The last year of the turbos, which were further regulated to a lower 2.5 bar boost pressure and fuel restricted to 150 litres in an effort to even the playing field with the normally-aspirated machines.

Ayrton Senna had been lured to McLaren to join Alain Prost in a Marlboro McLaren Honda super team. The red and white cars proceeded to decimate the opposition winning all but one of the 16 championship rounds and amassing 199 constructor points. The Brazilian scored eight wins to the Frenchman's seven and took the title by a mere three points.

Their dominance was such that Ferrari's Gerhard Berger was the only non-McLaren winner with a somewhat lucky, triumph at Monza. Nonetheless it was an emotional win for the Tifosi, as the great Enzo Ferrari had just passed away at the age of 90.

Grids were growing with newcomers Rial, Dallara, Coloni and Eurobrun boosting the field to the extent that pre-qualifying had to be introduced.