1988 Formula One season

The 1988 Formula One season was the 39th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1988 FIA Formula One World Championship which commenced on 3 April 1988 and ended on 13 November after sixteen races. Two titles were awarded: the Formula One World Championship for Drivers, won by Ayrton Senna, and the Formula One World Championship for Constructors, easily taken by McLaren-Honda. Alain Prost finished as runner up since he had to drop more scores than Senna with only the best 11 results eligible. Senna won eight races and Prost seven, with McLaren setting a record for a 16-race season for most races won, that has only been matched in seasons with more races. McLaren also scored a then-record 199 points, more than triple those of runner-up Ferrari, who scored a mere 65. Ferrari driver Gerhard Berger finished third in the drivers' championship. Ferrari's season was marred by the death of its founder Enzo Ferrari. The team did however score an emotional 1-2 at its home race in Italy, denying McLaren a perfect season.

The following drivers and constructors competed in the 1988 season.

The pre-season was a very contentious time, with many theories of the championship flying around: whether the Honda engines would prove successful with McLaren; whether Ferrari would be able to continue the trend set by the last two rounds of 1987 in which Gerhard Berger scored successive victories in Japan and Australia; whether Williams would be able to continue their success without Honda and Nelson Piquet; and whether reigning world champion Piquet could succeed in defending his title with the Honda-powered Lotus.

The Jim Clark and Colin Chapman cups, 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the previous year for drivers and constructors, respectively, who were using naturally aspirated engines, had been withdrawn as such engines would become mandatory from 1989 onwards, with severe restrictions on turbocharged units for this season. Of the eighteen teams on the grid, twelve – including Williams and Benetton – took the gamble of using either the new Judd CV or 1987's Cosworth DFZ (badged as Ford) V8 engines, to give themselves an extra year to get used to the new regulations. As they had a contract with Ford, Benetton had exclusive use of the Cosworth DFR engine.

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