November 13, 1988 Adelaide Street Circuit | Lap distance 3.780 km
| Pos | Points | No | Driver | Car | Engine | Tyres | Laps | Race Time | Delay | Qualifying | Fastest Lap | |||
| 1 | 9 | 11 | Alain Prost (FRA) | McLaren MP4-4 | Honda RA168-E | Goodyear | 82 | 4.000000.676 | 2 | 7.000000.880 | 1 | 1.000000.216 | (59) | |
| 2 | 6 | 12 | Ayrton Senna (BRA) | McLaren MP4-4 | Honda RA168-E | Goodyear | 82 | 1.000000.463 | +6.000000.787 | 1 | 7.000000.748 | 4 | 1.000000.668 | (39) |
| 3 | 4 | 1 | Nelson Piquet (BRA) | Team Lotus 100T | Honda RA168-E | Goodyear | 82 | 2.000000.222 | +7.000000.546 | 5 | 9.000000.535 | 2 | 1.000000.502 | (62) |
| 4 | 3 | 6 | Riccardo Patrese (ITA) | Williams FW12 | Judd CV | Goodyear | 82 | 4.000000.764 | +0.000 | 6 | 9.000000.925 | 9 | 1.000000.948 | (62) |
| 5 | 2 | 20 | Thierry Boutsen (BEL) | Benetton B188 | Ford Cosworth DFR | Goodyear | 81 | 4.000000.216 | +1 lap | 10 | 0.000 | 7 | 1.000000.793 | (77) |
| 6 | 1 | 16 | Ivan Capelli (ITA) | March 881 | Judd CV | Goodyear | 81 | 8.000000.002 | +1 lap | 9 | 0.000 | 3 | 1.000000.526 | (69) |
| 7 | 23 | Pierluigi Martini (ITA) | Minardi M188 | Ford Cosworth DFZ | Goodyear | 80 | 0.000 | +2 laps | 14 | 1.000000.133 | 14 | 2.000000.888 | (53) | |
| 8 | 22 | Andrea de Cesaris (ITA) | Rial ARC-01 | Ford Cosworth DFZ | Goodyear | 77 | 8.000000.220 | +5 laps | 15 | 1.000000.164 | 5 | 1.000000.677 | (77) | |
| 9 | 26 | Stefan Johansson (SWE) | Ligier JS31 | Judd CV | Goodyear | 76 | 5.000000.230 | +6 laps | 22 | 1.000000.988 | 11 | 2.000000.433 | (73) | |
| 10 | 30 | Philippe Alliot (FRA) | Lola LC88 | Ford Cosworth DFZ | Goodyear | 75 | 7.000000.175 | +7 laps | 24 | 2.000000.211 | 13 | 2.000000.506 | (62) | |
| 11 | 14 | Philippe Streiff (FRA) | AGS JH23 | Ford Cosworth DFZ | Goodyear | 73 | 4.000000.603 | +9 laps | 16 | 1.000000.262 | 10 | 2.000000.288 | (56) | |
| Retirement | ||||||||||||||
| fuel system | 9 | Piercarlo Ghinzani (ITA) | Zakspeed 881B | Zakspeed 881 | Goodyear | 69 | 2.000000.411 | 26 | 2.000000.348 | 25 | 6.000000.100 | (8) | ||
| spun off | 5 | Nigel Mansell (GBR) | Williams FW12 | Judd CV | Goodyear | 65 | 2.000000.789 | 3 | 9.000000.427 | 6 | 1.000000.713 | (55) | ||
| spun off | 19 | Alessandro Nannini (ITA) | Benetton B188 | Ford Cosworth DFR | Goodyear | 63 | 0.000 | 8 | 0.000 | 12 | 2.000000.467 | (61) | ||
| halfshaft | 33 | Stefano Modena (ITA) | Euro Brun ER-188 | Ford Cosworth DFZ | Goodyear | 63 | 3.000000.984 | 20 | 1.000000.856 | 15 | 2.000000.935 | (40) | ||
| engine | 17 | Derek Warwick (GBR) | Arrows A10B | Megatron | Goodyear | 52 | 4.000000.081 | 7 | 0.000 | 21 | 4.000000.064 | (10) | ||
| engine | 18 | Eddie Cheever (USA) | Arrows A10 | Megatron | Goodyear | 51 | 3.000000.430 | 18 | 1.000000.393 | 18 | 3.000000.529 | (41) | ||
| collision | 15 | Mauricio Gugelmin (BRA) | March 881 | Judd CV | Goodyear | 46 | 4.000000.152 | 19 | 1.000000.554 | 19 | 3.000000.727 | (31) | ||
| collision | 2 | Satoru Nakajima (JPN) | Team Lotus 100T | Honda RA168-E | Goodyear | 45 | 4.000000.552 | 13 | 0.000 | 17 | 3.000000.500 | (12) | ||
| engine | 24 | Luis Perez-Sala (ESP) | Minardi M188 | Ford Cosworth DFZ | Goodyear | 41 | 0.000 | 21 | 1.000000.893 | 16 | 3.000000.195 | (40) | ||
| clutch | 36 | Alex Caffi (ITA) | Dallara BMS-188 | Ford Cosworth DFZ | Goodyear | 32 | 0.000 | 11 | 0.000 | 20 | 3.000000.847 | (10) | ||
| collision | 28 | Gerhard Berger (AUT) | Ferrari F1/87-88C | Ferrari 156/88 | Goodyear | 25 | 7.000000.984 | 4 | 9.000000.517 | 8 | 1.000000.900 | (21) | ||
| collision | 25 | René Arnoux (FRA) | Ligier JS31 | Judd CV | Goodyear | 24 | 6.000000.346 | 23 | 2.000000.028 | 24 | 5.000000.095 | (5) | ||
| transmission | 3 | Jonathan Palmer (GBR) | Tyrrell 017 | Ford Cosworth DFZ | Goodyear | 16 | 4.000000.422 | 17 | 1.000000.307 | 22 | 4.000000.726 | (15) | ||
| halfshaft | 32 | Oscar Larrauri (ARG) | Euro Brun ER-188 | Ford Cosworth DFZ | Goodyear | 12 | 1.000000.115 | 25 | 2.000000.213 | 23 | 4.000000.777 | (11) | ||
| collision | 27 | Michele Alboreto (ITA) | Ferrari F1/87-88C | Ferrari 156/88 | Goodyear | 0 | 12 | 0.000 | ||||||
| Not qualified | ||||||||||||||
| -- | 31 | Gabriele Tarquini (ITA) | Coloni FC-188 | Ford Cosworth DFZ | Goodyear | 2.000000.393 | ||||||||
| -- | 4 | Julian Bailey (GBR) | Tyrrell 017 | Ford Cosworth DFZ | Goodyear | 2.000000.529 | ||||||||
| -- | 29 | Pierre-Henri Raphanel (FRA) | Lola LC88 | Ford Cosworth DFZ | Goodyear | 2.000000.733 | ||||||||
| -- | 10 | Bernd Schneider (GER) | Zakspeed 881B | Zakspeed 881 | Goodyear | 3.000000.025 | ||||||||
| Not pre-qualified | ||||||||||||||
| -- | 21 | Nicola Larini (ITA) | Osella FA1L | Osella 890T | Goodyear | 8.000000.440 | ||||||||
