The Zakspeed 881 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, ...

car designed by Chris Murphy and Heinz Zollner and raced by

Zakspeed Zakspeed () is a motor racing team from Germany, founded in 1968 by Erich Zakowski and after that run by his son Peter Zakowski. It is based in Niederzissen, Rhineland-Palatinate, around from the Nürburgring circuit. 1973 to 1981: Saloon and s ...

in the

1988 Formula One World Championship The 1988 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 42nd season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1988 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1988 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were contested ...

. The car was the last to be powered by the team's own 1.5-litre straight-4

turbo In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pr ...

engine, the 1500/4. It was driven by Italian veteran

Piercarlo Ghinzani Piercarlo Ghinzani (born 16 January 1952) is a former racing driver from Italy. He currently manages his own racing team, Team Ghinzani, which was created in 1992 and is currently involved in several Formula Three championships. Early career Be ...

and West German rookie Bernd Schneider. The 881 was a development of the team's car, the

871 __NOTOC__ Year 871 ( DCCCLXXI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * The English retreat onto the Berkshire Downs. The Great Heathen Army, led by the ...

, and was a largely unsuccessful car in the last year for turbos in Formula One. Both Ghinzani and Schneider, who replaced 1987 drivers

Martin Brundle Martin John Brundle (born 1 June 1959) is a British former racing driver, best known as a Formula One driver and as a commentator for ITV Sport from 1997 to 2008, the BBC from 2009 to 2011, and Sky Sports since 2012. Brundle contested the 1 ...

and

Christian Danner Christian Josef Danner (born 4 April 1958) is a former racing driver from Germany. Career Formula Two and Formula 3000 The son of car safety expert Max Danner, Danner started his motor racing career immediately after leaving school in 1977. Aft ...

, struggled all season to qualify the car even against the slower atmospheric cars. A glaring example of this was at Silverstone for the

British Grand Prix The British Grand Prix is a Grand Prix motor race organised in the United Kingdom by the Royal Automobile Club. First held in 1926, the British Grand Prix has been held annually since 1948 and has been a round of the FIA Formula One World Ch ...

. At the fastest circuit on the calendar that should have suited the turbo powered cars, both Ghinzani and Schneider failed to qualify, the Zakspeeds being the only turbo cars not to do so. The 881 was also unreliable, often blowing either the engine or the turbo many times over a race weekend. Neither Zakspeed driver scored a point in 1988, which meant the team was forced to pre-qualify in . The 881 was the last F1 car in which Zakspeed used their own engines which were rated at about for the season. While this made the engine one of the most powerful in the field, being only about 10 bhp shy of both the

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a producti ...

and Ferrari

V6 engine A V6 engine is a six-cylinder piston engine where the cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. The first V6 engines were designed and produced independently by Marmon Motor Car Company, Deutz Gasmotoren Fabr ...

s, and around the same as the other straight 4 turbo in the field, the Megatrons used by Arrows, that is where the similarities ended. Honda powered McLaren to 15 wins and 15 pole positions during the season, with the other win and pole going to Ferrari. Ghinzani failed to qualify on seven occasions while Schneider failed to qualify ten times. Something that did not help the team's cause was the weight of the car. The 881 weighed in at , this was around heavier than the

McLaren MP4/4 The McLaren MP4/4, also known as the McLaren-Honda MP4/4, is one of the most successful Formula One car designs of all time. Powered by Honda's RA168E 1.5-litre V6-turbo engine and driven by teammates Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna, the car comp ...

, Ferrari F1/87/88C and the Honda powered

Lotus 100T The Lotus 100T is a Formula One car designed by Gérard Ducarouge and Martin Ogilvie for Team Lotus, and used during the 1988 Formula One season. The 100T was an update of the previous Lotus 99T model; technically the car was virtually unchange ...

. Bernd Schneider recorded the team's best finish for the year when he finished 12th in his and the team's home race in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

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. The German rookie had to wait until Round 4 in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

to qualify for his first race. There at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in the high altitude of

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

where the thinner air gave the turbos a massive power advantage over their atmospheric rivals (the 'atmos' lost a reported 25% of their power at altitude while the turbos lost around 5%), Schneider qualified in an encouraging 15th place and ran well early on the edge of the top 10 until retiring with engine failure on lap 16. The 881's replacement, the Zakspeed 891, would be powered by a

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References

;Books * {{Zakspeed 1988 Formula One season cars Zakspeed Formula One cars