1993 Belgian Grand Prix

Belgium  1993 Belgian Grand Prix
Race details
Race 12 of 16 in the 1993 Formula One season

Date August 29, 1993
Official name LI Grand Prix de Belgique
Location Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Spa, Belgium
Course Permanent racing facility
6.940 km (4.312 mi)
Distance 44 laps, 305.341 km (189.730 mi)
Weather Sunny and clear
Pole position
Driver France Alain Prost Williams-Renault
Time 1:47.571
Fastest lap
Driver France Alain Prost Williams-Renault
Time 1:51.095 on lap 41
Podium
First United Kingdom Damon Hill Williams-Renault
Second Germany Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford
Third France Alain Prost Williams-Renault

The 1993 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Spa-Francorchamps on August 29, 1993. It was the twelfth round of the 1993 Formula One season. Damon Hill scored a second successive victory. Alain Prost was leading the race and looked set to win, but a miscommunication during his second pitstop cost him time and he dropped behind Hill and Michael Schumacher. Williams' 1-3 finish clinched the Constructors' Championship for them.

Lotus driver Alex Zanardi was withdrawn from the meeting following a huge crash in Friday practice, which ultimately ended his season. In the race itself, his team-mate Johnny Herbert scored the final points ever for Team Lotus with his 5th position. Local driver Thierry Boutsen retired from Formula One following the race. Boutsen suffered an early end to his Formula One career when he retired on the first lap.

Report

Qualifying

In Belgium, the grid was similar to Hungary with Williamses 1-2 in qualifying, Prost taking pole ahead of Hill, Schumacher, Alesi, Senna and Suzuki.

Race

At the start, Senna got ahead of both Schumacher and Alesi with Alesi also getting by Schumacher. The order at the end of lap 1 was: Prost, Senna, Hill, Alesi, Schumacher and Suzuki.

Alesi retired then with suspension troubles on lap 4, releasing Schumacher. Schumacher then set off after Senna and overtook him on the grass during the first round of pitstops. The first stops did not change anything, with Prost leading from Hill, Schumacher and Senna. Suzuki was a distant fifth until his gearbox failed on lap 15. Prost had a slow second stop, which allowed Hill to take the lead. Schumacher then overtook Prost to claim second. Prost smashed the lap record on lap 41 in his chase of Schumacher, but he found out that he was just a tenth quicker and settled for third. Hill won, wrapping up the Constructors Championship for Williams with Schumacher and Prost close behind. Senna was a lonely fourth, while Herbert and Patrese, who spun after his pitstop, took the final points.

Thus, with three-quarters of the season gone, Prost was a full 28 points ahead and could sense the championship, having 81 points to Senna's 53. Hill was third with 48, Schumacher was fourth with 42, Patrese was fifth with 18, Brundle was sixth with 11, Herbert was seventh with 11 and Blundell was eighth with 10. In the Constructors Championship, Williams were World Champions with 129 points ahead of Benetton who were second with 60, McLaren close behind in third with 56 and Ligier a surprising fourth with 21 - their best performance in some years.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap
1 2 France Alain Prost Williams-Renault 1:48.794 1:47.571
2 0 United Kingdom Damon Hill Williams-Renault 1:48.716 1:48.466 +0.895
3 5 Germany Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 1:50.305 1:49.075 +1.504
4 27 France Jean Alesi Ferrari 1:52.159 1:49.825 +2.254
5 8 Brazil Ayrton Senna McLaren-Ford 1:51.385 1:49.934 +2.363
6 10 Japan Aguri Suzuki Footwork-Mugen-Honda 1:51.904 1:50.329 +2.758
7 9 United Kingdom Derek Warwick Footwork-Mugen-Honda 1:52.730 1:50.628 +3.057
8 6 Italy Riccardo Patrese Benetton-Ford 1:51.925 1:51.017 +3.446
9 30 Finland JJ Lehto Sauber 1:52.210 1:51.048 +3.477
10 12 United Kingdom Johnny Herbert Lotus-Ford 1:52.369 1:51.139 +3.568
11 25 United Kingdom Martin Brundle Ligier-Renault 1:53.323 1:51.350 +3.779
12 29 Austria Karl Wendlinger Sauber 1:53.139 1:51.440 +3.869
13 14 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Hart 1:53.235 1:51.711 +4.140
14 7 United States Michael Andretti McLaren-Ford 1:53.554 1:51.833 +4.262
15 26 United Kingdom Mark Blundell Ligier-Renault 1:53.030 1:51.916 +4.345
16 28 Austria Gerhard Berger Ferrari 1:52.689 1:52.080 +4.509
17 4 Italy Andrea de Cesaris Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:53.559 1:52.647 +5.076
18 19 France Philippe Alliot Larrousse-Lamborghini 1:56.822 1:52.907 +5.336
19 20 France Érik Comas Larrousse-Lamborghini 1:56.072 1:53.186 +5.615
20 15 Belgium Thierry Boutsen Jordan-Hart 1:55.382 1:53.465 +5.894
21 24 Italy Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 1:54.968 1:53.526 +5.955
22 23 Brazil Christian Fittipaldi Minardi-Ford 1:56.947 1:53.942 +6.371
23 3 Japan Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:55.271 1:54.551 +6.980
24 22 Italy Luca Badoer Lola-Ferrari 1:57.599 1:54.978 +7.407
25 21 Italy Michele Alboreto Lola-Ferrari 1:57.852 1:55.965 +8.394
26 11 Italy Alessandro Zanardi Lotus-Ford

Race

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 0 United Kingdom Damon Hill Williams-Renault 44 1:24:32.124 2 10
2 5 Germany Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 44 +3.668 3 6
3 2 France Alain Prost Williams-Renault 44 +14.988 1 4
4 8 Brazil Ayrton Senna McLaren-Ford 44 +1:39.763 5 3
5 12 United Kingdom Johnny Herbert Lotus-Ford 43 +1 Lap 10 2
6 6 Italy Riccardo Patrese Benetton-Ford 43 +1 Lap 8 1
7 25 United Kingdom Martin Brundle Ligier-Renault 43 +1 Lap 11  
8 7 United States Michael Andretti McLaren-Ford 43 +1 Lap 14  
9 30 Finland JJ Lehto Sauber 43 +1 Lap 9  
10 28 Austria Gerhard Berger Ferrari 42 Collision 16  
11 26 United Kingdom Mark Blundell Ligier-Renault 42 Collision 15  
12 19 France Philippe Alliot Larrousse-Lamborghini 42 +2 Laps 18  
13 22 Italy Luca Badoer Lola-Ferrari 42 +2 Laps 24  
14 21 Italy Michele Alboreto Lola-Ferrari 41 +3 Laps 25  
15 3 Japan Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 40 +4 Laps 23  
Ret 20 France Érik Comas Larrousse-Lamborghini 37 Fuel pump 19  
Ret 9 United Kingdom Derek Warwick Footwork-Mugen-Honda 28 Engine 7  
Ret 29 Austria Karl Wendlinger Sauber 27 Engine 12  
Ret 4 Italy Andrea de Cesaris Tyrrell-Yamaha 24 Engine 17  
Ret 23 Brazil Christian Fittipaldi Minardi-Ford 15 Crash 22  
Ret 24 Italy Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 15 Spun off 21  
Ret 10 Japan Aguri Suzuki Footwork-Mugen-Honda 14 Gearbox 6  
Ret 14 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Hart 11 Wheel bearing 13  
Ret 27 France Jean Alesi Ferrari 4 Suspension 4  
Ret 15 Belgium Thierry Boutsen Jordan-Hart 0 Gearbox 20  
DNS 11 Italy Alessandro Zanardi Lotus-Ford Injury 26  

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 France Alain Prost 81
2 Brazil Ayrton Senna 53
3 United Kingdom Damon Hill 48
4 Germany Michael Schumacher 42
5 Italy Riccardo Patrese 18

Constructors' Championship standings
Pos Constructor Points
1 United Kingdom Williams-Renault 129
2 United Kingdom Benetton-Ford 60
3 United Kingdom McLaren-Ford 56
4 France Ligier-Renault 21
5 Italy Ferrari 14

References

    Previous race:
    1993 Hungarian Grand Prix
    FIA Formula One World Championship
    1993 season
    Next race:
    1993 Italian Grand Prix
    Previous race:
    1992 Belgian Grand Prix
    Belgian Grand Prix Next race:
    1994 Belgian Grand Prix