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 | 1:33'26.173 | 1 | 1'41.853 | 1 | 1'46.326 | (33) | |
| 2 | 6 | 11 | Alain Prost (FRA) | McLaren MP4-4 | Honda RA168-E | Goodyear | 51 | 1:33'39.536 | +13.363 | 2 | 1'42.177 | 2 | 1'46.482 | (44) |
| 3 | 4 | 20 | Thierry Boutsen (BEL) | Benetton B188 | Ford Cosworth DFR | Goodyear | 51 | 1:34'02.282 | +36.109 | 10 | 1'44.499 | 3 | 1'47.161 | (22) |
| 4 | 3 | 28 | Gerhard Berger (AUT) | Ferrari F1/87-88C | Ferrari 156/88 | Goodyear | 51 | 1:34'52.887 | +1'26.714 | 3 | 1'43.353 | 10 | 1'48.655 | (25) |
| 5 | 2 | 19 | Alessandro Nannini (ITA) | Benetton B188 | Ford Cosworth DFR | Goodyear | 51 | 1:34'56.776 | +1'30.603 | 12 | 1'44.611 | 5 | 1'47.991 | (34) |
| 6 | 1 | 6 | Riccardo Patrese (ITA) | Williams FW12 | Judd CV | Goodyear | 51 | 1:35'03.788 | +1'37.615 | 11 | 1'44.555 | 7 | 1'48.289 | (32) |
| 7 | 2 | Satoru Nakajima (JPN) | Team Lotus 100T | Honda RA168-E | Goodyear | 50 | 1:33'36.051 | +1 lap | 6 | 1'43.693 | 11 | 1'48.660 | (26) | |
| 8 | 14 | Philippe Streiff (FRA) | AGS JH23 | Ford Cosworth DFZ | Goodyear | 50 | 1:34'12.423 | +1 lap | 18 | 1'46.486 | 16 | 1'49.218 | (30) | |
| 9 | 30 | Philippe Alliot (FRA) | Lola LC88 | Ford Cosworth DFZ | Goodyear | 50 | 1:34'13.146 | +1 lap | 19 | 1'46.521 | 14 | 1'48.913 | (35) | |
| 10 | 15 | Mauricio Gugelmin (BRA) | March 881 | Judd CV | Goodyear | 50 | 1:34'39.853 | +1 lap | 13 | 1'45.138 | 13 | 1'48.780 | (32) | |
| 11 | 27 | Michele Alboreto (ITA) | Ferrari F1/87-88C | Ferrari 156/88 | Goodyear | 50 | 1:34'56.472 | +1 lap | 9 | 1'43.972 | 15 | 1'49.014 | (35) | |
| 12 | 3 | Jonathan Palmer (GBR) | Tyrrell 017 | Ford Cosworth DFZ | Goodyear | 50 | 1:35'04.882 | +1 lap | 16 | 1'45.916 | 6 | 1'48.138 | (41) | |
| 13 | 23 | Pierluigi Martini (ITA) | Minardi M188 | Ford Cosworth DFZ | Goodyear | 49 | 1:33'32.935 | +2 laps | 17 | 1'46.449 | 18 | 1'50.483 | (34) | |
| 14 | 4 | Julian Bailey (GBR) | Tyrrell 017 | Ford Cosworth DFZ | Goodyear | 49 | 1:35'00.170 | +2 laps | 26 | 1'48.589 | 25 | 1'51.638 | (40) | |
| 15 | 24 | Luis Perez-Sala (ESP) | Minardi M188 | Ford Cosworth DFZ | Goodyear | 49 | 1:35'15.890 | +2 laps | 22 | 1'47.134 | 19 | 1'50.553 | (30) | |
| 16 | 29 | Aguri Suzuki (JPN) | Lola LC88 | Ford Cosworth DFZ | Goodyear | 48 | 1:33'28.262 | +3 laps | 20 | 1'46.920 | 21 | 1'50.642 | (31) | |
| 17 | 25 | René Arnoux (FRA) | Ligier JS31 | Judd CV | Goodyear | 48 | 1:33'28.346 | +3 laps | 23 | 1'47.193 | 26 | 1'52.062 | (30) | |
| Retirement | ||||||||||||||
| overheating | 22 | Andrea de Cesaris (ITA) | Rial ARC-01 | Ford Cosworth DFZ | Goodyear | 36 | 1:08'32.764 | 14 | 1'45.558 | 17 | 1'49.478 | (24) | ||
| ignition | 18 | Eddie Cheever (USA) | Arrows A10B | Megatron | Goodyear | 35 | 1:05'33.936 | 15 | 1'45.845 | 12 | 1'48.734 | (24) | ||
| brakes | 21 | Nicola Larini (ITA) | Osella FA1L | Osella 890T | Goodyear | 34 | 1:05'39.688 | 24 | 1'47.547 | 24 | 1'51.570 | (27) | ||
| physical | 1 | Nelson Piquet (BRA) | Team Lotus 100T | Honda RA168-E | Goodyear | 34 | 1:06'05.253 | 5 | 1'43.693 | 9 | 1'48.402 | (23) | ||
| collision | 5 | Nigel Mansell (GBR) | Williams FW12 | Judd CV | Goodyear | 24 | 45'41.367 | 8 | 1'43.893 | 8 | 1'48.317 | (23) | ||
| spun off | 36 | Alex Caffi (ITA) | Dallara BMS-188 | Ford Cosworth DFZ | Goodyear | 22 | 42'31.683 | 21 | 1'46.982 | 22 | 1'50.762 | (22) | ||
| electrical | 16 | Ivan Capelli (ITA) | March 881 | Judd CV | Goodyear | 19 | 35'08.093 | 4 | 1'43.605 | 4 | 1'47.375 | (11) | ||
| spun off | 17 | Derek Warwick (GBR) | Arrows A10B | Megatron | Goodyear | 16 | 36'39.607 | 7 | 1'43.816 | 20 | 1'50.583 | (9) | ||
| physical | 10 | Bernd Schneider (GER) | Zakspeed 881B | Zakspeed 881 | Goodyear | 14 | 27'21.243 | 25 | 1'47.599 | 23 | 1'51.435 | (12) | ||
| Not qualified | ||||||||||||||
| -- | 26 | Stefan Johansson (SWE) | Ligier JS31 | Judd CV | Goodyear | 1'48.716 | ||||||||
| -- | 32 | Oscar Larrauri (ARG) | Euro Brun ER-188 | Ford Cosworth DFZ | Goodyear | 1'49.265 | ||||||||
| -- | 9 | Piercarlo Ghinzani (ITA) | Zakspeed 881B | Zakspeed 881 | Goodyear | 1'49.706 | ||||||||
| -- | 33 | Stefano Modena (ITA) | Euro Brun ER-188 | Ford Cosworth DFZ | Goodyear | 1'49.897 | ||||||||
| Not pre-qualified | ||||||||||||||
| -- | 31 | Gabriele Tarquini (ITA) | Coloni FC-188 | Ford Cosworth DFZ | Goodyear | 1'52.234 | ||||||||
