British GP 1993

British GP, 1993

The only change to the field was the replacement of Fabrizio Barbazza by Pierluigi Martini at Minardi. Barbazza had run out of sponsorship money and so the team had to look elsewhere for cash. Tyrrell had two of the new 021 chassis ready for Andrea de Cesaris and Ukyo Katayama but Benetton's hopes of using the new pneumatic-valve Ford V8 had gone because of delays at Cosworth and so McLaren was in a better position in "Formula Ford" having its own air-valve system for the Ford HB ready and running. The McLaren problem, however, appeared to be high-speed aerodynamics.

This did not become obvious until Saturday as Friday was ruined by rain with the only moment of note being when Mark Blundell had a huge 150mph crash at Abbey. He emerged unscathed. On Saturday it looked as though Damon Hill was going to get pole but in the last minute Alain Prost stole it and the two Williams lined up ahead of Michael Schumacher's Benetton, Ayrton Senna's McLaren, Riccardo Patrese's Benetton, and Martin Brundle's Ligier. The top 10 was completed by Johnny Herbert (Lotus), Derek Warwick (Footwork), Mark Blundell (Ligier) and Aguri Suzuki (Footwork). Michael Andretti (McLaren) was 10th ahead of the two dismal Ferraris of Jean Alesi and Gerhard Berger.

At the start Hill took the lead but it was Senna who made the big impression as he burst off the line and overtook Schumacher and Prost to grab second place. Hill began to build a big lead as Senna battled to keep Prost behind him. On lap seven Prost finally went ahead and a few laps later Senna dropped behind Schumacher as well. The two Williams drivers swapped fastest laps while further back down the field Berger parked his Ferrari, explaining to the team that it was too dangerous to drive. Gradually Prost closed on Hill and the task was completed when a Safety Car was sent out after Luca Badoer (Scuderia Italia) crashed his evil-handling Lola-Ferrari at Woodcote. When the track becomes too dangerous to drive on, the Safety Car comes out and leads the F1 cars round at a slow pace until the track is cleared.

The race restarted four laps later but on lap 42 Hill's engine blew and Prost was left in the lead. He cruised home to win his 50th Grand Prix victory ahead of Schumacher. Senna was third but his McLaren broke down on the last lap (he was classified fifth) which meant that third place went to Patrese's Benetton with Herbert fourth.

Derek Warwick finished sixth.

POSNODRIVERENTRANTLAPSTIME/RETIREMENTQUAL POS
1 2 Alain Prost Williams-Renault  59 1h25m38.189s  1 
2 5 Michael Schumacher Benetton-Cosworth  59 1h25m45.849s  3 
3 6 Riccardo Patrese Benetton-Cosworth  59 1h26m55.671s  5 
4 12 Johnny Herbert Lotus-Cosworth  59 1h26m56.596s  7 
5r 8 Ayrton Senna McLaren-Cosworth  58 Out Of Fuel 4 
6 9 Derek Warwick Footwork-Mugen Honda  58  8 
7 26 Mark Blundell Ligier-Renault  58  9 
8 30 JJ Lehto Sauber-Ilmor  58  16 
9 27 Jean Alesi Ferrari  58  12 
10 14 Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Hart  58  15 
11 19 Philippe Alliot Larrousse-Lamborghini  57  24 
12r 23 Christian Fittipaldi Minardi-Cosworth  56 Gearbox 19 
13 3 Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha  55  22 
14r 25 Martin Brundle Ligier-Renault  53  6 
nc 4 Andrea de Cesaris Tyrrell-Yamaha  43  21 
r 0 Damon Hill Williams-Renault  41 Engine 2 
r 11 Alessando Zanardi Lotus-Cosworth  41 Spin 14 
r 15 Thierry Boutsen Jordan-Hart  41 Wheel Bearing 23 
r 22 Luca Badoer Lola-Ferrari  32 Electrics 25 
r 24 Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Cosworth  31 Driver Discomfort 20 
r 29 Karl Wendlinger Sauber-Ilmor  24 Accident 18 
r 28 Gerhard Berger Ferrari  10 Suspension  13 
r 10 Aguri Suzuki Footwork-Mugen Honda  8 Spin 10 
r 7 Michael Andretti McLaren-Cosworth  0 Spin 11 
r 20 Erik Comas Larrousse-Lamborghini  0 Drive Shaft 17 
nq 21 Michele Alboreto Lola-Ferrari    26