Suzuka Circuit · 30 October 1988
Ayrton Senna won the 1988 Japanese Grand Prix for McLaren from 1st on the grid, 13.363s ahead of Alain Prost. Julian Bailey gained the most places, from 26th on the grid to 14th.
| Pos | Team | Points Breakdown | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLaren Senna 9 + Prost 6 | Senna 9 + Prost 6 | 15 | |
| 2 | Benetton Boutsen 4 + Nannini 2 | Boutsen 4 + Nannini 2 | 6 | |
| 3 | Ferrari Berger 3 + Alboreto 0 | Berger 3 + Alboreto 0 | 3 | |
| 4 | Williams Patrese 1 + Mansell 0 | Patrese 1 + Mansell 0 | 1 | |
| 5 | Team Lotus Nakajima 0 + Piquet 0 | Nakajima 0 + Piquet 0 | 0 | |
| 6 | AGS Streiff 0 | Streiff 0 | 0 | |
| 7 | Lola Alliot 0 + Suzuki 0 | Alliot 0 + Suzuki 0 | 0 | |
| 8 | March Gugelmin 0 + Capelli 0 | Gugelmin 0 + Capelli 0 | 0 | |
| 9 | Tyrrell Palmer 0 + Bailey 0 | Palmer 0 + Bailey 0 | 0 | |
| 10 | Minardi Martini 0 + Pérez-Sala 0 | Martini 0 + Pérez-Sala 0 | 0 | |
| 11 | Ligier Arnoux 0 | Arnoux 0 | 0 | |
| 12 | Rial de Cesaris 0 | de Cesaris 0 | 0 | |
| 13 | Arrows Cheever 0 + Warwick 0 | Cheever 0 + Warwick 0 | 0 | |
| 14 | Osella Larini 0 | Larini 0 | 0 | |
| 15 | Dallara Caffi 0 | Caffi 0 | 0 | |
| 16 | Zakspeed Schneider 0 | Schneider 0 | 0 |
| Pos | Driver | Team | Race time / Gap | Laps | Stops | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ayrton Senna McLaren | McLaren | 1:33:26.173 | 51 | — | 9 | |
| 2 | Alain Prost McLaren | McLaren | +13.363s | 51 | — | 6 | |
| 3 | Thierry Boutsen Benetton | Benetton | +36.109s | 51 | — | 4 | |
| 4 | Gerhard Berger Ferrari | Ferrari | +1:26.714 | 51 | — | 3 | |
| 5 | Alessandro Nannini Benetton | Benetton | +1:30.603 | 51 | — | 2 | |
| 6 | Riccardo Patrese Williams | Williams | +1:37.615 | 51 | — | 1 | |
| 7 | Satoru Nakajima Team Lotus | Team Lotus | +1 Lap | 50 | — | — | |
| 8 | Philippe Streiff AGS | AGS | +1 Lap | 50 | — | — | |
| 9 | Philippe Alliot Lola | Lola | +1 Lap | 50 | — | — | |
| 10 | Maurício Gugelmin March | March | +1 Lap | 50 | — | — | |
| 11 | Michele Alboreto Ferrari | Ferrari | +1 Lap | 50 | — | — | |
| 12 | Jonathan Palmer Tyrrell | Tyrrell | +1 Lap | 50 | — | — | |
| 13 | Pierluigi Martini Minardi | Minardi | +2 Laps | 49 | — | — | |
| 14 | Julian Bailey Tyrrell | Tyrrell | +2 Laps | 49 | — | — | |
| 15 | Luis Pérez-Sala Minardi | Minardi | +2 Laps | 49 | — | — | |
| 16 | Aguri Suzuki Lola | Lola | +3 Laps | 48 | — | — | |
| 17 | René Arnoux Ligier | Ligier | +3 Laps | 48 | — | — | |
| DNF | Andrea de Cesaris Rial | Rial | DNF Overheating | 36 | — | — | |
| DNF | Eddie Cheever Arrows | Arrows | DNF Ignition | 35 | — | — | |
| DNF | Nicola Larini Osella | Osella | DNF Brakes | 34 | — | — | |
| DNF | Nelson Piquet Team Lotus | Team Lotus | DNF Driver unwell | 34 | — | — | |
| DNF | Nigel Mansell Williams | Williams | DNF Collision | 24 | — | — | |
| DNF | Alex Caffi Dallara | Dallara | DNF Spun off | 22 | — | — | |
| DNF | Ivan Capelli March | March | DNF Electrical | 19 | — | — | |
| DNF | Derek Warwick Arrows | Arrows | DNF Spun off | 16 | — | — | |
| DNF | Bernd Schneider Zakspeed | Zakspeed | DNF Driver unwell | 14 | — | — |