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.
| POS | NO | DRIVER | ENTRANT | LAPS | TIME/RETIREMENT | QUAL POS |
| 1 | 28 | Gerhard Berger | Ferrari | 51 | 1h32m.58.072s | 1 |
| 2 | 12 | Ayrton Senna | Lotus-Honda | 51 | 1h33m15.456s | 7 |
| 3 | 2 | Stefan Johansson | McLaren-TAG Porsche | 51 | 1h33m15.766s | 9 |
| 4 | 27 | Michele Alboreto | Ferrari | 51 | 1h34m18.513s | 4 |
| 5 | 20 | Thierry Boutsen | Benetton-Cosworth | 51 | 1h34m23.648s | 3 |
| 6 | 11 | Satoru Nakajima | Lotus-Honda | 50 | 1h34m34.551s | 11 |
| 7 | 1 | Alain Prost | McLaren-TAG Porsche | 50 | 2 | |
| 8 | 3 | Jonathan Palmer | Tyrrell-Cosworth | 50 | 19 | |
| 9 | 18 | Eddie Cheever | Arrows-Megatron | 50 | 12 | |
| 10 | 17 | Derek Warwick | Arrows-Megatron | 50 | 13 | |
| 11r | 7 | Riccardo Patrese | Brabham-BMW | 49 | Engine | 8 |
| 12 | 4 | 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 | 6 | Nelson Piquet | Williams-Honda | 46 | Engine | 5 |
| r | 25 | Rene Arnoux | Ligier-Megatron | 44 | Out Of Fuel | 17 |
| r | 21 | Alex Caffi | Osella-Alfa Romeo | 43 | Out Of Fuel | 23 |
| r | 14 | Pascal Fabre | AGS-Cosworth | 38 | Fuel Injection | 26 |
| r | 24 | Alessandro Nannini | Minardi-Motori Moderni | 35 | Engine | 14 |
| r | 9 | Martin Brundle | Zakspeed | 32 | Engine Overheating | 15 |
| r | 8 | Andrea de Cesaris | Brabham-BMW | 26 | Turbo | 10 |
| r | 19 | Teo Fabi | Benetton-Cosworth | 16 | Engine | 6 |
| r | 10 | Christian Danner | Zakspeed | 13 | Engine/oil On Tires/accident | 16 |
| r | 16 | Ivan Capelli | March-Cosworth | 13 | Accident | 20 |
| r | 23 | Adrian Campos | Minardi-Motori Moderni | 2 | Engine | 21 |
| r | 30 | Philippe Alliot | Lola-Cosworth | 0 | Accident | 18 |
| ns | 5 | Nigel Mansell | Williams-Honda | Accident/injury | 27 |