1988 Italian Grand Prix

Infobox Grand Prix race report
Type = F1
Grand Prix = Italian
Country = Italy
Official name = LIX Coca-Cola Gran Premio d'Italia
Date = September 11
Year = 1988

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Race_No = 13
Season_No = 16
Location = Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza, Italy
Course = Permanent racing facility
Course_mi = 3.603
Course_km = 5.80
Distance_laps = 51
Distance_mi = 183.801
Distance_km = 295.800
Weather = Sunny and hot
Pole_Driver = Ayrton Senna
Pole_Country = Brazil
Pole_Team = McLaren-Honda
Pole_Time = 1:25.974
Fast_Driver = Michele Alboreto
Fast_Country = Italy
Fast_Team = Ferrari
Fast_Time = 1:29.070
Fast_L

First_Driver = Gerhard Berger
First_Country = Austria
First_Team = Ferrari
Second_Driver = Michele Alboreto
Second_Country= Italy
Second_Team = Ferrari
Third_Driver = Eddie Cheever
Third_Country = USA
Third_Team = Arrows-MegatronThe 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 1988 Formula One season. It is often remembered for the extremely improbable 1-2 finish for the Ferrari team, and the only race of the 1988 season that McLaren failed to win.

Report

The 1988 Italian Grand Prix was the first Formula 1 race in Italy held after the death of Ferrari founder Enzo Ferrari, making it a very emotional event for his team and its passionate fans, the tifosi. 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. The team's strengths were its drivers, Frenchman Alain Prost (the 1985 and 1986 World Champion) and Ayrton Senna who would go on to win the World Championship, and the turbocharged Honda engine, which was both powerful and reliable.

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. Qualifying was once again a McLaren affair, with Senna on pole and Prost second.

Senna led the race from the start with Prost in second and the two Ferraris of Gerhard Berger and Michele Alboreto in a distant third and fourth respectively. The order showed no signs of changing until lap 35, when Prost suffered an extremely rare Honda engine failure. The Ferraris went into second and third places respectively, while Senna continued to dominate the race.

This domination continued until there were two laps remaining in the race, when Senna attempted to lap the Williams of Schlesser. Senna attempted to pass the Frenchman on the inside of the first chicane, but he was too far behind and the two cars collided. Senna spun onto the exit kerb of the first part of the chicane, and with damaged right-rear suspension and the car stuck on the kerb, was forced to retire from the race. The Italian crowd was overjoyed as Berger inherited the win, with Alboreto taking second place; the podium was completed by the Arrows of Eddie Cheever. Fourth was the other Arrows of Derek Warwick. The remaining points went to Ivan Capelli, a considerable achievement on the nonturbo March in a circuit which requires powerful engines, and to the Benetton of Thierry Boutsen.

Classification

References

* "Unless otherwise indicated, all race results are taken from cite web |title=The Official Formula 1 website |url=http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1988/274/ |accessdate=2007-07-12

F1 race report
Name_of_race = Italian Grand Prix
Year_of_race = 1988
Previous_race_in_season = 1988 Belgian Grand Prix
Next_race_in_season = 1988 Portuguese Grand Prix
Previous_year's_race = 1987 Italian Grand Prix
Next_year's_race = 1989 Italian Grand Prix