1993 South African Grand Prix

The 1993 South African Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami on 14 March 1993. It was the first race of the 1993 Formula One World Championship.

1993 South African Grand Prix
Race 1 of 16 in the 1993 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date 14 March 1993
Official name Panasonic South African Grand Prix[1]
Location Kyalami
Midrand, Transvaal Province, South Africa
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.261 km (2.648 miles)
Distance 72 laps, 306.792 km (190.632 miles)
Weather Very hot and humid, with torrential thunderstorms. Air temp: 33 °C (91 °F)
Pole position
Driver
Williams-Renault
Time 1:15.696
Fastest lap
Driver France Alain Prost Williams-Renault
Time 1:19.492 on lap 40
Podium
First
Williams-Renault
Second
McLaren-Ford
Third
Ligier-Renault
Lap leaders

The 72-lap race was won by Frenchman Alain Prost, driving a Williams-Renault. Prost, returning to Formula One after taking the 1992 season off, took pole position and led the last 49 laps, winning by over a minute from Brazilian Ayrton Senna in a McLaren-Ford. Briton Mark Blundell finished third in a Ligier-Renault.

This was the 33rd South African Grand Prix and, as of 2023, the most recent Formula One race held on the continent of Africa. The race also marked the debut of the Swiss Sauber team, who scored their first points courtesy of Finn JJ Lehto's fifth-place finish.

This was the first time since 1974 that the first race of a season did not feature the defending Drivers' Champion in the field (in 1974, Jackie Stewart was missing as he had retired following the death of his teammate and close friend François Cevert in 1973). Defending 1992 champion Nigel Mansell had moved to race in CART for the season. Since there was no defending Drivers' Champion in the field this season, defending Constructors' Champion Williams could not use No. 1 on either of its cars. Therefore, this was the first race since the 1973 United States Grand Prix that number 0 was used.

Report

The season started off in Kyalami where Prost, in his first race with Williams, took pole ahead of Senna, Schumacher, Hill, Alesi and Lehto, impressing in Sauber's first Grand Prix. At the start, Prost was poor and Senna and Hill (who was already ahead of Schumacher) got ahead of him. Then, Hill spun in front of Prost and dropped well down the field, Prost being forced to back off and let Schumacher through to second. Senna led Schumacher, Prost, Lehto, Wendlinger and Alesi at the end of lap one.

Prost attacked Schumacher, took second on lap 13 and set off after Senna. Five laps later, he attacked into the first corner but Senna took the inside and defended. However, Senna could not do anything when Prost attacked on lap 25 with the inside line. He took the lead and motored off. Schumacher also passed Senna to take second soon after. Both of them pitted unlike Prost, but Senna was quicker and rejoined ahead.

Schumacher was in no mood to stay third and attacked Senna on lap 40. There was minor contact and Schumacher spun off into retirement. Patrese was third but he too spun off on lap 47, leaving Blundell's Ligier third and Fittipaldi's impressive Minardi in fourth. Prost won from Senna, Blundell, Fittipaldi, Lehto (who was lapped twice in early stages of the race) and Berger (he was out but was classified sixth).

Classification

Qualifying
PosNoDriverConstructorQ1Q2Gap
1 2 France Alain Prost Williams-Renault 1:16.804 1:15.696
2 8 Brazil Ayrton Senna McLaren-Ford 1:17.152 1:15.784 +0.088
3 5 Germany Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 1:17.507 1:17.261 +1.565
4 0 United Kingdom Damon Hill Williams-Renault 1:17.732 1:17.592 +1.896
5 27 France Jean Alesi Ferrari 1:18.775 1:18.234 +2.538
6 30 Finland JJ Lehto Sauber 1:19.120 1:18.664 +2.968
7 6 Italy Riccardo Patrese Benetton-Ford 1:19.341 1:18.676 +2.980
8 26 United Kingdom Mark Blundell Ligier-Renault 1:19.688 1:18.687 +2.991
9 7 United States Michael Andretti McLaren-Ford 1:18.903 1:18.786 +3.090
10 29 Austria Karl Wendlinger Sauber 1:20.365 1:18.950 +3.254
11 19 France Philippe Alliot Larrousse-Lamborghini 1:19.350 1:19.034 +3.338
12 25 United Kingdom Martin Brundle Ligier-Renault 1:19.138 1:19.457 +3.442
13 23 Brazil Christian Fittipaldi Minardi-Ford 1:19.825 1:19.285 +3.589
14 14 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Hart 1:20.118 1:19.305 +3.609
15 28 Austria Gerhard Berger Ferrari 1:20.066 1:19.386 +3.690
16 11 Italy Alessandro Zanardi Lotus-Ford 1:20.150 1:19.396 +3.700
17 12 United Kingdom Johnny Herbert Lotus-Ford 1:20.009 1:19.498 +3.802
18 15 Italy Ivan Capelli Jordan-Hart 1:20.841 1:19.759 +4.063
19 20 France Érik Comas Larrousse-Lamborghini 1:21.000 1:20.081 +4.385
20 10 Japan Aguri Suzuki Footwork-Mugen-Honda 1:21.342 1:20.237 +4.541
21 3 Japan Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:20.401 1:20.479 +4.705
22 9 United Kingdom Derek Warwick Footwork-Mugen-Honda 1:20.821 1:20.402 +4.706
23 4 Italy Andrea de Cesaris Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:20.721 1:20.660 +4.964
24 24 Italy Fabrizio Barbazza Minardi-Ford 1:20.994 1:21.195 +5.298
25 21 Italy Michele Alboreto Lola-Ferrari 1:22.843 1:21.893 +6.197
26 22 Italy Luca Badoer Lola-Ferrari 1:24.737 — +9.041

Race
PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
1 2 France Alain Prost Williams-Renault 72 1:38:45.082 1 10
2 8 Brazil Ayrton Senna McLaren-Ford 72 + 1:19.824 2 6
3 26 United Kingdom Mark Blundell Ligier-Renault 71 + 1 lap 8 4
4 23 Brazil Christian Fittipaldi Minardi-Ford 71 + 1 lap 13 3
5 30 Finland JJ Lehto Sauber 70 + 2 laps 6 2
6 28 Austria Gerhard Berger Ferrari 69 Engine 15 1
7 9 United Kingdom Derek Warwick Footwork-Mugen-Honda 69 Spun off 22  
Ret 25 United Kingdom Martin Brundle Ligier-Renault 57 Spun off 12  
Ret 21 Italy Michele Alboreto Lola-Ferrari 55 Overheating 25  
Ret 20 France Érik Comas Larrousse-Lamborghini 51 Engine 19  
Ret 6 Italy Riccardo Patrese Benetton-Ford 46 Spun off 7  
Ret 5 Germany Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 39 Spun off 3  
Ret 12 United Kingdom Johnny Herbert Lotus-Ford 38 Fuel system 17  
Ret 29 Austria Karl Wendlinger Sauber 33 Engine 10  
Ret 14 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Hart 31 Gearbox 14  
Ret 27 France Jean Alesi Ferrari 30 Suspension 5  
Ret 19 France Philippe Alliot Larrousse-Lamborghini 27 Spun off 11  
Ret 24 Italy Fabrizio Barbazza Minardi-Ford 21 Collision 24  
Ret 10 Japan Aguri Suzuki Footwork-Mugen-Honda 21 Collision 20  
Ret 22 Italy Luca Badoer Lola-Ferrari 20 Gearbox 26  
Ret 0 United Kingdom Damon Hill Williams-Renault 16 Collision 4  
Ret 11 Italy Alessandro Zanardi Lotus-Ford 16 Collision 16  
Ret 7 United States Michael Andretti McLaren-Ford 4 Collision 9  
Ret 15 Italy Ivan Capelli Jordan-Hart 2 Spun off 18  
Ret 3 Japan Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 1 Transmission 21  
Ret 4 Italy Andrea de Cesaris Tyrrell-Yamaha 0 Transmission 23  
Source:[2]

Championship standings after the race
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References
  1. "Motor Racing Programme Covers: 1993". The Programme Covers Project. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  2. "1993 South African Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 2 December 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  3. "South Africa 1993 - Championship • STATS F1". statsf1.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
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