1987 Belgian Grand Prix

  1987 Belgian Grand Prix

Race details
Race 3 of 16 in the 1987 Formula One season
Date	17 May 1987
Official name	XLV Grand Prix de Belgique
Location	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Spa, Belgium
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	6.940 km (4.312 mi)
Distance	43 laps, 298.420 km (185.429 mi)
Weather	Cloudy and cool
Pole position
Driver	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Honda
Time	1:52.026
Fastest lap
Driver	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG
Time	1:57.153 on lap 26
Podium
First	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG
Second	Stefan Johansson	McLaren-TAG
Third	Andrea de Cesaris	Brabham-BMW

The 1987 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 17 May 1987 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Spa. Contested over 43 laps, the race was the 45th Belgian Grand Prix, the 33rd to be held at Spa and the fourth since the circuit was redeveloped in 1979, and the third race of the 1987 Formula One season.

The race was won by France's Alain Prost driving a McLaren-TAG. This was Prost's second victory of the 1987 season and his second in the Belgian Grand Prix (after 1983), as well as his 27th Grand Prix victory overall, equalling Jackie Stewart's all-time record. Prost's Swedish team-mate Stefan Johansson finished second, the only other driver on the same lap, giving McLaren their first 1-2 finish since the previous year's Monaco Grand Prix. Italy's Andrea de Cesaris, driving a Brabham-BMW, finished third.

The win gave Prost a five-point lead over Johansson in the Drivers' Championship. Williams driver Nigel Mansell was three points further back; a first-lap collision with Ayrton Senna's Lotus had ultimately led to his retirement from the race, after which he angrily confronted the Brazilian driver in the Lotus garage.

Race summary

Qualifying runs saw the two Williams FW11Bs take the front row, with Nigel Mansell on the pole, nearly 1.5 seconds faster than Nelson Piquet. Certainly, Piquet was still suffering the results of his accident at Imola. Ayrton Senna took the third place in his Lotus 99T ahead of the two Ferrari F1/87s of Gerhard Berger and Michele Alboreto.

The race required two starts. On the first start Mansell took the lead ahead of Senna, Piquet and Alboreto. At the back of the grid René Arnoux (Ligier JS29B) and Andrea de Cesaris (Brabham BT56) tangled, whilst Thierry Boutsen (Benetton B187) hit Berger's spinning Ferrari F1/87. A more serious accident befell Philippe Streiff who crashed heavily at the Eau Rouge before the wreckage was hit by Tyrrell teammate Jonathan Palmer; both were unhurt but their Tyrrell DG016s were reduced to scrap. By virtue of qualifying 23rd to his team mate's 24th, and ironically by crashing first, Streiff was given the spare car for the restart forcing Palmer out of the race.

On the second start, Senna led Mansell away, but during lap one the Briton tried to overtake the Brazilian. The two controversially tangled, leading to the retirement of the Lotus 99T. Mansell rejoined the race at the back, until the damage sustained in the collision finally forced him to retire on lap 17. Mansell subsequently visited the Lotus garage where harsh words were exchanged and punches were thrown.

Berger retired on lap three with a broken piston whilst on lap 10 second place Michele Alboreto's wheel bearing broke and Nelson Piquet retired with a broken turbo pipe, handing the lead to Alain Prost from Teo Fabi and Stefan Johansson. The pitstops changed little in the situation, and he maintained this to win easily by 25 seconds, despite concerns with his fuel consumption due to a faulty gauge.

This was Prost's 27th win, equalling Jackie Stewart's record with team-mate Johansson making it a McLaren 1-2. Andrea de Cesaris drove superbly to finish third for Brabham despite having to push his car over the line with Eddie Cheever (Arrows A10), Satoru Nakajima (Lotus 99T) and Arnoux taking the remaining points. With the setbacks to the Tyrrell drivers, the Jim Clark points were won by the Lola LC87 of Philippe Alliot.

Classification

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

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	1	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG	43	1:27:03.217	6	9
2	2	Stefan Johansson	McLaren-TAG	43	+ 24.764	10	6
3	8	Andrea de Cesaris	Brabham-BMW	42	+ 1 Lap	13	4
4	18	Eddie Cheever	Arrows-Megatron	42	+ 1 Lap	11	3
5	11	Satoru Nakajima	Lotus-Honda	42	+ 1 Lap	15	2
6	25	René Arnoux	Ligier-Megatron	41	+ 2 Laps	16	1
7	26	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Ligier-Megatron	40	+ 3 Laps	17
8 (1)	30	Philippe Alliot	Lola-Ford	40	+ 3 Laps	22
9 (2)	4	Philippe Streiff	Tyrrell-Ford	39	+ 4 Laps	23
10 (3)	14	Pascal Fabre	AGS-Ford	38	+ 5 Laps	25
Ret	19	Teo Fabi	Benetton-Ford	34	Engine	9
Ret	9	Martin Brundle	Zakspeed	19	Overheating	18
Ret	20	Thierry Boutsen	Benetton-Ford	18	Wheel Bearing	7
Ret	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Honda	17	Accident	1
Ret	16	Ivan Capelli	March-Ford	14	Engine	21
Ret	6	Nelson Piquet	Williams-Honda	11	Exhaust	2
Ret	21	Alex Caffi	Osella-Alfa Romeo	11	Fuel Leak	26
Ret	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	9	Transmission	5
Ret	10	Christian Danner	Zakspeed	9	Brakes	20
Ret	17	Derek Warwick	Arrows-Megatron	8	Radiator	12
Ret	7	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham-BMW	5	Clutch	8
Ret	28	Gerhard Berger	Ferrari	2	Engine	4
Ret	24	Alessandro Nannini	Minardi-Motori Moderni	1	Turbo	14
Ret	12	Ayrton Senna	Lotus-Honda	0	Collision	3
Ret	23	Adrián Campos	Minardi-Motori Moderni	0	Gearbox	19
Ret	3	Jonathan Palmer	Tyrrell-Ford	0	Collision	24
Source:[1]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Alain Prost 18 2 Stefan Johansson 13 3 Nigel Mansell 10 4 Nelson Piquet 6 5 Ayrton Senna 6

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 McLaren-TAG 31 2 Williams-Honda 16 3 Lotus-Honda 9 4 Ferrari 7 5 Brabham-BMW 4

Jim Clark Trophy standings Pos Driver Points 1 Philippe Streiff 21 2 Philippe Alliot 15 3 Pascal Fabre 12 4 Jonathan Palmer 9

Colin Chapman trophy standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Tyrrell-Ford 30 2 Lola-Ford 15 3 AGS-Ford 12

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

References