1987 Monaco Grand Prix

43°44′4.74″N 7°25′16.8″E / 43.7346500°N 7.421333°E / 43.7346500; 7.421333

1987 Monaco Grand Prix
Race 4 of 16 in the 1987 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date31 May 1987
Official name45e Grand Prix de Monaco
LocationCircuit de Monaco
Monte Carlo, Monaco
CourseStreet circuit
Course length3.328 km (2.068 miles)
Distance78 laps, 259.584 km (161.298 miles)
WeatherSunny and warm
Pole position
DriverWilliams-Honda
Time1:23.039
Fastest lap
DriverBrazil Ayrton SennaLotus-Honda
Time1:27.685 on lap 72
Podium
FirstLotus-Honda
SecondWilliams-Honda
ThirdFerrari
Lap leaders

The 1987 Monaco Grand Prix (formally the 45e Grand Prix de Monaco[1]) was a Formula One motor race held on 31 May 1987 at the Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo. It was the fourth race of the 1987 Formula One World Championship.

The 78-lap race was won by Ayrton Senna, driving a Lotus-Honda. It was the first of an eventual six wins for the Brazilian driver at Monaco. Compatriot Nelson Piquet was second in a Williams-Honda, with Italian Michele Alboreto third in a Ferrari.

The win promoted Senna to second in the Drivers' Championship, three points behind McLaren driver Alain Prost.

Race summary edit

Traditionally the number of competitors permitted for the Monaco Grand Prix was lower than at all other races, due to the tight and twisty nature of the Monte Carlo circuit. Originally 16, it was later increased to 20. For 1987, however, it was increased to a full grid of 26. According to FISA, this move was made in order to bring the race into line with the other races on the F1 calendar, but there were cynical views that it was made in order to reduce the number of non-qualifiers to appease team sponsors. There was widespread concern about the results of overcrowding on the track and the speed difference of various cars.

During the practice session, Michele Alboreto's Ferrari tangled with Christian Danner's slow-moving Zakspeed on the uphill section after the Ste-Devote corner. Alboreto's car was thrown in the air and caught fire, but landed back on the track. FISA blamed Danner for the accident and decided to exclude him from the weekend, the first such event in the history of the Formula One World Championship. There were widespread objections throughout the paddock, particularly as there were several other practice accidents and it was felt that Danner had no more to blame than any other driver involved in these accidents.[2] Alboreto himself believed that Danner was not to blame for the accident.

Nigel Mansell took pole position in the Williams, with Ayrton Senna's Lotus alongside on the front row and Nelson Piquet third in the other Williams. At the start, Mansell led away from Senna, Piquet, Alboreto and Alain Prost in the McLaren. Mansell led until lap 30 when he retired with a loss of turbo boost; Senna then led for the remainder of the race; despite making a pit stop for tyres.

Senna eventually won by 33 seconds from Piquet. Prost was running third when his engine failed with three laps to go, promoting Alboreto to the final podium position. Gerhard Berger finished fourth in the other Ferrari, with the top six completed by the first two naturally-aspirated finishers, Jonathan Palmer in the Tyrrell and Ivan Capelli in the March.

Senna's victory was the first for a car with active suspension.

Classification edit

Qualifying edit

PosNoDriverConstructorQ1Q2GapGrid
15 Nigel MansellWilliams-Honda1:24.5141:23.0391
212 Ayrton SennaLotus-Honda1:25.2551:23.711+0.6722
36 Nelson PiquetWilliams-Honda1:25.9171:24.755+1.7163
41 Alain ProstMcLaren-TAG1:25.5741:25.083+2.0444
527 Michele AlboretoFerrari1:27.0171:26.102+3.0635
618 Eddie CheeverArrows-Megatron1:27.7161:26.175+3.1366
72 Stefan JohanssonMcLaren-TAG1:27.7011:26.317+3.2787
828 Gerhard BergerFerrari1:29.2811:26.323+3.2848
920 Thierry BoutsenBenetton-Ford1:27.0821:26.630+3.5919
107 Riccardo PatreseBrabham-BMW1:26.9571:26.763+3.72410
1117 Derek WarwickArrows-Megatron1:27.6851:27.294+4.25511
1219 Teo FabiBenetton-Ford1:29.2641:27.622+4.58312
1324 Alessandro NanniniMinardi-Motori Moderni1:28.5171:27.731+4.69213
149 Martin BrundleZakspeed1:29.8011:27.894+4.85514
153 Jonathan PalmerTyrrell-Ford1:30.3071:28.088+5.04915
1621 Alex CaffiOsella-Alfa Romeo1:36.2671:28.233+5.19416
1711 Satoru NakajimaLotus-Honda1:30.6061:28.890+5.85117
1830 Philippe AlliotLola-Ford1:29.1141:29.459+6.07518
1916 Ivan CapelliMarch-Ford1:31.5891:29.147+6.10819
2026 Piercarlo GhinzaniLigier-Megatron1:31.0981:29.258+6.21920
218 Andrea de CesarisBrabham-BMW1:32.6431:29.827+6.78821
2225 René ArnouxLigier-Megatron1:31.2701:30.000+6.96122
234 Philippe StreiffTyrrell-Ford1:30.7651:30.143+7.10423
2423 Adrián CamposMinardi-Motori Moderni1:30.805+7.766DNS
2514 Pascal FabreAGS-Ford1:35.1791:31.667+8.62824
EX10 Christian DannerZakspeed
Source:[3][4][5][6]

Race edit

Numbers in brackets refer to positions of normally aspirated entrants competing for the Jim Clark Trophy.

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
112 Ayrton SennaLotus-Honda781:57:54.08529
26 Nelson PiquetWilliams-Honda78+ 33.21236
327 Michele AlboretoFerrari78+ 1:12.83954
428 Gerhard BergerFerrari77+ 1 lap83
5 (1)3 Jonathan PalmerTyrrell-Ford76+ 2 laps152
6 (2)16 Ivan CapelliMarch-Ford76+ 2 laps191
79 Martin BrundleZakspeed76+ 2 laps14 
819 Teo FabiBenetton-Ford76+ 2 laps12 
91 Alain ProstMcLaren-TAG75Engine4 
1011 Satoru NakajimaLotus-Honda75+ 3 laps17 
1125 René ArnouxLigier-Megatron74+ 4 laps22 
1226 Piercarlo GhinzaniLigier-Megatron74+ 4 laps20 
13 (3)14 Pascal FabreAGS-Ford71+ 7 laps24 
Ret18 Eddie CheeverArrows-Megatron59Overheating6 
Ret17 Derek WarwickArrows-Megatron58Gearbox11 
Ret2 Stefan JohanssonMcLaren-TAG57Engine7 
Ret30 Philippe AlliotLola-Ford42Engine18 
Ret7 Riccardo PatreseBrabham-BMW41Electrical10 
Ret21 Alex CaffiOsella-Alfa Romeo39Electrical16 
Ret8 Andrea de CesarisBrabham-BMW38Suspension21 
Ret5 Nigel MansellWilliams-Honda29Turbo/Exhaust1 
Ret24 Alessandro NanniniMinardi-Motori Moderni21Electrical13 
Ret4 Philippe StreiffTyrrell-Ford9Accident23 
Ret20 Thierry BoutsenBenetton-Ford5Transmission9 
DNS23 Adrián CamposMinardi-Motori ModerniNon Starter 
EX10 Christian DannerZakspeed Excluded 
Source:[7]

Championship standings after the race edit

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

References edit

  1. ^ "Motor Racing Programme Covers: 1987". The Programme Covers Project. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  2. ^ Walker, Murray (1987). Murray Walker's Grand Prix Year. Hazleton Publishing. p. 144. ISBN 1-870066-04-9.
  3. ^ "Monaco Grand Prix - Qualifying 1". formula1.com. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  4. ^ "Monaco Grand Prix - Qualifying 2". formula1.com. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  5. ^ "Monaco Grand Prix - Overall Qualifying". formula1.com. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  6. ^ "Monaco Grand Prix - Starting Grid". formula1.com. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  7. ^ "1987 Monaco Grand Prix". formula1.com. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  8. ^ a b "Monaco 1987 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 19 March 2019.


Previous race:
1987 Belgian Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1987 season
Next race:
1987 Detroit Grand Prix
Previous race:
1986 Monaco Grand Prix
Monaco Grand PrixNext race:
1988 Monaco Grand Prix