1993 Portuguese Grand Prix

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.

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

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

Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings

;Constructors' Championship standings

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
• Bold text indicates the 1993 World Champions.

References

Year_of_race = 1993 | Previous_year's_race = 1992 Portuguese Grand Prix | Next_year's_race = 1994 Portuguese Grand Prix

References

1. Henry, Alan. (25 September 1993). "Prost quits, Senna shifts, Hill stays". [[The Guardian]].
2. "Portuguese Grand Prix – Qualifying 1". Formula1.com.
3. "Portuguese Grand Prix – Qualifying 2". Formula1.com.
4. "1993 Portuguese Grand Prix Classification Qualifying". Motorsport Stats.
5. "1993 Portuguese Grand Prix". formula1.com.
6. "Portugal 1993 - Championship • STATS F1".