1987 French Grand Prix

The 1987 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 5 July 1987 at the Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet. It was the sixth race of the 1987 Formula One season. It was the 65th French Grand Prix and the eleventh to be held at Paul Ricard, and the second to be held on the shortened version of the circuit. It was held over 80 laps of the 3.813-kilometre (2.369 mi) circuit for a race distance of 305.040 kilometres (189.543 mi).

1987 French Grand Prix
Race 6 of 16 in the 1987 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date 5 July 1987
Official name Grand Prix de France
Location Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet, France
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 3.813 km (2.369 mi)
Distance 80 laps, 305.040 km (189.543 mi)
Weather Sunny and hot
Pole position
Driver
Williams-Honda
Time 1:06.454
Fastest lap
Driver Nelson Piquet Williams-Honda
Time 1:09.548 on lap 68
Podium
First
Williams-Honda
Second
Williams-Honda
Third
McLaren-TAG

The race was won by British driver Nigel Mansell driving a Williams FW11B. It was Mansell's second win of the year and his second victory in the French Grand Prix. Mansell finished seven seconds ahead of team mate Brazilian two-time World Champion Nelson Piquet. Reigning champion Frenchman Alain Prost driving a McLaren MP4/3 finished third.

Brazilian Lotus driver Ayrton Senna's fourth place kept him in the championship lead by a single point over Prost and three ahead of Piquet.

Race summary

Qualifying

For the first time since the 1986 Mexican Grand Prix, a non-Honda powered car was on the front row in the shape of the McLaren-TAG of Alain Prost, who qualified second. The pole position was taken once again by Nigel Mansell in his Williams-Honda, while the second row was occupied by Ayrton Senna's Lotus-Honda and Nelson Piquet's Williams. The fast nature of the circuit clearly suited the turbo cars: the best placed non-turbo driver was Ivan Capelli in the March 871 in 22nd place, about six seconds off the pace and 50 km/h (31 mph) slower on the Mistral Straight than the Williams-Hondas.

Showing the advances in engine development, aerodynamics and tyres, on his pole lap Mansell was timed at 325 km/h (202 mph) on the Mistral. Even though the Mistral used in 1987 was some 800 metres shorter than when Formula One last used the full circuit at Paul Ricard in 1985, the sheer acceleration and top speed of the Williams-Hondas was comparable to the top speeds seen at the circuit from the 1985 season cars.

During qualifying Arrows driver Derek Warwick gave a view on the strength of the turbocharged Honda RA167-E V6 engine and the acceleration advantage Williams had over the field since the opening round in Brazil. He noted that on one lap he entered the Mistral approximately 50 metres ahead of Piquet's Williams. Despite the known power of the Megatron (formerly BMW) turbo, Warwick claimed by the time they got to Signes just over one kilometre later the acceleration of the Honda had seen Piquet around 100 metres ahead of the Arrows A10.

Race

At the lights, Michele Alboreto jumped the start, whilst his Ferrari teammate Gerhard Berger stalled. Nigel Mansell led away and was joined by teammate Nelson Piquet at the front after he passed Prost on the Mistral Straight. Eddie Cheever retired his Arrows A10 on lap one after accidentally setting off the fire extinguisher whilst attempting to adjust the turbo boost. Andrea de Cesaris (Brabham BT56) then collided with Stefan Johansson, the McLaren requiring a pit stop for a damaged nosecone; the debris of his car caused some trouble to Mansell who ran into them.

Mansell, Piquet and Prost were engaged in a gripping battle for the lead, separated by just two seconds. On lap 19, Piquet spun and Prost passed him for second. Meanwhile, Senna was holding onto a creditable fourth place. On lap 30, Piquet pitted for new tyres, followed two laps later by Senna. Meanwhile, Thierry Boutsen (Benetton B187) retired with electrical failure. Both Mansell and Prost came in for new tyres on lap 36, handing the lead to Piquet. Mansell completed his stop and closed rapidly on Piquet, breaking fastest lap records. On lap 46, at the Le Beausset corner, Piquet made an error and Mansell passed him on the inside to take a lead he would not lose. On lap 65 Piquet made a second stop which went wrong when the engine stalled, delaying him by an additional eight seconds. After exiting the pits, he caught and passed Prost (who was dealing with an electrical problem) on lap 67.

Piquet was about 20 seconds behind Mansell, but on the final laps he was gaining at two seconds a lap. With seven laps to go, the gap was reduced to just 13 seconds, but Mansell paced himself to win by 7.7 seconds. Johansson had fought courageously up to sixth place after two pit stops to repair damages on his McLaren, but retired just five laps from the chequered flag.

In his home race, Prost took the final podium place some 48 seconds behind Piquet. Senna finished fourth ahead of Teo Fabi's Benetton B187 in fifth. Philippe Streiff drove a superb race to take his first World Championship point and the victory for the Jim Clark Trophy in his Tyrrell-Ford.

Classification

Qualifying
PosNoDriverConstructorQ1Q2GapGrid
1 5 Nigel Mansell Williams-Honda 1:06.454 1:06.705 — 1
2 1 Alain Prost McLaren-TAG 1:06.877 1:07.843 +0.423 2
3 12 Ayrton Senna Lotus-Honda 1:07.303 1:07.024 +0.570 3
4 6 Nelson Piquet Williams-Honda 1:07.270 1:07.140 +0.686 4
5 20 Thierry Boutsen Benetton-Ford 1:08.077 1:08.176 +1.623 5
6 28 Gerhard Berger Ferrari 1:08.198 1:08.335 +1.744 6
7 19 Teo Fabi Benetton-Ford 1:08.293 1:11.815 +1.839 7
8 27 Michele Alboreto Ferrari 1:08.390 1:08.916 +1.936 8
9 2 Stefan Johansson McLaren-TAG 1:08.577 1:09.095 +2.123 9
10 17 Derek Warwick Arrows-Megatron 1:09.256 1:08.800 +2.346 10
11 8 Andrea de Cesaris Brabham-BMW 1:09.499 1:08.949 +2.495 11
12 7 Riccardo Patrese Brabham-BMW 1:09.458 1:08.993 +2.539 12
13 25 René Arnoux Ligier-Megatron 1:09.430 1:09.970 +2.976 13
14 18 Eddie Cheever Arrows-Megatron 1:09.828 1:09.869 +3.374 14
15 24 Alessandro Nannini Minardi-Motori Moderni 1:10.388 1:09.868 +3.414 15
16 11 Satoru Nakajima Lotus-Honda 1:12.268 1:10.652 +4.198 16
17 26 Piercarlo Ghinzani Ligier-Megatron 1:10.798 1:10.900 +4.344 17
18 9 Martin Brundle Zakspeed 1:11.451 1:11.170 +4.716 18
19 10 Christian Danner Zakspeed 1:11.456 1:11.389 +4.935 19
20 21 Alex Caffi Osella-Alfa Romeo 1:12.167 1:12.555 +5.713 20
21 23 Adrián Campos Minardi-Motori Moderni 1:13.145 1:12.551 +6.097 21
22 16 Ivan Capelli March-Ford 1:13.204 1:12.654 +6.200 22
23 30 Philippe Alliot Lola-Ford 1:13.026 1:14.422 +6.572 23
24 3 Jonathan Palmer Tyrrell-Ford 1:13.443 1:13.474 +6.989 24
25 4 Philippe Streiff Tyrrell-Ford 1:13.553 1:13.525 +7.071 25
26 14 Pascal Fabre AGS-Ford 1:14.699 1:14.787 +8.245 26
Source:[1][2][3][4]

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 5 Nigel Mansell Williams-Honda 80 1:37:03.839 1 9
2 6 Nelson Piquet Williams-Honda 80 + 7.711 4 6
3 1 Alain Prost McLaren-TAG 80 + 55.255 2 4
4 12 Ayrton Senna Lotus-Honda 79 + 1 Lap 3 3
5 19 Teo Fabi Benetton-Ford 77 + 3 Laps 7 2
6 (1) 4 Philippe Streiff Tyrrell-Ford 76 + 4 Laps 25 1
7 (2) 3 Jonathan Palmer Tyrrell-Ford 76 + 4 Laps 24  
8 2 Stefan Johansson McLaren-TAG 74 + 6 Laps 9  
9 (3) 14 Pascal Fabre AGS-Ford 74 + 6 Laps 26  
Ret 28 Gerhard Berger Ferrari 71 Suspension 6  
NC 11 Satoru Nakajima Lotus-Honda 71 + 9 Laps 16  
Ret 27 Michele Alboreto Ferrari 64 Engine 8  
Ret 17 Derek Warwick Arrows-Megatron 62 Turbo 10  
Ret 30 Philippe Alliot Lola-Ford 57 Gearbox 23  
Ret 16 Ivan Capelli March-Ford 52 Engine 22  
Ret 23 Adrián Campos Minardi-Motori Moderni 52 Turbo 21  
Ret 25 René Arnoux Ligier-Megatron 33 Exhaust 13  
Ret 20 Thierry Boutsen Benetton-Ford 31 Engine 5  
Ret 10 Christian Danner Zakspeed 26 Overheating 19  
Ret 26 Piercarlo Ghinzani Ligier-Megatron 24 Engine 17  
Ret 24 Alessandro Nannini Minardi-Motori Moderni 23 Turbo 15  
Ret 7 Riccardo Patrese Brabham-BMW 19 Differential 12  
Ret 9 Martin Brundle Zakspeed 18 Wheel 18  
Ret 21 Alex Caffi Osella-Alfa Romeo 11 Engine 20  
Ret 8 Andrea de Cesaris Brabham-BMW 2 Turbo 11  
Ret 18 Eddie Cheever Arrows-Megatron 0 Electrical 14  
Source:[5]

Championship standings after the race
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for all four sets of standings.
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References
  1. "French Grand Prix – Qualifying 1". formula1.com. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  2. "French Grand Prix – Qualifying 2". formula1.com. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  3. "French Grand Prix – Overall Qualifying". formula1.com. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  4. "French Grand Prix – Starting Grid". formula1.com. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  5. "1987 French Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 3 November 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  6. "France 1987 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
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