1988 Monaco Grand Prix

The **1988 Monaco Grand Prix** was a Formula One motor race held at Monaco on 15th May 1988. It was the third race in both the 1988 Drivers' Championship and the 1988 Constructors' Championship.

## Background

Reigning champion Eduardo Ventura was absent for the event due to an illness, leaving Fabiano Margheriti as the sole McLaren to fight Ferrari and Lotus.

## Qualifying

The main battle in qualifying was between Chuck Dingley and Fabiano Margheriti. The pair traded provisional pole times until Margheriti set a blistering lap time in the closing stages of the session. The lap was the fastest lap of the entire weekend and gave Margheriti pole position in the Principality. Dingley lined up alongside him on the front row, with Jack Wilson qualifying third.

## Race Summary

The majority of drivers started on the soft tyres due to the nature of the circuit and the low tyre degradation. The start of the race was fairly quiet, with most of the pack staying in their starting positions. As the race drew on, the famous street circuit started to take it's toll on the cars and drivers. On lap seven, Soren Vinter and Alexsandro Pinho had an incident on the entry to the *Nouvelle chicane* after Pinho misjudged his braking, causing both drivers to retire. Vinter was visibly angry with the Brazilian driver as it had been the second race in which Pinho had caused a race-ending incident for him.

Margheriti maintained the lead of the race in the opening laps until having minor contact with a barrier late on lap 10, whereafter he pitted for new tyres. The team had little time to prepare for the unscheduled stop and fitted another pair of soft tyres which would were barely able to reach the end of the race. Dingley, Wilson, and Takeda pitted several laps later and Dingley inherited the lead following Margheriti's early stop. Just three laps later Dingley went deep into turn one and hit the wall. The Ferrari's gearbox had jammed on the entry to the corner and Dingley was unable to slow the car enough to avoid the the barriers.

Dingley's sudden retirement allowed Margheriti into the lead again, albeit on used soft tyres which still had to complete another 11 laps of the race. Dingley's teammate Jack Wilson was in second on the medium tyres, with Takeda chasing him closely. Wilson and Takeda slowly caught Margheriti in the following laps due to the condition of Margheriti's tyres until lap 24 when the pair were finally on the back of the Italian. Wilson had a great exit out of the first corner, allowing him to pull alongside Margheriti as they travelled up the hill. They banged wheels as they battled side-by-side into *Massenet*. Wilson managed to hold it around the outside of Margheriti, just about avoiding the barrier, and took the lead in the process. As they raced down the hill into Mirabeau, Margheriti attempted a desperate lunge down the inside of Wilson which ended in contact. Margheriti came out worse and spun into the path of Takeda and O'Connor. The incident had given him terminal damage and he retired from the race with just two laps to go. Wilson went on to win the race, followed closely by the Lotus of Takeda and the Williams of William O'Connor, who had spent much of the race holding off the faster Santiago Reyes.

Wilson's win and Dingley's retirement brought him within two points of Dingley's championship lead, with Ferrari maintaining their lead of the Constructors' Championship.

## Championship Standings

 2
 3
 4
 5

 2
 3
 4
 5

## Lap Leaders

Fabiano Margheriti (Laps 1-10, 16-24)

Chuck Dingley (Laps 11, 14-15)

Jack Wilson (Laps 12, 25-27)

Hideki Takeda (Lap 13)