1993 South African Grand Prix

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	Alain Prost	Williams-Renault
Time	1:15.696
Fastest lap
Driver	Alain Prost	Williams-Renault
Time	1:19.492 on lap 40
Podium
First	Alain Prost	Williams-Renault
Second	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Ford
Third	Mark Blundell	Ligier-Renault
Lap leaders

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.

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 2026, 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

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Q1	Q2	Gap
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
Sources: [2] [3] [4]

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
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: [5]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Alain Prost 10 2 Ayrton Senna 6 3 Mark Blundell 4 4 Christian Fittipaldi 3 5 JJ Lehto 2 Source: [6]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Williams-Renault 10 2 McLaren-Ford 6 3 Ligier-Renault 4 4 Minardi-Ford 3 5 Sauber 2 Source: [6]

• 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. "Panasonic South African Grand Prix – Qualifying 1". Formula1.com. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
3. "Panasonic South African Grand Prix – Qualifying 2". Formula1.com. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
4. "1993 South African Grand Prix Classification Qualifying". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
5. "1993 South African Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 2 December 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
6. "South Africa 1993 - Championship • STATS F1". statsf1.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.

• Henry, Alan (1993). AUTOCOURSE 1993–94. Hazleton Publishing. ISBN   1-874557-15-2.

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