Kammala jumla mai zuwa: Mutane da yawa sun ji cewa tare da ƙarfin Honda, Piquet ya kamata ya iya daidaitawa da McLarens, ko kuma aƙalla ya zama "mafi kyau na sauran", kodayake sau da yawa ba haka ba ne, kuma a wasu lokuta ma abokin aikinsa Satoru Nakajima wanda mutane da yawa suka yi imanin ba zai kasance a cikin F1 ba idan ba don Honda ba. Lokacin da Piquet ya kare zakara ya tabbatar da ra'ayi na gaba daya cewa dan Brazil zai yi tsere don cin nasara a cikin komai ba tare da mota mai tsayi ba (duk da cewa ya tabbatar a cikin hira ta 2012 a gidan talabijin na Brazil cewa "ba shi da gaskiya" bayan haɗarin da ya cancanta a
1987 San Marino Grand Prix, kuma kawai ya tuka daga 1988 har zuwa lokacin da ya yi ritaya bayan "don kudi"). 100T ya tabbatar da cewa ba babbar mota ce ba duk da cewa shugaban kungiyar Peter Warr ya bayyana a Monaco cewa "Idan McLaren zai iya gina mota mai sauri to lallai ne mu ma za mu iya"; an riga an lalata ƙirar motar da samar da ita ta hanyar bayanan aerodynamic da ba daidai ba yayin gwaji da ci gaba a cikin ramin iska na Comtec na ƙungiyar Maris a Brackley. Bayan Senna ya lashe Lotus a Monaco a 1987, Monaco 1988 ya zama bala'i ga Lotus. Nakajima ya kasa cancanta yayin da Piquet, wanda ya cancanci a matsayi na 11 kimanin daƙiƙa 4.4 a hankali fiye da Senna wanda ya ci nasara McLaren Honda, ya ɗauki zagaye ɗaya kafin ya yi ritaya tare da lalacewar haɗari.