1987 German Grand Prix

Pre-race

In the week leading up to the German Grand Prix a number of teams tested at the Hockenheim circuit. During testing Ayrton Senna had a very lucky escape when he had a rear tyre failure at over 300 km/h (186 mph) on the long straight leading to the Bremsschikane. The rear corner of his Lotus 99T was destroyed and parts were reported to be hard to find as most ended up flying off into the forest. As a result of the crash Goodyear took the precaution of immediately flying in new compound tyres from ...

The tyre failure was determined to be the result of Senna picking up a puncture late on his previous lap. However the Lotus' active suspension system compensated for that and kept the car at its correct ride height, masking the problem from Senna. This caused many to question the system as the general belief was that with a passively suspended car Senna would have known he had a puncture and would not have continued to drive at high speed.

Race

Piquet's win vaulted him into the championship lead for the first time in 1987, putting him four points ahead of Senna and nine ahead of Mansell.

Quick Facts

1987 German Grand Prix Race 8 of 16 in the 1987 Formula One World Championship

1987 German Grand Prix nan

1987 German Grand Prix Race details

1987 German Grand Prix Date

1987 German Grand Prix Official name

1987 German Grand Prix Location

1987 German Grand Prix Course

1987 German Grand Prix Course length

1987 German Grand Prix Distance

1987 German Grand Prix Pole position

Table 1

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Q1	Q2
1	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Honda	1:42.616	2:00.832
2	12	Ayrton Senna	Lotus-Honda	1:42.873	1:01:19.245
3	1	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG	1:43.202	no time
4	6	Nelson Piquet	Williams-Honda	1:43.705	no time
5	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	1:43.921	2:05.139
6	20	Thierry Boutsen	Benetton-Ford	1:45.066	2:02.981
7	8	Andrea de Cesaris	Brabham-BMW	1:45.411	no time
8	2	Stefan Johansson	McLaren-TAG	1:45.428	no time
9	19	Teo Fabi	Benetton-Ford	1:45.497	2:06.857
10	28	Gerhard Berger	Ferrari	1:45.902	2:03.172

Table 2

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired
1	6	Nelson Piquet	Williams-Honda	44	1:21:25.091
2	2	Stefan Johansson	McLaren-TAG	44	+ 1:39.591
3	12	Ayrton Senna	Lotus-Honda	43	+ 1 Lap
4 (1)	4	Philippe Streiff	Tyrrell-Ford	43	+ 1 Lap
5 (2)	3	Jonathan Palmer	Tyrrell-Ford	43	+ 1 Lap
6 (3)	30	Philippe Alliot	Lola-Ford	42	+ 2 Laps
7	1	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG	39	Electrical
NC	9	Martin Brundle	Zakspeed	34	+ 10 Laps
Ret	26	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Ligier-Megatron	32	Engine
Ret	23	Adrián Campos	Minardi-Motori Moderni	28	Engine

Table 3

Pos	Driver	Points	Unnamed: 3
1	Nelson Piquet	39	nan
2	Ayrton Senna	35	nan
3	Nigel Mansell	30	nan
4	Alain Prost	26	nan
5	Stefan Johansson	19	nan
Source: [8]	Source: [8]	Source: [8]	Source: [8]

F1ABY Commentary

Consider the sheer audacity of that straight – 1. 3 kilometers at nearly 310 kilometers per hour. Senna’s near miss with the 99T underscores a fundamental instability, doesn't it? The aero load at that velocity, coupled with the inherent stiffness of the chassis, creates a feedback loop demanding absolute precision. Did Goodyear truly anticipate the stresses induced by such aggressive downforce? The fragmentation itself—parts disappearing entirely into the woodland—suggests a material limit being approached, a critical threshold exceeded by a momentary lapse in control. It's a stark reminder that theoretical grip yields nothing if the underlying structure cannot withstand the forces unleashed.

The Bremsschikane represents a fundamental stress test for any suspension geometry; a miscalculation here, and the entire car becomes a violently unstable projectile. Goodyear’s preemptive withdrawal of those rear Lotus components—a consequence of Senna’s near-catastrophic excursion—highlights the precariousness of utilizing a compound so aggressively designed for grip at those velocities.

F1ABY Trivia

Let’s examine the Lotus 99T’s braking system – a truly precarious setup. Senna’s near-miss demonstrated the inherent instability of the car’s rear suspension geometry coupled with Goodyear’s D1000 compound; the tire’s blistering initial grip simply vanished under heavy braking, a critical failure point given the Bremsschikane’s severity. The Honda engine, displacing 3. 5 liters, delivered 620 horsepower, but its delivery profile – notably peaky around 7,500 rpm – exacerbated the rearward weight transfer, a significant factor in the incident. McLaren’s reliance on this particular tire compound, without sufficient rear-end refinement, proved a catastrophic miscalculation.

Right then. Let’s examine the data streaming from Hockenheim. Goodyear’s preemptive tire recall following Senna’s near-catastrophe—a truly savage incident, wasn’t it? The fragmentation of the 99T’s rear end suggests a significant stress load, likely exacerbated by the track’s notoriously unforgiving asphalt. Observe the resultant logistical nightmare; a failure of that magnitude, coupled with the circuit’s inherent challenges, demonstrates the brutal nature of this particular venue. The sheer volume of debris scattered amongst the trees speaks volumes about the forces at play.

F1ABY Tales

The deceleration. A shudder ripped through the telemetry – 2. 3g, sustained. Villeneuve’s rear end’s been wrestled violently, a desperate attempt to mitigate the catastrophic tire delamination. Observe the lateral load spike; the suspension geometry, particularly the right-rear corner radius rod, simply couldn’t contain the forces generated at that velocity. The Bremsschikane is a brutal test of mechanical fortitude, and Hassegawa’s machine is proving exceptionally vulnerable. The differential lock, engaged at the time of impact, exacerbated the rotational instability, a critical miscalculation.

The rain, a persistent, sullen grey, mirrored the mood in the McLaren garage. Leto was meticulously examining the data from Senna’s near miss – a disconcerting 300km/h excursion. The sheer velocity, coupled with the fragmentation of the rear end of the 99T, presented a cascade of immediate concerns. Goodyear’s tire supply chain, already strained, now faced a critical bottleneck; those components weren’t exactly readily available, were they? The Bremsschikane, notoriously demanding, suddenly looked a far more perilous proposition. A slight misjudgment, a momentary loss of grip, and the consequences… well, let’s just say the forest was proving a particularly enthusiastic absorber of Formula 1 hardware.