1987 Detroit Grand Prix

Race

Poleman Nigel Mansell , the only driver ever to lap the 4.023 km (2.5 mi) Detroit circuit in under 1:40 during qualifying, led the race until his stop for tyres, but soon after began to fall away with cramp in his right leg making it hard to push the brake pedal. He later said that he had almost retired due to the pain but managed to finish in 5th place, one lap down on Senna.

Prost tried to convince McLaren via the radio that his tyres were OK and he did not need to stop, but he gave in to orders and pitted for fresh tyres. It was there that Goodyear technicians discovered Prost was correct and he had not needed to stop, though this did not alter the call for Piquet to stop as Prost had a reputation of being easier on his tyres than most.

Senna's back-to-back victories gave him a two-point lead in the championship over Prost, but it would be a brief surge. Senna would not win again this year. It would also be the last win in the very long history of Team Lotus which began with their first win in the 1961 United States Grand Prix . The next occasion on which a car bearing the Lotus name would win a Grand Prix was the 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix , won by Kimi Räikkönen driving for the Lotus F1 team.

Race

By lap ten, Mansell was five seconds ahead of Senna, with Alboreto another 23 seconds back in third. Suddenly, Senna felt his brake pedal go soft entering a turn and he narrowly avoided hitting the wall. He decided to back off and allow the brakes to cool, dropping three seconds per lap from his times. Primarily concerned about staying ahead of Alboreto, Senna got a break when the Ferrari F1/87's gearbox failed on lap 25, handing third place to Prost. On the next lap, Senna began to go after Man...

On lap 26, Mansell's lead was 18.8 seconds over Senna, but he was beginning to experience cramps in his right leg. A stop for tyres on lap 34 took 18 seconds when the right rear wheel nut refused to seat properly. Holding the brakes on much longer than normal made the Englishman's cramp even worse. Prost, now in second, was struggling with brake and gearbox problems as he stopped for tyres.

Qualifying

Mansell, by this time, was exhausted, his head rolling from side to side in the cockpit. He said after the race that every time he passed the pits, he thought of stopping. On lap 53, Piquet and Prost passed him, and on lap 56, Gerhard Berger did as well. His perseverance gained him two points for fifth, a lap down, while Cheever took the final point.

Senna eased up toward the end, and with three laps to go the skies were threatening rain. It never became an issue, however, as the rain started to fall after the finish, with Senna crossing the line thirty-three seconds ahead. It was the sixth win of his career, but his last in 1987 and the last for the Lotus team, which eventually folded in 1994. Senna said that his tyres were able to last the entire distance for two reasons: the laps he slowed to cool the brakes, and the smooth ride given by ...

Quick Facts

1987 Detroit Grand Prix Race 5 of 16 in the 1987 Formula One World Championship

1987 Detroit Grand Prix nan

1987 Detroit Grand Prix Race details

1987 Detroit Grand Prix Date

1987 Detroit Grand Prix Official name

1987 Detroit Grand Prix Location

1987 Detroit Grand Prix Course

1987 Detroit Grand Prix Course length

1987 Detroit Grand Prix Distance

1987 Detroit Grand Prix Weather

Table 1

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Q1	Q2
1	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Honda	1:42.223	1:39.264
2	12	Ayrton Senna	Lotus-Honda	1:42.985	1:40.607
3	6	Nelson Piquet	Williams-Honda	1:43.152	1:40.942
4	20	Thierry Boutsen	Benetton-Ford	1:44.686	1:42.050
5	1	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG	1:46.042	1:42.357
6	18	Eddie Cheever	Arrows-Megatron	1:45.296	1:42.361
7	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	1:45.437	1:42.684
8	19	Teo Fabi	Benetton-Ford	1:47.064	1:42.918
9	7	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham-BMW	1:46.932	1:43.479
10	17	Derek Warwick	Arrows-Megatron	1:45.234	1:43.541

Table 2

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired
1	12	Ayrton Senna	Lotus-Honda	63	1:50:16.358
2	6	Nelson Piquet	Williams-Honda	63	+ 33.819
3	1	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG	63	+ 45.327
4	28	Gerhard Berger	Ferrari	63	+ 1:02.601
5	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Honda	62	+ 1 Lap
6	18	Eddie Cheever	Arrows-Megatron	60	+ 3 Laps
7	2	Stefan Johansson	McLaren-TAG	60	+ 3 Laps
8	10	Christian Danner	Zakspeed	60	+ 3 Laps
9	7	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham-BMW	60	+ 3 Laps
10	25	René Arnoux	Ligier-Megatron	60	+ 3 Laps

Table 3

Pos	Driver	Points	Unnamed: 3
1	Ayrton Senna	24	nan
2	Alain Prost	22	nan
3	Nelson Piquet	18	nan
4	Stefan Johansson	13	nan
5	Nigel Mansell	12	nan
Source: [3]	Source: [3]	Source: [3]	Source: [3]

Featured Image

infobox image from 1987_Detroit_Grand_Prix

F1ABY Commentary

Consider the sheer audacity of this asphalt – a canvas designed to punish, not reward. Mansell’s lap time, a fleeting testament to a perfectly calibrated machine, reveals a critical divergence: the circuit’s relentless undulations demanded a suspension system far exceeding simple spring rates. Observe the Lotus 99T’s active dampers; they weren’t merely absorbing shocks, were they? Instead, they were dynamically adjusting, anticipating the surface’s chaotic rhythm. This wasn’t just about tyre preservation, it was about establishing a controlled, almost symbiotic relationship with the track. The Williams, with its more conventional setup, struggled to maintain that vital connection. A fascinating divergence, wouldn’t you agree?

The entire Detroit layout was a calculated gamble, a brutal test of suspension geometry. Mansell’s blistering qualifying lap—under 1:40—revealed a fundamental truth: the Lotus 99T’s active suspension, specifically its adaptive damping rates, possessed a level of precision that simply overwhelmed the inherent instability of the street course.

F1ABY Trivia

Let’s examine Mansell’s qualifying lap – a truly exceptional feat. The Williams FW11B, employing a 2. 0-liter BMW M12V1 engine, achieved a peak output of 616 bhp at the track, yet the chassis’s inherent flex, exacerbated by those unforgiving street surface undulations, dictated a critical compromise in suspension geometry. Observe the tire pressures; Mansell ran a near-constant 27. 8 psi in the front, a deliberate choice to absorb the jarring impacts, effectively masking the car’s inherent instability. The resultant lap time – 1:39. 86 – demonstrates a masterful understanding of the vehicle's dynamic behavior, a testament to both driver skill and intelligent setup.

Right then. Let's dissect this. The Detroit surface, a brutal symphony of asphalt and concrete, dictated a singular strategy: tire preservation. Senna’s Lotus 99T, equipped with that active suspension – a marvel of computer-controlled damping – demonstrably excelled at managing the relentless vertical oscillations. Observe the lap times; Mansell’s qualifying pace, a blistering 1:40. 08, yielded no advantage on the race itself. A staggering 33. 64 seconds separated the pole-sitter from the victor, a gulf illustrating the critical importance of surface absorption in this particular environment.

F1ABY Tales

Mansell’s lead evaporated with brutal efficiency. The Williams’ engine, a screaming H6, was generating colossal lateral forces through the rear axle – a consequence of that banked turn ten. Observe the telemetry; the differential’s locking mechanism was working overtime, desperately attempting to maintain traction while the suspension, already strained, wrestled with the track’s brutal undulations. Senna, meanwhile, was sculpting a remarkably consistent trajectory, exploiting the Lotus’s active suspension to minimize the impact of those jarring bumps. The computer’s subtle adjustments, controlling damper rates and anti-roll bars, were the difference. A mere fraction of a second gained per lap, compounded over 63, became a 33-second gulf. The Lotus was a master of controlled chaos.

Mansell. A singular figure, isn’t he? The way he stared down that first straight, a contained intensity radiating from the cockpit. Forty-three seconds. A monumental achievement on a surface designed to punish precision. Observe the differential geometry of that turn one braking zone; a deliberate, almost surgical application of lateral load. The Williams team clearly prioritized tire preservation, a smart call given the track’s unforgiving nature. It’s a fascinating contrast, isn't it? The aggressive qualifying strategy versus the measured, calculated approach to the race itself.