INTOTURNONE

Championship Watch

1987 Standings

Nelson Piquet won the 1987 Drivers' Championship for Williams. Final 1987 standings — every driver and constructor ranked by points and wins.

Driver Leader
Nelson Piquet
73 pts · Williams
Title Gap
12 pts
Nelson Piquet over Nigel Mansell
Constructors
Williams
137 pts · gap 61
Most Wins
6
Nigel Mansell
Control Tower
Drivers Championship
Season
1987 Season Report

Nelson Piquet won the 1987 Formula 1 World Drivers' Championship driving for Williams, finishing on 73 points, 12 clear of Nigel Mansell. Piquet won 3 races that season.

Williams took the Constructors' Championship with 137 points, 61 ahead of McLaren.

5 different drivers won a Grand Prix, and 21 drivers scored championship points.

Championships in this era were decided on a "best results" basis — drivers counted only their highest-scoring finishes towards the title, so season totals can differ from the sum of every race result. Dropped scores were abolished from 1991.

Standings compiled from the Ergast/Jolpica Formula 1 results archive. Spotted an error? Tell us.

Live Table

1987 Driver Order

Pos
Driver
Form
Points
Wins
P1
Nelson Piquet
Williams
Championship Pace100%
Championship Leader
73
Points
3
Wins
P2
Nigel Mansell
Williams
Championship Pace84%
12 pts off the lead.
61
Points
6
Wins
P3
Ayrton Senna
Team Lotus
Championship Pace78%
16 pts off the lead.
57
Points
2
Wins
P4
Alain Prost
McLaren
Championship Pace63%
27 pts off the lead.
46
Points
3
Wins
P5
Gerhard Berger
Ferrari
Championship Pace49%
37 pts off the lead.
36
Points
2
Wins
P6
Stefan Johansson
McLaren
Championship Pace41%
43 pts off the lead.
30
Points
0
Wins
P7
Michele Alboreto
Ferrari
Championship Pace23%
56 pts off the lead.
17
Points
0
Wins
P8
Thierry Boutsen
Benetton
Championship Pace22%
57 pts off the lead.
16
Points
0
Wins
P9
Teo Fabi
Benetton
Championship Pace16%
61 pts off the lead.
12
Points
0
Wins
P10
Eddie Cheever
Arrows
Championship Pace11%
65 pts off the lead.
8
Points
0
Wins
P11
Jonathan Palmer
Tyrrell
Championship Pace10%
66 pts off the lead.
7
Points
0
Wins
P12
Satoru Nakajima
Team Lotus
Championship Pace10%
66 pts off the lead.
7
Points
0
Wins
P13
Riccardo Patrese
Brabham
Championship Pace8%
67 pts off the lead.
6
Points
0
Wins
P14
Andrea de Cesaris
Brabham
Championship Pace5%
69 pts off the lead.
4
Points
0
Wins
P15
Philippe Streiff
Tyrrell
Championship Pace5%
69 pts off the lead.
4
Points
0
Wins
P16
Derek Warwick
Arrows
Championship Pace4%
70 pts off the lead.
3
Points
0
Wins
P17
Philippe Alliot
Larrousse
Championship Pace4%
70 pts off the lead.
3
Points
0
Wins
P18
Martin Brundle
Zakspeed
Championship Pace3%
71 pts off the lead.
2
Points
0
Wins
P19
Ivan Capelli
March
Championship Pace1%
72 pts off the lead.
1
Points
0
Wins
P20
René Arnoux
Ligier
Championship Pace1%
72 pts off the lead.
1
Points
0
Wins
P21
Roberto Moreno
AGS
Championship Pace1%
72 pts off the lead.
1
Points
0
Wins
P22
Yannick Dalmas
Larrousse
Championship Pace0%
73 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P23
Christian Danner
Zakspeed
Championship Pace0%
73 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P24
Piercarlo Ghinzani
Ligier
Championship Pace0%
73 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P25
Pascal Fabre
AGS
Championship Pace0%
73 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P26
Alessandro Nannini
Minardi
Championship Pace0%
73 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P27
Alex Caffi
Osella
Championship Pace0%
73 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P28
Adrián Campos
Minardi
Championship Pace0%
73 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P29
Franco Forini
Osella
Championship Pace0%
73 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P30
Gabriele Tarquini
Osella
Championship Pace0%
73 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
About the 1987 championships · How F1 points work

Nelson Piquet leads the 1987 Drivers Championship with 73 points, holding a 12-point advantage over Nigel Mansell (Williams). A gap of fewer than 25 points — one race win — means the title race remains mathematically open every single weekend.

In the 1987 Constructors Championship, Williams leads with 137 points — a 61-point margin over McLaren. The Constructors title is decided by the combined points haul of a team's two drivers from every race, making car reliability, pit stop execution, and strategic pairing as important as raw pace.

The current FIA points system awards points to the top ten finishers in every Grand Prix: 25–18–15–12–10–8–6–4–2–1. An additional point goes to the driver who sets the fastest lap of the race, provided they finish inside the top ten. Sprint events — held on Saturday at select rounds — offer a separate points structure: 8–7–6–5–4–3–2–1 for the top eight finishers, counting toward both championships independently of the main race result.

A driver must hold an FIA Super Licence and score at least one championship point to register on the standings. DNFs score zero, but a classified finish — completing at least 90% of the race distance — earns the driver’s finishing position even without a points reward.