1993 Formula One season

1993 FIA Formula One World Championship season Previous: 1992 Next: 1994 Index: Races by country | Races by season

The 1993 Formula One season was the 44th FIA Formula One World Championship season. It commenced on March 14, 1993, and ended on November 7 after sixteen races.

Season summary

Williams continued to enjoy a dominant car, with active suspension and traction control systems beyond anything available to the other teams. Alain Prost returned after one year of not driving in Formula One to lead the Williams team. He swept to his fourth driver's title, winning seven races and 13 pole positions. Damon Hill scored his first three victories in succession and finished 3rd overall in the championship.

Ayrton Senna nearly didn't compete this season, and was entered by McLaren on a race-by-race basis initially. He took five wins and 2nd overall in the championship. His drive at Donington, coming from 5th to 1st in less than a lap and almost lapping the field, is regarded by some as his finest hour. Senna's team-mate Michael Andretti was much less successful, scoring only one podium finish and leaving by mutual consent before the end of the season to be replaced by Mika Häkkinen, who would remain with the team for the next eight seasons. McLaren used a supply of Ford HB V8 engines, but as a customer had an engine specification one step behind that of Ford's 'works' team, Benetton, for half the season. They were at a disadvantage for total horsepower compared to Benetton but had a more fuel efficient engine. By Silverstone, however, the teams would have parity in engines. McLaren had advanced TAG electronics, with traction and launch control from the start of the season. Benetton didn't introduce their own traction control system until the 1993 Monaco Grand Prix.

Benetton's Michael Schumacher was the only other driver to win a race that year, taking his second career victory at the Portuguese Grand Prix.

Elsewhere, Ferrari continued to struggle, Ligier enjoyed a brief resurgence with 3 podium finishes, and rookie Rubens Barrichello threatened to finish 3rd at Donington. Eddie Irvine made an infamous debut at the 1993 Japanese Grand Prix, finishing 6th before a post-race fight with race winner Senna, after Eddie repassed him having been lapped. Formula One's most experienced driver Riccardo Patrese retired at the end of the year.

The 1993 season was the first of two consecutive seasons in which the number 1, reserved for the previous season's champion's car, wasn't displayed, as both 1992 champion Nigel Mansell and 1993 champion Alain Prost left Formula One at the end of their championship-winning seasons. Instead, the number 0 was used, with Damon Hill's Williams car displaying the 0 during both years, until the number 1 was re-instated on Michael Schumacher's Benetton in 1995.

Ayrton Senna's victory in the Australian Grand Prix was his last.

Drivers and constructors

The following teams and drivers competed in the 1993 FIA Formula One World Championship.

Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Tyre	No	Driver	Test Driver(s)
Canon Williams	Williams	FW15C	Renault RS5 3.5 V10	G	0	Damon Hill	Kenny Bräck David Coulthard
					2	Alain Prost
Tyrrell Racing Organisation	Tyrrell	020C 021	Yamaha OX10A 3.5 V10	G	3	Ukyo Katayama	n/a
					4	Andrea de Cesaris
Camel Benetton Ford	Benetton	B193 B193B	Ford HBA7 3.5 V8 Ford HBA8 3.5 V8	G	5	Michael Schumacher	Paul Belmondo Perry McCarthy Allan McNish Andrea Montermini Alessandro Zanardi
					6	Riccardo Patrese
Marlboro McLaren	McLaren	MP4/8	Ford HBE7 3.5 V8	G	7	Michael Andretti
						Mika Häkkinen
					8	Ayrton Senna
Footwork Mugen Honda	Footwork	FA13B FA14	Mugen-Honda MF-351 HB 3.5 V10	G	9	Derek Warwick	David Brabham
					10	Aguri Suzuki
Team Lotus	Lotus	107B	Ford HBD6 3.5 V8	G	11	Alessandro Zanardi	n/a
						Pedro Lamy
					12	Johnny Herbert
Sasol Jordan	Jordan	193	Hart 1035 3.5 V10	G	14	Rubens Barrichello	Emanuele Naspetti
					15	Ivan Capelli
						Thierry Boutsen
						Marco Apicella
						Emanuele Naspetti
						Eddie Irvine
Larrousse F1	Larrousse	LH93	Lamborghini 3512 3.5 V12	G	19	Philippe Alliot	n/a
						Toshio Suzuki
					20	Érik Comas
Lola BMS Scuderia Italia	Lola	T93/30	Ferrari 040 3.5 V12	G	21	Michele Alboreto	n/a
					22	Luca Badoer
Minardi Team	Minardi	M193	Ford HBC6 3.5 V8	G	23	Christian Fittipaldi	n/a
						Jean-Marc Gounon
					24	Fabrizio Barbazza
						Pierluigi Martini
Ligier Gitanes Blondes	Ligier	JS39	Renault RS5 3.5 V10	G	25	Martin Brundle	Éric Bernard
					26	Mark Blundell
Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	F93A	Ferrari 041 3.5 V12	G	27	Jean Alesi	Nicola Larini Gianni Morbidelli
					28	Gerhard Berger
Sauber	Sauber	C12	Sauber 2175 3.5 V10	G	29	Karl Wendlinger	n/a
					30	Jyrki Järvilehto

Season review

Grands Prix

Round	Race	Date	Location	Winning Driver	Constructor	Report
1	South African Grand Prix	March 14	Kyalami	Alain Prost	Williams-Renault	Report
2	Brazilian Grand Prix	March 28	Interlagos	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Ford	Report
3	European Grand Prix	April 11	Donington Park	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Ford	Report
4	San Marino Grand Prix	April 25	Imola	Alain Prost	Williams-Renault	Report
5	Spanish Grand Prix	May 9	Catalunya	Alain Prost	Williams-Renault	Report
6	Monaco Grand Prix	May 23	Monaco	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Ford	Report
7	Canadian Grand Prix	June 13	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve	Alain Prost	Williams-Renault	Report
8	French Grand Prix	July 4	Magny-Cours	Alain Prost	Williams-Renault	Report
9	British Grand Prix	July 11	Silverstone	Alain Prost	Williams-Renault	Report
10	German Grand Prix	July 25	Hockenheimring	Alain Prost	Williams-Renault	Report
11	Hungarian Grand Prix	August 15	Hungaroring	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	Report
12	Belgian Grand Prix	August 29	Spa-Francorchamps	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	Report
13	Italian Grand Prix	September 12	Monza	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	Report
14	Portuguese Grand Prix	September 26	Estoril	Michael Schumacher	Benetton-Ford	Report
15	Japanese Grand Prix	October 24	Suzuka	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Ford	Report
16	Australian Grand Prix	November 7	Adelaide	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Ford	Report

1993 Constructors Championship final standings

Pos	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Tyre	Points	Wins	Podiums	Poles
1	Williams-Renault	FW15C	3.5 V10	G	168	10	22	15
2	McLaren-Ford	MP4/8	3.5 V8	G	84	5	9	1
3	Benetton-Ford	B193 B193B	3.5 V8	G	72	1	11
4	Ferrari	F93A	3.5 V12	G	28		3
5	Ligier-Renault	JS39	3.5 V10	G	23		3
6	Lotus-Ford	107B	3.5 V8	G	12
7	Sauber	C12	3.5 V10	G	12
8	Minardi-Ford	M193	3.5 V8	G	7
9	Footwork-Mugen-Honda	FA13B FA14	3.5 V10	G	4
10	Larrousse-Lamborghini	LH93	3.5 V12	G	3
11	Jordan-Hart	193	3.5 V10	G	3
12	Tyrrell-Yamaha	020C	3.5 V10	G
13	Lola-Ferrari	T93/30	3.5 V12	G

1993 Drivers Championship final standings

Pos Driver RSA BRA EUR SMR ESP MON CAN FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR JPN AUS Points 1 Prost 1 Ret 3 1 1 4 1 1 1 1 12 3 12 2 2 2 99 2 Senna 2 1 1 Ret 2 1 18 4 5 4 Ret 4 Ret Ret 1 1 73 3 Hill Ret 2 2 Ret Ret 2 3 2 Ret 15 1 1 1 3 4 3 69 4 Schumacher Ret 3 Ret 2 3 Ret 2 3 2 2 Ret 2 Ret 1 Ret Ret 52 5 Patrese Ret Ret 5 Ret 4 Ret Ret 10 3 5 2 6 5 16 Ret 8 20 6 Alesi Ret 8 Ret Ret Ret 3 Ret Ret 9 7 Ret Ret 2 4 Ret 4 16 7 Brundle Ret Ret Ret 3 Ret 6 5 5 14 8 5 7 Ret 6 9 6 13 8 Berger 6 Ret Ret Ret 6 14 4 14 Ret 6 3 10 Ret Ret Ret 5 12 9 Herbert Ret 4 4 8 Ret Ret 10 Ret 4 10 Ret 5 Ret Ret 11 Ret 11 10 Blundell 3 5 Ret Ret 7 Ret Ret Ret 7 3 7 11 Ret Ret 7 9 10 11 Andretti Ret Ret Ret Ret 5 8 14 6 Ret Ret Ret 8 3 7 12 Wendlinger Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 13 6 Ret Ret 9 6 Ret 4 5 Ret 15 7 13 Järvilehto 5 Ret Ret 4 Ret Ret 7 Ret 8 Ret Ret 9 Ret 7 8 Ret 5 14 Fittipaldi 4 Ret 7 Ret 8 5 9 8 12 11 Ret Ret 8 9 5 15 Häkkinen Ret 3 Ret 4 16 Warwick 7 9 Ret Ret 13 Ret 16 13 6 17 4 Ret Ret 15 14 10 4 17 Alliot Ret 7 Ret 5 Ret 12 Ret 9 11 12 8 12 9 10 2 18 Barrichello Ret Ret 10 Ret 12 9 Ret 7 10 Ret Ret Ret Ret 13 5 11 2 19 Barbazza Ret Ret 6 6 Ret 11 Ret Ret 2 20 Zanardi Ret 6 8 Ret 14 7 11 Ret Ret Ret Ret 1 21 Comas Ret 10 9 Ret 9 Ret 8 16 Ret Ret Ret Ret 6 11 Ret 12 1 22 Irvine 6 Ret 1 23 Martini Ret 14 Ret Ret 7 8 10 Ret 0 24 A Suzuki Ret Ret Ret 9 10 Ret 13 12 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 7 0 25 Badoer Ret 12 DNQ 7 Ret DNQ 15 Ret Ret Ret Ret 13 10 14 0 26 Boutsen Ret Ret 11 Ret 12 11 Ret 13 9 Ret 0 27 de Cesaris Ret Ret Ret Ret DSQ 10 Ret 15 NC Ret 11 Ret 13 12 Ret 13 0 28 Katayama Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 17 Ret 13 Ret 10 15 14 Ret Ret Ret 0 29 Alboreto Ret 11 11 DNQ DNQ Ret DNQ DNQ DNQ 16 Ret 14 Ret Ret 0 30 Lamy 11 Ret 13 Ret 0 31 T Suzuki 12 14 0 — Gounon Ret Ret 0 — Capelli Ret DNQ 0 — Apicella Ret 0 — Naspetti Ret 0 Pos Driver RSA BRA EUR SMR ESP MON CAN FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR JPN AUS Points

Color Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Finished, in points Blue Finished, no points Purple Did not finish (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Blank Did not participate Blank Injured (INJ) Blank Excluded (EX)