1987 Ferrari F1-87 Formula 1

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The Ferrari F1-87

Towards the end of the first ‘turbo era’ in Formula 1, drivers weren’t so much as driving the cars than wrestling them, such was the extraordinary power they were producing. Ferrari’s class of 1987, the popular duo of Gerhard Berger and Michele Alboreto, had the pleasure of taming the Prancing Horse’s most powerful single-seater of them all, the F1-87. Its all-new 90-degree blown V6 kicked out a dizzying 950bhp, which, combined with a sophisticated chassis and aero package designed by Gustav Brunner and honed by John Barnard, made for an extremely effective racing car. Just seven chassis left Maranello for the Scuderia to race, of which the car we’re thrilled to be offering, number 098, was the most successful.


Chassis no. 098

With a record 26 starters and an alarming eight-second disparity in lap times between the fastest and the slowest cars, the Monaco Grand Prix in 1987 brought with it a certain sense of anxiety in the paddock. Anxiety that was realised barely 10 minutes into the first qualifying session, when Michele Alboreto’s Ferrari collided with the Zakspeed of Christian Danner in what was an especially nasty incident.


For his role, Danner was promptly sent home. And in a remarkable display of resilience, a battered and bruised Alboreto climbed straight into the spare F1-87, chassis number 098, and stuck it on the fifth spot on the grid. After a revised rear wing was fitted in a bid to quell the wheelspin Alboreto had complained about during qualifying, the Italian was finally able to put down the immense power of his turbocharged V6.


“We imagine the champagne tasted especially sweet for Alboreto after a traumatic and physically challenging weekend on the Côte d’Azur.”


Crucially, in the race, he kept his nose out of the trouble that plagued so many others and crossed the finish line third. We imagine the champagne tasted especially sweet for Alboreto after a traumatic and physically challenging weekend on the Côte d’Azur.


Chassis number 098 assumed the role of Alboreto’s primary car for the four Grands Prix that followed: Detroit, France, Britain and Germany. Ferrari flexed its financial muscle throughout the 1987 season, its technical team helmed by Englishman John Barnard constantly working on myriad aspects of the F1-87 to improve its pace and reliability. Innovations such as the stepped rear wing, electronic sensor readout displaying the live speed and current gear, the Gleason differential, which varied the distribution of torque to the rear wheels, and stronger carbon-fibre clutch. Particular attention was paid to the engine, with a view to unlocking power lower in the rev range and increasing top-end power for the fastest circuits.


Gerhard Berger assumed control of chassis number 098 from the Italian Grand Prix onwards 

By the time Ferrari’s number-one driver, Gerhard Berger, assumed control of chassis number 098 at the halfway point of the season, the potential of the F1-87 had started to show – not that Ferrari let up with its quest to improve. An encouraging top-three qualifying spot at Monza preceded a stunning pole position at Estoril in Portugal. Back in Maranello there was cause to celebrate, for the Scuderia had not recorded a pole position since the opening round of the 1985 Formula 1 World Championship.


Agonisingly, after a race-long battle with the McLaren of Alain Prost, Berger was forced to settle for second place. Leaving Portugal with six points and the fastest lap must have instilled hope for all at the Scuderia nonetheless. Further fastest laps at the following Spanish and Mexican Grands Prix reaffirmed the sheer pace of the F1-87.






Berger finally tasted the spoils of success in the Japanese Grand Prix, which he won driving chassis number 098

The far-flung final rounds of the 1987 Formula 1 season beckoned and Ferrari was bullish. “Of one fact nobody had been in any doubt for the three previous months,” stated Autocourse ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, “was that Gerhard Berger was knocking on the door of Ferrari’s first victory in a couple of years and the lanky Austrian needed only a slice of luck to put the Prancing Horse back where millions of Italian fans believed it belonged.” Mercifully, Lady Luck would play ball in the Land of the Rising Sun.


That this was the first Grand Prix on Japanese soil in a decade was lost on not one of the 100,000-strong crowd, which expectantly filled the Suzuka grandstands hours before the race. Berger started from the pole and was unchallenged throughout. Apart from the odd missed gearchange, he drove a faultless race, not only putting a long-overdue victory in the bag, but wiping the floor with Honda in its own backyard. “I’m sure the old man will sleep more easily over the winter now we’ve won again at last,” exclaimed Berger after the chequered flag had fallen.






Berger finished the 1987 Formula 1 season with an emphatic victory at Adelaide with this very F1-87

Not even a heavy cold could slow Berger’s momentum heading into the final round of the season in Adelaide, Australia. Down under, the Austrian asserted Ferrari’s technical authority with a near-flawless performance across the weekend. Having scratched a third pole position onto his competition record, Berger was only momentarily not in the lead of the race proper when Nelson Piquet barged past before the first chicane. A mere 200 yards later, Berger had retaken the top spot, where he’d remain until the chequered flag fell on the race – and indeed the season – 89 laps later.


“I honestly wondered whether I would be able to last out the distance,” the sickly and profusely sweaty Austrian pronounced after the race. “Particularly when I’d been driving for what seemed ages only to notice a pit board telling me there were still 50 laps to go!” Amazingly, compounding Berger’s discomfort was one of his ear plugs, which worked itself loose around five laps into the race, leaving him to contend with a near-deafening engine on top of the task at hand. Racing drivers really are a different breed…


This F1-87 is accompanied by copies of Ferrari factory correspondence and a spares package including a rear wing and a period telemetry acquisition computer 

With two race wins, two further podiums, three pole-position starts and three fastest laps under its belt, it’s fair to say chassis number 098 served the Prancing Horse honourably over the course of its 11 entries for the Works Scuderia Ferrari outfit. Most definitely a season of momentum-building and technical persistence, Ferrari threw the proverbial kitchen sink at the F1-87 and this chassis exemplified that gradual enhancement.


When later asked which of all the cars he drove during his 13-year Formula 1 career was his favourite, Berger answered with the F1-87. “The last turbocharged single-seater, actually the penultimate but the most ‘real’, because it had over 900bhp and the following year they limited power to 650bhp,” he recalled fondly. “With that car I won in Japan and Australia. But I’m not fond of it so much for the two victories, but because of the driving pleasure it gave me.”






Perhaps more pertinently to disciples of the marque today, this was the last Ferrari Il Commendatore witnessed win a Formula 1 race before his death in August of the following year. And for those same disciples, there can surely be no higher peak to summit than acquiring one of the Prancing Horse’s history-steeped single-seaters and following in the tyre tracks of the Ferrari heroes of yesteryear.


F1 Clienti, part of the marque’s ultra-exclusive Corse Clienti arm, is your chance to join the Ferrari family and drive the F1-87 during private events on the world’s greatest motor circuits. The 2025 Ferrari F1 Clienti programme includes Monza, Paul Ricard, Miami, Fuji, Spa-Francorchamps and Mugello. The generous track time is controlled and non-competitive and includes coaching from professional Ferrari test-drivers, spare tyres and bespoke logistics. Away from the track there’s the world-class and intimate hospitality you’d expect from Ferrari.  


“Pertinently for disciples of the marque today, this was the last Ferrari Il Commendatore witnessed win a Formula 1 race before his death the following year.”


Fearsome flame-belching turbocharged engines pumping out in excess of 1,000bhp. Do-it-yourself manual gear changes. Immortal cigarette-lavished liveries. And drivers who were as brazen and fearless on the track as they were charismatic off it. In our opinion, the late-1980s represented peak Formula 1. And this sensational privately owned Ferrari F1-87 – which scored two standout victories for the greatest constructor of them all – perfectly embodies that magic.