1987 Monaco Grand Prix

Coordinates: 43°44′4.74″N 7°25′16.8″E / 43.7346500°N 7.421333°E / 43.7346500; 7.421333

  1987 Monaco Grand Prix

Race details
Race 4 of 16 in the 1987 Formula One season
Date	31 May 1987
Official name	45e Grand Prix de Monaco
Location	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo, Monaco
Course	Street circuit
Course length	3.328 km (2.068 mi)
Distance	78 laps, 259.584 km (161.298 mi)
Weather	Sunny and warm
Pole position
Driver	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Honda
Time	1:23.039
Fastest lap
Driver	Ayrton Senna	Lotus-Honda
Time	1:27.685 on lap 72
Podium
First	Ayrton Senna	Lotus-Honda
Second	Nelson Piquet	Williams-Honda
Third	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari

The 1987 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 31 May 1987 at the Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo. The race, contested over 78 laps, was the 45th Monaco Grand Prix and the fourth race of the 1987 Formula One season.

The race was won by Ayrton Senna driving a Lotus-Honda, the first of an eventual six wins for the Brazilian driver at the street circuit. Fellow Brazilian Nelson Piquet was second in a Williams-Honda, while Italian Michele Alboreto took third in a Ferrari.

The win improved Senna's championship position to second, three points behind McLaren driver Alain Prost.

Race summary

Traditionally the number of competitors permitted for this Grand Prix was lower than all other circuits, due to the tight twisty nature of the track. Originally 16, it was later increased to 20; in 1987 it was increased to a full grid of 26. According to FISA this was to bring it into line with other Grands Prix but there were cynical views that this was done in order to reduce the number of non-qualifiers to appease the team sponsors. There was widespread concern about the results of overcrowding on the track and the speed difference of various cars.

During the practice session, Christian Danner (Zakspeed 871) and Michele Alboreto tangled, resulting in a severe accident: the Ferrari F1/87 was thrown in the air and caught fire, but landed back on the track. FISA took the decision to disqualify Danner from the weekend, the first such event in the history of the Formula 1 World Championship. There were widespread objections throughout the paddock, particularly as there were several other practice accidents and it was felt that Danner had no more to blame than any other driver involved in these accidents.^[1] Alboreto himself believed that Danner was not to blame for the accident, which happened on the uphill Beau Rivage section after St Devote. Danner had been travelling slowly when the Ferrari came through at speed. Both drivers agreed that the Zakspeed had no room to move at that point of the circuit and the Ferrari had no room to pass, but Danner was excluded anyway leaving Martin Brundle as the German team's only representative.

The pole position was claimed by Nigel Mansell in the Williams FW11B, second was Ayrton Senna in his Lotus 99T, and third was the other Williams of Nelson Piquet. The top three were in the same order after the start. On lap three, Philippe Streiff, still recovering from the huge accident he suffered at the previous race in Belgium, crashed his Tyrrell DG016 heavily again. Mansell's lead built up until lap 30, when he retired with a loss of turbo boost. This gave first place to Senna, who dominated the rest of the race, making a pit stop for tyre change without losing the lead, and set the fastest lap of the race.

Arrows drivers Derek Warwick and Eddie Cheever were both competitive, but retired with gearbox and engine failure respectively. Alain Prost retired his McLaren MP4/3 from third place with an engine failure with just two laps to go. Piquet (having a quiet race on a street circuit he did not particularly enjoy) came home second from Alboreto in third and Gerhard Berger in fourth. Jonathan Palmer finished fifth for his first World Championship points in the Tyrrell DG016 (and winning the Jim Clark Trophy for drivers of normally aspirated cars), while Ivan Capelli grabbed the last point in his March 871.

Senna's victory was the first for a car with active suspension.

Classification

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	12	Ayrton Senna	Lotus-Honda	78	1:57:54.085	2	9
2	6	Nelson Piquet	Williams-Honda	78	+ 33.212	3	6
3	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	78	+ 1:12.839	5	4
4	28	Gerhard Berger	Ferrari	77	+ 1 Lap	8	3
5 (1)	3	Jonathan Palmer	Tyrrell-Ford	76	+ 2 Laps	15	2
6 (2)	16	Ivan Capelli	March-Ford	76	+ 2 Laps	19	1
7	9	Martin Brundle	Zakspeed	76	+ 2 Laps	14
8	19	Teo Fabi	Benetton-Ford	76	+ 2 Laps	12
9	1	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG	75	Engine	4
10	11	Satoru Nakajima	Lotus-Honda	75	+ 3 Laps	17
11	25	René Arnoux	Ligier-Megatron	74	+ 4 Laps	22
12	26	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Ligier-Megatron	74	+ 4 Laps	20
13 (3)	14	Pascal Fabre	AGS-Ford	71	+ 7 Laps	24
Ret	18	Eddie Cheever	Arrows-Megatron	59	Overheating	6
Ret	17	Derek Warwick	Arrows-Megatron	58	Gearbox	11
Ret	2	Stefan Johansson	McLaren-TAG	57	Engine	7
Ret	30	Philippe Alliot	Lola-Ford	42	Engine	18
Ret	7	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham-BMW	41	Electrical	10
Ret	21	Alex Caffi	Osella-Alfa Romeo	39	Electrical	16
Ret	8	Andrea de Cesaris	Brabham-BMW	38	Suspension	21
Ret	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Honda	29	Exhaust	1
Ret	24	Alessandro Nannini	Minardi-Motori Moderni	21	Electrical	13
Ret	4	Philippe Streiff	Tyrrell-Ford	9	Accident	23
Ret	20	Thierry Boutsen	Benetton-Ford	5	Transmission	9
DNS	23	Adrián Campos	Minardi-Motori Moderni	0	Non Starter	0
EX	10	Christian Danner	Zakspeed		Excluded
Source:[2]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Alain Prost 18 2 Ayrton Senna 15 3 Stefan Johansson 13 4 Nelson Piquet 12 5 Nigel Mansell 10

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 McLaren-TAG 31 2 Williams-Honda 22 3 Lotus-Honda 18 4 Ferrari 14 5 Brabham-BMW 4

Jim Clark Trophy standings Pos Driver Points 1 Philippe Streiff 21 2 Jonathan Palmer 18 3 Pascal Fabre 16 4 Philippe Alliot 15 5 Ivan Capelli 6

Colin Chapman trophy standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Tyrrell-Ford 39 2 AGS-Ford 16 3 Lola-Ford 15 4 March-Ford 6

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for all four sets of standings.

References