The lack of sufficient economic possibilities to guarantee a continuous and effective development of the car becomes an ever greater problem for the German team West Zakspeed Racing of Erich Zakowski, and so the single-seater for the 1988 season, the Zakspeed 881, is nothing more than the yet another reinterpretation of a two-year-old project that has already had in the "871" a simple evolution of the original "861".
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| ZAKSPEED 881, Bern Schneider Jacarepaguà, Brazilian GP 1988 |
The revisiting of the car is still handled by engineers Chris Murphy and Heinz Zollner who in the previous season had taken over from Paul Brown, author of the first Formula 1 Zakspeed. Despite the fact that the new regulation provides for the positioning of the pedal set behind the axis of the front wheels for the newly built frames, Zakowski prefers to make use of the derogation that allows not to respect this rule for those who use the 1987 frames, thus using minimal resources to update the single-seater.
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| ZAKSPEED 881, Bern Schneider Monza, Italian GP 1988 |
Therefore, the wheelbase of 2830mm, the suspension layout with double wishbones in pullrod configuration and the bodywork remain unchanged, with only a few improvements in terms of aerodynamics. The Zakspeed 1500-L4 turbo engine is also unchanged which, despite the reduction in the maximum boost pressure which this season has been set at 2.5 bar, remains one of the most powerful engines of 1988, with 660hp, but also the most heavy of the 1988 engines, not having the budget available to use the new lighter alloys but at the same time more and more expensive, and this increases the weight of the single-seater up to almost 560 kg. This "ballast" of 20 kg compared to the other turbo cars on the grid, often nullifies the power of the engine, relegating the Zakspeed to performance in line with those who use the naturally aspirated engine.
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| ZAKSPEED 881, Piercarlo Ghinzani Montecarlo, Monaco GP 1988 |
The limited budget also affects the choice of drivers with Zakowski forced to let two good drivers like Brundle and Danner leave to replace them with two "paying" drivers, the veteran Piercarlo Ghinzani and the rookie Bernd Schneider, who have to constantly fight with the slower cars. An exemplary case is represented by the British Grand Prix raced on the Silverstone circuit, the fastest of the season, where the two Zakspeeds suffer the shame of the lack of qualification, unique among the cars equipped with a turbocharged engine, even exceeded in performance by many cars with naturally aspirated engine.
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| ZAKSPEED 881, Piercarlo Ghinzani Montecarlo, Monaco GP 1988 |
At the end of the season, the German team mercilessly finishes last in the constructors' classification, collecting 17 missed qualifications and 10 retirements against the only five times in which the cars have crossed the finish line. The series of missed qualifications and the lack of results has a disastrous consequence for the German team, which will find itself in the crowded 1989 championship having to pass from the infirmary of the "notorious" pre-qualifications.
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