Driver Adrian Campos was dismissed after the fifth round of the season due to poor performance and he was replaced by Pierluigi Martini, who previously raced for the team in 1985 and then moved down to International Formula 3000 in 1986.

Martini scored the one and only point for Minardi in his first race in Detroit, taking 6th place.

The M188 retained its black and yellow colour scheme from previous years.

Spanish jeans company Lois was the title sponsor for the year.

(key) * All points scored using the Minardi M189 This Formula One–related article is a stub.