The race on the Adelaide circuit was Senna’s first as world champion.
To celebrate, he won pole position, and closed out the year having started 13 times in the most privileged position on the grid.
He headed a respectable row of drivers: Alain Prost (McLaren), Nigel Mansell (Williams), Gerhard Berger (Ferrari), Nelson Piquet (Lotus) and Riccardo Patrese (Williams).
The McLaren drivers had a tough race for 13 laps until they got past by Gerhard Berger, who had set himself up for the victory. That is, until he tried to overtake the French driver René Arnoux (Ligier) and threw his Ferrari off the track.
Everything returned to normal on lap 35, with the McLaren duo in the lead. Prost won, forming the final podium of the year with the 1988 champion, Ayrton Senna and the 1997 champion, Nelson Piquet.
AUSTRALIAN GP
1º
Ayrton Senna
2º
A. Prost
3º
N. Mansell
4º
G. Berger
5º
N. Piquet
6º
R. Patrese
7º
D. Warwick
8º
A. Nannini
9º
I. Capelli
10º
T. Boutsen
11º
A. Caffi
12º
M. Alboreto
13º
S. Nakajima
14º
P. Martini
15º
A. de Cesaris
16º
P. Streiff
17º
J. Palmer
18º
E. Cheever
19º
M. Gugelmin
20º
S. Modena
21º
L. Perez-Sala
22º
S. Johansson
23º
R. Arnoux
24º
P. Alliot
25º
O. Larrauri
26º
P. Ghinzani
82
laps
26
cars
15
Retirements
1’21”216
Fastest lap
1º
cloudy Weather
Podium
1º
A. Prost
2º
Ayrton Senna
3º
N. Piquet
1º
final position
1º
position in championship following the race
2º
starting place
6
championship points accumulated
1’21”668
best lap
It was a difficult race, but it doesn’t matter now. The season is over.