1987 Belgian Grand Prix

The 1987 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 17 May 1987 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Francorchamps, Wallonia. 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.

1987 Belgian Grand Prix
Race 3 of 16 in the 1987 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date	17 May 1987
Official name	XLV Grand Prix de Belgique
Location	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Francorchamps, Wallonia, Belgium
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	6.940 km (4.312 miles)
Distance	43 laps, 298.420 km (185.429 miles)
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
Lap leaders

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 despite having to push his car over the line as he had run out of fuel.

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 teammate'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. As of 2023, this was also the last time that the Belgian Grand Prix was held at the beginning of the season; since 1988, it has always been held in August or September.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Q1	Q2	Gap	Grid
1	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Honda	2:06.965	1:52.026	—	1
2	6	Nelson Piquet	Williams-Honda	2:08.143	1:53.416	1.390	2
3	12	Ayrton Senna	Lotus-Honda	2:08.450	1:53.426	1.400	3
4	28	Gerhard Berger	Ferrari	2:06.216	1:53.451	1.425	4
5	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	2:07.459	1:53.511	1.485	5
6	1	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG	2:11.203	1:54.186	2.160	6
7	20	Thierry Boutsen	Benetton-Ford	2:08.752	1:54.300	2.274	7
8	7	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham-BMW	2:12.914	1:55.064	3.038	8
9	19	Teo Fabi	Benetton-Ford	2:12.358	1:55.339	3.313	9
10	2	Stefan Johansson	McLaren-TAG	2:12.063	1:55.781	3.755	10
11	18	Eddie Cheever	Arrows-Megatron	2:15.321	1:55.899	3.873	11
12	17	Derek Warwick	Arrows-Megatron	2:10.946	1:56.359	4.333	12
13	8	Andrea de Cesaris	Brabham-BMW	2:13.871	1:57.101	5.075	13
14	24	Alessandro Nannini	Minardi-Motori Moderni	2:09.650	1:58.132	6.106	14
15	11	Satoru Nakajima	Lotus-Honda	2:11.441	1:58.649	6.623	15
16	25	René Arnoux	Ligier-Megatron	2:15.012	1:59.117	7.091	16
17	26	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Ligier-Megatron	2:15.339	1:59.291	7.265	17
18	9	Martin Brundle	Zakspeed	2:14.432	2:00.433	8.407	18
19	23	Adrián Campos	Minardi-Motori Moderni	2:14.945	2:00.763	8.737	19
20	10	Christian Danner	Zakspeed	2:20.610	2:01.072	9.046	20
21	16	Ivan Capelli	March-Ford	2:13.355	2:02.036	10.010	21
22	30	Philippe Alliot	Lola-Ford	2:13.082	2:02.347	10.321	22
23	4	Philippe Streiff	Tyrrell-Ford	2:18.900	2:03.098	11.072	23
24	3	Jonathan Palmer	Tyrrell-Ford	2:14.931	2:04.677	12.651	24
25	14	Pascal Fabre	AGS-Ford	2:26.498	2:07.361	15.335	25
26	21	Alex Caffi	Osella-Alfa Romeo	2:16.268	2:12.086	20.060	26
Source:

Race

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	Out of Fuel	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	Out of Fuel	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	Ignition	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:

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
Source:

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
Source:

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.