# 1993 Belgian Grand Prix

The 1993 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Spa-Francorchamps on 29 August 1993. It was the twelfth race of the 1993 Formula One World Championship.
The 44-lap race was won by Briton Damon Hill, driving a Williams-Renault. Hill's French teammate, Alain Prost, took pole position and led the first 30 laps, before he suffered a slow pit stop and dropped to third behind Hill and German Michael Schumacher in the Benetton-Ford. Hill went on to win by 3.6 seconds from Schumacher with Prost a further 11 seconds back; the 1–3 finish secured Williams their second consecutive Constructors' Championship.
Lotus driver Alessandro Zanardi was withdrawn from the meeting following a huge crash in Friday practice, which ultimately ended his season.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 (after his race ended on the first lap with a gearbox failure).

## Qualifying report

Once again, Alain Prost took pole position in his Williams-Renault with teammate Damon Hill alongside him on the front row of the grid, the two separated on this occasion by nearly nine-tenths of a second. On the second row were Michael Schumacher in the Benetton and Jean Alesi in the Ferrari, and on the third row were Ayrton Senna in the McLaren and Aguri Suzuki in the Footwork. Completing the top ten were Derek Warwick in the second Footwork, Riccardo Patrese in the second Benetton, JJ Lehto in the Sauber and Johnny Herbert in the Lotus.

### Qualifying classification

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

## Race report

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. Herbert's 2 points for 5th place would turn out to be the last points finish for a Team Lotus driver.
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 fourth with 21 – their best performance in some years.

### Race classification

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

## Championship standings after the race

* Bold text indicates the World Champions.
| Pos | Driver | Points |
| 1 | Alain Prost | 81 |
| 2 | Ayrton Senna | 53 |
| 3 | Damon Hill | 48 |
| 4 | Michael Schumacher | 42 |
| 5 | Riccardo Patrese | 18 |
| Source: |||
| Pos | Constructor | Points |
| 1 | Williams-Renault | 129 |
| 2 | Benetton-Ford | 60 |
| 3 | McLaren-Ford | 56 |
| 4 | Ligier-Renault | 21 |
| 5 | Ferrari | 14 |
| Source: |||
* Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.