1987 Australian Grand Prix

Ferrari's Gerhard Berger started from pole position despite being ill during qualifying. Nigel Mansell was still recovering from his accident in the previous race in Japan and so Riccardo Patrese, who had already signed for Williams to partner Mansell in 1988, was given permission by Brabham owner Bernie Ecclestone to stand in for the Englishman in this race; he was replaced at Brabham by Formula 3000 champion Stefano Modena, making his Formula One debut.

At the green light, it was Nelson Piquet, in his last race for Williams before moving to Lotus in 1988, who got away best of all, darting past Berger to take the lead into the first chicane whilst Alessandro Nannini in the Minardi was out immediately after crashing into the wall on the exit. A confident Berger, fresh from his victory in the previous race in Japan, re-passed Piquet at Wakefield Corner and began to make a break from the field.

Early retirements included Philippe Streiff spinning off in his Tyrrell and debutant Modena stopping in the pits due to exhaustion. The Italian drew the attention of BBC commentators Murray Walker and James Hunt for his efforts, as well as his highly superstitious manner; Modena wouldn't let anyone touch the car once strapped in and drove with one glove inside out.

The battle for second between Piquet, Alain Prost, Michele Alboreto and Ayrton Senna changed little until lap 35 when Piquet pitted for tyres and dropped to 6th. Seven laps later, Prost found himself baulked by former team-mate Rene Arnoux's Ligier on the pits straight and Alboreto slipped through. Senna, meanwhile, decided gung-ho was best and powered past both; 4th to 2nd in one move.

Attrition kicked in as the race continued with brakes in particular being a big issue. Teo Fabi's Benetton was the first brake-related retirement on lap 46. Shortly after, McLaren lost both cars within five laps as Prost and team-mate Stefan Johansson spun off at Stag Turn and Wakefield Corner respectively, again with brake issues. Piquet's brakes also failed on lap 58 leaving Berger, Senna and Alboreto as the top three.

Senna made a late charge, trading fastest laps with the Austrian, but Berger had enough in hand to respond, despite having what appeared to be a dragging under-tray and took his second consecutive victory by just under 35 seconds. Senna finished second but was later disqualified when post race scrutineering revealed oversized brake ducts on his Lotus. Alboreto was promoted up to second to make it a Ferrari 1–2, the first since Alboreto and Johansson finished 1–2 in the 1985 Canadian Grand Prix. Third across the line was the Benetton of Thierry Boutsen. Of the races seven finishers (the Brabham of Andrea de Cesaris and the Williams of Patrese were classified as finishers despite not running at the end), Alboreto was the only driver on the same lap as Berger.

The first non-turbo car to finish was the Tyrrell of Jonathan Palmer in 4th place. Frenchman Yannick Dalmas finished 5th in his Larrousse (but wasn't awarded points as the team had only entered one car for the season) with triple Australian Grand Prix winner Roberto Moreno (1981, 1983 and 1984) scoring a point in his Formula One debut with AGS by finishing 6th. The last car to cross the finish line was the Zakspeed of Christian Danner, 3 laps down in 7th.

• Gerhard Berger 82 (1–82)

• Bold text indicates the World Champions.

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Nelson Piquet 73 (76) 2 Nigel Mansell 61 3 Ayrton Senna 57 4 Alain Prost 46 5 Gerhard Berger 36 Source: [6]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Williams-Honda 137 2 McLaren-TAG 76 3 Lotus-Honda 64 4 Ferrari 53 5 Benetton-Ford 28 Source: [6]

Jim Clark Trophy standings Pos Driver Points 1 Jonathan Palmer 95 2 Philippe Streiff 74 3 Philippe Alliot 43 4 Ivan Capelli 38 5 Pascal Fabre 35

Colin Chapman Trophy standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Tyrrell-Ford 169 2 Lola-Ford 43 3 AGS-Ford 39 4 March-Ford 38

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