Detroit Grand Prix
Detroit Street Circuit
Grand Prix starting grid
Race starts
Grid positions from race-result records; not a separately verified pre-race grid.
| POS | DRIVER | TEAM |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ayrton Senna | Team Lotus |
| 2 | Nigel Mansell | Williams |
| 3 | Nelson Piquet | Williams |
| 4 | René Arnoux | Ligier |
| 5 | Stefan Johansson | Ferrari |
| 6 | Jacques Laffite | Ligier |
| 7 | Alain Prost | McLaren |
| 8 | Riccardo Patrese | Brabham |
| 9 | Keke Rosberg | McLaren |
| 10 | Eddie Cheever | Lola |
| 11 | Michele Alboreto | Ferrari |
| 12 | Gerhard Berger | Benetton |
| 13 | Thierry Boutsen | Arrows |
| 14 | Johnny Dumfries | Team Lotus |
| 15 | Derek Warwick | Brabham |
| 16 | Martin Brundle | Tyrrell |
| 17 | Teo Fabi | Benetton |
| 18 | Philippe Streiff | Tyrrell |
| 19 | Christian Danner | Arrows |
| 20 | Jonathan Palmer | Zakspeed |
| 21 | Alan Jones | Lola |
| 22 | Piercarlo Ghinzani | Osella |
| 23 | Andrea de Cesaris | Minardi |
| 24 | Alessandro Nannini | Minardi |
| 25 | Allen Berg | Osella |
| 26 | Huub Rothengatter | Zakspeed |