1993 Portuguese Grand Prix
Race 14 of 16 in the 1993 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date 26 September 1993
Official name XXII Grande Premio de Portugal
Location Autódromo do Estoril
Estoril, Portugal
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.349 km (2.703 miles)
Distance 71 laps, 308.779 km (191.913 miles)
Weather Dry, sunny, windy
Pole position
Driver Williams-Renault
Time 1:11.494
Fastest lap
Driver United Kingdom Damon Hill Williams-Renault
Time 1:14.859 on lap 68
Podium
First Benetton-Ford
Second Williams-Renault
Third Williams-Renault
Lap leaders

The 1993 Portuguese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Estoril on 26 September 1993. It was the fourteenth race of the 1993 Formula One World Championship.

The 71-lap race was won by German driver Michael Schumacher, driving a Benetton-Ford. Frenchman Alain Prost finished second in his Williams-Renault, a result which secured him his fourth Drivers' Championship. Prost's British teammate Damon Hill finished third, having taken pole position before stalling on the dummy grid and having to start from the back.

The BMS Scuderia Italia team withdrew from the championship after this race.

Background

In between the Italian and Portuguese Grands Prix, Michael Andretti left Formula One to return to the United States, his McLaren seat being taken by Mika Häkkinen. On the Friday before the Portuguese race, Alain Prost announced his retirement from Formula One at the end of the season, with Ayrton Senna set to take his place at Williams alongside Damon Hill.[1]

Qualifying report

Once again, the Williams-Renaults filled the front row of the grid, but on this occasion Hill took pole position from Prost by just under 0.2 seconds. Häkkinen was third in the McLaren, surprisingly ahead of teammate Senna by just under 0.05 seconds, with Jean Alesi fifth in the Ferrari and Michael Schumacher sixth in the Benetton. Riccardo Patrese was seventh in the second Benetton and Gerhard Berger eighth in the second Ferrari, with Derek Warwick in the Footwork and Mark Blundell in the Ligier completing the top ten.

Qualifying classification

PosNoDriverConstructorQ1Q2Gap
1 0 United Kingdom Damon Hill Williams-Renault 1:12.290 1:11.494
2 2 France Alain Prost Williams-Renault 1:11.683 1:12.762 +0.189
3 7 Finland Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Ford 1:12.956 1:12.443 +0.949
4 8 Brazil Ayrton Senna McLaren-Ford 1:12.954 1:12.491 +0.997
5 27 France Jean Alesi Ferrari 1:13.682 1:13.101 +1.607
6 5 Germany Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 1:13.403 1:14.135 +1.909
7 6 Italy Riccardo Patrese Benetton-Ford 1:14.206 1:13.863 +2.369
8 28 Austria Gerhard Berger Ferrari 1:14.159 1:13.933 +2.439
9 9 United Kingdom Derek Warwick Footwork-Mugen-Honda 1:15.200 1:14.388 +2.894
10 26 United Kingdom Mark Blundell Ligier-Renault 1:14.591 1:14.577 +3.083
11 25 United Kingdom Martin Brundle Ligier-Renault 1:14.779 1:14.708 +3.214
12 30 Finland JJ Lehto Sauber 1:14.978 1:14.833 +3.339
13 29 Austria Karl Wendlinger Sauber 1:15.016 1:15.070 +3.522
14 12 United Kingdom Johnny Herbert Lotus-Ford 1:15.831 1:15.183 +3.689
15 14 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Hart 1:15.479 1:15.433 +3.939
16 10 Japan Aguri Suzuki Footwork-Mugen-Honda 1:15.968 1:15.491 +3.997
17 4 Italy Andrea de Cesaris Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:16.072 1:15.904 +4.410
18 11 Portugal Pedro Lamy Lotus-Ford 1:17.198 1:15.920 +4.426
19 24 Italy Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 1:15.942 1:16.323 +4.448
20 19 France Philippe Alliot Larrousse-Lamborghini 1:16.777 1:16.144 +4.650
21 3 Japan Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:16.655 1:16.186 +4.692
22 20 France Érik Comas Larrousse-Lamborghini 1:16.417 1:16.998 +4.923
23 15 Italy Emanuele Naspetti Jordan-Hart 1:17.845 1:16.566 +5.072
24 23 Brazil Christian Fittipaldi Minardi-Ford 1:16.651 1:16.864 +5.157
25 21 Italy Michele Alboreto Lola-Ferrari 1:17.778 1:17.118 +5.624
26 22 Italy Luca Badoer Lola-Ferrari 1:19.064 1:17.739 +6.245
Sources:[2][3][4]

Race report

Hill's engine refused to fire on the parade lap and he had to start at the back. At the start, Prost got squeezed out by the McLarens and Alesi, with Alesi getting ahead of the McLarens with Senna ahead of Häkkinen. Alesi led Senna, Häkkinen, Prost, Schumacher and Berger.

The top six stayed together but the Williamses and Schumacher were on a one-stop strategy unlike the McLarens and Ferraris. On lap 20, Senna's engine blew as Alesi, Häkkinen and Schumacher pitted, with Alesi losing out to both. This left Prost leading from Blundell, Hill, Häkkinen, Schumacher and Alesi. Schumacher passed Häkkinen on lap 25 and pulled away. Prost would stop on lap 29 but Schumacher would rejoin ahead. When Hill stopped as well, Schumacher was leading from Prost, Häkkinen, Hill, Alesi and Berger.

On lap 33, Häkkinen crashed into the wall at the last corner. Three laps later, Berger's suspension failed dramatically at the exit of the pitlane, sending him across the start-finish straight, being nearly hit by a Footwork. Blundell crashed from sixth on lap 52 as Prost began to hassle Schumacher. However, second place was enough for Prost to win the championship, so the French driver did not take any risks. Patrese was fifth but he too crashed on lap 64 into the Footwork of Derek Warwick forcing both drivers to retire. Schumacher had a minor off but still just kept his lead. Schumacher won from new World Champion Prost, Hill, Alesi, Wendlinger and Brundle.

With only two more races to go, Prost was the World Champion with 87 points but there was battle for second between Hill, Senna and Schumacher. Hill was second with 62, Senna was third with 53 and Schumacher was fourth with 52. Behind, Patrese was fifth with 20, Alesi was sixth with 13, Brundle was seventh with 12 and Herbert was eighth with 11. In the Constructors Championship, Williams were the World Champions with 149 points but there was a battle for second between Benetton with 72 and McLaren with 60. Ferrari were fourth with 23.

Race classification

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
1 5 Germany Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 71 1:32:46.309 6 10
2 2 France Alain Prost Williams-Renault 71 + 0.982 2 6
3 0 United Kingdom Damon Hill Williams-Renault 71 + 8.206 1 4
4 27 France Jean Alesi Ferrari 71 + 1:07.605 5 3
5 29 Austria Karl Wendlinger Sauber 70 + 1 lap 13 2
6 25 United Kingdom Martin Brundle Ligier-Renault 70 + 1 lap 11 1
7 30 Finland JJ Lehto Sauber 69 + 2 laps 12  
8 24 Italy Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 69 + 2 laps 19  
9 23 Brazil Christian Fittipaldi Minardi-Ford 69 + 2 laps 24  
10 19 France Philippe Alliot Larrousse-Lamborghini 69 + 2 laps 20  
11 20 France Érik Comas Larrousse-Lamborghini 68 + 3 laps 22  
12 4 Italy Andrea de Cesaris Tyrrell-Yamaha 68 + 3 laps 17  
13 14 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Hart 68 + 3 laps 15  
14 22 Italy Luca Badoer Lola-Ferrari 68 + 3 laps 26  
15 9 United Kingdom Derek Warwick Footwork-Mugen-Honda 63 Collision 9  
16 6 Italy Riccardo Patrese Benetton-Ford 63 Collision 7  
Ret 11 Portugal Pedro Lamy Lotus-Ford 61 Spun off 18  
Ret 12 United Kingdom Johnny Herbert Lotus-Ford 60 Spun off 14  
Ret 26 United Kingdom Mark Blundell Ligier-Renault 51 Collision 10  
Ret 21 Italy Michele Alboreto Lola-Ferrari 38 Gearbox 25  
Ret 28 Austria Gerhard Berger Ferrari 35 Suspension/accident 8  
Ret 7 Finland Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Ford 32 Accident 3  
Ret 10 Japan Aguri Suzuki Footwork-Mugen-Honda 27 Gearbox 16  
Ret 8 Brazil Ayrton Senna McLaren-Ford 19 Engine 4  
Ret 3 Japan Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 12 Spun off 21  
Ret 15 Italy Emanuele Naspetti Jordan-Hart 8 Engine 23  
Source:[5]

Championship standings after the race

  • Bold text indicates the World Champions.
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

  1. Henry, Alan (25 September 1993). "Prost quits, Senna shifts, Hill stays". The Guardian. London. p. 21.
  2. "Portuguese Grand Prix – Qualifying 1". Formula1.com. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  3. "Portuguese Grand Prix – Qualifying 2". Formula1.com. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  4. "1993 Portuguese Grand Prix Classification Qualifying". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  5. "1993 Portuguese Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 2 December 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  6. 1 2 "Portugal 1993 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
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