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 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ayrton Senna | McLaren |
| 2 | Alain Prost | McLaren |
| 3 | Gerhard Berger | Ferrari |
| 4 | Ivan Capelli | March |
| 5 | Nelson Piquet | Team Lotus |
| 6 | Satoru Nakajima | Team Lotus |
| 7 | Derek Warwick | Arrows |
| 8 | Nigel Mansell | Williams |
| 9 | Michele Alboreto | Ferrari |
| 10 | Thierry Boutsen | Benetton |
| 11 | Riccardo Patrese | Williams |
| 12 | Alessandro Nannini | Benetton |
| 13 | Maurício Gugelmin | March |
| 14 | Andrea de Cesaris | Rial |
| 15 | Eddie Cheever | Arrows |
| 16 | Jonathan Palmer | Tyrrell |
| 17 | Pierluigi Martini | Minardi |
| 18 | Philippe Streiff | AGS |
| 19 | Philippe Alliot | Larrousse |
| 20 | Aguri Suzuki | Larrousse |
| 21 | Alex Caffi | Dallara |
| 22 | Luis Pérez-Sala | Minardi |
| 23 | René Arnoux | Ligier |
| 24 | Nicola Larini | Osella |
| 25 | Bernd Schneider | Zakspeed |
| 26 | Julian Bailey | Tyrrell |