The 1988 Brazilian Grand Prix was Round 1 of the 1988 FIA Formula 1 World Championship. The event was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Sunday, 3 April 1988. Ayrton Senna started on pole position in the McLaren Honda and his team-mate Alain Prost was the race winner.
1988 Brazilian Grand Prix Race Result
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Nationality | Team | Tyre | Laps | Time/Retired | Race Time | Gap | Interval | Best Lap | Lap | Started | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 | Alain Prost | France | McLaren Honda | Goodyear | 60 | 1:36:06.857 | 1:36:06.857 | - | - | 1:33.540 | 57 | 3 | 9 |
| 2 | 28 | Gerhard Berger | Austria | Ferrari | Goodyear | 60 | +9.873 | 1:36:16.730 | +9.873 | +9.873 | 1:32.943 | 45 | 4 | 6 |
| 3 | 1 | Nelson Piquet | Brazil | Lotus Honda | Goodyear | 60 | +1:08.591 | 1:37:15.448 | +1:08.591 | +58.718 | 1:33.597 | 44 | 5 | 4 |
| 4 | 17 | Derek Warwick | Great Britain | Arrows Megatron | Goodyear | 60 | +1:13.348 | 1:37:20.205 | +1:13.348 | +4.757 | 1:35.020 | 44 | 11 | 3 |
| 5 | 27 | Michele Alboreto | Italy | Ferrari | Goodyear | 60 | +1:14.556 | 1:37:21.413 | +1:14.556 | +1.208 | 1:33.193 | 39 | 6 | 2 |
| 6 | 2 | Satoru Nakajima | Japan | Lotus Honda | Goodyear | 59 | +1 lap | 1 lap | 1 lap | 1:33.903 | 47 | 10 | 1 | |
| 7 | 20 | Thierry Boutsen | Belgium | Benetton Ford | Goodyear | 59 | +1 lap | 1 lap | 1:34.457 | 31 | 7 | |||
| 8 | 18 | Eddie Cheever | United States | Arrows Megatron | Goodyear | 59 | +1 lap | 1 lap | 1:34.632 | 46 | 15 | |||
| 9 | 26 | Stefan Johansson | Sweden | Ligier Judd | Goodyear | 57 | +3 laps | 3 laps | 2 laps | 1:36.429 | 44 | 21 | ||
| DNF | 22 | Andrea de Cesaris | Italy | Rial Ford | Goodyear | 53 | Engine | 7 laps | 4 laps | 1:34.440 | 44 | 14 | ||
| DNF | 3 | Jonathan Palmer | Great Britain | Tyrrell Ford | Goodyear | 47 | Transmission | 13 laps | 6 laps | 1:36.758 | 38 | 22 | ||
| DNF | 24 | Luis Perez-Sala | Spain | Minardi Ford | Goodyear | 46 | Chassis | 14 laps | 1 lap | 1:36.929 | 43 | 20 | ||
| DNF | 30 | Philippe Alliot | France | Lola Ford | Goodyear | 40 | Suspension | 20 laps | 6 laps | 1:36.613 | 31 | 16 | ||
| DNF | 31 | Gabriele Tarquini | Italy | Coloni Ford | Goodyear | 35 | Suspension | 25 laps | 5 laps | 1:37.112 | 34 | 25 | ||
| DNF | 14 | Philippe Streiff | France | AGS Ford | Goodyear | 35 | Brakes | 25 laps | 1:36.451 | 34 | 19 | |||
| DNF | 29 | Yannick Dalmas | France | Lola Ford | Goodyear | 32 | Engine | 28 laps | 3 laps | 1:35.003 | 32 | 17 | ||
| DSQ | 12 | Ayrton Senna | Brazil | McLaren Honda | Goodyear | 31 | Disqualified | 29 laps | 1 lap | 1:34.657 | 13 | 1 | ||
| DNF | 25 | René Arnoux | France | Ligier Judd | Goodyear | 23 | Clutch | 37 laps | 8 laps | 1:38.556 | 21 | 18 | ||
| DNF | 33 | Stefano Modena | Italy | Euro Brun Ford | Goodyear | 20 | Engine | 40 laps | 3 laps | 1:38.401 | 15 | 24 | ||
| DNF | 5 | Nigel Mansell | Great Britain | Williams Judd | Goodyear | 18 | Engine | 42 laps | 2 laps | 1:35.346 | 10 | 2 | ||
| DNF | 19 | Alessandro Nannini | Italy | Benetton Ford | Goodyear | 7 | Engine | 53 laps | 11 laps | 1:36.616 | 3 | 12 | ||
| DNF | 6 | Riccardo Patrese | Italy | Williams Judd | Goodyear | 6 | Engine | 54 laps | 1 lap | 1:37.003 | 3 | 8 | ||
| DNF | 16 | Ivan Capelli | Italy | March Judd | Goodyear | 6 | Engine | 54 laps | 1:37.024 | 6 | 9 | |||
| DNF | 23 | Adrian Campos | Spain | Minardi Ford | Goodyear | 5 | Chassis | 55 laps | 1 lap | 1:41.641 | 3 | 23 | ||
| DNF | 15 | Maurício Gugelmin | Brazil | March Judd | Goodyear | Gearbox | 60 laps | 5 laps | 13 | |||||
| DNF | 32 | Oscar Larrauri | Argentina | Euro Brun Ford | Goodyear | Electrical | 60 laps | 26 | ||||||
| DNQ | 4 | Julian Bailey | Great Britain | Tyrrell Ford | Goodyear | 60 laps | ||||||||
| DNQ | 9 | Piercarlo Ghinzani | Italy | Zakspeed | Goodyear | 60 laps | ||||||||
| DNQ | 21 | Nicola Larini | Italy | Osella | Goodyear | 60 laps | ||||||||
| DNQ | 10 | Bernd Schneider | Germany | Zakspeed | Goodyear | 60 laps | ||||||||
| DNQ | 36 | Alex Caffi | Italy | Dallara Ford | Goodyear | 60 laps |