1987 French Grand Prix
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| Race details | ||
|---|---|---|
| Race 6 of 16 in the 1987 Formula One season. | ||
| Date | July 5, 1987 | |
| Official name | Grand Prix de France | |
| Location | Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet, France | |
| Course | Permanent racing facility 2.369 mi / 3.813 km |
|
| Distance | 80 laps, 189.543 mi / 259.584 km | |
| Weather | Sunny and hot | |
| Pole position | ||
| Driver |  Nigel Mansell |
Williams-Honda |
| Time | 1:06.454 | |
| Fastest lap | ||
| Driver |  Nelson Piquet |
Williams-Honda |
| Time | 1:09.548 on lap 68 | |
| Podium | ||
| First | Nigel Mansell |
Williams-Honda |
| Second | Nelson Piquet |
Williams-Honda |
| Third |  Alain Prost |
McLaren-TAG |
The 1987 French Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on July 5, 1987 at the Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet. It was the 6th race of the 1987 Formula One season.
[edit] Race summary
For the first time since the 1986 Mexican Grand Prix, a non-Honda powered car was on the front row in the shape of Alain Prost's McLaren-TAG, who qualified second. The pole position was taken once again by Nigel Mansell on Williams, while the second row was occupied by Ayrton Senna's Lotus and Nelson Piquet's other Williams. The fast nature of the circuit clearly suited the turbo cars: the best placed nonturbo driver was Ivan Capelli in 22nd place, about 6 seconds off the pace and 50 km/h (30 mph) slower on the main straight.
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 on lap 1 after accidentally setting off the fire extinguisher whilst attempting to adjust turbo boost. Andrea de Cesaris 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 2 seconds. On lap 19, Piquet spun and Prost passed him for 2nd. Meanwhile, Senna was holding onto a creditable 4th place. On lap 30, Piquet pitted for new tyres, followed 2 laps later by Senna. Meanwhile, Thierry Boutsen 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 8 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 2 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 6th place after two pit stops to repair damages on his McLaren, but retired just 5 laps from the chequered flag.
Prost took the final podium place, with Senna 4th ahead of Teo Fabi's Benetton in fifth. Philippe Streiff drove a superb race to take his first World Championship point and the victory for the Jim Clark trophy.
[edit] Classification
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 | Not Classified | 16 | |
| Ret | 27 | Michele Alboreto |
Ferrari | 64 | Engine | 8 | |
| Ret | 17 | Derek Warwick |
Arrows-Megatron | 62 | Turbo | 10 | |
| Ret | 30 | Philippe Alliot |
Larrousse-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 | .svg/22px-Flag_of_Belgium_(civil).svg.png){kind=small} 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 |
[edit] References
- Unless otherwise indicated, all race results are taken from The Official Formula 1 website. Retrieved on 2007-07-08.
| Previous race: 1987 United States Grand Prix East |
FIA Formula One World Championship 1987 season |
Next race: 1987 British Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 1986 French Grand Prix |
French Grand Prix | Next race: 1988 French Grand Prix |
