Rial of Volker Weidler, his eighth consecutive failure to pre-qualify, but Christian Danner's three points at Phoenix meant both cars would avoid pre-qualifying for the rest of the season. Pre-qualifying classification Qualifying report McLaren took control of qualifying with Ayrton Senna ahead of Alain Prost. Having announced before the previous race in France that he would be leaving McLaren at the end of the season, Prost now announced that he would be joining Ferrari in . Derek Warwick returned after missing the French Grand Prix, qualifying 19th. Still in pain from his karting accident, he had a special seat fitted in his Arrows. Maurício Gugelmin qualified sixth, but his March developed a water-related problem moments before the race, forcing him to start from the pit lane. Qualifying classification Race Race report Prost beat Senna off the line, but the Brazilian was later on the brakes and re-took the lead going into Copse Corner. They were followed by the Ferraris of Nigel Mansell and Gerhard Berger. At the end of lap 4, Berger pulled into the pits with electrical problems, rejoining the race some laps later. On lap 5 the race order was Senna, Prost, Mansell, the Williams pair of Thierry Boutsen and Riccardo Patrese, and Alessandro Nannini in the Benetton. Senna spun out on lap 12 going into Becketts due to gear selection problems, handing Prost the lead from Mansell. Patrese overtook teammate Boutsen for third, before suffering a huge accident on lap 20 when a burst radiator sprayed water onto his rear wheels, causing him to spin off into the tyre barrier at Club Corner. With Prost and Mansell pulling away, Nelson Piquet moved into third in his Lotus on lap 23, ahead of Boutsen, Philippe Alliot in the Larrousse-Lola and Jean Alesi in the Tyrrell. Boutsen dropped back with a rear puncture while Alesi spun off at Club Corner on lap 29, at which point Prost led Mansell by 3.2 seconds, followed by Piquet, Nannini, Gugelmin and Alliot. Alliot retired with an engine failure on lap 40. On lap 42, Mansell developed a puncture on his right front tyre, forcing him to pit. Prost was then delayed during his own pit stop for fresh tyres, but retained a healthy lead over Mansell. Gugelmin retired from fifth with a gearbox failure on lap 55, before Nannini passed Piquet for third on lap 56, pulling away in the closing laps.