1988 Belgian Grand Prix

The 1988 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on August 28, 1988 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. It was the eleventh race of the 1988 Formula One season.

Race summary
This was the first race after the death of Enzo Ferrari. Nigel Mansell was forced to miss the race due to chicken pox and was replaced by Martin Brundle. The McLarens once again dominated the qualifying sessions, occupying the whole front row for the 7th time in 11 races. It was the first race in 1988 where neither of the new EuroBrun cars made the field.

At the start, polesitter Ayrton Senna had too much wheelspin and his teammate, Alain Prost, was able to take the lead. Senna retook the lead after he slipstreamed Prost on the Kemmel straight and outbraked him at Les Combes. Senna held the lead until the end of the race.

Gerhard Berger managed to get his Ferrari up to 3rd, challenging Prost briefly before pitting on lap 3 with electrical problems. He managed to rejoin and set the fastest lap before retiring on lap 12. Due to Berger's retirement, Thierry Boutsen climbed to 4th behind Michele Alboreto and ahead of a thrilling battle between Alessandro Nannini, Satoru Nakajima, Nelson Piquet, and the two Arrows. Piquet passed teammate Nakajima on lap 17 and the Japanese pitted with an acute misfire from a jammed plug, which caused him to retire. In the meantime, Ivan Capelli climbed from 9th to 6th.

On lap 36 Alboreto's engine blew up, sending him out of the race from 3rd. Just 2 laps later Nannini capped his progresses by passing Piquet with a move at the Source hairpin. The Brazilian was suffering from brake bias problems. While attempting to keep the correct balance of the brakes, he wore his tyres, which ultimately caused him to run wide off the track. In the process, grass gathered in the sidepods and caused the engine to overheat. On lap 42, Capelli passed Piquet to seize 5th place.

McLaren's 1-2 sealed the Constructors' Championship for the British team, with Benetton coming home third and fourth. Capelli and Piquet rounded out the points. McLaren-Honda won the Constructor's Championship earlier than anyone else had, with five races left.

Both Benettons were later disqualified for using irregular fuel, so the third podium spot went to Capelli, and the two Arrows of Derek Warwick and Eddie Cheever went into the points. The disqualification of the Benettons was not made official until long after the season had finished, so many published records list them as having finished third and fourth. The three points Arrows gained from the disqualification brought the team to fifth in the Constructors' Championship.

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 not disqualified and their points reallocated until after the end of the season.