Formula 1 historical archive

Nigel Mansell won the 1987 French Grand Prix

Nigel Mansell won the 1987 French Grand Prix for Williams, ahead of Nelson Piquet and Alain Prost at Circuit Paul Ricard.

Browse the full classification, related season, driver, team, circuit, and championship history.

Race recap

Winner
Nigel Mansell
Team
Williams
Top listed
Nigel Mansell, Nelson Piquet, and Alain Prost
Race date
July 5, 1987
Pole
Nigel Mansell
Fastest lap
Nelson Piquet
Classified drivers
26
Circuit
Circuit Paul Ricard

The decisive result

Nigel Mansell finished first for Williams. Nelson Piquet is listed 2 for Williams, with Alain Prost 3 for McLaren.

Grid to finish

Philippe Streiff from P25 to P6 (+19), Jonathan Palmer from P24 to P7 (+17), and Pascal Fabre from P26 to P9 (+17) recorded the largest positive grid-to-finish changes in the classification. Nigel Mansell started from the listed P1 grid position.

Status and fastest lap

The classification lists 5 Engine, 4 Turbo, 3 Finished, 2 +4 laps, and 2 +6 laps. Nelson Piquet holds the fastest-lap entry at 1:09.548 on lap 68. It records the result without speculating about incidents or strategy.

This summary sticks to the classification and does not speculate about incidents, strategy, weather, or causes. Source: F1DB (CC BY 4.0) · updated Jul 26, 2026.

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Race classification
PosDriverConstructorTime / statusPoints
1Nigel MansellWilliams1:37:03.8399
2Nelson PiquetWilliams1:37:11.5506
3Alain ProstMcLaren1:37:59.0944
4Ayrton SennaTeam Lotus+1 lap3
5Teo FabiBenetton+3 laps2
6Philippe StreiffTyrrell+4 laps1
7Jonathan PalmerTyrrell+4 laps0
8Stefan JohanssonMcLaren+6 laps0
9Pascal FabreAGS+6 laps0
DNFGerhard BergerFerrariSuspension0
NCSatoru NakajimaTeam Lotus+9 laps0
DNFMichele AlboretoFerrariEngine0
DNFDerek WarwickArrowsTurbo0
DNFPhilippe AlliotLolaGearbox0
DNFIvan CapelliMarchEngine0
DNFAdrián CamposMinardiTurbo0
DNFRené ArnouxLigierExhaust0
DNFThierry BoutsenBenettonEngine0
DNFChristian DannerZakspeedOverheating0
DNFPiercarlo GhinzaniLigierEngine0