Race Summary
McLaren gained their 9th front row of the year, ahead of a surprising Ivan Capelli in the nonturbo March-Judd. In fact, both Marches were in the top five, with Maurício Gugelmin in fifth behind the Ferrari of Monza winner Gerhard Berger.
The first start was aborted when the Rial-Ford of Andrea de Cesaris stalled on the grid. The second start was aborted after Derek Warwick stalled his Arrows A10 and was hit by de Cesaris, with Luis Perez-Sala (Minardi) and Satoru Nakajima (Lotus). Ayrton Senna led off at the third start, to the delight of the Portuguese crowd. At the start of lap 2, Alain Prost pulled out of Senna's slipstream to pass him. Senna moved violently over on Prost and forced him towards the pit wall. The Frenchman nonetheless maintained the throttle open and passed him at the first corner.
Prost was not impressed with Senna's tactics and this led to some angry, but controlled, words in the McLaren camp after the race (Senna countered Prost's anger by stating that he had almost been pushed onto the grass by Prost before the first corner after the start, though many saw this as a tactic used by drivers at just about every start). Prost's lead built up to 7 seconds and would last until the flag, while Senna was being troubled by an erratic (and ultimately false) fuel readout which was telling him he was using too much. This allowed Capelli to close right up on him. On lap 22 the Italian outbraked Senna to excited acclaim and opened up a gap on him. It was the first time all season that a McLaren had been passed by anything other than another McLaren. Soon after Gerhard Berger also passed the McLaren, leaving Senna exposed to the attacks of Nigel Mansell's Williams. The Briton was closer on the corners, but the Honda engine was superior in the fast sectors of the track.
Berger had claimed the fastest lap in his pursuit of Capelli, but spun off on lap 36. He had accidentally set off his fire extinguisher, with the resultant freezing of his leg with carbon dioxide causing his foot to slip off the pedals. On lap 55, Mansell and Senna attempted to lap Jonathan Palmer: during this manoeuvre Mansell hit the back off the McLaren and spun into the barriers. Maurício Gugelmin, Nelson Piquet, Michele Alboreto, Riccardo Patrese and Thierry Boutsen were hotly contesting the last point place in 6th. On lap 29 Patrese retired with a split radiator and the next lap Piquet retired with clutch and gearbox problems. On lap 57, Senna, still having problems with his fuel readout, pitted for a tyre change and was passed by Alboreto, Boutsen and Derek Warwick, falling to 6th.
Prost won convincing from a stunning Capelli; the gap at the line was just 9.5 seconds and Prost himself was marginal on fuel. Fuel problems were a notable feature of this race: on the very last corner of the race Alboreto's engine stuttered-his car was running out of fuel despite the gauge indicating he had plenty left. Boutsen passed him to get his 5th podium of the year and Warwick claimed 4th place. The dry Ferrari of Alboreto and McLaren of Senna were classified 5th and 6th.
Read more about this topic: 1988 Portuguese Grand Prix
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