1988 British Grand Prix
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Results from the 1988 Formula One British Grand Prix held at Silverstone on July 10, 1988
Contents |
[edit] Classification
[edit] Qualifying & prerace events
In order to mark the 40th anniversary of Silverstone,many additions had been made to the circuit,including a magnificent Press Centre,internal ring road,debris fencing and massive screens to transmit the BBC pictures to spectators and 200,000 ft of tented hospitality for corporate guests. The weekend was tragically overshadowed by the death of the RAC Chief Executive Peter Hammond in a car crash on the way to the track. Nigel Mansell announced his signing for Ferrari in the 1989 season,no doubt encouraged to go by a series of high speed accidents on Friday as a result of problems with the Williams' suspension. With Mansell 13th and Riccardo Patrese seemingly set to fail to qualify,the system was abandoned-Mansell eventually qualified 11th. The grid had an unfamiliar look.With McLaren suffering handling problems from new bodywork installed for the run of high speed circuits coming up. The Ferraris occupied the front row of the grid with the McLarens in 3rd and 4th-the first time no McLaren had been on the front row of the grid since the 1987 Mexican Grand Prix .An exceptional performance put the nonturbo March cars in 5th and 6th.
[edit] Race summary
The race was held in pouring rain-the first wet weather race since the 1985 Portuguese Grand Prix. Senna made an excellent start to tail polesitter Gerhard Berger and unsuccessfully challenged him for the lead whilst Prost's start was awful and he dropped to 9th. On lap 3,Ivan Capelli dropped back with electrical trouble. By lap 14,Mauricio Gugelmin,Alessandro Nannini and Mansell were challenging for 3rd place,whilst one lap later,Senna finally took the lead under the bridge.Using his skill in wet conditions,he managed to pull away and build a lead.On lap 20,Mansell passed Nannini for 4th,after which the Italian spun and let Gugelmin through.2 laps later,he passed Michele Alboreto in the Ferrari for 3rd.At that time,Prost retired citing 'dangerous handling' in the McLaren. Seeking out the wet patches to cool his tyres,Mansell drove superbly to slash the lap record and average 128mph in difficult conditions.On lap 50,he caught and passed Berger and held 2nd place until the finish some 23 seconds behind Senna. Berger was suffering with a fuel deficit and was losing places rapidly.On the very last corner,he dropped from 5th down to 9th. Nannini,despite two further spins,claimed his first Grand Prix podium finish.Gugelmin collected his first World Championship points and Nelson Piquet and Derek Warwick rounded out the top 6.
[edit] Notes
- Fastest Lap: Nigel Mansell 1'23.308
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