Japanese GP 1987

Japanese GP, 1987

Formula 1 returned to Japan for the first time in 10 years with an exciting World Championship showdown between Williams-Honda team mates Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell. The Brazilian was 12 points ahead on points so Mansell was the man under pressure and in qualifying he cracked and crashed heavily the fast sweepers behind the paddock. The accident left Mansell with severe bruising to his backbone and it was decided that he should not be allowed to race. Having spent Friday night in hospital Mansell flew back to Europe on Saturday evening. Nelson Piquet was World Champion for the third time.

The entry was much as it had been in Mexico although AGS decided to replace Pascal Fabre with Roberto Moreno.

With Piquet having nothing to prove and Mansell out of the way Gerhard Berger took pole position in his Ferrari ahead of Alain Prost's McLaren, Thierry Boutsen's Benetton-Ford and Michele Alboreto in the second Ferrari. Then came Piquet and Teo Fabi (Benetton) with the top 10 completed by Ayrton Senna (Lotus), Riccardo Patrese (Brabham-BMW), Stefan Johansson's McLaren and the second Brabham of Andrea de Cesaris.

In the race Berger took the lead at the start and was never threatened, winning a dominant victory. Boutsen chased him early on but dropped behind Senna, Piquet and Johansson. Piquet's race ended with an engine failure in the closing laps and so fourth place went to Alboreto with Boutsen fifth and Satoru Nakajima sixth.

POSNODRIVERENTRANTLAPSTIME/RETIREMENTQUAL POS
28 Gerhard Berger Ferrari  51 1h32m.58.072s  
12 Ayrton Senna Lotus-Honda  51 1h33m15.456s  
Stefan Johansson McLaren-TAG Porsche  51 1h33m15.766s  
27 Michele Alboreto Ferrari  51 1h34m18.513s  
20 Thierry Boutsen Benetton-Cosworth  51 1h34m23.648s  
11 Satoru Nakajima Lotus-Honda  50 1h34m34.551s  11 
Alain Prost McLaren-TAG Porsche  50  
Jonathan Palmer Tyrrell-Cosworth  50  19 
18 Eddie Cheever Arrows-Megatron  50  12 
10 17 Derek Warwick Arrows-Megatron  50  13 
11r Riccardo Patrese Brabham-BMW  49 Engine 
12 Philippe Streiff Tyrrell-Cosworth  49  25 
13r 26 Piercarlo Ghinzani Ligier-Megatron  48 Out Of Fuel 24 
14r 29 Yannick Dalmas Lola-Cosworth  47 Electrics 22 
15r Nelson Piquet Williams-Honda  46 Engine 
25 Rene Arnoux Ligier-Megatron  44 Out Of Fuel 17 
21 Alex Caffi Osella-Alfa Romeo  43 Out Of Fuel 23 
14 Pascal Fabre AGS-Cosworth  38 Fuel Injection 26 
24 Alessandro Nannini Minardi-Motori Moderni  35 Engine 14 
Martin Brundle Zakspeed  32 Engine Overheating 15 
Andrea de Cesaris Brabham-BMW  26 Turbo 10 
19 Teo Fabi Benetton-Cosworth  16 Engine 
10 Christian Danner Zakspeed  13 Engine/oil On Tires/accident 16 
16 Ivan Capelli March-Cosworth  13 Accident 20 
23 Adrian Campos Minardi-Motori Moderni  Engine 21 
30 Philippe Alliot Lola-Cosworth  Accident 18 
ns Nigel Mansell Williams-Honda   Accident/injury 27