1987 Monaco Grand Prix

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 4 of 16 in the 1987 Formula One World Championship
Race details
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 miles)
Distance	78 laps, 259.584 km (161.298 miles)
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
Lap leaders

The 1987 Monaco Grand Prix (formally the 45e Grand Prix de Monaco^[1]) was a Formula One motor race held on 31 May 1987 at the Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo. It was the fourth race of the 1987 Formula One World Championship.

The 78-lap race was won by Ayrton Senna, driving a Lotus-Honda. It was the first of an eventual six wins for the Brazilian driver at Monaco. Compatriot Nelson Piquet was second in a Williams-Honda, with Italian Michele Alboreto third in a Ferrari.

The win promoted Senna to second in the Drivers' Championship, three points behind McLaren driver Alain Prost.

Traditionally the number of competitors permitted for the Monaco Grand Prix was lower than at all other races, due to the tight and twisty nature of the Monte Carlo circuit. Originally 16, it was later increased to 20. For 1987, however, it was increased to a full grid of 26. According to FISA, this move was made in order to bring the race into line with the other races on the F1 calendar, but there were cynical views that it was made in order to reduce the number of non-qualifiers to appease 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, Michele Alboreto's Ferrari tangled with Christian Danner's slow-moving Zakspeed on the uphill section after the Ste-Devote corner. Alboreto's car was thrown in the air and caught fire, but landed back on the track. FISA blamed Danner for the accident and decided to exclude him from the weekend, the first such event in the history of the Formula One 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.^[2] Alboreto himself believed that Danner was not to blame for the accident.

Nigel Mansell took pole position in the Williams, with Ayrton Senna's Lotus alongside on the front row and Nelson Piquet third in the other Williams. At the start, Mansell led away from Senna, Piquet, Alboreto and Alain Prost in the McLaren. Mansell led until lap 30 when he retired with a loss of turbo boost; Senna then led for the remainder of the race; despite making a pit stop for tyres.

Senna eventually won by 33 seconds from Piquet. Prost was running third when his engine failed with three laps to go, promoting Alboreto to the final podium position. Gerhard Berger finished fourth in the other Ferrari, with the top six completed by the first two naturally-aspirated finishers, Jonathan Palmer in the Tyrrell and Ivan Capelli in the March.

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

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Q1	Q2	Gap	Grid
1	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Honda	1:24.514	1:23.039	—	1
2	12	Ayrton Senna	Lotus-Honda	1:25.255	1:23.711	+0.672	2
3	6	Nelson Piquet	Williams-Honda	1:25.917	1:24.755	+1.716	3
4	1	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG	1:25.574	1:25.083	+2.044	4
5	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	1:27.017	1:26.102	+3.063	5
6	18	Eddie Cheever	Arrows-Megatron	1:27.716	1:26.175	+3.136	6
7	2	Stefan Johansson	McLaren-TAG	1:27.701	1:26.317	+3.278	7
8	28	Gerhard Berger	Ferrari	1:29.281	1:26.323	+3.284	8
9	20	Thierry Boutsen	Benetton-Ford	1:27.082	1:26.630	+3.591	9
10	7	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham-BMW	1:26.957	1:26.763	+3.724	10
11	17	Derek Warwick	Arrows-Megatron	1:27.685	1:27.294	+4.255	11
12	19	Teo Fabi	Benetton-Ford	1:29.264	1:27.622	+4.583	12
13	24	Alessandro Nannini	Minardi-Motori Moderni	1:28.517	1:27.731	+4.692	13
14	9	Martin Brundle	Zakspeed	1:29.801	1:27.894	+4.855	14
15	3	Jonathan Palmer	Tyrrell-Ford	1:30.307	1:28.088	+5.049	15
16	21	Alex Caffi	Osella-Alfa Romeo	1:36.267	1:28.233	+5.194	16
17	11	Satoru Nakajima	Lotus-Honda	1:30.606	1:28.890	+5.851	17
18	30	Philippe Alliot	Lola-Ford	1:29.114	1:29.459	+6.075	18
19	16	Ivan Capelli	March-Ford	1:31.589	1:29.147	+6.108	19
20	26	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Ligier-Megatron	1:31.098	1:29.258	+6.219	20
21	8	Andrea de Cesaris	Brabham-BMW	1:32.643	1:29.827	+6.788	21
22	25	René Arnoux	Ligier-Megatron	1:31.270	1:30.000	+6.961	22
23	4	Philippe Streiff	Tyrrell-Ford	1:30.765	1:30.143	+7.104	23
24	23	Adrián Campos	Minardi-Motori Moderni	1:30.805	—	+7.766	DNS
25	14	Pascal Fabre	AGS-Ford	1:35.179	1:31.667	+8.628	24
EX	10	Christian Danner	Zakspeed	—	—	—	—
Source:[3][4][5][6]

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	Turbo/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		Non Starter
EX	10	Christian Danner	Zakspeed		Excluded
Source:[7]

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 Source:[8]

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 Source:[8]

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.