Australian Grand Prix 1988 - Race Schedule and Countdown

Alain Prost claimed the final victory of the 1988 season at Adelaide's Australian Grand Prix, leading teammate and newly-crowned World Champion Ayrton Senna home for McLaren's 10th one-two finish. The Frenchman controlled the race from pole position, demonstrating that while he'd lost the championship to Senna, his class and speed remained undiminished. Nelson Piquet completed the podium for Lotus in what would be his final season with Honda power, marking the end of an era for the three-time World Champion.

The Australian Grand Prix concluded the most dominant season in Formula 1 history, with McLaren having won 15 of 16 races and scored 10 one-two finishes. Prost's victory was his eighth of the season, matching Senna's win total, though the Brazilian's superior consistency under the best-11-results rule gave him the championship by three points. The race marked the end of the turbo era's transition period, with 1989 set to be fully naturally aspirated. For McLaren, the season represented perfection in engineering and driver talent, though the Senna-Prost relationship had deteriorated into open hostility that would explode in 1989. The MP4/4's legacy as perhaps the greatest F1 car ever built was secure, having dominated a season like no machine before or since.