1988 Spanish Grand Prix
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 14 of 16 in the 1988 Formula One season | |||
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| Date | 2 October 1988 | ||
| Official name | XXX Gran Premio Tio Pepe de España | ||
| Location | Circuito Permanente de Jerez, Jerez de la Frontera, Spain | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 4.218 km (2.620 mi) | ||
| Distance | 72 laps, 303.696 km (188.708 mi) | ||
| Weather | Sunny and hot | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | McLaren-Honda | ||
| Time | 1:24.067 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 Alain Prost
|
McLaren-Honda | |
| Time | 1:27.845 on lap 60 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | McLaren-Honda | ||
| Second | Williams-Judd | ||
| Third | Benetton-Ford | ||
The 1988 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 2 October 1988 at the Circuito Permanente de Jerez, Jerez de la Frontera. It was the fourteenth race of the 1988 Formula One season.
After weeks of speculation, Benetton announced that British Formula 3000 driver Johnny Herbert would be joining the team in 1989 to replace Thierry Boutsen who would be joining Williams. At the time of the announcement Herbert was still in hospital recovering from his horrifying F3000 crash at Brands Hatch just a few weeks earlier. With Alessandro Nannini remaining with the team, the Italian would become the team's #1 driver for 1989.
During qualifying, F1's most experienced driver of the time Riccardo Patrese (who was only 3 races from equalling Graham Hill's record number of F1 starts), was on his hot lap when the slower Julian Bailey (who was heading for the pits) got on the wrong side of the track and Patrese had to slow down considerably to avoid hitting Bailey, ruining a fast lap for the veteran Italian. A furious Patrese retaliated by getting in front of Bailey and brake testing his Tyrrell, the subsequent collision sending Bailey's car into the air and off the track into the gravel trap. Officials at first blamed Bailey and also called his Tyrrell team mate Jonathan Palmer to the hearing for good measure on the premise that the slower Tyrrells were generally a menace and both drivers needed to be told. After a protest by Ken Tyrrell however, officials later reviewed the incident again and Patrese was fined $10,000 for his actions, although most in the Formula One paddock argued that Patrese's fine was not enough, and that he should also pay the Tyrrell team to fix the damages on the Tyrrell 017 and the general feeling was that Patrese, Grand Prix racing's most experienced driver of the day, should have faced a harsher penalty. One unnamed driver was quoted as saying "I hope they fine him his bloody retainer. There are enough accidental shunts in this business without people actually trying to cause them....."
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