The victory, indeed the triumph of Ferrari in Monza, left its mark in Formula 1. Although the double by Gerhard Berger and Michele Alberto was helped by luck and favoured by the abandonment of Alain Prost and the accident of Ayrton Senna, it is now like starting over. McLaren is always the big favourite, but at least on the eve of the Portuguese Grand Prix, the thirteenth round of the World Championship, there is a climate of uncertainty. Not so much for the performance of the English cars that in a few days can not have lost their competitiveness as for the recovery highlighted by the Maranello team. The question concerns the level reached by the single-seaters in Maranello, which could still improve in terms of fuel consumption and engine utilisation, a problem that has arisen for a good part of the season. In Maranello, we worked hard to refine the positive results obtained in Monza. However, there is a lot of caution at Ferrari (in Portugal the full technical staff presents themselves, including John Barnard, although it was said that the Englishman would remain in the office to work until the end of the championship), Michele Alboreto preaches calmly:
"Let's not delude ourselves, they are still the strongest".
While Gerhard Berger speaks of a half-second lead on the lap- still in favour of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost. The only one who is unbalanced is McLaren's Brazilian:
"By now the focus of the season is over, I've already paid it enough in terms of points to bad luck".
As if to say that it is close to winning the title, even if mathematically the challenge will not be able to end with the Portuguese race. But one of his victories, the eighth, would definitively block the road to Alain Prost, who would be forcedto win the last three to be played and to hope that his teammate will not place even once second. In short, Ayrton Senna is in an excellent position, also in consideration of the fact that the Estoril track is particularly suited to his characteristics. A track on which in 1985 he obtained with Lotus a sensational victory in front of Michele Alboreto. Alain Prost established himself here in 1987, thanks to the oversight of Gerhard Berger, who ended up in the header with two and a half laps from the end when he was in the lead. The Prost- Senna challenge attracts the attention of the public, even if the third nuisance represented by Ferraris is a real threat, more favourable to the Brazilian than to the French. How to say that the Maranello team in case of success would become an involuntary but useful ally of Ayrton Senna, taking points away from Alain Prost. For the first time since the start of the season, on the eve of the Portuguese Grand Prix, the Brazilian comes out into the open. After being cautious in predictions throughout the season, now the McLaren driver no longer wants to hide :
"We overcame the biggest part of the championship, and I've already paid bad luck a considerable toll of points".
A statement that might seem normal with no particular influences. But knowing Senna, on the other hand, it is clear that now the leader of the World Championship ranking wants to close the challenge with teammate Alain Prost. The Portuguese Grand Prix could allow the South American to put the Frenchman in a position to no longer be able to aspire to win the title.
"I don't think Ferrari has fully recovered against the McLarens. In Monza, if there hadn't been an accident with Schlesser, I would have gotten first place. I believe that Maranello's cars have become more dangerous but our advantage inchronometric terms is always remarkable. I'll show you right in the race in two days".
Alain Prost is controversial with Senna even in words. Now the two rivals who esteem themselves deeply on a professional level have realized that they have arrived at the closing of the accounts. This is why the Frenchman spares nothing:
"I'm not as confident as Senna, because in Monza I think Ferrari could have attacked us deeply and maybe won even without our double abandonment. There were some big consumption problems and I don't think we could have forced the pace in the final of the race. It is clear that Ferrari has made progress and I am convinced that it will make more. Now there could be a third wheel in the race. It is clear, however, that the insertion of Berger and Alboreto at the top would play Senna's game. For me then, as I had already said in Belgium, the speech for the title is perhaps already closed".
Ferrari is competitive, therefore, with the chance to achieve the second success of the season. This is not a new tactic for the Maranello team. Already last year in the last races the single- seaters of Maranello were honored. Gerhard Berger could win in Mexico, then he was the protagonist in Spain and Portugal and then got two victories in the last races in Japan and Australia. It seems that Ferrari has made great progress in terms of engine management, that is, in electronic mapping and above all in the use of gasoline that Agip has prepared in recent times, a fuel that would allow a higher engine efficiency of close to 7% with the development of a heavier gasoline, with a high calorific value. But that's not just the secret of this Ferrari flashback. There is behind the recovery denounced in recent times, a whole complex work of fine-tuning the cars and managing the team. Now Ferrari makes the most and maybe it will still be able to improve in the next races. On Friday, September 23, 1988, during the first qualifying round there willbe some valuable indications while taking into account that Ferraris in lap time should not worry McLaren drivers. There are a few important innovations. The only drift from the presence of Nigel Mansell who returns to the races after having forfeited in Belgium and Italy, the English driver declares to have recovered, to be able to resume the role of party pooper. And it is to be believed that the tortuous Estoril circuit could also give breath to the cars with aspirated engines (also to be followed by Riccardo Patrese, in addition to Alessandro Nannini and Thierry Boutsen with the Benetton and the Capelli-Gugelmin couple with the March), even if the turbos for the moment are still impregnable. Well, no one thought that the Maranello team could repeat Monza right away.
But it was not even conceivable that the first round of trials of the Portuguese Grand Prix would reserve such a negative surprise for Gerhard Berger and Michele Alboreto. Likewise because in 1987 on this same track of the Estoril the Austrian, with an almost identical car, had obtained the pole position and touched the victory, saded for the now famous tail head with three laps from the end. Formula 1 is beautiful exactly because it is varied, although this season there is always the common dominator of the McLaren domain with Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost. The Brazilian is the fastest, followed by his teammate, who detached by only 0.3 seconds. In third place is Nelson Piquet, and in fourth a great Riccardo Patrese, the best of the drivers with a naturally aspirated engine car. What about the cars in Maranello? Well, to find Gerhard Berger you have to go back to fifth position (the Austrian is over 2 seconds from Senna), while Michele Alboreto is sixteenth. The Italian driver is between the Ags of Streiff and the Lola of Dalmas. A remarkable step backwards for Ferrari. The reasons: a crooked day added to the difficulties created by a circuit completely different from that of Monza, very technical and slower. In the box of the Maranello team, a lot of work is being worked on set-up and aerodynamics, without finding optimal solutions. In addition, the engine shows the usual problems regarding the response of the turbo and the delivery of power. Gerhard Berger saves himself angrily, finding a few good laps in the finale. Michele Alboreto encounters problems with the engine of his car (turbo pressure) and then with the spare car, adjusted for the Austrian and modified on the fly, he can't do much. And so he concludes the rehearsals grumbling, disgruntled and embittered. But it must be said that drivers are rarely satisfied and always fear strange conspiracy cling. Everyone complains even those who basically shouldn't have anything to say. For example Ayrton Senna:
"I didn't have a good ride, the wind was terrible and the car is unwieldy".
And Alain Prost:
"I've changed turbines, but I don't know which ones are better. I have a new frame available, it's not adjusted well yet. The engine was missing a few blows".
Even Piquet protests:
"My Lotus is always the same, a bad car. I saved myself with the exceptional engine".
And also complain about Eddie Cheever and Derek Warwick, who fail to repeat the good times scored during the trials of the Italian Grand Prix. Alessandro Nannini, very dark in his face, can't balance his Benetton and, for once, his teammate is 0.3 seconds ahead of him. The only one who seems serene is Nigel Mansell. The Englishman, back to competitions, three minutes after the end of rehearsals eclipsed to play golf.
"I didn't lose the feeling with the car, even though I wasn't able to find a valid set-up. My neck hurts from the force of gravity in the fast corners, but this is normal because I'm withouttraining. However, I think I will improve even more. The race? They are always difficult, even on the physical plane".
A conflict is underway between Nigel Mansell and Frank Williams. It seems that the manufacturer does not want to pay the driver the salary for the two races not contested. That is, he would like to take away an eighth of his salary. And since even alcove insurance, not considering illness as an accident, there is an ongoing dispute that has hundreds of millions in the mail. McLaren found an unexpected obstacle in Monza with Ferrari. But since Maranello's team appears in crisis again and an immediate recovery seems at least unlikely, a question now arises for the race: will Senna and Prost be able to play the title in a heated head and head or will some other team be able to fit in between the two litigants? The times marked in the tests give rise to the hypothesis of a possible arrival at the top of the aspirated motor cars and in this case, Williams who regains competitiveness, and Riccardo Patrese in great shape. The English team has wasted much of the season trying the now famous active suspensions, moving from the role of last year's great protagonist to that of the mattress team, so much so that both Padua and Nigel Mansell were able to take very little satisfaction from the first twelve championship races. Going back, mounted almost traditional springs and shock absorbers, the Williams have gradually regained altitude, finding on the very technical and quite slow circuit of the Estoril those characteristics of competitiveness, road holding and reliability that had propitiated so many successes in the past. Says Riccardo Patrese:
"It would be nice to fight once for victory I don't deceive myself. I think if McLarens don't get in trouble with their engines and fuel consumption, they'll be uncommon. However, I am ready. I have been waiting for the right opportunity for years. I would like it for myself and to thank in a concrete way the team that reconfirmed me for the next championship".
The Italian driver sees Ayrton Senna as the favourite of the title battle with Prost.
"The Brazilian picked up an exceptional pace. And I think it won't fail. It is very difficult for him to make two consecutive mistakes, even if I am convinced that the Monza accident did not happen because of him but because of Schlesser's lightness. Prost is always a great champion. At this time, however, he must suffer the supremacy of his teammate".
Riccardo Patrese remains realistic, although in his heart he hopes that the battle between the two McLaren rivals will end up giving him the opportunity he has been waiting for years.
"If they pull to the maximum they will take risks. And if they risk it, I'll be ready to take advantage of it. However, we do not give for jokes even the Ferraris that like cats have seven lives. And then there is also a certain Mr. Nelson Piquet who is still the reigning world champion. In short, we are at the usual: it will be hard, indeed very hard. However, I am already happy to be together with the best with a car that is up to the task".
Ferrari in Monza, an Italian driver in Portugal. It would be the best way to revive a Formula 1 championship made dull by McLaren supremacy. The success of Gerhard Berger and Michele Alboreto's second place in the Italian Grand Prix was like an impossible dream come true. Who knows if the miracle cannot be repeated fifteen days later? Without forgetting that together with Riccardo Patrese, in the very first positions, there is also the combative Ivan Capelli and that Alessandro Nannini, tightrope walker of the Grand Prix, is not too far away. Saturday 24 September 1988 starts all over again, and finally, Formula 1 shuffles the cards a bit: the Portuguese Grand Prix presents itself with some news. There are always two McLaren- Hondas in the front row, but Alain Prost takes the pole positionaway from Ayrton Senna. Behind the magnificent duo presses an Italian driver, Ivan Capelli, with the March. Finally, the Ferrari with a surge of pride takes Gerhard Berger to fourth position and Michele Alboreto from sixteenth to seventh position. The new fact about the fight for the world title comes from Alain Prost. The Frenchman scores the best time turning in 1'17"411, averaging 202.297 km/h. A notable result when you consider that, although it is not the circuit record (1'16"673 of Senna in 1986 with Lotus Renault), it improves the time obtained last year by Gerhard Berger (1'17"620): and then the turbo engines had over 4 bar of pressure. And now Senna and Prost let nervousness and tension shine out. The Frenchman says:
"My pole revives the championship because overtaking on this circuit is difficult. For the first time since the French Grand Prix, I used a perfect car, with an engine and chassis. I hope it's the same for the race".
As if to say that the Brazilian will have a hard life and that Alain Prost believes that he has not always had the opportunity to fight on equal terms. The controversy is implied. But will the two-time World Champion be able to stay ahead of the start? At Francorchamps and Monza, for example, despite being taken first, he was overtaken by Ayrton Senna in a few hundred meters. Alain Prost's words provoke a dry reply by Ayrton Senna:
"No one can say that, that is, reproach. Each of us had our troubles. The race will be difficult for everyone, because all races are always arduous and because here cars with aspirated engines could play a more important role".
The Brazilian explains that he missed the pole position for the traffic found on the track. Instead, he does not say that the competitiveness found by the March could also help him, as it is Alain Prost who is obliged to win, while one placement canbe enough for him. But this is obvious, in short, there is Marietta among the McLaren drivers, just on the day when success does not seem to be as easy on paper as on previous occasions. The biggest problem concerns gasoline consumption and in a winding circuit like this, you can't think of solving all the trouble with the engine power. And here we are to Ivan Capelli. Radiant, the Italian driver says:
"The car is fine. My goal is to maintain the position in the first laps when the turbos will be able to get out of the corners stronger thanks to the possibility of increasing the pressure. If I manage to keep up with the pace of the best, we will play the podium until the end".
Michele Alboreto also recognizes the concrete possibilities of the March driver:
"Their car is an arrow and marching as if it were on the tracks. On the other hand, we have improved but we are not doing well at all points on the track. And then there is always the sword of Damocles of gasoline because there are more than 300 kilometres to be accomplished always with the engine up on. It will be a problem not only to keep up with McLarens but also to keep cars with aspirated engines behind".
Similar to the judgment of Gerhard Berger, more realistic than usual:
"The prediction for us is closed. In the tests, we did everything, without being able in particular to eliminate the inconveniences caused by the use of the engine".
Difficulties that translate, in an attempt to make faster times, into two Ferrari headers. Gerhard Berger bumps into a guard and damages the back of his car. Michele Alboreto turns around without touching anything when the tires are already abit deteriorated. The last qualifying round brings back Nelson Piquet, in eighth position, and puts Alessandro Nannini, ninth, and Riccardo Patrese, twelfth, back in more difficult situations. The Williams driver, however, only drives the less profitable spare car. Lurking, a little further away, Andrea De Cesaris, Pierluigi Martini and Alex Caffi are always ready to look for placements. Speaking of Alex Caffi, his team, Scuderia Italia, officially announces that they have hired Andrea De Cesaris for the 1989 season. On Sunday, September 25, 1988, the first start of the Portuguese Grand Prix was stopped due to the shutdown of Eddie Cheever's Arrows engine. The second was due to an accident caused by the other Arrows, that of Derek Warwick, due to similar trouble. However, the start is given regularly and Andrea De Cesaris who was behind, to try to avoid the sudden obstacle, first bumps the Arrows and then hooks up with Luis Pérez-Sala's Minardi. New start, therefore, after refuelling gasoline and 70 laps to be done as if nothing had happened. In the first Alain Prost had started well but had the first position taken away from the first corner by Ayrton Senna. And the scene repeats itself, identically, at the next start. The Brazilian, to pass, does not mind anything, suddenly moving to the right. This, probably, is the reason that infuriates Alain Prost. On the second lap the Frenchman attacks and, despite a very risky attempt by Ayrton Senna to oppose the overtaking, so much so that he almost pushes his teammate against the wall on the right, and Ian Phillips of the March team even has to retract his pit-board to avoid hitting Prost, the latter pushes his foot on the accelerator in an action that leaves the Passed in the lead, Alain Prost no longer leaves the first position.
First, he increases his advantage, then he re-incomes an attack by Ivan Capelli who during lap 22 had slipped into Ayrton Senna, who is not comfortable with his car, passing him as a champion.Subsequently, the Italian driver approaches the Frenchman until he reached 1.6 seconds from McLaren on lap 34. At this point, the March already gives worrying signs of engine overheating. Behind the two leaders comes Gerhard Berger. But when the Ferrari driver has almost caught up with Alain Prost and Ivan Capelli, a spectacular track exit, in the sand, excludes him from the race. However, the show is not over. Ayrton Senna is forced to defend himself from the arrival of Nigel Mansell, who heels him a few centimetres away, forcing him to recover to the limit so as not to get passed. The fight ends when they both find Jonathan Palmer's very slow car that had gone into the header and crosses the track to return to the pits with the engine almost out of order. Ayrton Senna manages to avoid it, while Nigel Mansell fails and ends up against the protections. At this point, the Brazilian returns to the pits to change the deteriorated tires even from the abrupt discard manoeuvre and Michele Alboreto, who is raising his pace, passes in third position, after being stuck for a long time behind Nelson Piquet's Lotus. The podium is now within his reach, when right on the last lap, the gasoline runs out in the tank of the Italian driver's car, forcing him to pass the finish line at low speed. Vince Alain Prost, followed by Ivan Capelli, Thierry Boutsen, Derek Warwick, Michele Alboreto and Ayrton Senna. The professor says 33 and returns to the lead at the Formula 1 World Championship. With his thirty-third victory, Alain Prost interrupts rival Ayrton Senna's race in the title fight, postponing the possible World Championship victory by the Brazilian driver to the last two races of the season in Japan and Australia. But this is not the only response to an exciting Portuguese Grand Prix, certainly the most beautiful and heated race of the season, if not in recent years.
A test that made it clear that several drivers, driving competitive vehicles, could be great protagonists. This is the case of Ivan Capelli, splendid second with March, able to fight on a par with a champion like Alain Prost and beat Ayrton Senna. A magnificent placementfor the Italian driver. The final result, with Thierry Boutsen for the fifth time third, and Derek Warwick, Michele Alboreto and Ayrton Senna in the order, does not only reward the Ferrari that this time, it can be said without fear of denial, was haunted by bad luck. Michele Alboreto lost the podium 200 meters from the finish line, when he was firmly third, due to incorrect information from the onboard computer that did not report problems in gasoline consumption, while instead, he had run out of fuel. Gerhard Berger, on the other hand, was still struck by what for him can well be called the curse of Estoril. While he was in third place and gave the impression of being able to approach Ivan Capelli and Alain Prost who were ahead of him, the Austrian went off track due to a mistake made about fifteen laps earlier, when he had mistakenly pushed the button that activates the on-board fire extinguisher, finding on his legs the slimy liquid that made him slip his foot twice from the brake For once, in the end-of-race budget, the men of the Maranello team take the result with philosophy, evaluating the positive data for what has been seen on the track. Says the sporting director of the Scuderia Ferrari, Marco Piccinini:
"They were looking for us too, the cars were competitive, and we lost good placements due to Berger's involuntary error and the failure on the Alboreto computer. We did not report anything to him from the boxes because we also had the same, comforting figures, according to which there was no problem in gasoline consumption. Otherwise, Michele could have slowed down a little in the final and equally finished third".
Michele Alboreto got out of the car shouting:
"It broke, it broke, it signalled that there was still some".
He was referring to the computer.
"I'm very disappointed, almost two hours pulling to the maximum for nothing. It makes me sick. I preferred to pull to maintain concentration and also because the car was fine. A wrestled and deserved podium that went up in smoke. I tried to attack Piquet three or four times at first but I just didn't make it".
Gerhard Berger is more fatalistic, but it must be said that the Austrian occasionally takes satisfactions that charge him properly.
"I missed about fifteen laps before I got off the track. There are two buttons nearby, a tactical one to slim and grease the air- gasoline mixture, and one to activate the onboard fire extinguisher. Unfortunately, I operated the second one: the liquid first froze my right leg, making it almost numb. Then it's poured on the shoe. At one point I pushed on the brake and my foot slipped twice. I had to brake again and ended up outside. Too bad. The car was fine and I am convinced that I could have taken both Capelli and Prost. That is, winning".
Even the third Ferrari driver in the race, the one for 1989, didn't have much luck. After a lightning duel with his big enemy Senna, Nigel Mansell finished his run against a guardrail. A big blow that made him stagger, exhausted and limp back to the pits.
"It just didn't take it, I haven't fully recovered yet and there was no need to crash. Senna does not fault the accident. It was that unconscious Jonathan Palmer who crossed the track like a Sunday motorist. I could have hurt myself again".
Mansell's version is then confirmed by the Brazilian:
"We arrived at full speed in the curve that leads to the pit straight and found the track almost blocked by Tyrrell. I went to earth, so much so that I ruined the tires, Mansell could do nothing but go straight to avoid it".
Where did the friendship repeatedly trumpeted between Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost go? Maybe the esteem, the respect, are still there. But the quiet relationship of non-belligerence between the two McLaren drivers has certainly cracked. The two comrades-rivals in the title fight make controversy. However, they talk about each other with a certain annoyance. The topic of the discussion is the incredible overtaking of the second round of the French to the Brazilian.
"I was going stronger, I could pass and he squeezed me against the wall, while the trajectory was to the right. I could see the sticks of the commissioners' flags passing by a few centimetres from my face. At this point in order not to be crushed and finish causing a terrible accident, I had to push on the accelerator thoroughly. I was practically forced to overtake. I don't understand why Ayrton behaved in this way. He must have had his reasons...".
But shortly before, in the pits, Alain had yelled in Ayrton Senna's face:
"If you want to win the championship so low that you're ready to kill or be killed, you can have it".
Championship relaunched?
"A breath of oxygen. But he is still the one who leads the dance: as victories, we are five to seven. And I have completed the series of positive results that can be added together".
How do you explain the difference between the two McLarens?
"What do you want me to say? I've been having chassis and engine problems for five races. This time there was a new chassis and everything worked perfectly".
Black in the face, the Brazilian to those who ask him for explanations about the disputed overtaking, replies calmly:
"Watch the slow-motion scene on television carefully and you'll find that I haven't committed any mistake".
Sixth place, a lacklustre result...
"I had problems from the beginning, with the electrical system, while the onboard computer signaled me that I wouldn't have enough gas to finish the ride. So I had to slow down".
Will it be true? At the technical checks, while in the tank of Michele Alboreto's Ferrari, there was not a drop of fuel, the two McLarens still had a lot of gasoline available. It must be said that before the second departure, at the last moment. Alain Prost called technicians and mechanics and had them intervene in his car. Perhaps this was the winning move, a small change that allowed him to go faster. An act of courage and determination were also highlighted by twenty-five-year- old Ivan Capelli, for the first time on the podium in Formula 1. after winning the Formula 3000 championship three years ago. The Italian driver played a wonderful race, making the most of the qualities of his March. But he also drove with his brain:
"When I got too close to the McLarens, I noticed the temperatures rising. Then when I saw Gugelmin standing at the side of the track I realized that I shouldn't overdo it. This time it was second place, maybe next Sunday in Jerez a car with a naturally aspirated engine will be able to aim for victory".
It seemed like a championship that started to shut down slowly, without gasps, with three or four races to go before the end of the season. Instead, the Portuguese Grand Prix traces Alain Prost's shares back to the now-sleeping Formula 1 stock exchange. Thirty-third victory for the French champion, the fifth affirmation of the season, an overtaking in the race. These are a bit tedious speeches, but mandatory. In the meantime, however, it should be noted that the gasp of interest was not only caused by the recovery of Alain Prost. Two important factors fit into the championship. There is the undoubted recovery of Ferrari that, after the victory of the Italian Grand Prix, has perhaps failed the possibility of repeating itself. But there is also and above all the reality of the Italian drivers who are finally collecting a little bit of satisfaction. Apart from the second place of Ivan Capelli, in the positive balance is noteworthy the seventh place of Alex Caffi with the Dallara of the Scuderia Italia, the eleventh place of Gabriele Tarquini with the Coloni, the twelfth place of Nicola Larini at the helm of the Osella. Without forgetting that Alessandro Nannini played the usual desperate race after stopping in the pits to change a damaged wing. And even Minardi, who brought the Spaniard Luis Pérez-Sala to eighth place, narrowly missed a good placement with the very good Pierluigi Martini, blocked by the engine failure while he was competing in a very intelligent race. Already in the tortuous circuit of Jerez de La Frontera, in the warm climate of Andalusia, Ivan Capelli will have a great opportunity to take possible revenge. The track should be conducive to its March-Judd, very stable, light and manoeuvrable. But also the Benettons of Thierry Boutsen and Alessandro Nannini, and the Williams of Riccardo Patrese and Nigel Mansell could annoy the McLarens that in Portugal equalled the record of seasonal victories, coming to twelve claims out of thirteen races played.