Overview[]
The 1987 Brazilian Grand Prix was the first race of the 1987 FF1M Season.
Team and Driver Changes[]
Teams[]
- MRD Racing made their debut (canonically), replacing AquinoPlus and taking TAG engines
- Tash 'n' Rash made their debut (canonically), replacing Dodgem and taking Ferrari engines
- Zack Mitchell Racing made their debut (canonically), replacing Shannon and taking TAG engines
- Exolite changed their name to Darkfire
- Tornado Motorsport changed their name to Apollo
- Ajay Motorsports switched from Motori Moderni to BMW engines
- Andy Racing switched from Ford to BMW engines
- Apollo switched from BMW to Ford engines
- Dark Wolf switched from Renault to Ferrari engines
- Darkfire switched from BMW to Honda engines
- FJR switched from TAG to Ferrari engines
- Gui Racing switched from Renault to Honda engines
- All teams switched to Michelin tyres, who had become the sole tyre supplier
Drivers[]
- Adrian Campos made his debut with Ajay Motorsports, replacing Philippe Streiff who had moved to MRD Racing
- Christian Danner made his debut with Gui Racing, replacing Jacques Laffite who had retired from FF1M
- Derek Warwick made his debut with Zack Mitchell Racing
- Eddie Cheever made his debut with Pedersen, replacing Riccardo Patrese who had moved to Tash 'n' Rash
- Jonathan Palmer made his debut with Zack Mitchell Racing
- Piercarlo Ghinzani made his debut with Ajay Motorsports, replacing Marc Surer who had retired from FF1M
- Satoru Nakajima made his debut with Pedersen, replacing Alessandro Nannini who had moved to FJR
- Alain Prost moved from Apollo to MRD Racing
- Andrea de Cesaris moved from Dark Wolf to FJR
- Ayrton Senna moved from Dark Wolf to Gui Racing
- Gerhard Berger moved from FJR to Dark Wolf
- Martin Brundle moved from Dodgem to Andy Racing
- Michele Alboreto moved from AquinoPlus to Tash 'n' Rash
- Nelson Piquet moved from Gui Racing to Andy Racing
- Nigel Mansell moved from Dodgem to Apollo
- Rene Arnoux moved from Shannon to Apollo
- Stefan Johansson moved from Apollo to Dark Wolf
- Teo Fabi moved from Andy Racing to Darkfire
- Thierry Boutsen moved from FJR to Darkfire
- Alan Jones, Elio de Angelis, Keke Rosberg, and Patrick Tambay had retired from FF1M
Report[]
Reigning champion Alain Prost's switch from Tornado (Now Apollo) to MRD Racing and from BMW to TAG engines didn't affect his speed as he took his second consecutive Jacarepagua pole position, although the gap to 2nd had more than halved. Joining the Frenchman on the front row was Riccardo Patrese, an impressive debut for the Yorkshire-owned Tash 'n' Rash team, more so with Michele Alboreto 4th behind Nigel Mansell. Less impressive were the two Brazilians in the field with Ayrton Senna 7th and Nelson Piquet 10th.
From pole position, Prost got away very poorly and immediately lost the lead to Patrese with Stefan Johansson also getting off to a flyer from 5th to 2nd. Further back, Senna's poor weekend got worse as a collision with Gerhard Berger sent the Brazilian upside down and out of the race. Berger had been very critical of Senna's driving after Adelaide last season and their relationship certainly wasn't close to improving after their latest incident. In amongst the melee, Andrea de Cesaris lost a wheel after hitting Piquet.
The start of lap 2 saw debutant Adrian Campos run wide under pressure from Martin Brundle at Molykote and spin round. Three laps later, Johansson nearly mirrored the error but managed to stay on track and lose just one place to Prost. Another two debutants were also in trouble as Piercarlo Ghinzani and Eddie Cheever crashed out. Meanwhile, the two Darkfire cars were experiencing differing fortunes as Thierry Boutsen ran wide at Sul and then went off at the following corner of Girao, while Teo Fabi challenged Riccardo Patrese after the Tash 'n' Rash made a pitstop.
During the first round of pitstops, Prost jumped Patrese for the lead and remained there until the end of the race to win the opening race of the season, a debut win for MRD in their debut (canon) race. Tash 'n' Rash also had a good debut (canon) race with 2nd for Patrese and 5th for Alboreto. In between the two were Mansell and Johansson, while Fabi rounded the points finishers.
Qualifying[]
Conditions: Dry
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Team | Tyre | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 |  Alain Prost
|
 MRD-TAG
|
|
1:27.410 | |
| 2 | 22 |  Riccardo Patrese
|
Tash 'n' Rash-Ferrari
|
|
1:27.749 | +0.339 |
| 3 | 3 | Nigel Mansell
|
Apollo-Ford
|
|
1:28.333 | +0.923 |
| 4 | 23 | Michele Alboreto
|
Tash 'n' Rash-Ferrari
|
|
1:28.446 | +1.036 |
| 5 | 8 |  Stefan Johansson
|
Dark Wolf-Ferrari
|
|
1:28.953 | +1.543 |
| 6 | 17 | Teo Fabi
|
Darkfire-Honda
|
|
1:29.156 | +1.746 |
| 7 | 11 |  Ayrton Senna
|
Gui Racing-Honda
|
|
1:29.166 | +1.756 |
| 8 | 9 | Derek Warwick
|
Zack Mitchell-TAG
|
|
1:29.566 | +2.156 |
| 9 | 7 |  Gerhard Berger
|
Dark Wolf-Ferrari
|
|
1:29.775 | +2.365 |
| 10 | 20 | Nelson Piquet
|
Andy Racing-BMW
|
|
1:29.865 | +2.455 |
| 11 | 6 | Andrea de Cesaris
|
FJR-Ferrari
|
|
1:30.490 | +3.080 |
| 12 | 18 |  Satoru Nakajima
|
 Pedersen-Honda
|
|
1:30.591 | +3.181 |
| 13 | 16 |  Thierry Boutsen
|
Darkfire-Honda
|
|
1:30.848 | +3.438 |
| 14 | 10 | Jonathan Palmer
|
Zack Mitchell-TAG
|
|
1:31.035 | +3.625 |
| 15 | 19 |  Eddie Cheever
|
Pedersen-Honda
|
|
1:31.085 | +3.675 |
| 16 | 5 | Alessandro Nannini
|
FJR-Ferrari
|
|
1:31.091 | +3.681 |
| 17 | 21 | Martin Brundle
|
Andy Racing-BMW
|
|
1:31.278 | +3.868 |
| 18 | 4 | Rene Arnoux
|
Apollo-Ford
|
|
1:32.338 | +4.928 |
| 19 | 14 |  Adrian Campos
|
Ajay-BMW
|
|
1:32.589 | +5.179 |
| 20 | 2 | Philippe Streiff
|
MRD-TAG
|
|
1:33.087 | +5.677 |
| 21 | 12 |  Christian Danner
|
Gui Racing-Honda
|
|
1:33.120 | +5.710 |
| 22 | 15 | Piercarlo Ghinzani
|
Ajay-BMW
|
|
1:34.071 | +6.661 |
Race[]
Conditions: Dry
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Team | Tyre | Time/Retired | Grid | Pts. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Alain Prost
|
MRD-TAG
|
|
1:34:53.620 | 1 | 9 |
| 2 | 22 | Riccardo Patrese
|
Tash 'n' Rash-Ferrari
|
|
+18.219 | 2 | 6 |
| 3 | 3 | Nigel Mansell
|
Apollo-Ford
|
|
+41.782 | 3 | 4 |
| 4 | 8 | Stefan Johansson
|
Dark Wolf-Ferrari
|
|
+49.038 | 5 | 3 |
| 5 | 23 | Michele Alboreto
|
Tash 'n' Rash-Ferrari
|
|
+1:26.177 | 4 | 2 |
| 6 | 17 | Teo Fabi
|
Darkfire-Honda
|
|
+1 Lap | 6 | 1 |
| 7 | 9 | Derek Warwick
|
Zack Mitchell-TAG
|
|
+1 Lap | 8 | |
| 8 | 10 | Jonathan Palmer
|
Zack Mitchell-TAG
|
|
+2 Laps | 14 | |
| 9 | 18 | Satoru Nakajima
|
Pedersen-Honda
|
|
+2 Laps | 12 | |
| 10 | 7 | Gerhard Berger
|
Dark Wolf-Ferrari
|
|
+2 Laps | 9 | |
| 11 | 21 | Martin Brundle
|
Andy Racing-BMW
|
|
+2 Laps | 17 | |
| 12 | 4 | Rene Arnoux
|
Apollo-Ford
|
|
+3 Laps | 18 | |
| 13 | 2 | Philippe Streiff
|
MRD-TAG
|
|
+4 Laps | 20 | |
| 14 | 5 | Alessandro Nannini
|
FJR-Ferrari
|
|
+4 Laps | 16 | |
| Ret | 20 | Nelson Piquet
|
Andy Racing-BMW
|
|
Transmission | 10 | |
| Ret | 16 | Thierry Boutsen
|
Darkfire-Honda
|
|
Transmission | 13 | |
| Ret | 12 | Christian Danner
|
Gui Racing-Honda
|
|
Engine | 21 | |
| Ret | 14 | Adrian Campos
|
Ajay-BMW
|
|
Suspension | 19 | |
| Ret | 19 | Eddie Cheever
|
Pedersen-Honda
|
|
Accident | 15 | |
| Ret | 15 | Piercarlo Ghinzani
|
Ajay-BMW
|
|
Accident | 22 | |
| Ret | 6 | Andrea de Cesaris
|
FJR-Ferrari
|
|
Collision | 11 | |
| Ret | 11 | Ayrton Senna
|
Gui Racing-Honda
|
|
Collision | 7 |
Driver of the Day: Alain Prost
Fastest Laps[]
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Team | Tyre | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Alain Prost
|
MRD-TAG
|
|
1:29.601 | |
| 2 | 22 | Riccardo Patrese
|
Tash 'n' Rash-Ferrari
|
|
1:30.000 | +0.399 |
| 3 | 8 | Stefan Johansson
|
Dark Wolf-Ferrari
|
|
1:30.185 | +0.584 |
| 4 | 3 | Nigel Mansell
|
Apollo-Ford
|
|
1:30.421 | +0.820 |
| 5 | 23 | Michele Alboreto
|
Tash 'n' Rash-Ferrari
|
|
1:31.155 | +1.554 |
| 6 | 20 | Nelson Piquet
|
Andy Racing-BMW
|
|
1:31.197 | +1.596 |
| 7 | 17 | Teo Fabi
|
Darkfire-Honda
|
|
1:31.400 | +1.799 |
| 8 | 7 | Gerhard Berger
|
Dark Wolf-Ferrari
|
|
1:31.493 | +1.892 |
| 9 | 9 | Derek Warwick
|
Zack Mitchell-TAG
|
|
1:31.511 | +1.910 |
| 10 | 16 | Thierry Boutsen
|
Darkfire-Honda
|
|
1:31.869 | +2.268 |
| 11 | 18 | Satoru Nakajima
|
Pedersen-Honda
|
|
1:32.086 | +2.485 |
| 12 | 5 | Alessandro Nannini
|
FJR-Ferrari
|
|
1:32.284 | +2.683 |
| 13 | 21 | Martin Brundle
|
Andy Racing-BMW
|
|
1:32.728 | +3.127 |
| 14 | 10 | Jonathan Palmer
|
Zack Mitchell-TAG
|
|
1:33.202 | +3.601 |
| 15 | 4 | Rene Arnoux
|
Apollo-Ford
|
|
1:33.274 | +3.673 |
| 16 | 12 | Christian Danner
|
Gui Racing-Honda
|
|
1:34.198 | +4.597 |
| 17 | 2 | Philippe Streiff
|
MRD-TAG
|
|
1:34.323 | +4.722 |
| 18 | 14 | Adrian Campos
|
Ajay-BMW
|
|
1:34.355 | +4.754 |
| 19 | 19 | Eddie Cheever
|
Pedersen-Honda
|
|
1:35.182 | +5.581 |
| 20 | 15 | Piercarlo Ghinzani
|
Ajay-BMW
|
|
1:36.647 | +7.046 |
| 21 | 11 | Ayrton Senna
|
Gui Racing-Honda
|
|
N/A | N/A |
| 22 | 6 | Andrea de Cesaris
|
FJR-Ferrari
|
|
N/A | N/A |
Championship Standings[]
| Drivers Championship | Teams Championship | Engine Trophy | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos. | Driver | Pts. | Wins | -/+ | Pos. | Team | Pts. | Wins | -/+ | Pos. | Engine | Pts. | Wins | -/+ |
| 1 | Alain Prost
|
9 | 1 | = | 1 | MRD-TAG
|
9 | 1 | = | 1 |  TAG
|
9 | 1 | = |
| 2 | Riccardo Patrese
|
6 | = | 2 | Tash 'n' Rash-Ferrari
|
8 | = | 2 | Ferrari
|
9 | = | |||
| 3 | Nigel Mansell
|
4 | = | 3 | Apollo-Ford
|
4 | = | 3 | Ford
|
4 | = | |||
| 4 | Stefan Johansson
|
3 | = | 4 | Dark Wolf-Ferrari
|
3 | = | 4 | Honda
|
1 | = | |||
| 5 | Michele Alboreto
|
2 | = | 5 | Darkfire-Honda
|
1 | = | 5 | BMW
|
0 | = | |||
| 6 | Teo Fabi
|
1 | = | 6 | Zack Mitchell-TAG
|
0 | = | |||||||