The 1988 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 11 September 1988 at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza. It was the twelfth race of the season. It is often remembered for the first win and 1–2 finish for the Ferrari team after the Enzo Ferrari's death, and as the only race of the 1988 season that McLaren-Honda failed to win (what prevented it from equaling the record of victories in all the races of the category itself in a whole season, of Alfa Romeo in 1950 and own Ferrari in 1952). Report Qualifying Qualifying at Monza went as expected with the McLarens of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost heading the field, Senna the only driver to lap under 1:26. In the first Italian Grand Prix since the death of Ferrari founder Enzo Ferrari, his team's scarlet cars were 3rd and 4th on the grid, Gerhard Berger in front of Michele Alboreto. As a mark of respect for the Ferrari founder, Alboreto and Berger were allowed to be the first cars to take to the track for Friday morning's first practice session. Showing the difference in horsepower between and 1988, Senna's pole time of 1:25.974 was 2.514 seconds slower than Nelson Piquet's 1987 time of 1:23.460. For the most part, qualifying times in 1988 had either matched or actually beaten the times from the previous year showing advances in engine response, aerodynamics, tyres and suspension. However, on a power circuit such as Monza, the loss of some was very noticeable. The third row of the grid was a surprise, even at this power circuit. Ever since the item was made compulsory for turbo powered cars at the start of the 1987 season, the Arrows team had been experiencing problems with the FIA pop-off valve on their Megatron turbo engines, the problem being that the valve was cutting in too early and the drivers weren't able to exploit the full available power. In 1987 this meant that drivers Derek Warwick and Eddie Cheever struggled to keep up with their turbocharged rivals. In 1988 it meant they were often only as fast as the leading atmos, and often they were in fact slower, even on noted power circuits such as Silverstone and Hockenheim which should have suited their turbo power. The team's engine guru Heini Mader had finally solved the pop-off valve problem (which turned out to be