1993 French Grand Prix

1993 French Grand Prix
Race 8 of 16 in the 1993 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date	4 July 1993
Official name	Rhône-Poulenc Grand Prix de France
Location	Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours Magny-Cours, France
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	4.250 km (2.651 miles)
Distance	72 laps, 306.000 km (190.892 miles)
Pole position
Driver	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault
Time	1:14.382
Fastest lap
Driver	Michael Schumacher	Benetton-Ford
Time	1:19.256 on lap 47
Podium
First	Alain Prost	Williams-Renault
Second	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault
Third	Michael Schumacher	Benetton-Ford
Lap leaders

The 1993 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Magny-Cours on 4 July 1993. It was the eighth race of the 1993 Formula One World Championship.

The 72-lap race was won by home favourite Alain Prost, driving a Williams-Renault, after he started from second position. Prost's British teammate Damon Hill finished second, having started from pole position and led the first 26 laps, with German Michael Schumacher third in a Benetton-Ford. With Prost's Brazilian rival Ayrton Senna finishing fourth in his McLaren-Ford, Prost extended his lead in the Drivers' Championship to 12 points.

The race marked Prost's 100th Formula One podium, making him the first driver to achieve the milestone. ^[1] It was also the last Grand Prix for Fabrizio Barbazza. ^[2]

Qualifying report

With local hero Alain Prost taking pole position in all of the previous seven races, there was a massive turnout for qualifying where the Williams were usually dominant. The Williams did take 1-2 in qualifying, but it was Damon Hill who took his first Formula One pole, 0.142 seconds ahead of Prost. The Ligier team, in its home race, filled the second row with Martin Brundle ahead of Mark Blundell, and thus completed a 1-2-3-4 for Renault-powered cars. Ayrton Senna in the McLaren and Jean Alesi in the Ferrari were on the third row, Michael Schumacher in the Benetton and Rubens Barrichello in the Jordan made up the fourth, and the Larrousse team, also contesting its home race, took up the fifth with Érik Comas ahead of Philippe Alliot. For the fourth time in five races, Michele Alboreto came last in his Lola and thus failed to qualify.

Qualifying classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Q1	Q2	Gap
1	0	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	1:15.051	1:14.382
2	2	Alain Prost	Williams-Renault	1:15.725	1:14.524	+0.142
3	25	Martin Brundle	Ligier-Renault	1:16.847	1:16.169	+1.787
4	26	Mark Blundell	Ligier-Renault	1:16.834	1:16.203	+1.821
5	8	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Ford	1:16.782	1:16.264	+1.882
6	27	Jean Alesi	Ferrari	1:16.825	1:16.662	+2.280
7	5	Michael Schumacher	Benetton-Ford	1:16.720	1:16.745	+2.338
8	14	Rubens Barrichello	Jordan-Hart	1:17.345	1:17.168	+2.786
9	20	Érik Comas	Larrousse-Lamborghini	1:18.180	1:17.170	+2.788
10	19	Philippe Alliot	Larrousse-Lamborghini	1:18.230	1:17.190	+2.808
11	29	Karl Wendlinger	Sauber	1:17.650	1:17.315	+2.933
12	6	Riccardo Patrese	Benetton-Ford	1:17.675	1:17.362	+2.980
13	10	Aguri Suzuki	Footwork-Mugen-Honda	1:17.441	1:17.518	+3.059
14	28	Gerhard Berger	Ferrari	1:18.741	1:17.456	+3.074
15	9	Derek Warwick	Footwork-Mugen-Honda	1:19.180	1:17.598	+3.216
16	7	Michael Andretti	McLaren-Ford	1:18.585	1:17.659	+3.277
17	11	Alessandro Zanardi	Lotus-Ford	1:18.331	1:17.706	+3.324
18	30	JJ Lehto	Sauber	1:19.252	1:17.812	+3.430
19	12	Johnny Herbert	Lotus-Ford	1:17.862	1:18.104	+3.480
20	15	Thierry Boutsen	Jordan-Hart	1:18.685	1:17.997	+3.615
21	3	Ukyo Katayama	Tyrrell-Yamaha	1:20.553	1:19.143	+4.761
22	22	Luca Badoer	Lola-Ferrari	1:21.931	1:19.493	+5.111
23	23	Christian Fittipaldi	Minardi-Ford	1:19.968	1:19.519	+5.137
24	24	Fabrizio Barbazza	Minardi-Ford	1:21.113	1:19.691	+5.309
25	4	Andrea de Cesaris	Tyrrell-Yamaha	1:21.024	1:19.856	+5.474
DNQ	21	Michele Alboreto	Lola-Ferrari	1:22.106	1:20.130	+5.748
Sources: [3] [4] [5]

Race report

At the start, the top five stayed the same while Schumacher got ahead of Alesi. Hill led from Prost, Brundle, Blundell, Senna and Schumacher.

The Williams pulled away while Brundle pulled away from Blundell who was holding up Senna and Schumacher. However, this ended when Blundell was pushed off the road and into retirement on lap 21 as he attempted to lap de Cesaris. It was time for the mid-race stops during which Prost got ahead of Hill and Senna and Schumacher closed up on Brundle.

During the second stops, Prost stayed ahead - just by two-tenths while Senna and Schumacher got ahead of Brundle. Schumacher passed Senna when the two were going through traffic and pulled away. Prost won with Hill right behind to make it a Williams 1-2 ahead of Schumacher, Senna, Brundle and Andretti.

Thus, at the halfway stage of the season, Prost led the World Championship with 57 points. Senna was a further 12 points behind in second with 45, Hill was third with 28, Schumacher was fourth with 24, Brundle fifth with 9, Blundell sixth with 6, Herbert seventh with 6 and Lehto eighth with 5. There were no real battles in the Constructors Championship with Williams comfortably leading with 85 points with McLaren 37 points behind in second with 48. Benetton were third with 29 and Ligier were fourth with 15.

By winning the race, Prost became the first Formula One driver to reach 100 career podiums.

Race classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	2	Alain Prost	Williams-Renault	72	1:38:35.241	2	10
2	0	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	72	+ 0.342	1	6
3	5	Michael Schumacher	Benetton-Ford	72	+ 21.209	7	4
4	8	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Ford	72	+ 32.405	5	3
5	25	Martin Brundle	Ligier-Renault	72	+ 33.795	3	2
6	7	Michael Andretti	McLaren-Ford	71	+ 1 lap	16	1
7	14	Rubens Barrichello	Jordan-Hart	71	+ 1 lap	8
8	23	Christian Fittipaldi	Minardi-Ford	71	+ 1 lap	23
9	19	Philippe Alliot	Larrousse-Lamborghini	70	+ 2 laps	10
10	6	Riccardo Patrese	Benetton-Ford	70	+ 2 laps	12
11	15	Thierry Boutsen	Jordan-Hart	70	+ 2 laps	20
12	10	Aguri Suzuki	Footwork-Mugen-Honda	70	+ 2 laps	13
13	9	Derek Warwick	Footwork-Mugen-Honda	70	+ 2 laps	15
14	28	Gerhard Berger	Ferrari	70	+ 2 laps	14
15	4	Andrea de Cesaris	Tyrrell-Yamaha	68	+ 4 laps	25
16	20	Érik Comas	Larrousse-Lamborghini	66	Gearbox	9
Ret	27	Jean Alesi	Ferrari	47	Engine	6
Ret	22	Luca Badoer	Lola-Ferrari	28	Suspension	22
Ret	29	Karl Wendlinger	Sauber	25	Gearbox	11
Ret	30	JJ Lehto	Sauber	22	Gearbox	18
Ret	26	Mark Blundell	Ligier-Renault	20	Spun off	4
Ret	12	Johnny Herbert	Lotus-Ford	16	Spun off	19
Ret	24	Fabrizio Barbazza	Minardi-Ford	16	Gearbox	24
Ret	3	Ukyo Katayama	Tyrrell-Yamaha	12	Gearbox	21
Ret	11	Alessandro Zanardi	Lotus-Ford	9	Suspension	17
Source: [6]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Alain Prost 57 2 Ayrton Senna 45 3 Damon Hill 28 4 Michael Schumacher 24 5 Martin Brundle 9 Source: [7]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Williams-Renault 85 2 McLaren-Ford 48 3 Benetton-Ford 29 4 Ligier-Renault 15 5 Ferrari 9 Source: [7]

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

References

1. "Statistics Drivers - Podiums - Chronology of the record". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 2020-03-26.
2. "Fabrizio BARBAZZA - Involvement". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 2020-03-26.
3. "Rhone Poulenc French Grand Prix – Qualifying 1". Formula1.com. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
4. "Rhone Poulenc French Grand Prix – Qualifying 2". Formula1.com. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
5. "France 1993 – Qualifications". StatsF1. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
6. "1993 French Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 2 December 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
7. "France 1993 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 17 March 2019.

• Henry, Alan (1993). AUTOCOURSE 1993-94. Hazleton Publishing. ISBN   1-874557-15-2.
• Menard, Pierre (2006). The Great Encyclopedia of Formula 1. Chronosports. ISBN   978-2-84707-123-8.

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