1988 Japanese Grand Prix
467th World Championship race, 4th World Championship Japanese Grand Prix, 2nd World Championship race at Suzuka
Fact File
| Date: | Sunday, 30 October 1988 |
|---|---|
| Winner: |  Ayrton Senna  McLaren-Honda |
| Pole position: | Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda |
| Fastest lap: | Ayrton Senna McLaren-Honda |
| Circuit: | Suzuka, 51 laps |
| Round: | 15 of 16 |
Race Result
| Pos | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ayrton Senna | McLaren-Honda | 51 | 1hr 33m 26.173s | 9 | |
| 2 |  Alain Prost | McLaren-Honda | 51 | +13.363s | 6 | |
| 3 | +7 |  Thierry Boutsen | Benetton-Ford Cosworth | 51 | +36.109s | 4 |
| 4 | -1 |  Gerhard Berger | Ferrari | 51 | +1m 26.714s | 3 |
| 5 | +7 |  Alessandro Nannini | Benetton-Ford Cosworth | 51 | +1m 30.603s | 2 |
| 6 | +5 | Riccardo Patrese | Williams-Judd | 51 | +1m 37.615s | 1 |
| 7 | -1 |  Satoru Nakajima | Lotus-Honda | 50 | +1 lap | |
| 8 | +10 | Philippe Streiff | AGS-Ford Cosworth | 50 | +1 lap | |
| 9 | +10 | Philippe Alliot | Lola-Ford Cosworth | 50 | +1 lap | |
| 10 | +3 | Mauricio Gugelmin | March-Judd | 50 | +1 lap | |
| 11 | -2 | Michele Alboreto | Ferrari | 50 | +1 lap | |
| 12 | +4 | Jonathan Palmer | Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth | 50 | +1 lap | |
| 13 | +4 | Pierluigi Martini | Minardi-Ford Cosworth | 49 | +2 laps | |
| 14 | +12 | Julian Bailey | Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth | 49 | +2 laps | |
| 15 | +7 |  Luis Perez-Sala | Minardi-Ford Cosworth | 49 | +2 laps | |
| 16 | +4 | Aguri Suzuki | Lola-Ford Cosworth | 48 | +3 laps | |
| 17 | +6 | Rene Arnoux | Ligier-Judd | 48 | +3 laps | |
| R | Andrea de Cesaris | Rial-Ford Cosworth | 36 | DNF | ||
| R |  Eddie Cheever | Arrows-Megatron | 35 | DNF | ||
| R | Nicola Larini | Osella | 34 | DNF | ||
| R | Nelson Piquet | Lotus-Honda | 34 | DNF | ||
| R | Nigel Mansell | Williams-Judd | 24 | DNF | ||
| R | Alex Caffi | Dallara-Ford Cosworth | 22 | DNF | ||
| R | Ivan Capelli | March-Judd | 19 | DNF | ||
| R | Derek Warwick | Arrows-Megatron | 16 | DNF | ||
| R |  Bernd Schneider | Zakspeed | 14 | DNF |
Starting Grid
- Highlight: race winner
- Highlight: second place
- Highlight: third place
Qualifying Result
| Pos | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ayrton Senna | McLaren-Honda | 1:41.853 | |
| 2 | Alain Prost | McLaren-Honda | 1:42.177 | 0.324 |
| 3 | Gerhard Berger | Ferrari | 1:43.353 | 1.500 |
| 4 | Ivan Capelli | March-Judd | 1:43.605 | 1.752 |
| 5 | Nelson Piquet | Lotus-Honda | 1:43.693 | 1.840 |
| 6 | Satoru Nakajima | Lotus-Honda | 1:43.693 | 1.840 |
| 7 | Derek Warwick | Arrows-Megatron | 1:43.816 | 1.963 |
| 8 | Nigel Mansell | Williams-Judd | 1:43.893 | 2.040 |
| 9 | Michele Alboreto | Ferrari | 1:43.972 | 2.119 |
| 10 | Thierry Boutsen | Benetton-Ford Cosworth | 1:44.499 | 2.646 |
| 11 | Riccardo Patrese | Williams-Judd | 1:44.555 | 2.702 |
| 12 | Alessandro Nannini | Benetton-Ford Cosworth | 1:44.611 | 2.758 |
| 13 | Mauricio Gugelmin | March-Judd | 1:45.138 | 3.285 |
| 14 | Andrea de Cesaris | Rial-Ford Cosworth | 1:45.558 | 3.705 |
| 15 | Eddie Cheever | Arrows-Megatron | 1:45.845 | 3.992 |
| 16 | Jonathan Palmer | Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth | 1:45.916 | 4.063 |
| 17 | Pierluigi Martini | Minardi-Ford Cosworth | 1:46.449 | 4.596 |
| 18 | Philippe Streiff | AGS-Ford Cosworth | 1:46.486 | 4.633 |
| 19 | Philippe Alliot | Lola-Ford Cosworth | 1:46.521 | 4.668 |
| 20 | Aguri Suzuki | Lola-Ford Cosworth | 1:46.920 | 5.067 |
| 21 | Alex Caffi | Dallara-Ford Cosworth | 1:46.982 | 5.129 |
| 22 | Luis Perez-Sala | Minardi-Ford Cosworth | 1:47.134 | 5.281 |
| 23 | Rene Arnoux | Ligier-Judd | 1:47.193 | 5.340 |
| 24 | Nicola Larini | Osella | 1:47.547 | 5.694 |
| 25 | Bernd Schneider | Zakspeed | 1:47.599 | 5.746 |
| 26 | Julian Bailey | Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth | 1:48.589 | 6.736 |
| Did not qualify | ||||
| 27 |  Stefan Johansson | Ligier-Judd | 1:48.716 | 6.863 |
| 28 |  Oscar Larrauri | EuroBrun-Ford Cosworth | 1:49.265 | 7.412 |
| 29 | Piercarlo Ghinzani | Zakspeed | 1:49.706 | 7.853 |
| 30 | Stefano Modena | EuroBrun-Ford Cosworth | 1:49.810 | 7.957 |
| Did not pre-qualify | ||||
| 31 | Gabriele Tarquini | Coloni-Ford Cosworth | 1:52.234 | 10.381 |
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 | 87 |
| 2 | Alain Prost | 84 |
| 3 | Gerhard Berger | 41 |
| 4 | Thierry Boutsen | 25 |
| 5 | Michele Alboreto | 24 |
| 6 | Nelson Piquet | 18 |
| 7 | Derek Warwick | 17 |
| 8 | Ivan Capelli | 16 |
| 9 | Nigel Mansell | 12 |
| 10 | Alessandro Nannini | 12 |
| 11 | Eddie Cheever | 6 |
| 12 | Mauricio Gugelmin | 5 |
| 13 | Jonathan Palmer | 5 |
| 14 | Riccardo Patrese | 5 |
| 15 | Andrea de Cesaris | 3 |
| 16 | Satoru Nakajima | 1 |
| = | Pierluigi Martini | 1 |
Statistics & Milestones
- Race debut
- Driver: Aguri Suzuki
- World Champion
- Driver: 1st World Championship for Ayrton Senna (22nd different world champion, 3rd Brazilian champion)
- Wins
- Driver: 14th for Ayrton Senna
- Constructor: 69th for McLaren
- Race 1-2
- Constructor: 18th for McLaren
- Podiums
- Driver: 68th for Alain Prost, 35th for Ayrton Senna, 7th for Thierry Boutsen
- Constructor: 168th & 169th for McLaren, 11th for Benetton
- Poles
- Driver: 28th for Ayrton Senna
- Constructor: 39th for McLaren
- Qualifying 1-2
- Constructor: 13th for McLaren
- Fastest laps
- Driver: 10th for Ayrton Senna
- Constructor: 47th for McLaren
- Front row starts
- Driver: 49th for Alain Prost NEW RECORD, 36th for Ayrton Senna
- Pole & win
- Driver: 10th for Ayrton Senna
- Win & fastest lap
- Driver: 5th for Ayrton Senna
- Hat-trick (pole, win & fastest lap)
- Driver: 3rd for Ayrton Senna