The 1987 German Grand Prix was a

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

motor race held at the

Hockenheimring The Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg () is a motor racing circuit situated in the Rhine valley near the town of Hockenheim in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located on the Bertha Benz Memorial Route. Amongst other motor racing events, it has hos ...

on 26 July 1987. It was the eighth round of the

1987 Formula One season The 1987 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 41st season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1987 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1987 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were contes ...

. It was the 49th

German Grand Prix The German Grand Prix (german: Großer Preis von Deutschland) was a motor race that took place most years since 1926, with 75 races having been held. The race has been held at only three venues throughout its history; the Nürburgring in R ...

and the eleventh to be held at the Hockenheimring. It was held over 44 laps of the seven kilometre circuit for a race distance of 298.760 km (185.812 mi).

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 Ayrton Senna da Silva (; 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver who won the Formula One List of Formula One World Drivers' Champions, World Drivers' Championship in , , and . Senna is one of three Formula One drivers fro ...

had a very lucky escape when he had a rear tyre failure at over on the long straight leading to the Bremsschikane. The rear corner of his

Lotus 99T The Lotus 99T is a Formula One car designed by Gérard Ducarouge for use by Lotus in the 1987 Formula One World Championship. Background and design After Renault pulled out of F1 at the end of , Lotus signed a deal with Honda for use of th ...

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 their plant in

Akron Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city prop ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in time for the Grand Prix weekend. 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 An active suspension is a type of automotive suspension on a vehicle. It uses an onboard system to control the vertical movement of the vehicle's wheels relative to the chassis or vehicle body rather than the passive suspension provided by large sp ...

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

The race was won by eventual 1987 World Champion,

Nelson Piquet Nelson Piquet Souto Maior (, born 17 August 1952) is a Brazilian retired racing driver and businessman. Since his retirement, Piquet, a three-time World Champion, has been ranked among the greatest Formula One (F1) drivers in various motorspo ...

driving a Williams FW11B. It was his first win of the season and his third win in the German Grand Prix having previously won for

Brabham Brabham () is the common name for Motor Racing Developments Ltd., a British racing car manufacturer and Formula One racing team. Founded in 1960 by Australian driver Jack Brabham and British-Australian designer Ron Tauranac, the team won four ...

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

, and Williams in the previous year. Piquet won by over a minute and a half from Swedish driver

Stefan Johansson Stefan Nils Edwin Johansson (born 8 September 1956) is a Swedish racing driver who drove in Formula One for both Ferrari and McLaren, among other teams. Since leaving Formula One he has won the 1997 24 Hours of Le Mans and raced in a number o ...

driving a McLaren MP4/3, who coasted over the finish line on three wheels due to a tyre puncture suffered just past the pits on his last lap. The Swede's second place was the 50th podium finish for the

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...

-designed TAG turbo engine. Piquet inherited the win after engine failure claimed his team-mate,

Briton British people or Britons, also known colloquially as Brits, are the citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies.: British nationality law governs mod ...

Nigel Mansell Nigel Ernest James Mansell, (; born 8 August 1953) is a British retired racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship (1992) and the CART Indy Car World Series ( 1993). Mansell was the reigning F1 champion when he moved over ...

, and reigning champion,

Frenchman The French people (french: Français) are an ethnic group and nation primarily located in Western Europe that share a common French culture, history, and language, identified with the country of France. The French people, especially th ...

Alain Prost Alain Marie Pascal Prost (; born 24 February 1955) is a French retired racing driver and Formula One team owner. A four-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, from 1987 until 2001 he held the record for most Grand Prix victories until Mich ...

(McLaren MP4/3).

finished third in his

. Just seven cars were classified at the end of the race, as the long straights took their toll on engine reliability. Naturally aspirated cars finished as high as fourth place with Frenchman

Philippe Streiff Philippe Streiff (26 June 1955 – 23 December 2022) was a French racing driver. He participated in 55 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 21 October 1984. He achieved one podium, and scored a total of 11 championship points. A pre-season tes ...

leading home a team one-two in the

Jim Clark James Clark Jr. OBE (4 March 1936 – 7 April 1968) was a British Formula One racing driver from Scotland, who won two World Championships, in 1963 and 1965. A versatile driver, he competed in sports cars, touring cars and in the Indianapol ...

Colin Chapman Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman (19 May 1928 – 16 December 1982) was an English design engineer, inventor, and builder in the automotive industry, and founder of Lotus Cars. In 1952 he founded the sports car company Lotus Cars. Chapman ...

Trophy standings for Tyrrell as

Jonathan Palmer Jonathan Charles Palmer (born 7 November 1956) is a British businessman and former Formula One racing driver. Before opting for a career in motor racing, Palmer trained as a physician at London's Guys Hospital. He also worked as a junior phys ...

finished in fifth place. In sixth was French driver

Philippe Alliot Philippe Alliot (born 27 July 1954) is a former racing driver who participated in Formula One from to and from to . He raced for RAM, Ligier, Larrousse and McLaren. Early career Prior to his career in Formula One he competed during 1976 and 19 ...

driving a Lola LC87 for the new

Larrousse Larrousse Formula One was a motorsports racing team founded in 1987 by Didier Calmels and former racer Gérard Larrousse, originally under the name Larrousse & Calmels. It was based in Antony, in the southern suburbs of Paris. It was renamed La ...

team. It was Alliot's second top six finish in Formula One and Larrousse's first world championship point, although the Constructor's Championship point would be credited to the chassis designers,

Lola Cars Lola Cars International Ltd. was a British race car engineering company in operation from 1958 to 2012. The company was founded by Eric Broadley in Bromley, England (then in Kent, now part of Greater London), before moving to new premises in S ...

. 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.

Classification

Qualifying

Race

*Numbers in brackets refer to positions of

normally aspirated Normality is a behavior that can be normal for an individual (intrapersonal normality) when it is consistent with the most common behavior for that person. Normal is also used to describe individual behavior that conforms to the most common beh ...

entrants competing for the Jim Clark Trophy.

Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings ;Constructors' Championship standings ;Jim Clark Trophy standings ;Colin Chapman Trophy standings * Note: Only the top five positions are included for all four sets of standings.

References

{{F1GP 80-89

German Grand Prix