1993 German Grand Prix Explained

Type:F1
Country:Germany
Grand Prix:German
Official Name:Grosser Mobil 1 Preis von Deutschland
Date:25 July
Year:1993
Race No:10
Season No:16
Course:Permanent racing facility
Location:Hockenheimring
Hockenheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Course Mi:4.251
Course Km:6.815
Distance Laps:45
Distance Mi:191.313
Distance Km:306.675
Weather:Dry
Pole Driver:Alain Prost
Pole Team:Williams-Renault
Pole Country:France
Pole Time:1:38.748
Fast Driver:Michael Schumacher
Fast Country:Germany
Fast Team:Benetton-Ford
Fast Time:1:41.859
Fast Lap:40
First Driver:Alain Prost
First Team:Williams-Renault
First Country:France
Second Driver:Michael Schumacher
Second Team:Benetton-Ford
Second Country:Germany
Third Driver:Mark Blundell
Third Team:Ligier-Renault
Third Country:United Kingdom

The 1993 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Hockenheim on 25 July 1993. It was the tenth race of the 1993 Formula One World Championship.

The 45-lap race was won by Frenchman Alain Prost, driving a Williams-Renault, after he started from pole position. Prost's British teammate Damon Hill led for most of the race, only to be denied his first F1 win by a tyre failure on the penultimate lap. Prost duly took his seventh win of the season, and his 51st and final Grand Prix victory overall, with local driver Michael Schumacher second in a Benetton-Ford and another Briton, Mark Blundell, third in a Ligier-Renault.

Report

The two Williams were 1st and 2nd in qualifying with Prost on pole ahead of Hill, Schumacher, Senna, Blundell and Brundle. Prost had a poor start and was passed by Hill, Schumacher and Senna. Prost reclaimed third from Senna on the run down to the first chicane, which they entered side by side. Exiting the chicane, Senna spun and had to wait for the entire field to pass by before he could rejoin. Fourth placed Brundle then spun as well at the second chicane forcing Prost to take evasive action and bypass part of the track. Both would serve 10-second stop-and-go penalties for this later in the race. At the end of the first lap, Hill led Schumacher, Prost, Blundell, Patrese, Berger and Alesi.

Prost was on a charge, passing Schumacher on lap 6. He closed up on Hill three laps later. Behind, on the next lap, Berger tried to pass Suzuki and they collided, with Suzuki spinning off. Yellow flags were waved and Hill slowed down a little on the next lap. Prost took his chance and passed Hill to lead. He then served his controversial stop-go penalty (which he called a scandal in the press conference later that day) on the next lap and dropped to sixth behind Patrese.

Schumacher was the first of the leaders to pit for tyres, resuming in fourth place, behind Prost and Blundell and just in front of teammate Patrese. He then passed Blundell for third in the first chicane on the next lap, Brundle having dropped back to midfield due to serving his stop-go penalty on lap 12. Senna had worked his way up to seventh but was unable to pass Berger's Ferrari, eventually choosing to pit for tyres, as did first Patrese and Blundell, leaving the order midway through the race: Hill, Prost, Schumacher, Berger, Blundell, Patrese and Senna, neither Williams choosing to come in for tyres in this race. Blundell on new tyres was able to pass Berger for fourth only for the Austrian to repass him on the next straight with some fierce slipstreaming. Blundell eventually passed Berger for good coming into the stadium section, with Patrese and Senna both closing rapidly on the Austrian. Senna gained fifth place, passing both Patrese and Berger on the following lap, with Patrese also able to slipstream past the Ferrari, which was suffering increasingly on its aging tyres. Schumacher then stopped for a third set of tyres dropping him further behind the two Williams cars while still half a minute clear of Blundell in fourth position, who preserved a slight gap to Senna's McLaren in fifth.

In the closing laps Prost closed on Hill, while Schumacher set a string of fastest lap times to close to within 17s of Prost. Senna - still unable to pass Blundell - came in for an unscheduled tyre stop on lap 41, rejoining safely in front of Patrese. Hill's lead was reduced to 8 seconds by the penultimate lap but appeared to be cruising to victory until, coming out of the Ostkurve, his left rear tyre deflated, Hill having to retire his car before reaching the pits. Instead of Hill taking his first victory, Prost took what was to be his final and 51st win in front of a typically delighted Schumacher followed by Blundell, Senna, Patrese and Berger.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap
12 Alain ProstWilliams-Renault1:39.0461:38.748
20 Damon HillWilliams-Renault1:40.2111:38.905+0.157
35 Michael SchumacherBenetton-Ford1:39.6401:39.580+0.832
48 Ayrton SennaMcLaren-Ford1:40.6421:39.616+0.868
526 Mark BlundellLigier-Renault1:40.2791:40.135+1.387
625 Martin BrundleLigier-Renault1:40.9161:40.855+2.107
76 Riccardo PatreseBenetton-Ford1:41.1011:41.292+2.353
810 Aguri SuzukiFootwork-Mugen-Honda1:41.1381:41.220+2.390
928 Gerhard BergerFerrari1:41.2901:41.242+2.494
1027 Jean AlesiFerrari1:41.3041:41.726+2.556
119 Derek WarwickFootwork-Mugen-Honda1:42.9771:41.449+2.701
127 Michael AndrettiMcLaren-Ford1:41.5311:42.468+2.783
1312 Johnny HerbertLotus-Ford1:41.5641:42.970+2.816
1429 Karl WendlingerSauber1:41.9221:41.642+2.894
1511 Alessandro ZanardiLotus-Ford1:41.8581:43.561+3.110
1620 Érik ComasLarrousse-Lamborghini1:42.0861:41.945+3.197
1714 Rubens BarrichelloJordan-Hart1:42.1521:42.025+3.277
1830 JJ LehtoSauber1:42.8451:42.032+3.284
194 Andrea de CesarisTyrrell-Yamaha1:43.4711:42.203+3.455
2023 Christian FittipaldiMinardi-Ford1:42.6581:44.058+3.910
213 Ukyo KatayamaTyrrell-Yamaha1:46.7091:42.682+3.934
2224 Pierluigi MartiniMinardi-Ford1:42.7861:43.353+4.038
2319 Philippe AlliotLarrousse-Lamborghini1:42.9121:42.910+4.162
2415 Thierry BoutsenJordan-Hart1:43.4761:43.007+4.259
2522 Luca BadoerLola-Ferrari1:43.3451:44.641+4.597
2621 Michele AlboretoLola-Ferrari1:44.1981:44.166+5.418
Sources:[1] [2] [3]

Race

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
12 Alain ProstWilliams-Renault451:18:40.885110
25 Michael SchumacherBenetton-Ford45+ 16.66436
326 Mark BlundellLigier-Renault45+ 59.34954
48 Ayrton SennaMcLaren-Ford45+ 1:08.22943
56 Riccardo PatreseBenetton-Ford45+ 1:31.51672
628 Gerhard BergerFerrari45+ 1:34.75491
727 Jean AlesiFerrari45+ 1:35.84110 
825 Martin BrundleLigier-Renault44+ 1 lap6 
929 Karl WendlingerSauber44+ 1 lap14 
1012 Johnny HerbertLotus-Ford44+ 1 lap13 
1123 Christian FittipaldiMinardi-Ford44+ 1 lap20 
1219 Philippe AlliotLarrousse-Lamborghini44+ 1 lap23 
1315 Thierry BoutsenJordan-Hart44+ 1 lap24 
1424 Pierluigi MartiniMinardi-Ford44+ 1 lap22 
150 Damon HillWilliams-Renault43Tyre2 
1621 Michele AlboretoLola-Ferrari43+ 2 laps26 
179 Derek WarwickFootwork-Mugen-Honda42+ 3 laps11 
Ret14 Rubens BarrichelloJordan-Hart34Wheel bearing17 
Ret3 Ukyo KatayamaTyrrell-Yamaha28Halfshaft21 
Ret30 JJ LehtoSauber22Spun off18 
Ret11 Alessandro ZanardiLotus-Ford19Spun off15 
Ret10 Aguri SuzukiFootwork-Mugen-Honda9Collision8 
Ret7 Michael AndrettiMcLaren-Ford4Collision12 
Ret22 Luca BadoerLola-Ferrari4Suspension25 
Ret4 Andrea de CesarisTyrrell-Yamaha1Gearbox19 
Ret20 Érik ComasLarrousse-Lamborghini0Gearbox16 

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
PosDriverPoints
1 Alain Prost77
2 Ayrton Senna50
3 Michael Schumacher36
4 Damon Hill28
5 Riccardo Patrese11
Source: [4]
Constructors' Championship standings
PosConstructorPoints
1 Williams-Renault105
2 McLaren-Ford53
3 Benetton-Ford47
4 Ligier-Renault19
5 Ferrari10
Source:

References

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Mobil 1 German Grand Prix – Qualifying 1. Formula1.com. 5 January 2024.
  2. Web site: Mobil 1 German Grand Prix – Qualifying 2. Formula1.com. 5 January 2024.
  3. Web site: 1993 German Grand Prix Classification Qualifying. Motorsport Stats. 5 January 2024.
  4. Web site: Germany 1993 - Championship • STATS F1. www.statsf1.com. 18 March 2019.