1993 Australian Grand Prix

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1993 Australian Grand Prix
Race 16 of 16 in the 1993 Formula One World Championship
Adelaide (long route).svg
Race details
Date7 November 1993
Location Adelaide Street Circuit
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Course Temporary street circuit
Course length 3.780 km (2.362 miles)
Distance 79 laps, 298.620 km (186.598 miles)
Scheduled distance 81 laps, 306.180 km (191.322 miles)
Weather Sunny
Pole position
Driver McLaren-Ford
Time 1:13.371
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Damon Hill Williams-Renault
Time 1:15.381 on lap 64
Podium
First McLaren-Ford
Second Williams-Renault
Third Williams-Renault
Lap leaders
  • 1993 Australian Grand Prix

The 1993 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Adelaide on 7 November 1993. It was the sixteenth and final race of the 1993 Formula One World Championship.

Contents

The 79-lap race was won by Brazilian Ayrton Senna, driving a McLaren-Ford. In his last race with McLaren before joining Williams for 1994, Senna took pole position and led from start to finish, except during the pit stops. Frenchman Alain Prost, in his final Grand Prix before retirement, finished second in his Williams-Renault, with his British teammate Damon Hill third.

Riccardo Patrese and Derek Warwick also retired from F1 after this race, Patrese having competed in a then-record 256 Grands Prix. Senna's victory would turn out to be the 41st and last victory in his Formula One career, and the last time he would finish on the podium, score points, or even finish a race, since the following season he retired in Interlagos and Aida and died at Imola. It was also the last win for a Brazilian driver until Rubens Barrichello at the 2000 German Grand Prix.

This event was also the last race without refuelling during races (until the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix) as well as the last race for cars with active suspension and cars using electronic driver aids; the FIA banned their use for the next seven seasons, starting in 1994, until the use of three electronic driver aid systems (namely fully-automatic gearboxes, launch control, and traction control) was eventually reintroduced and permitted at the 2001 Spanish Grand Prix, due to the FIA being unable to police the ban, and whether or not teams were secretly cheating by using these systems illegally to gain a competitive advantage, which is what led to their eventual reintroduction until the next six seasons.

By winning this race McLaren surpassed Ferrari as the most successful F1 constructor in number of wins (until the 1995 Canadian Grand Prix). McLaren achieved the final pole position and win for their car entered in the livery of Marlboro as their title sponsor, which also would be the last pole position and win for the team until the 1997 Australian Grand Prix. This race was also the last time the Williams team was sponsored by Canon and the Benetton team was sponsored by Camel before switching to sponsorship by Rothmans and Mild Seven respectively in the 1994 season.

Report

Qualifying

Senna took his first pole position since the 1992 Canadian Grand Prix, in the process breaking a run of 24 straight poles for Williams and preventing that team from achieving a clean sweep for the season. Prost was alongside on the front row, with Damon Hill in the second Williams and Michael Schumacher in the Benetton on the second row, and Mika Häkkinen in the second McLaren and Gerhard Berger in the Ferrari on the third. Berger had his Saturday qualifying times removed after doing 18 laps, above the limit of 12. The top ten was completed by Jean Alesi in the second Ferrari, Martin Brundle in the Ligier, Patrese in the second Benetton, and Aguri Suzuki in the Footwork.

Despite being the fastest qualifier in his Ford V8-powered McLaren, Senna was some 15 km/h (9 mph) slower on the 890m-long Brabham Straight than the Renault V10-powered Williams of Hill.

Race

It took three attempts to get the race underway. On the first attempt, Brundle's Ligier was left on the grid at the start of the formation lap, before Ukyo Katayama stalled his Tyrrell and the start was aborted. On the second attempt, Eddie Irvine missed his grid slot and stalled his Jordan. Again, the start was aborted. Katayama and Irvine were sent to the back of the grid for the third, successful, attempt.

The top four retained their positions into the first corner, while Häkkinen made a bad start and fell behind Berger.

While Senna pulled out a small lead, the two Williams cars and Schumacher stayed together. Schumacher pitted early on lap 15 and rejoined in fourth but his engine failed on lap 20. Senna pitted on lap 24, allowing Prost to lead until his own stop five laps later, while Häkkinen's race went from bad to worse as he had a slow stop, allowing Alesi and Brundle to get ahead of him, before his brakes failed on lap 29.

Senna pitted for the second time on lap 55, by which time the Williamses had already made their second stops, and this enabled the Brazilian to retain a healthy lead. Meanwhile, Alesi got ahead of team-mate Berger while Patrese got ahead of Brundle. On lap 61, Hill tried to catch Prost by surprise for second place. Prost, however, moved over to block, causing Hill to back off and spin, losing time but no places.

Alain Prost during the race in Adelaide on 7 November 1993. Alain Prost during the race in Adelaide on 7 November 1993.jpg
Alain Prost during the race in Adelaide on 7 November 1993.

Senna duly won from Prost by nine seconds, with Hill a further 24 seconds back. Alesi and Berger were fourth and fifth, one lap down, while Patrese was set to finish sixth in his 256th and last race, only for his fuel pressure to drop on the last lap and thus hand Brundle the last point.

Prost thus signed off on his F1 career with his fourth Drivers' Championship and 99 points. Senna's win enabled him to secure second place in the standings with 73 points, just ahead of Hill on 69. Schumacher was fourth with 52, with a big gap to team-mate Patrese in fifth with 20, followed by Alesi (16), Brundle (13), Berger (12), Johnny Herbert (11) and Mark Blundell (10). In the Constructors' Championship, Williams finished with 168 points - four more than their tally from 1992, and double the tally of McLaren (84). Benetton were a close third with 72, while Ferrari (28) edged out Ligier (23) for fourth.

With Prost not defending his title, the Williams cars would once again bear the numbers 0 and 2 for 1994.

Post-race

During the podium celebrations, Senna invited Prost up to the top step, much to the surprise of Prost. The move marked the first easing of tensions in the rivalry between the two men. Senna himself would later call the race 'the end of an era'. As was tradition in Adelaide, a rock concert was held inside the circuit following the race. The concert was performed by Tina Turner as part of her What's Love? Tour (the concert was free for anyone with a ticket to the race). At one stage during the concert, Ayrton Senna appeared on the stage, much to Turner's surprise. As a tribute to the Brazilian driver (and although she had already performed the song), Turner sang again her hit "The Best". [1]

Classification

Qualifying

PosNoDriverConstructorQ1Q2Gap
18 Flag of Brazil.svg Ayrton Senna McLaren-Ford 1:13.3711:14.779
22 Flag of France.svg Alain Prost Williams-Renault 1:13.8071:14.595+0.436
30 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Damon Hill Williams-Renault 1:14.7211:13.826+0.455
45 Flag of Germany.svg Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 1:14.0981:14.494+0.727
57 Flag of Finland.svg Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Ford 1:14.1061:14.596+0.735
628 Flag of Austria.svg Gerhard Berger Ferrari 1:14.194+0.823
727 Flag of France.svg Jean Alesi Ferrari 1:15.3321:15.619+1.961
825 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Martin Brundle Ligier-Renault 1:16.0221:16.710+2.651
96 Flag of Italy.svg Riccardo Patrese Benetton-Ford 1:16.0771:21.076+2.706
1010 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Aguri Suzuki Footwork-Mugen-Honda 1:16.0791:16.567+2.708
1129 Flag of Austria.svg Karl Wendlinger Sauber 1:16.1061:17.132+2.735
1230 Flag of Finland.svg JJ Lehto Sauber 1:16.2861:17.118+2.915
1314 Flag of Brazil.svg Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Hart 1:16.4591:16.723+3.088
1426 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Mark Blundell Ligier-Renault 1:16.8621:16.469+3.098
154 Flag of Italy.svg Andrea de Cesaris Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:17.3501:16.892+3.521
1624 Flag of Italy.svg Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 1:16.9051:17.816+3.534
179 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Derek Warwick Footwork-Mugen-Honda 1:16.919+3.548
183 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:17.0181:18.406+3.647
1915 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Eddie Irvine Jordan-Hart 1:19.7331:17.341+3.970
2012 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Johnny Herbert Lotus-Ford 1:17.6121:17.450+4.079
2120 Flag of France.svg Érik Comas Larrousse-Lamborghini 1:17.7501:17.815+4.379
2223 Flag of France.svg Jean-Marc Gounon Minardi-Ford 1:17.7541:18.035+4.383
2311 Flag of Portugal.svg Pedro Lamy Lotus-Ford 1:19.6281:19.369+5.998
2419 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Toshio Suzuki Larrousse-Lamborghini 1:21.7931:23.167+8.422
Sources: [2] [3] [4]

Race

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
18 Flag of Brazil.svg Ayrton Senna McLaren-Ford 791:43:27.476110
22 Flag of France.svg Alain Prost Williams-Renault 79+ 9.25926
30 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Damon Hill Williams-Renault 79+ 33.90234
427 Flag of France.svg Jean Alesi Ferrari 78+ 1 Lap73
528 Flag of Austria.svg Gerhard Berger Ferrari 78+ 1 Lap62
625 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Martin Brundle Ligier-Renault 78+ 1 Lap81
710 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Aguri Suzuki Footwork-Mugen-Honda 78+ 1 Lap10 
86 Flag of Italy.svg Riccardo Patrese Benetton-Ford 77Fuel system9 
926 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Mark Blundell Ligier-Renault 77+ 2 Laps14 
109 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Derek Warwick Footwork-Mugen-Honda 77+ 2 Laps17 
1114 Flag of Brazil.svg Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Hart 76+ 3 Laps13 
1220 Flag of France.svg Érik Comas Larrousse-Lamborghini 76+ 3 Laps21 
134 Flag of Italy.svg Andrea de Cesaris Tyrrell-Yamaha 75+ 4 Laps15 
1419 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Toshio Suzuki Larrousse-Lamborghini 74+ 5 Laps24 
1529 Flag of Austria.svg Karl Wendlinger Sauber 73Brakes11 
Ret30 Flag of Finland.svg JJ Lehto Sauber 56Accident12 
Ret23 Flag of France.svg Jean-Marc Gounon Minardi-Ford 34Spun off22 
Ret7 Flag of Finland.svg Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Ford 28Brakes5 
Ret5 Flag of Germany.svg Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 19Engine4 
Ret3 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 11Spun Off18 
Ret15 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Eddie Irvine Jordan-Hart 10Accident19 
Ret12 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Johnny Herbert Lotus-Ford 9Suspension20 
Ret24 Flag of Italy.svg Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 5Gearbox16 
Ret11 Flag of Portugal.svg Pedro Lamy Lotus-Ford 0Accident23 
Source: [5]

Championship standings after the race

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References

  1. Ayrton Senna with Tina Turner, 1993
  2. "Foster's Australian Grand Prix – Qualifying 1". Formula1.com. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  3. "Foster's Australian Grand Prix – Qualifying 2". Formula1.com. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  4. "1993 Australian Grand Prix Classification Qualifying". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  5. "1993 Australian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 2 December 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  6. 1 2 "Australia 1993 - Championship • STATS F1". statsf1.com. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
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1993 Japanese Grand Prix
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