October 30, 1988 Suzuka Circuit | Lap distance 5.859 km
| Pos | Points | No | Driver | Car | Engine | Tyres | Laps | Race Time | Delay | Qualifying | Fastest Lap | |||
| 1 | 9 | 12 | Ayrton Senna (BRA) | McLaren MP4-4 | Honda RA168-E | Goodyear | 51 | 6.000000.173 | 1 | 1.000000.853 | 1 | 6.000000.326 | (33) | |
| 2 | 6 | 11 | Alain Prost (FRA) | McLaren MP4-4 | Honda RA168-E | Goodyear | 51 | 9.000000.536 | +3.000000.363 | 2 | 2.000000.177 | 2 | 6.000000.482 | (44) |
| 3 | 4 | 20 | Thierry Boutsen (BEL) | Benetton B188 | Ford Cosworth DFR | Goodyear | 51 | 2.000000.282 | +6.000000.109 | 10 | 4.000000.499 | 3 | 7.000000.161 | (22) |
| 4 | 3 | 28 | Gerhard Berger (AUT) | Ferrari F1/87-88C | Ferrari 156/88 | Goodyear | 51 | 2.000000.887 | +6.000000.714 | 3 | 3.000000.353 | 10 | 8.000000.655 | (25) |
| 5 | 2 | 19 | Alessandro Nannini (ITA) | Benetton B188 | Ford Cosworth DFR | Goodyear | 51 | 6.000000.776 | +0.000 | 12 | 4.000000.611 | 5 | 7.000000.991 | (34) |
| 6 | 1 | 6 | Riccardo Patrese (ITA) | Williams FW12 | Judd CV | Goodyear | 51 | 3.000000.788 | +7.000000.615 | 11 | 4.000000.555 | 7 | 8.000000.289 | (32) |
| 7 | 2 | Satoru Nakajima (JPN) | Team Lotus 100T | Honda RA168-E | Goodyear | 50 | 6.000000.051 | +1 lap | 6 | 3.000000.693 | 11 | 8.000000.660 | (26) | |
| 8 | 14 | Philippe Streiff (FRA) | AGS JH23 | Ford Cosworth DFZ | Goodyear | 50 | 2.000000.423 | +1 lap | 18 | 6.000000.486 | 16 | 9.000000.218 | (30) | |
| 9 | 30 | Philippe Alliot (FRA) | Lola LC88 | Ford Cosworth DFZ | Goodyear | 50 | 3.000000.146 | +1 lap | 19 | 6.000000.521 | 14 | 8.000000.913 | (35) | |
| 10 | 15 | Mauricio Gugelmin (BRA) | March 881 | Judd CV | Goodyear | 50 | 9.000000.853 | +1 lap | 13 | 5.000000.138 | 13 | 8.000000.780 | (32) | |
| 11 | 27 | Michele Alboreto (ITA) | Ferrari F1/87-88C | Ferrari 156/88 | Goodyear | 50 | 6.000000.472 | +1 lap | 9 | 3.000000.972 | 15 | 9.000000.014 | (35) | |
| 12 | 3 | Jonathan Palmer (GBR) | Tyrrell 017 | Ford Cosworth DFZ | Goodyear | 50 | 4.000000.882 | +1 lap | 16 | 5.000000.916 | 6 | 8.000000.138 | (41) | |
| 13 | 23 | Pierluigi Martini (ITA) | Minardi M188 | Ford Cosworth DFZ | Goodyear | 49 | 2.000000.935 | +2 laps | 17 | 6.000000.449 | 18 | 0.000 | (34) | |
| 14 | 4 | Julian Bailey (GBR) | Tyrrell 017 | Ford Cosworth DFZ | Goodyear | 49 | 0.000 | +2 laps | 26 | 8.000000.589 | 25 | 1.000000.638 | (40) | |
| 15 | 24 | Luis Perez-Sala (ESP) | Minardi M188 | Ford Cosworth DFZ | Goodyear | 49 | 5.000000.890 | +2 laps | 22 | 7.000000.134 | 19 | 0.000 | (30) | |
| 16 | 29 | Aguri Suzuki (JPN) | Lola LC88 | Ford Cosworth DFZ | Goodyear | 48 | 8.000000.262 | +3 laps | 20 | 6.000000.920 | 21 | 0.000 | (31) | |
| 17 | 25 | René Arnoux (FRA) | Ligier JS31 | Judd CV | Goodyear | 48 | 8.000000.346 | +3 laps | 23 | 7.000000.193 | 26 | 2.000000.062 | (30) | |
| Retirement | ||||||||||||||
| overheating | 22 | Andrea de Cesaris (ITA) | Rial ARC-01 | Ford Cosworth DFZ | Goodyear | 36 | 2.000000.764 | 14 | 5.000000.558 | 17 | 9.000000.478 | (24) | ||
| ignition | 18 | Eddie Cheever (USA) | Arrows A10B | Megatron | Goodyear | 35 | 3.000000.936 | 15 | 5.000000.845 | 12 | 8.000000.734 | (24) | ||
| brakes | 21 | Nicola Larini (ITA) | Osella FA1L | Osella 890T | Goodyear | 34 | 9.000000.688 | 24 | 7.000000.547 | 24 | 1.000000.570 | (27) | ||
| physical | 1 | Nelson Piquet (BRA) | Team Lotus 100T | Honda RA168-E | Goodyear | 34 | 5.000000.253 | 5 | 3.000000.693 | 9 | 8.000000.402 | (23) | ||
| collision | 5 | Nigel Mansell (GBR) | Williams FW12 | Judd CV | Goodyear | 24 | 1.000000.367 | 8 | 3.000000.893 | 8 | 8.000000.317 | (23) | ||
| spun off | 36 | Alex Caffi (ITA) | Dallara BMS-188 | Ford Cosworth DFZ | Goodyear | 22 | 1.000000.683 | 21 | 6.000000.982 | 22 | 0.000 | (22) | ||
| electrical | 16 | Ivan Capelli (ITA) | March 881 | Judd CV | Goodyear | 19 | 8.000000.093 | 4 | 3.000000.605 | 4 | 7.000000.375 | (11) | ||
| spun off | 17 | Derek Warwick (GBR) | Arrows A10B | Megatron | Goodyear | 16 | 9.000000.607 | 7 | 3.000000.816 | 20 | 0.000 | (9) | ||
| physical | 10 | Bernd Schneider (GER) | Zakspeed 881B | Zakspeed 881 | Goodyear | 14 | 1.000000.243 | 25 | 7.000000.599 | 23 | 1.000000.435 | (12) | ||
| Not qualified | ||||||||||||||
| -- | 26 | Stefan Johansson (SWE) | Ligier JS31 | Judd CV | Goodyear | 8.000000.716 | ||||||||
| -- | 32 | Oscar Larrauri (ARG) | Euro Brun ER-188 | Ford Cosworth DFZ | Goodyear | 9.000000.265 | ||||||||
| -- | 9 | Piercarlo Ghinzani (ITA) | Zakspeed 881B | Zakspeed 881 | Goodyear | 9.000000.706 | ||||||||
| -- | 33 | Stefano Modena (ITA) | Euro Brun ER-188 | Ford Cosworth DFZ | Goodyear | 9.000000.897 | ||||||||
| Not pre-qualified | ||||||||||||||
| -- | 31 | Gabriele Tarquini (ITA) | Coloni FC-188 | Ford Cosworth DFZ | Goodyear | 2.000000.234 | ||||||||
