The 1993 San Marino Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Imola on 25 April 1993. It was the fourth race of the 1993 Formula One World Championship.
The 61-lap race was won by Frenchman Alain Prost, driving a Williams-Renault, after he started from pole position. Prost's British teammate, Damon Hill, led the early stages of the race before suffering a brake failure. German Michael Schumacher finished second in a Benetton-Ford, with another Briton, Martin Brundle, third in a Ligier-Renault.
Qualifying report Alain Prost maintained his record of taking pole position for every race in 1993, beating Williams teammate Damon Hill by just under a tenth of a second. Michael Schumacher was third in his Benetton, albeit 1.8 seconds behind Prost, with Ayrton Senna fourth in his McLaren. Less than two-tenths of a second separated the drivers from fifth to eleventh: Karl Wendlinger in the Sauber, Michael Andretti in the second McLaren, Mark Blundell in the Ligier, the two Ferraris of Gerhard Berger and Jean Alesi, Martin Brundle in the second Ligier, and Riccardo Patrese in the second Benetton. The non-qualifier was Michele Alboreto in the Lola.
Qualifying classification Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap 1 2 Alain Prost Williams-Renault 1:22.788 1:22.070 2 0 Damon Hill Williams-Renault 1:22.540 1:22.168 +0.098 3 5 Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 1:23.988 1:23.919 +1.849 4 8 Ayrton Senna McLaren-Ford 1:24.042 1:24.007 +1.937 5 29 Karl Wendlinger Sauber 1:25.789 1:24.720 +2.650 6 7 Michael Andretti McLaren-Ford — 1:24.793 +2.723 7 26 Mark Blundell Ligier-Renault 1:25.405 1:24.804 +2.734 8 28 Gerhard Berger Ferrari 1:24.822 1:25.161 +2.752 9 27 Jean Alesi Ferrari 1:24.906 1:24.829 +2.759 10 25 Martin Brundle Ligier-Renault 1:26.181 1:24.893 +2.823 11 6 Riccardo Patrese Benetton-Ford 1:24.916 1:24.896 +2.826 12 12 Johnny Herbert Lotus-Ford 1:25.742 1:25.115 +3.045 13 14 Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Hart 1:26.142 1:25.169 +3.099 14 19 Philippe Alliot Larrousse-Lamborghini 1:25.482 1:25.629 +3.412 15 9 Derek Warwick Footwork-Mugen-Honda 1:25.971 1:25.901 +3.831 16 30 JJ Lehto Sauber 1:25.941 1:26.358 +3.871 17 20 Érik Comas Larrousse-Lamborghini 1:26.947 1:26.279 +4.209 18 4 Andrea de Cesaris Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:27.312 1:26.429 +4.359 19 15 Thierry Boutsen Jordan-Hart 1:26.810 1:26.436 +4.366 20 11 Alessandro Zanardi Lotus-Ford 1:26.465 1:35.748 +4.395 21 10 Aguri Suzuki Footwork-Mugen-Honda 1:26.707 1:26.657 +4.587 22 3 Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:27.569 1:26.900 +4.830 23 23 Christian Fittipaldi Minardi-Ford 1:27.753 1:27.277 +5.207 24 22 Luca Badoer Lola-Ferrari 1:27.371 1:27.388 +5.301 25 24 Fabrizio Barbazza Minardi-Ford 1:28.032 1:27.602 +5.532 21 Michele Alboreto Lola-Ferrari 1:27.801 1:27.771 +5.701 Sources:
Race report At the start, Prost was passed by Hill and Senna (who had already got ahead of Schumacher). Hill led Senna, Prost, Schumacher, Wendlinger and Andretti at the end of lap 1.
Hill pulled away quickly while Senna held up Prost. Prost passed Senna on lap 8 and set off after Hill. It was time for the stops and Senna got ahead of Prost in these stops. On lap 17, Prost audaciously overtook both Hill and Senna at Tosa in the presence of backmarkers. At the same time, Senna got ahead of Hill. Hill didn't last long, retiring with brake failure on lap 21. Both McLarens soon went out, Andretti from fifth on lap 33 by spinning off and Senna from second on lap 43 with a hydraulic failure. In between, Alesi, who took fifth after Andretti's spin retired with clutch failure. After being held up by Suzuki's Footwork, a large battle took place between Lehto and the two Lotuses of Herbert and Zanardi. Zanardi locked his front brakes into the final chicane, overshooting and ripping an oil line. Rejoining the circuit with the rear of the car on fire, he shortly retired on the approach to Tamburello.
Schumacher was now second and Wendlinger was third but Wendlinger retired with engine failure on lap 49, giving third to Brundle. Prost won from Schumacher, Brundle, Lehto, Philippe Alliot and Barbazza.
Race classification Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 2 Alain Prost Williams-Renault 61 1:33:20.413 1 10 2 5 Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 61 + 32.410 3 6 3 25 Martin Brundle Ligier-Renault 60 + 1 lap 10 4 4 30 JJ Lehto Sauber 59 Engine 16 3 5 19 Philippe Alliot Larrousse-Lamborghini 59 + 2 laps 14 2 6 24 Fabrizio Barbazza Minardi-Ford 59 + 2 laps 25 1 7 22 Luca Badoer Lola-Ferrari 58 + 3 laps 24 8 12 Johnny Herbert Lotus-Ford 57 Engine 12 9 10 Aguri Suzuki Footwork-Mugen-Honda 54 + 7 laps 21 11 Alessandro Zanardi Lotus-Ford 53 Spun off/fire 20 29 Karl Wendlinger Sauber 48 Engine 5 8 Ayrton Senna McLaren-Ford 42 Hydraulics 4 27 Jean Alesi Ferrari 40 Clutch 9 23 Christian Fittipaldi Minardi-Ford 36 Steering 23 7 Michael Andretti McLaren-Ford 32 Spun off 6 9 Derek Warwick Footwork-Mugen-Honda 29 Spun off 15 3 Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 22 Engine 22 0 Damon Hill Williams-Renault 20 Brakes 2 20 Érik Comas Larrousse-Lamborghini 18 Engine 17 4 Andrea de Cesaris Tyrrell-Yamaha 18 Gearbox 18 14 Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Hart 17 Spun off 13 28 Gerhard Berger Ferrari 8 Gearbox 8 15 Thierry Boutsen Jordan-Hart 1 Gearbox 19 26 Mark Blundell Ligier-Renault 0 Accident 7 6 Riccardo Patrese Benetton-Ford 0 Spun off 11
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings PosDriverPoints 1 Ayrton Senna 26 2 Alain Prost 24 3 Damon Hill 12 2 4 Michael Schumacher 10 1 5 Mark Blundell 6Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Williams-Renault 36 2 McLaren-Ford 26 1 3 Benetton-Ford 12 1 4 Ligier-Renault 10 2 5 Lotus-Ford 7Source:
References