Portuguese Grand Prix
Autódromo do Estoril
Grand Prix starting grid
Race starts
Grid positions from race-result records; not a separately verified pre-race grid.
| POS | DRIVER | TEAM |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Satoru Nakajima | Tyrrell |
| 1 | Nigel Mansell | Ferrari |
| 2 | Alain Prost | Ferrari |
| 3 | Ayrton Senna | McLaren |
| 4 | Gerhard Berger | McLaren |
| 5 | Riccardo Patrese | Williams |
| 6 | Nelson Piquet | Benetton |
| 7 | Thierry Boutsen | Williams |
| 8 | Jean Alesi | Tyrrell |
| 9 | Alessandro Nannini | Benetton |
| 10 | Éric Bernard | Larrousse |
| 11 | Aguri Suzuki | Larrousse |
| 12 | Ivan Capelli | Leyton House |
| 13 | Emanuele Pirro | Dallara |
| 14 | Maurício Gugelmin | Leyton House |
| 15 | Martin Donnelly | Team Lotus |
| 16 | Pierluigi Martini | Minardi |
| 17 | Alex Caffi | Arrows |
| 18 | Andrea de Cesaris | Dallara |
| 19 | Michele Alboreto | Arrows |
| 20 | Philippe Alliot | Ligier |
| 21 | Derek Warwick | Team Lotus |
| 22 | Nicola Larini | Ligier |
| 23 | Stefano Modena | Brabham |
| 24 | Yannick Dalmas | AGS |
| 25 | David Brabham | Brabham |