1988 Formula One World Championship

Drivers and constructors

Team changes

• Naturally aspirated engines would become mandatory from onwards and this year already saw severe restrictions on the turbocharged units, so four teams took the gamble of making the switch early, hoping to give themselves an extra year to get used to the new regulations. Among them most notably was constructors' champion Williams; they were powered by the new Judd CV 3.5L V8. March and Ligier made the same choice. The other obvious way was to use the Ford-Cosworth DFZ V8's, but they ran a year behind in development, and Benetton had gained exclusive rights to use the superior Cosworth DFR engine. Minardi made this choice, bringing the number of Cosworth-powered teams to ten in total. Looking for an advantage now that they couldn't rely on superior Honda turbo power, Williams added their reactive suspension system to the new Williams FW12. But 5% of the engine power was needed to run the computer-controlled system properly and, with the weight of the system, it made the already underpowered Judd V8 sluggish compared to its rivals.
• Osella kept using the Alfa Romeo 890T V8 turbo, but without factory support from the Italians, re-badged it as the "Osella V8". It produced around, making it the second most powerful engine on paper, but it often proved slower than even the year-old Cosworths.
• McLaren and Lotus, customers of Honda, received the RA168E engine, specifically designed to cope with the limits placed on turbo output. This was hoped to give Honda teams an advantage, as all other engines had been designed in accordance to the previous rule set. Besides this, Lotus made what turned out to be the right choice, by stepping away from active suspension systems.
• The March team employed a new designer, who would go on to produce many successful F1 cars in his career: Adrian Newey designed the sleek-looking and aerodynamically effective March 881 for the team's second season back in F1.
• There were three new teams on the grid this year:
• * BMS Scuderia Italia, using a Dallara chassis;
• * Rial, ex-owner of the ATS team;
• * EuroBrun, who had bought the remains of the Brabham team from Bernie Ecclestone. It would be the first time since that the Brabham team would be missing from the grid. After losing use of the turbo BMW engines and failing to secure a replacement, and after missing the FIA's entry deadline for the 1988 season, team owner Bernie Ecclestone announced Brabham's withdrawal before the opening race in Brazil.

  Driver changes

• Despite winning his third championship with Williams, Nelson Piquet left his team. A heated battle with teammate Nigel Mansell left the pair's relationship sour. Riccardo Patrese was signed as his replacement. Piquet moved to Team Lotus, where a seat became available after it was announced that Ayrton Senna moved to McLaren to join Alain Prost.
• Before the 1987 Austrian Grand Prix, it was announced that Minardi driver Alessandro Nannini would replace Teo Fabi at Benetton. Fabi took out his frustration on his teammate Thierry Boutsen during the race, blocking him for many laps and not moving over for blue flags.
• In 1987, Julian Bailey became the first British driver to win a Formula 3000 race. This landed him a drive for Tyrrell F1 for 1988. Bailey was one of the five drivers making his debut at the beginning of the season.
• Another ten driver switches happened in the lower-ranking teams.

  Mid-season changes

• Martin Brundle was test driver for Williams in 1988 and fell in for Nigel Mansell at the Belgian Grand Prix, after Mansell was struck down with chickenpox. For the Italian Grand Prix, Williams called upon Jean-Louis Schlesser to make his debut, since Brundle had prior commitments in IMSA. The French driver made himself famous by crashing into leader Ayrton Senna when the Brazilian tried to lap him for the second time. The McLaren spun out, paving the way for a Ferrari 1-2 finish on home soil. It was McLaren's only race in the year they did not win.
• After failing to qualify in three consecutive races, Adrián Campos left Minardi unmotivated. The team replaced him with Pierluigi Martini, having raced for them in as well.
• Larrousse driver Yannick Dalmas fell ill near the end of the season. To replace him, Aguri Suzuki made his debut at his home race. For the final race, Pierre-Henri Raphanel stepped in, for his debut as well.

  Calendar

Calendar changes

Regulation changes

Technical regulations

• The turbo boost was limited at, after it had already been brought down to for 1987. The FIA handled this by mandating that the valves would "pop off" when the pressure went over the limit. This led to the turbo-powered cars producing approximately less than the year before.
• The fuel limit for turbo engines was set at, down from for 1987, while teams running with a naturally aspirated engine could carry and use unlimited amounts of fuel during a race.

• The driver's feet should be positioned behind the front axis of the car.
• The survival cell and fuel tank would now have to pass a static crash test.

  Sporting and event regulations

• The Jim Clark and Colin Chapman trophies, awarded the previous year for drivers and constructors, respectively, who were using naturally aspirated engines, had been withdrawn as such engines would become mandatory from 1989 onwards,
• 31 drivers entered the first race, but it was decided that only 30 cars should be allowed to participate in the qualifying sessions. So pre-qualifying, which had been used in several races during the late 1970s and early 1980s, was re-introduced. For 1988, this consisted of five cars taking part in an extra session on Friday morning before the first session of qualifying proper, with the slowest car to miss out on the rest of the weekend.
• A permanent FIA race director would be present and active at all race meetings.

  Season report

Pre-season

Season

Round 1 – Brazil