Hungarian GP 1993

Hungarian GP, 1993

The silly season was just starting up with the rumours for 1994 suggesting that Ayrton Senna was in advanced talks with the Williams team. Riccardo Patrese had been released from his Benetton contract for 1994 while Minardi and Scuderia Italia were discussing a merger. The new Simtek and Pacific Grand Prix teams were getting ready for the 1994 season while both McLaren and Benetton were scrapping over Ligier, trying to secure the second supply of Renault engines while Lotus was rumoured to have secured Mugen Honda engines for the 1994 season.

On the race track it was business as usual with Alain Prost on pole from his Williams-Renault team mate Damon Hill. Michael Schumacher was third for Benetton while Ayrton Senna was throwing his McLaren around, complaining of a major aerodynamic problem. Riccardo Patrese was next in his Benetton ahead of Gerhard Berger's Ferrari, the impressive Pierluigi Martini's Minardi, Jean Alesi's Ferrari and the Footworks of Derek Warwick and Aguri Suzuki.

Prost stalled at the start of the parade lap and so had to start the race from the back. Hill, Senna and Berger all took off very quickly and even Patrese was able to get ahead of Schumacher. Alesi and a fast-starting Michael Andretti (McLaren) were chasing after them. Hill was able to drive away from Senna at a rapid rate while the Brazilian was able to get clear of the rest thanks to Berger's stubborn defence of third place. On lap four Schumacher spun back to 10th position. Schumacher spun again later when Andretti's car stopped in front of him.

In second place Senna was struggling with electronic trouble and on lap 18 his McLaren stopped completely. With the mid-race pit stops taking place as well this left Patrese second ahead of Prost. Soon afterwards Alain was called into the pits when it was noticed that his rear wing was behaving oddly. Repairs were needed and this time he dropped seven laps.

Schumacher rejoined and quickly dealt with Patrese but Hill was half a minute ahead and during the second round of pit stops Schumacher went out with an engine problem. In the closing laps second placed Patrese had a spin but as Berger also pitted, the order did not change and the interest centred on the battle for fourth place between Warwick (Footwork), Martin Brundle (Ligier) and Martini (Minardi). Martini later disappeared with a spin. Berger caught them and managed to pass both Brundle and Warwick to grab third behind Hill and Patrese. Warwick was fourth, Brundle fifth and Karl Wendlinger (Sauber) sixth.

POSNODRIVERENTRANTLAPSTIME/RETIREMENTQUAL POS
1 0 Damon Hill Williams-Renault  77 1h47m39.098s  2 
2 6 Riccardo Patrese Benetton-Cosworth  77 1h48m51.013s  5 
3 28 Gerhard Berger Ferrari  77 1h48m57.140s  5 
4 9 Derek Warwick Footwork-Mugen Honda  76   
5 25 Martin Brundle Ligier-Renault  76  13 
6 29 Karl Wendlinger Sauber-Ilmor  76  17 
7 26 Mark Blundell Ligier-Renault  76  12 
8 19 Philippe Alliot Larrousse-Lamborghini  75  19 
9 15 Thierry Boutsen Jordan-Hart  75  24 
10 3 Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha  73  23 
11 4 Andrea de Cesaris Tyrrell-Yamaha  72  22 
12 2 Alain Prost Williams-Renault  70  1 
r 24 Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Cosworth  59 Accident 7 
r 20 Erik Comas Larrousse-Lamborghini  54 Oil Leak 18 
r 11 Alessando Zanardi Lotus-Cosworth  45 Gearbox 21 
r 10 Aguri Suzuki Footwork-Mugen Honda  41 Spin 10 
r 21 Michele Alboreto Lola-Ferrari  39 Engine Overheating 25 
r 12 Johnny Herbert Lotus-Cosworth  38 Spin 20 
r 22 Luca Badoer Lola-Ferrari  37 Spin 26 
r 5 Michael Schumacher Benetton-Cosworth  26 Spin 3 
r 23 Christian Fittipaldi Minardi-Cosworth  22 Accident 14 
r 27 Jean Alesi Ferrari  22 Accident 8 
r 30 JJ Lehto Sauber-Ilmor  18 Engine 15 
r 8 Ayrton Senna McLaren-Cosworth  17 Throttle 4 
r 7 Michael Andretti McLaren-Cosworth  15 Throttle 11 
r 14 Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Hart  0 Accident 16