Circuit of the past · Detroit

Detroit

Grand Prix years
1982–1988
Grands Prix held
7
Lap length
4.023 km
Corners
22
Type
Street circuit

About the circuit

The streets of Motor City

The track was laid out through the streets of downtown Detroit, around the Renaissance Center towers. Slow, bumpy and full of right-angle corners, it was punishing for cars and drivers alike. John Watson won the first race, in 1982, from seventeenth on the grid, and in 1983 Michele Alboreto gave Tyrrell the team’s last ever win here.

Senna’s three wins

Ayrton Senna won in Detroit three years in a row, from 1986 to 1988 — in 1987 in a Lotus with active suspension. After 1988 the American round moved to Phoenix.

Championship races
7 — from 1982 to 1988, all of them the Detroit Grand Prix
First race
6 June 1982 — John Watson, from 17th on the grid
Most wins
Ayrton Senna — 3, in a row in 1986–1988
Last race
19 June 1988 — Ayrton Senna

Layouts by year

19821 race · 4.168 km · 24 turns
1983–19886 races · 4.023 km · 22 turns

Winners

1988Ayrton SennaMcLarenfrom P1
1987Ayrton SennaLotusfrom P2
1986Ayrton SennaLotusfrom P1
1985Keke RosbergWilliamsfrom P5
1984Nelson PiquetBrabhamfrom P1
1983Michele AlboretoTyrrellfrom P6
1982John WatsonMcLarenfrom P17

Records

Lap record1:40.464Ayrton Senna · 1987
Most wins3Ayrton Senna
First Grand Prix1982John Watson
Races held7in the World Championship since 1982

The lap record is per circuit layout. Calculated by Gridlap from f1db history and the season’s results