's Gerhard Berger started from pole position despite being ill during qualifying. Nigel Mansell was still recovering from his accident in the previous race in Japan and so Riccardo Patrese, who had already signed for Williams to partner Mansell in 1988, was given permission by Brabham owner Bernie Ecclestone to stand in for the Englishman in this race; he was replaced at Brabham by Formula 3000 champion Stefano Modena, making his Formula One debut. At the green light, it was Nelson Piquet, in his last race for Williams before moving to Lotus in, who got away best of all, darting past Berger to take the lead into the first chicane whilst Alessandro Nannini in the Minardi was out immediately after crashing into the wall on the exit. A confident Berger, fresh from his victory in the previous race in Japan, re-passed Piquet at Wakefield Corner and began to make a break from the field. Early retirements included Philippe Streiffspinning off in his Tyrrell and debutant Modena stopping in the pits due to exhaustion. The Italian drew the attention of BBC commentators Murray Walker and James Hunt for his efforts, as well as his highly superstitious manner; Modena wouldn't let anyone touch the car once strapped in and drove with one glove inside out. The battle for second between Piquet, Alain Prost, Michele Alboreto and Ayrton Senna changed little until lap 35 when Piquet pitted for tyres and dropped to 6th. Seven laps later, Prost found himself baulked by former team-mate Rene Arnoux's Ligier on the pits straight and Alboreto slipped through. Senna, meanwhile, decided gung-ho was best and powered past both; 4th to 2nd in one move. Attrition kicked in as the race continued with brakes in particular being a big issue. Teo Fabi's Benetton was the first brake-related retirement on lap 46. Shortly after, McLaren lost both cars within five laps as Prost and team-mate Stefan Johanssonspun off at Stag Turn and Wakefield Corner respectively, again with brake issues. Piquet's brakes also failed on lap 58 leaving Berger, Senna and Alboreto as the top three. Senna made a late charge, trading fastest laps with the Austrian, but Berger had enough in hand to respond, despite having what appeared to be a dragging under-tray and took his second consecutive victory by just under 35 seconds. Senna finished second but was later disqualified when post race scrutineering revealed oversized brake ducts on his Lotus. Alboreto was promoted up to second to make it a Ferrari 1-2, the first since Alboreto and Johansson finished 1-2 in the 1985 Canadian Grand Prix. Third across the line was the Benetton of Thierry Boutsen. Of the races seven finishers, Alboreto was the only driver on the same lap as Berger. The first non-turbo car to finish was the Tyrrell of Jonathan Palmer in 4th place. Frenchman Yannick Dalmas finished 5th in his Larrousse with triple Australian Grand Prix winner Roberto Moreno scoring a point in his Formula One debut with AGS by finishing 6th. The last car to cross the finish line was the Zakspeed of Christian Danner, 3 laps down in 7th.
Classification
Qualifying
Race
* Dalmas did not receive points towards the Drivers' Championship or the Jim Clark Trophy, as he was driving Larrousse-Lola's second car and the team had officially entered only one car for the entire championship.
Jonathan Palmer
Philippe Streiff
Ivan Capelli