoru Nakajima | 1 |
| = | Pierluigi Martini | 1 |
Statistics & Milestones
- World Champion
- Constructor: 4th World Championship for McLaren
- Wins
- Driver: 13th for Ayrton Senna
- Constructor: 66th for McLaren
- Race 1-2
- Constructor: 17th for McLaren
- Podiums
- Driver: 65th for Alain Prost, 34th for Ayrton Senna, 1st for Ivan Capelli (152nd different podium finisher, 23rd Italian driver)
- Constructor: 164th & 165th for McLaren, 19th for March
- Poles
- Driver: 25th for Ayrton Senna
- Constructor: 35th for McLaren
- Qualifying 1-2
- Constructor: 9th for McLaren
- Fastest laps
- Driver: 7th for Gerhard Berger
- Constructor: 106th for Ferrari
- Front row starts
- Driver: 45th for Alain Prost, 32nd for Ayrton Senna
- Pole & win
- Driver: 9th for Ayrton Senna