1993 South African Grand Prix

The 1993 South African Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami on 14 March 1993. The race, contested over 72 laps, was the first race of the 1993 FIA Formula One World Championship and was won from pole position by Alain Prost, driving a Williams-Renault, with Ayrton Senna second in a McLaren-Ford and Mark Blundell third in a Ligier-Renault.

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 (2.658 mi)
Distance 72 laps, 306.792 km (191.386 mi)
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 Alain Prost Williams-Renault
Time 1:19.492 on lap 40
Podium
First
Williams-Renault
Second
McLaren-Ford
Third
Ligier-Renault

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 François Cevert in 1973). Defending 1992 champion Nigel Mansell had moved to race in Indycar 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.

This was the 33rd South African Grand Prix and, as of 2021, the most recent Formula 1 race held in the continent of Africa.

The Swiss Sauber team made their Grand Prix debut and scored their first points with JJ Lehto's 5th place finish.

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

Race
PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
1 2 Alain Prost Williams-Renault 72 1:38:45.082 1 10
2 8 Ayrton Senna McLaren-Ford 72 + 1:19.824 2 6
3 26 Mark Blundell Ligier-Renault 71 + 1 Lap 8 4
4 23 Christian Fittipaldi Minardi-Ford 71 + 1 Lap 13 3
5 30 JJ Lehto Sauber 70 + 2 Laps 6 2
6 28 Gerhard Berger Ferrari 69 Engine 15 1
7 9 Derek Warwick Footwork-Mugen-Honda 69 Spun Off 22  
Ret 25 Martin Brundle Ligier-Renault 57 Spun Off 12  
Ret 21 Michele Alboreto Lola-Ferrari 55 Overheating 25  
Ret 20 Érik Comas Larrousse-Lamborghini 51 Engine 19  
Ret 6 Riccardo Patrese Benetton-Ford 46 Spun Off 7  
Ret 5 Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 39 Spun Off 3  
Ret 12 Johnny Herbert Lotus-Ford 38 Fuel System 17  
Ret 29 Karl Wendlinger Sauber 33 Engine 10  
Ret 14 Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Hart 31 Gearbox 14  
Ret 27 Jean Alesi Ferrari 30 Suspension 5  
Ret 19 Philippe Alliot Larrousse-Lamborghini 27 Spun Off 11  
Ret 24 Fabrizio Barbazza Minardi-Ford 21 Collision 24  
Ret 10 Aguri Suzuki Footwork-Mugen-Honda 21 Collision 20  
Ret 22 Luca Badoer Lola-Ferrari 20 Gearbox 26  
Ret 0 Damon Hill Williams-Renault 16 Collision 4  
Ret 11 Alessandro Zanardi Lotus-Ford 16 Collision 16  
Ret 7 Michael Andretti McLaren-Ford 4 Collision 9  
Ret 15 Ivan Capelli Jordan-Hart 2 Spun Off 18  
Ret 3 Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 1 Transmission 21  
Ret 4 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". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
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