1988 Italian Grand Prix

The 1988 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on September 11, 1988 at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza. It was the twelfth race of the season. It is often remembered for the 1-2 finish for the Ferrari team, and the only race of the 1988 season that McLaren-Honda failed to win.

Qualifying
Qualifying at Monza went as expected with the McLaren's of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost heading the field, Senna the only driver to lap the 5.80 km (3.603 mi) under 1:26. In the first Italian Grand Prix since the death of Ferrari founder Enzo Ferrari his beloved scarlet cars were 3rd and 4th on the grid, Gerhard Berger in front of Michele Alboreto.

The third row of the grid was a surprise, even at this power circuit. Ever since the item was made compulsory for turbo powered cars at the start of the previous season, the Arrows team had been experiencing problems with the FIA pop-off valve on their Megatron turbo engines, the problem being that the valve was cutting in too early and the drivers weren't able to exploit the full available power. In 1988 this meant that drivers Derek Warwick and Eddie Cheever were often only as fast as the leading atmos, and often they were in fact slower, even on noted power circuits such as Silverstone and Hockenheim which should have suited their turbo power. The teams engine guru Heini Mader had finally solved the pop-off valve problem and suddenly with an extra 30-50 hp at their disposal the Arrows' were actually faster than the Honda-powered McLarens and Lotuses (but slower than the Ferrari's) on Monza's long straights allowing Cheever and Warwick to line up 5th and 6th respectively, one place in front of World Champion Nelson Piquet in his Lotus. This also meant that turbos filled the first seven places on the grid. Piquet's Lotus team mate Satoru Nakajima qualified 10th, with the Lotuses split by the fastest non-turbos, the Benetton-Fords of Thierry Boutsen and Alessandro Nannini in 8th and 9th places on the grid.

The 1988 Italian Grand Prix was the last race of the turbo era in Formula One in which all cars powered by turbocharged engines that entered actully qualified for the race. Both McLarens and Lotus-Hondas, Ferraris, Arrows-Megatrons, Zakspeeds and the lone Osella all easily qualifying for the race, with the slowest of the turbos, Nicola Larini in the Osella qualifying 17th, 4.507 seconds slower than pole man Senna.

Race
The tifosi prayed for a Ferrari victory at this the Mecca of motor racing. However, with the McLaren dominance, hopes for a home victory seemed bleak. The season was dominated by McLaren, who had won all 11 of the season's races before the Italian Grand Prix, and would go on to win the 4 remaining races.

Nigel Mansell was still affected by chicken pox, and was still forced to sit out. Martin Brundle, his replacement in Belgium, was scheduled to race with Jaguar on the weekend and so the second Williams seat went to test driver Jean-Louis Schlesser.

Prost managed to jump Senna at the start but as he changed from 2nd to 3rd on the run to the Rettifilo his engine began to misfire and would not run properly again. Berger followed Prost with Alboreto, Cheever, Boutsen, Patrese and Piquet. Prost, realising that the misfire wasn't going away decided to turn his boost up to full and give chase to his team mate. Many people in the F1 Paddock believed that Prost, knowing he wouldn't finish, hoped to make Senna use too much fuel in his bid to keep ahead, something which could have consequences for Senna later in the race if he was forced to back off to try to finish.

Prost continued to chase Senna despite the misfire, his full boost run saw him able to stay within 5 seconds of the Brazilian. By lap 30 he had reduced Senna's lead to only 2 seconds but as he went by the pits at the end of lap 30 the misfire got worse and by lap 35 had been passed by Berger and Alboreto and was heading for the pits and his first mechanical retirement of the season. While this was happening Alboreto, troubled by gear selection problems had dropped back from Berger to allow his gearbox oil to cool hoping it would come good. It did and the Italian in the All-Italian car began to charge at the Italian Grand Prix and was catching his team mate.

Later in the race Berger and Alboreto began closing on Senna rapidly, though it was assumed that Senna was merely pacing himself to the finish. With two laps remaining in the race, Senna attempted to lap the Williams of Schlesser at the Rettifilo Chicane. Senna headed to the left to pass the Frenchman on the inside of the first chicane, however Schlesser locked his brakes and the Williams slid forward towards the gravel trap. Somehow Schlesser managed to collect the car and turned left to avoid going off. Senna, who had taken his normal line and hadn't counted on Schlesser regaining control was t-boned in the right rear by Schlesser's Williams causing broken rear suspension for the Mclaren. Senna spun onto the exit kerb of the first part of the chicane and with the car stuck on the kerb he was forced to retire from the race. BBC commentator James Hunt placed the blame on Schlesser although many felt that Senna had not given any allowance for Schlesser to come back on the track. It was also generally thought that Senna had used too much fuel in the first half of the race in his bid to keep in front of Prost and that was why the Ferraris were catching him rapidly at the end with Berger only 5 seconds behind when Senna and Schlesser collided.

The Tifosi was beyond overjoyed as Berger inherited the win, with Alboreto taking second place only half a second behind in the first Italian Grand Prix since the death of the great Enzo Ferrari. Eddie Cheever finished in 3rd place for Arrows, 35 seconds behind the Ferraris and only half a second in front of his team mate Derek Warwick in a great race for the Arrows team. The remaining points went to Italian Ivan Capelli, a considerable achievement by the atmo March on a circuit which requires powerful engines but showed just how aerodynamic the Adrian Newey designed 881 was. Sixth place went to the Benetton-Ford of Thierry Boutsen.

Standings after the race

 * Bold Text indicates World Champions.


 * Drivers' Championship standings


 * Constructors' Championship standings


 * Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Points accurate at final declaration of results. The Benettons were subsequently disqualified from the Belgian Grand Prix and their points reallocated.