Spanish GP 1987

Spanish GP, 1987

The Coloni team was back in action and with Franco Forini staying on for a third event with the Osella team the field was up to 28 cars. The battle for pole position was between the two Williams-Honda with World Championship leader Nelson Piquet (in an active Williams) on pole ahead of challenger Nigel Mansell (who chose to use the passive car). The two Ferraris of Gerhard Berger and Michele Alboreto were third and fourth with Ayrton Senna fifth in his Lotus-Honda. Teo Fabi was sixth in his Benetton-Ford with Alain Prost (McLaren), Thierry Boutsen (Benetton) and the two Brabhams of Riccardo Patrese and Andrea de Cesaris rounding off the top 10.

In the race Piquet took the lead but Mansell dived ahead at the end of the first lap and began to pull away from the Brazilian. Senna was third with the two Ferraris and Boutsen chasing. The top five did not change for the first half of the race with Senna at the front of a train of cars.

At the pitstops Mansell was away and gone before Senna arrived but Piquet was slower and found himself stuck in fourth place behind Senna and Prost. He challenged Prost but got it wrong and spun back to sixth place. Senna had decided to go through without a stop and those behind him were left to battle with one another while Mansell drove on to victory. Senna's gamble did not pay off because his tires deteriorated quickly and eventually Piquet, Boutsen and Prost were all able to get ahead. Senna then dropped back behind Johansson as well. Piquet then made a mistake and ran wide but Boutsen also made a mistake and spun and so Prost was second with Johansson third, Piquet fourth, Senna fifth and Philippe Alliot sixth in his Larrousse Lola.

POSNODRIVERENTRANTLAPSTIME/RETIREMENTQUAL POS
Nigel Mansell Williams-Honda  72 1h49m12.692s  
Alain Prost McLaren-TAG Porsche  72 1h49m34.917s  
Stefan Johansson McLaren-TAG Porsche  72 1h49m43.510s  11 
Nelson Piquet Williams-Honda  72 1h49m44.142s  
12 Ayrton Senna Lotus-Honda  72 1h50m26.199s  
30 Philippe Alliot Lola-Cosworth  71  17 
Philippe Streiff Tyrrell-Cosworth  71  15 
8r 18 Eddie Cheever Arrows-Megatron  70 Out Of Fuel  13 
11 Satoru Nakajima Lotus-Honda  70  18 
10 17 Derek Warwick Arrows-Megatron  70  12 
11 Martin Brundle Zakspeed  70  20 
12 16 Ivan Capelli March-Cosworth  70  19 
13 Riccardo Patrese Brabham-BMW  68  
14 23 Adrian Campos Minardi-Motori Moderni  68  24 
15r 27 Michele Alboreto Ferrari  62 Engine 
16r 20 Thierry Boutsen Benetton-Cosworth  66 Brakes Spin 
28 Gerhard Berger Ferrari  62 Oil Radiator/engine 
Jonathan Palmer Tyrrell-Cosworth  55 Accident 16 
25 Rene Arnoux Ligier-Megatron  55 Engine 14 
10 Christian Danner Zakspeed  50 Gearbox 22 
24 Alessandro Nannini Minardi-Motori Moderni  45 Turbo 21 
19 Teo Fabi Benetton-Cosworth  40 Engine 
Andrea de Cesaris Brabham-BMW  26 Gearbox 10 
26 Piercarlo Ghinzani Ligier-Megatron  24 Ignition 23 
14 Pascal Fabre AGS-Cosworth  10 Clutch  25 
32 Nicola Larini Coloni-Cosworth  Suspension 26 
nq 21 Alex Caffi Osella-Alfa Romeo    27 
nq 22 Gabriele Tarquini Osella-Alfa Romeo    28