During testing Ayrton Senna had a very lucky escape when he had a rear tyre failure at over 300 km/h (186 mph) on the long straight leading to the Bremsschikane.

As a result of the crash Goodyear took the precaution of immediately flying in new compound tyres from their plant in Akron in the United States in time for the Grand Prix weekend.

This caused many to question the system as the general belief was that with a passively suspended car Senna would have known he had a puncture and would not have continued to drive at high speed.

Piquet won by over a minute and a half from Swedish driver Stefan Johansson driving a McLaren MP4/3, who coasted over the finish line on three wheels due to a tyre puncture suffered just past the pits on his last lap.

Piquet inherited the win after engine failure claimed his team-mate, Briton Nigel Mansell, and reigning champion, Frenchman Alain Prost (McLaren MP4/3).