Japanese Grand Prix
Suzuka Circuit
Grand Prix starting grid
Race starts
Grid positions from race-result records; not a separately verified pre-race grid.
| POS | DRIVER | TEAM |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Nigel Mansell | Williams |
| 1 | Gerhard Berger | Ferrari |
| 2 | Alain Prost | McLaren |
| 3 | Thierry Boutsen | Benetton |
| 4 | Michele Alboreto | Ferrari |
| 5 | Nelson Piquet | Williams |
| 6 | Teo Fabi | Benetton |
| 7 | Ayrton Senna | Team Lotus |
| 8 | Riccardo Patrese | Brabham |
| 9 | Stefan Johansson | McLaren |
| 10 | Andrea de Cesaris | Brabham |
| 11 | Satoru Nakajima | Team Lotus |
| 12 | Eddie Cheever | Arrows |
| 13 | Derek Warwick | Arrows |
| 14 | Alessandro Nannini | Minardi |
| 15 | Martin Brundle | Zakspeed |
| 16 | Christian Danner | Zakspeed |
| 17 | René Arnoux | Ligier |
| 18 | Philippe Alliot | Larrousse |
| 19 | Jonathan Palmer | Tyrrell |
| 20 | Ivan Capelli | March |
| 21 | Adrián Campos | Minardi |
| 22 | Yannick Dalmas | Larrousse |
| 23 | Alex Caffi | Osella |
| 24 | Piercarlo Ghinzani | Ligier |
| 25 | Philippe Streiff | Tyrrell |
| 26 | Roberto Moreno | AGS |