1987 Mexican Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Nigel Mansell won the 1987 Mexican Grand Prix on aggregate time after a red flag split the race into two parts. Nelson Piquet led the second segment on the road but could not erase his earlier deficit, while Riccardo Patrese brought Brabham home third.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Nigel Mansell	Williams
Pole time	1:18.383
Fastest lap	Nelson Piquet	Williams
Fastest-lap time	1:19.132 on lap 57
First	Nigel Mansell	Williams
Second	Nelson Piquet	Williams
Third	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
16 October 1987	Practice 1	Morning; start unconfirmed
16 October 1987	Qualifying 1	Start time unconfirmed
17 October 1987	Practice 2	Morning; start unconfirmed
17 October 1987	Qualifying 2	Start time unconfirmed
18 October 1987	Warm-up	Morning; start unconfirmed
18 October 1987	Race	Start time unconfirmed

All times are local. The race time is the scheduled start; weather delays and interruptions are described below.

Championship background

Nelson Piquet arrived at round 14 leading the 1987 F1 World Championship on 70 points, with Nigel Mansell on 52. Williams – Honda headed the constructors’ standings after the preceding race with 122 points.

Race entries

Yannick Dalmas made his Formula 1 debut in a second Larrousse Lola. Osella returned to a single car for Alex Caffi, and Coloni did not attend. Williams used conventional suspension on both cars for this visit to Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.

Friday Free Practice

The bumpy surface and high altitude made Mexico a difficult set-up exercise. Williams had brought conventionally sprung cars, while Lotus’s active system faced a severe test. Goodyear increased the tyre allocation after the problems experienced the previous year, giving the teams more scope to assess how their cars would cope over the distance.

Friday Qualifying

Gerhard Berger set Friday’s fastest time ahead of Alain Prost and Nigel Mansell. Nigel Mansell also survived a dramatic spin and impact near the pit straight, but returned to the contest for pole.

Friday Qualifying Classification

1987 Mexican Grand Prix first qualifying session, 16 October 1987

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time	Laps
1	28	Gerhard Berger	Ferrari	1:19.992	—
2	1	Alain Prost	McLaren	1:20.572	—
3	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams	1:20.696	—
4	6	Nelson Piquet	Williams	1:20.701	—
5	20	Thierry Boutsen	Benetton	1:20.766	—
6	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	1:21.290	—
7	12	Ayrton Senna	Lotus	1:21.361	—
8	7	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham	1:21.720	—
9	2	Stefan Johansson	McLaren	1:22.185	—
10	19	Teo Fabi	Benetton	1:22.666	—
11	8	Andrea de Cesaris	Brabham	1:22.930	—
12	17	Derek Warwick	Arrows	1:23.347	—
13	11	Satoru Nakajima	Lotus	1:23.750	—
14	10	Christian Danner	Zakspeed	1:23.992	—
15	25	Rene Arnoux	Ligier	1:24.299	—
16	18	Eddie Cheever	Arrows	1:24.445	—
17	9	Martin Brundle	Zakspeed	1:25.184	—
18	24	Alessandro Nannini	Minardi	1:26.055	—
19	4	Philippe Streiff	Tyrrell	1:27.011	—
20	26	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Ligier	1:27.059	—
21	16	Ivan Capelli	March	1:27.161	—
22	30	Philippe Alliot	Lola	1:27.184	—
23	3	Jonathan Palmer	Tyrrell	1:27.306	—
24	21	Alex Caffi	Osella	1:27.670	—
25	23	Adrian Campos	Minardi	1:27.798	—
26	29	Yannick Dalmas	Lola	1:28.156	—
27	14	Pascal Fabre	AGS	1:30.285	—

Saturday Free Practice

Saturday morning included an unusual look ahead to the following season: several turbo teams ran at the planned 2.5-bar boost limit. Some laps were quicker than the subsequent full-boost qualifying times, illustrating how usable power could matter more than the largest headline output on this uneven circuit. The experiment did not change the four-bar limit applying to the Grand Prix itself.

Saturday Qualifying

Nigel Mansell claimed pole on Saturday by just 0.043 seconds from Gerhard Berger, with Nelson Piquet another small fraction behind. Thierry Boutsen qualified fourth and Alain Prost fifth. Ayrton Senna crashed heavily in the spare Lotus but was able to take part in the race.

Saturday Qualifying Classification

1987 Mexican Grand Prix second qualifying session, 17 October 1987

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time	Laps
1	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams	1:18.383	—
2	28	Gerhard Berger	Ferrari	1:18.426	—
3	6	Nelson Piquet	Williams	1:18.463	—
4	20	Thierry Boutsen	Benetton	1:18.691	—
5	1	Alain Prost	McLaren	1:18.742	—
6	19	Teo Fabi	Benetton	1:18.992	—
7	12	Ayrton Senna	Lotus	1:19.089	—
8	7	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham	1:19.889	—
9	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	1:19.967	—
10	8	Andrea de Cesaris	Brabham	1:20.141	—
11	17	Derek Warwick	Arrows	1:21.664	—
12	18	Eddie Cheever	Arrows	1:21.705	—
13	9	Martin Brundle	Zakspeed	1:21.711	—
14	24	Alessandro Nannini	Minardi	1:22.035	—
15	11	Satoru Nakajima	Lotus	1:22.214	—
16	2	Stefan Johansson	McLaren	1:22.382	—
17	10	Christian Danner	Zakspeed	1:22.593	—
18	25	Rene Arnoux	Ligier	1:23.053	—
19	23	Adrian Campos	Minardi	1:23.955	—
20	16	Ivan Capelli	March	1:24.404	—
21	26	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Ligier	1:24.553	—
22	3	Jonathan Palmer	Tyrrell	1:24.723	—
23	29	Yannick Dalmas	Lola	1:24.745	—
24	30	Philippe Alliot	Lola	1:25.096	—
25	4	Philippe Streiff	Tyrrell	1:26.305	—
26	14	Pascal Fabre	AGS	1:28.655	—
27	21	Alex Caffi	Osella	1:30.010	—

Combined Qualifying Classification

Each driver’s faster time from the two qualifying sessions determined the overall order.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Friday Time	Saturday Time	Best Time	Laps
1	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams	1:20.696	1:18.383	1:18.383	—
2	28	Gerhard Berger	Ferrari	1:19.992	1:18.426	1:18.426	—
3	6	Nelson Piquet	Williams	1:20.701	1:18.463	1:18.463	—
4	20	Thierry Boutsen	Benetton	1:20.766	1:18.691	1:18.691	—
5	1	Alain Prost	McLaren	1:20.572	1:18.742	1:18.742	—
6	19	Teo Fabi	Benetton	1:22.666	1:18.992	1:18.992	—
7	12	Ayrton Senna	Lotus	1:21.361	1:19.089	1:19.089	—
8	7	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham	1:21.720	1:19.889	1:19.889	—
9	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	1:21.290	1:19.967	1:19.967	—
10	8	Andrea de Cesaris	Brabham	1:22.930	1:20.141	1:20.141	—
11	17	Derek Warwick	Arrows	1:23.347	1:21.664	1:21.664	—
12	18	Eddie Cheever	Arrows	1:24.445	1:21.705	1:21.705	—
13	9	Martin Brundle	Zakspeed	1:25.184	1:21.711	1:21.711	—
14	24	Alessandro Nannini	Minardi	1:26.055	1:22.035	1:22.035	—
15	2	Stefan Johansson	McLaren	1:22.185	1:22.382	1:22.185	—
16	11	Satoru Nakajima	Lotus	1:23.750	1:22.214	1:22.214	—
17	10	Christian Danner	Zakspeed	1:23.992	1:22.593	1:22.593	—
18	25	René Arnoux	Ligier	1:24.299	1:23.053	1:23.053	—
19	23	Adrián Campos	Minardi	1:27.798	1:23.955	1:23.955	—
20	16	Ivan Capelli	March	1:27.161	1:24.404	1:24.404	—
21	26	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Ligier	1:27.059	1:24.553	1:24.553	—
22	3	Jonathan Palmer	Tyrrell	1:27.306	1:24.723	1:24.723	—
23	29	Yannick Dalmas	Lola	1:28.156	1:24.745	1:24.745	—
24	30	Philippe Alliot	Lola	1:27.184	1:25.096	1:25.096	—
25	4	Philippe Streiff	Tyrrell	1:27.011	1:26.305	1:26.305	—
26	21	Alex Caffi	Osella	1:27.670	1:30.010	1:27.670	—
DNQ	14	Pascal Fabre	AGS	1:30.285	1:28.655	1:28.655	—

Sunday warm-up

Thierry Boutsen headed the warm-up ahead of Gerhard Berger and Nigel Mansell, confirming Benetton’s competitive pace. Ayrton Senna’s preparations were more difficult: after his qualifying accident, an active-suspension electrical problem forced another change of car. The repaired spare was pressed back into service for the race.

Warm-up Classification

1987 Mexican Grand Prix Warm-up, 18 October 1987

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	20	Thierry Boutsen	Benetton	1:20.666	—
2	28	Gerhard Berger	Ferrari	+0.196s	—
3	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams	+0.606s	—
4	1	Alain Prost	McLaren	+0.716s	—
5	19	Teo Fabi	Benetton	+0.776s	—
6	8	Andrea de Cesaris	Brabham	+0.823s	—
7	7	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham	+1.496s	—
8	17	Derek Warwick	Arrows	+1.850s	—
9	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	+1.933s	—
10	6	Nelson Piquet	Williams	+1.990s	—
11	2	Stefan Johansson	McLaren	+2.396s	—
12	18	Eddie Cheever	Arrows	+2.450s	—
13	11	Satoru Nakajima	Lotus	+3.406s	—
14	9	Martin Brundle	Zakspeed	+3.483s	—
15	24	Alessandro Nannini	Minardi	+3.963s	—
16	26	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Ligier	+4.183s	—
17	10	Christian Danner	Zakspeed	+4.466s	—
18	12	Ayrton Senna	Lotus	+4.700s	—
19	30	Philippe Alliot	Lola	+5.250s	—
20	16	Ivan Capelli	March	+5.550s	—
21	29	Yannick Dalmas	Lola	+6.226s	—
22	25	Rene Arnoux	Ligier	+6.610s	—
23	23	Adrian Campos	Minardi	+6.670s	—
24	4	Philippe Streiff	Tyrrell	+6.696s	—
25	3	Jonathan Palmer	Tyrrell	+6.783s	—
26	21	Alex Caffi	Osella	+9.106s	—

What happened in the 1987 Mexican Grand Prix?

Gerhard Berger and Thierry Boutsen led the early running while contact between Alain Prost and Nelson Piquet put the McLaren out and sent Nelson Piquet into a recovery drive. Mechanical failures then removed both early leaders, leaving Nigel Mansell in control. A heavy accident for Derek Warwick brought the race to a halt.

The restart did not erase the time gaps: the final result would combine both parts. Nelson Piquet led on the road after the second start, but Nigel Mansell still held the overall advantage. The team-mates fought hard before Nigel Mansell settled into protecting a winning aggregate time.

Nigel Mansell secured his sixth victory of the season, with Nelson Piquet second and Riccardo Patrese third. Eddie Cheever, Teo Fabi and Philippe Alliot completed the points. Ayrton Senna retired and lost his remaining championship chance, leaving the title to be decided between the Williams drivers.

After the race, Nelson Piquet headed the drivers’ standings with 73 points, followed by Nigel Mansell on 61. Williams – Honda led the constructors’ table on 137, with McLaren – TAG on 72.

1987 Mexican Grand Prix race results

The 1987 Mexican Grand Prix was held on 18 October 1987.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams	63	1:26:24.207	9
2	6	Nelson Piquet	Williams	63	+ 26.176	6
3	7	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham	63	+ 1:26.879	4
4	18	Eddie Cheever	Arrows	63	+ 1:41.352	3
5	19	Teo Fabi	Benetton	61	+ 2 laps	2
6 (1)	30	Philippe Alliot	Lola	60	+ 3 laps	1
7 (2)	3	Jonathan Palmer	Tyrrell	60	+ 3 laps	0
8 (3)	4	Philippe Streiff	Tyrrell	60	+ 3 laps	0
9 (4)	29	Yannick Dalmas	Lola	59	+ 4 laps	0
Ret	12	Ayrton Senna	Lotus	54	Clutch	0
Ret	16	Ivan Capelli	March	51	Water leak	0
Ret	21	Alex Caffi	Osella	50	Engine	0
Ret	26	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Ligier	43	Water leak	0
Ret	23	Adrián Campos	Minardi	32	Transmission	0
Ret	25	René Arnoux	Ligier	29	Overheating	0
Ret	17	Derek Warwick	Arrows	26	Accident	0
Ret	8	Andrea de Cesaris	Brabham	22	Accident	0
Ret	28	Gerhard Berger	Ferrari	20	Turbo	0
Ret	20	Thierry Boutsen	Benetton	15	Electrical	0
Ret	24	Alessandro Nannini	Minardi	13	Turbo	0
Ret	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	12	Engine	0
Ret	9	Martin Brundle	Zakspeed	3	Turbo	0
Ret	2	Stefan Johansson	McLaren	1	Collision	0
Ret	11	Satoru Nakajima	Lotus	1	Collision	0
Ret	10	Christian Danner	Zakspeed	1	Collision	0
Ret	1	Alain Prost	McLaren	0	Collision	0

1987 Mexican Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time
1	6	Nelson Piquet	Williams	57	1:19.132
2	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams	59	1:19.527
3	12	Ayrton Senna	Lotus	44	1:20.586
4	19	Teo Fabi	Benetton	38	1:20.829
5	18	Eddie Cheever	Arrows	54	1:20.934
6	7	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham	57	1:21.057
7	28	Gerhard Berger	Ferrari	19	1:21.520
8	20	Thierry Boutsen	Benetton	9	1:22.170
9	8	Andrea de Cesaris	Brabham	17	1:22.535
10	17	Derek Warwick	Arrows	15	1:23.124
11	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	9	1:23.273
12	21	Alex Caffi	Osella	49	1:23.628
13	26	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Ligier	39	1:23.659
14	25	Rene Arnoux	Ligier	19	1:23.887
15	16	Ivan Capelli	March	36	1:24.274
16	30	Philippe Alliot	Lola	39	1:24.320
17	29	Yannick Dalmas	Lola	39	1:24.405
18	3	Jonathan Palmer	Tyrrell	39	1:24.657
19	24	Alessandro Nannini	Minardi	12	1:24.668
20	23	Adrian Campos	Minardi	31	1:25.734
21	4	Philippe Streiff	Tyrrell	28	1:26.039
22	9	Martin Brundle	Zakspeed	2	1:28.816
23	2	Stefan Johansson	McLaren	1	1:43.361
24	11	Satoru Nakajima	Lotus	1	1:43.533
25	10	Christian Danner	Zakspeed	1	1:44.266

Only drivers with a recorded lap time appear. No fastest-lap bonus point was awarded.

1987 Post-Race F1 Championship Standings

Championship standings after the 1987 Mexican Grand Prix.

1987 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Nelson Piquet	Brazilian	Williams	73
2	Nigel Mansell	British	Williams	61
3	Ayrton Senna	Brazilian	Lotus	51
4	Alain Prost	French	McLaren	46
5	Stefan Johansson	Swedish	McLaren	26
6	Gerhard Berger	Austrian	Ferrari	18
7	Teo Fabi	Italian	Benetton	12
8	Thierry Boutsen	Belgian	Benetton	10
9	Michele Alboreto	Italian	Ferrari	8
10	Eddie Cheever	American	Arrows	8
11	Riccardo Patrese	Italian	Brabham	6
12	Satoru Nakajima	Japanese	Lotus	6
13	Andrea de Cesaris	Italian	Brabham	4
14	Philippe Streiff	French	Tyrrell	4
15	Jonathan Palmer	British	Tyrrell	4
16	Derek Warwick	British	Arrows	3
17	Philippe Alliot	French	Lola	3
18	Martin Brundle	British	Zakspeed	2
19	Ivan Capelli	Italian	March	1
20	René Arnoux	French	Ligier	1
–	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Italian	Ligier	0
–	Christian Danner	German	Zakspeed	0
–	Pascal Fabre	French	AGS	0
–	Yannick Dalmas	French	Lola	0
–	Alessandro Nannini	Italian	Minardi	0
–	Alex Caffi	Italian	Osella	0
–	Adrián Campos	Spanish	Minardi	0
–	Franco Forini	Swiss	Osella	0
–	Gabriele Tarquini	Italian	Osella	0
–	Nicola Larini	Italian	Coloni	0

1987 Post-Race F1 Constructors' Championship Standings

POS	Car	PTS
1	Williams – Honda	137
2	McLaren – TAG	72
3	Lotus – Honda	57
4	Ferrari	26
5	Benetton – Ford	22
6	Arrows – Megatron	11
7	Brabham – BMW	10
8	Tyrrell – Ford	8
9	Lola – Ford	3
10	Zakspeed	2
11	Ligier – Megatron	1
12	March – Ford	1
—	Minardi – Motori Moderni	0
—	Osella – Alfa Romeo	0
—	AGS – Ford	0
—	Coloni – Ford	0

Jim Clark Trophy standings

Pos.	Driver	Points
1	Jonathan Palmer	77
2	Philippe Streiff	68
3	Philippe Alliot	43
4	Ivan Capelli	38
5	Pascal Fabre	35
6	Nicola Larini	0
7	Yannick Dalmas	0

Colin Chapman Trophy standings

Pos.	Team	Points
1	Tyrrell	145
2	Lola	43
3	March	38
4	AGS	35
5	Coloni	0

The naturally aspirated cars also competed for the Jim Clark and Colin Chapman trophies. These separate totals count every round; bracketed positions in the race results show the naturally aspirated finishing order. Dalmas was ineligible for trophy points in the second Larrousse entry.

Drivers counted their best eleven results; constructors counted every round. The standings here show the position after this race.

1987 Formula 1 Race Calendar

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
1	1987 Brazilian Grand Prix	Jacarepaguá, Rio de Janeiro	12 April
2	1987 San Marino Grand Prix	Autodromo Dino Ferrari, Imola	3 May
3	1987 Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot	17 May
4	1987 Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	31 May
5	1987 Detroit Grand Prix	Detroit Street Circuit, Detroit, Michigan	21 June
6	1987 French Grand Prix	Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet	5 July
7	1987 British Grand Prix	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone	12 July
8	1987 German Grand Prix	Hockenheimring, Hockenheim	26 July
9	1987 Hungarian Grand Prix	Hungaroring, Mogyoród	9 August
10	1987 Austrian Grand Prix	Österreichring, Spielberg	16 August
11	1987 Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza	6 September
12	1987 Portuguese Grand Prix	Autódromo do Estoril, Estoril	20 September
13	1987 Spanish Grand Prix	Circuito de Jerez, Jerez de la Frontera	27 September
14	1987 Mexican Grand Prix	Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City	18 October
15	1987 Japanese Grand Prix	Suzuka International Racing Course, Suzuka	1 November
16	1987 Australian Grand Prix	Adelaide Street Circuit, Adelaide	15 November