1987 Formula One Season

### Enginesuppliers

Alfa Romeo, BMW, Ferrari, Ford Cosworth, Honda, Megatron, Motori Moderni, TAG, Zakspeed

## World Drivers' Championship

### Champion

 Alain Prost
 82 points

### Runner-Up

 Nelson Piquet
 76 points

### 3rd

 Nigel Mansell
 66 points

## World Constructors' Championship

### Champion

 Williams–Honda
 144 points

### Runner-Up

 McLaren–TAG
 117 points

### 3rd

 Lotus–Honda
 53 points

The **1987 Formula One season** was the 38th season of the FIA Formula One World Championship. The championship comprised of 16 races, with the World Drivers' Championship won by France's Alain Prost, and Williams–Honda won the Constructors' Championship.

The 1987 was dominated by the four men dubbed "the Gang of Four" as they fought over the previous year's title: McLaren's Alain Prost, Lotus's Ayrton Senna, and the Williams duo of Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell. Prost prevailed to take his third consecutive championship, with all six of his victories occurring in the second half of the season. With both of their drivers contending for the Drivers' Championship until the end of the season, Williams–Honda managed to both retain the Constructors' Championship, but also better McLaren's 1984 record by half a point to set the new record for the highest points total in the history of the championship.

## Technical and rules changes

For 1987 only, there were two other championships, contested by drivers and constructors of cars powered by naturally aspirated engines: the Jim Clark Trophy for drivers, and the Colin Chapman Trophy for constructors. These championships encouraged teams to switch to such engines, ahead of the ban on turbos from 1989 onwards. These championships were met with much derision from the motoring press, and frequently referred to the naturally aspirated runners as "Group B" or "Division Two".

With the return of the naturally aspirated engines with displacement upped to 3.5 litres (210 cubic inches), and the aforementioned turbo ban in mind, the FIA introduced new rules for 1987 in an effort to reduce costs and slow down the cars with a resultant increase in safety, as well as to increase competitiveness between the two engine types.

Turbo-powered cars now had to feature a boost-control valve (erroneously referred to in the media as a "pop-off valve") and set at a maximum of 58.8 psi (4.05 bar), a limit that will be enforced during qualifying and in races. The valve fades the pressure progressively, in the same way that a rev-limiter fades the ignition, rather than cutting it off.

Pirelli's withdrawal from F1 at the end of 1986 meant that Goodyear was the sole tyre supplier for 1987 and thus this was the first season since 1963 that the sport featured a standard single tyre supplier. The FIA also banned super-soft (and sticky) qualifying tyres for 1987, thus eliminating the unpopular practice of having to find a clear lap on tyres which were good for two flying laps at best.

## Drivers and constructors

The following teams and drivers competed in the 1987 FIA Formula One World Championship. All teams competed with tyres supplied by Goodyear.

### Team changes

* After a change of management at the team's chief sponsor, Beatrice Foods, which led to their withdrawal as the main backers for the team, Team Haas were forced to close at the conclusion of the 1986 season.
	+ Benetton were the main beneficiaries, as they picked up the team's Ford Cosworth turbo engines, which improved considerably over their rushed development time.
	+ Technical director, Neil Oatley, joined McLaren as their chief designer, and would go on to design race winning cars for the team.
	+ Head of Aerodynamics, Ross Brawn, joined Arrows.
* Whilst BMW announced at the end of 1986 their intention to withdraw from the sport at the conclusion of their deal with Brabham, their engines will remain on the grid. Arrows boss Jackie Oliver brokered a deal to continue to use the BMW *M12/13* engine under the name of Megatron, Inc., founded by long-time F1 aficionado John J. Schmidt. The engines were serviced from Switzerland by Arrows' long time engine guru Heini Mader, a former mechanic of Jo Siffert. The team also gained a new title sponsor, USF&G Insurance.
* With the parent company facing serious financial losses, Renault management decided to withdraw almost entirely from motorsports, leaving the three teams that ran their engines in the previous campaign (Ligier, Lotus, and Tyrrell) to find new powertrains. This was the first season since 1976 that Renault were absent as an engine supplier, although they would return two seasons later in 1989.
	+ Tyrrell went back to using the Cosworth *DFZ* engines.
	+ Lotus landed a deal to use year-old Honda units. This relationship was partly to spite Williams for their failure to win the 1986 World Drivers' Championship, as Honda brass felt that the combination of Ayrton Senna and their engines would wipe the floor with the Williams package.
	+ Ligier had initially signed a deal to use a new Alfa Romeo *415T* four-cylinder turbo engine for René Arnoux and Piercarlo Ghinzani. However, after Arnoux made disparaging remarks about the new units (calling them "used food"), Alfa Romeo cited a clause in their contract with the French team that they could not do anything to damage the Italian marque's reputation. Fiat, who had recently acquired Alfa Romeo, was not keen on Alfa remaining in the sport (Fiat were keen on a strict pecking order: Ferrari being the Formula One brand, Lancia in rallying, and Alfa Romeo in touring cars), so quit the team, leaving Ligier scrambling to find a new supplier. Motori Moderni and the venerable Cosworth *DFZ* were mooted, but Guy Ligier managed to acquire Megatron units, and the team scrambled to make the opening race of the season.
* The iconic John Player Special black and gold livery associated with Lotus since 1972 (excepting 1979 to 1981) was gone from the sport, replaced by rival brand, Camel cigarettes.
* One team returned to the grid, whilst a new entry also joined the paddock:
	+ After their most recent re-entry to the sport in 1982 petered out, March Engineering returned to the sport once again, carrying backing from Japanese real estate firm, Leyton House. They would run the Ford Cosworth *DFZ*.
	+ Larrousse & Calmels was formed in 1987 by former racer, and motorsport manager, Gérard Larrousse and the French businessman, Didier Calmels. They commissioned a car from Lola, and would also run the Ford Cosworth *DFZ*. Unlike the Haas Lolas, these cars were designed and built by Lola at their factory, making them the first Lolas in Formula One since the company built chassis for Embassy Hill in 1975.

### Driver changes

* 1982 World Champion Keke Rosberg's decision to retire at the conclusion of the 1986 season left a seat open at McLaren, alongside the reigning double World Champion, Alain Prost. Stefan Johansson, to the surprise of the paddock after a solid 1986 campaign where he bettered his teammate Michele Alboreto, was dropped by Ferrari, and joined the team. Ferrari signed Gerhard Berger from Benetton to replace Johansson.
* The British drivers Martin Brundle and Jonathan Palmer effectively swapped seats, moving to Zakspeed and Tyrrell respectively.
* Brabham again fielded an all-Italian roster, partnering Riccardo Patrese with Andrea de Cesaris, who joined from Minardi.
* Christian Danner, who deputised for the injured Marc Surer at Arrows in the second half of 1986, joined Martin Brundle at Zakspeed.
* As part of the deal for Lotus to take the Honda engines, Johnny Dumfries was replaced as Ayrton Senna's teammate by the first full-time Japanese pilot, Satoru Nakajima.
* In their return to the grid, March partnered two rivals from the European Formula 3000 championship, Italian Ivan Capelli and Englishman Joey Davies.
* Arrows partnered two drivers from Jaguar's World Sportscar Championship program who had significant F1 experience: Derek Warwick and Eddie Cheever, the latter joining the team after some pressure from the team's new title sponsor.
* Teo Fabi (the man dubbed "The Fabi brother with less hair" by Australian critic Clive James) remained at Benetton, joined by Thierry Boutsen, who plied his trade at Arrows in 1986.
* After a one-off drive at the 1986 Italian Grand Prix, Osella signed Alex Caffi to a full campaign, and he was joined by the winner of the 1985 Italian Formula Three Championship, Franco Forini. Piercarlo Ghinzani left the team to join Ligier.
* The fast Alessandro Nannini was joined at Minardi by the wealthy Spaniard, Adrián Campos.
* Larrousse chose to partner Philippe Alliot, who replaced Jacques Laffite after his career-ending crash at the 1986 British Grand Prix, with Yannick Dalmas, a young Frenchman dubbed "The New Alain Prost" as he made his way through the French junior formulae.

## Season calendar

Sixteen races were scheduled for the 1987 season.

### Calendar changes

* The Canadian Grand Prix was cancelled due to a dispute between two rival breweries, Labatt and Molson in sponsoring the race.
* The Japanese Grand Prix returned after a 10-year absence; it will be hosted at the Honda owned Suzuka International Racing Course on 1 November.
* The Belgian Grand Prix and Monaco Grand Prix swapped places on the calendar so that the Monaco round follows the Belgian Grand Prix.
* The Spanish Grand Prix was moved from mid-April to late-September.
* FISA decreed a policy of long-term contracts for one circuit per Grand Prix.
	+ The British Grand Prix was moved to the Silverstone Circuit after they signed a five-year deal to host the Grand Prix, ending the 23-year agreement of Brands Hatch and Silverstone alternating the race.
	+ The German Grand Prix reverted to Hockenheim, run by the Automobilclub von Deutschland, forcing out the ADAC-run Nürburgring.

## Results and standings

### Points scoring system

Points were awarded to the top six finishers in each race as follows:

### World Drivers' Championship standings

Only the best eleven results counted towards each driver's championship total; total points scored are displayed within parentheses.

### Jim Clark Trophy

Awarded to drivers of cars equipped with naturally aspirated engines.

### World Constructors' Championship standings

Points towards the 1987 FIA Formula One World Championship for Constructors were awarded on a 9–6–4–3–2–1 basis for the top six placed cars at each round. All results were counted (not just best eleven rounds).

### Colin Chapman Trophy

Awarded to constructors of cars equipped with naturally aspirated engines.

## Notes

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Jenkinson, Denis (1987-04-01). "Stifled Progress". *Motor Sport*. Teesdale Publishing Company Limited.
2. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>"Ligier-Alfa Split on Eve of Rio". *Motor Sport*. Teesdale Publishing Company Limited. 1987-05-01.