The final round of the 1987 season in Adelaide saw Gerhard Berger romp to victory for the second race in a row. But whilst he was putting in a dominant performance, behind him there was an almighty battle going on.
Alain Prost was running second but had been suffering from braking issues right from the start of the race. At around half-distance, Michele Alboreto made a move on Prost into turn one to try and make it a Ferrari 1-2. He would have succeeded too, but Senna had other ideas.
Senna’s aggression when it came to passing backmarkers (especially helpful with the likes of René Arnoux) ensured he remained in second for the rest of the race, as Prost dropped back and eventually retired with brake failure.
With Nelson Piquet out of the race (and already champion) and Nigel Mansell having to miss the last two rounds through injury, second was enough to give Senna the runner-up spot in the championship.
Or at least, it would have been, but he was later disqualified because the brake ducts on his Lotus were too big. Ferrari therefore got it’s 1-2 finish, Berger ahead of Albereto – indeed, it was the last F1 victory Enzo Ferrari was alive to watch.
