1993 Formula One Season

### Enginesuppliers

Chevrolet, Ferrari, Ford, Hart, Ilmor, Judd, Mugen-Honda, Peugeot, Porsche, Renault, Yamaha

## World Drivers' ChampionshipCurrent Standings

### 1st

 Joey Davies
 30 points

### 2nd

 Ayrton Senna
 28 points

### 3rd

 Damon Hill
 16 points

## World Constructors' Championship Current Standings

### 1st

 Williams–Renault
 44 points

### 2nd

 Ferrari
 34 points

### 3rd

 Benetton–Ford
 14 points

The **1993 Formula One Season** is the 44th and current season of the FIA Formula One World Championship.

It began on 14 March in South Africa and will end on 7 November in Australia after 16 events.

The World Drivers' Champion, Nigel Mansell, will not compete in the 1993 Formula One Season. McLaren are defending the World Constructors' Championship.

With a quarter of the season gone, Joey Davies of Ferrari leads the World Drivers' Championship by two points from Williams–Renault's Ayrton Senna, with Senna's teammate Damon Hill in third place. In the World Constructors' Championship, Williams–Renault lead Ferrari by ten points, with Benetton–Ford in third place a further twenty points back.

## Technical and rules changes

* Rear tyre width reduced from 18 in (457 mm) to 15 in (381 mm) to reduce the grip and so the speed of the cars, overall car width reduced from 2,200 mm (87 in) to 2,000 mm (79 in).
* Rear wing height reduced from 1,000 mm (39 in) to 900 mm (35 in), distance of front end plates from flat bottom increased from 25 to 40 mm (0.98 to 1.57 in), head rest area increased from 80 to 400 cm2 (12 to 62 in2).
* Continuously variable transmission (CVT) banned before ever appearing at a race.
* End of race crowd control measures implemented, 50 km/h (31 mph) speed lane restriction during free practice.
* Fuel used restricted to that available to the general public.

## Drivers and constructors

The following constructors and drivers are competing in the 1993 World Championship. All teams compete with tyres supplied by Goodyear. All engines' displacement is 3.5 litres (210 cubic inches).

### Team changes

* Prior to the season commencing, Modena would go into administration and folded after no buyer could be found for the team.
* Ford ended their cooperation with Cosworth, with Ford Cosworth engines now badged simply as Ford engines.
* World Sportscar Championship participants Sauber Motorsport would join fellow Le Mans entrants Joest Racing in entering Formula One. The Swiss team entered the championship with an exclusive works engine deal with Ilmor. Mercedes-Benz, who backed Sauber's World Sportscar Championship program, formed an alliance with the team, which will carry "Concept by Mercedes-Benz" logos on their flanks.
	+ After losing their engine deal with Ilmor as a result of Sauber's entry into the sport, McLaren signed a 3-year deal with General Motors to supply works engines, badged as Chevrolet.
* Formula 3000 champions Pacific Racing announced their step up to Formula One, renaming the team to Pacific Grand Prix. The team signed a customer engine deal with Ford.
* The Ligier team (renamed Ligier-Prost to reflect Alain Prost's ownership stake) signed a works engine deal with Renault, and thus received the same treatment as Williams by utilizing the same engine specifications.
* Brabham were bought out by a consortium led by Joey Davies and Dutch magazine publishers UnRacedF1. They would soon sign a deal with Lola to manufacture their chassis for the coming season, and later signed a Ferrari customer engine deal. The team also gained exclusive sponsorship from Austrian energy drink Red Bull from Joest Racing.
* Under pressure from Peugeot, Larrousse designed their own chassis for the first time (previous cars were constructed first by Lola, then by Venturi).
* Fondmetal were bought out by Zakspeed Racing, returning the team to Formula One after a 3 year absence. Using the Judd *GV* V10 as a base, Yamaha - who missed 1992 after ending their relationship with Brabham - developed an all-new cylinder head and branded the motor as the *OX10*, for the exclusive use of Zakspeed.
* Jordan signed a 2-year exclusive works engine deal with Hart.
* Minardi signed a customer engine deal with Ford, meaning Lamborghini engines were gone from the sport.
* Days after the final pre-season test at Silverstone, Scuderia Italia announced backing from Chesterfield cigarettes, the brand returning to the sport for the first time since sponsoring the Surtees team in 1977.

### Driver changes

1993 saw a major shake-up of drivers, especially among the top teams. Across the grid a number of experienced drivers retired or moved to other series and new faces emerged.

* There was controversy over where Michael Schumacher would drive in 1993. Schumacher had a contract to remain at McLaren for 1993, but shortly after announcing their entry into the sport in April 1992, Sauber announced that Schumacher would drive for them in 1993. Schumacher had an agreement with Mercedes after they released him in 1991 to make his Formula One debut, that should they enter Formula One, they would have the first right of refusal to his services. Sauber exercised this right, due to their status as a Mercedes partner. It emerged that Schumacher's deal at McLaren was dependent on the Mercedes-Benz involvement, and when Sauber gained the exclusive rights to use Ilmor engines, Schumacher became a free agent. Eventually, Schumacher and his management team negotiated his release from both McLaren and Sauber, signing a lucrative deal to become the number 1 driver at Benetton.
* 1991 World Champion Joey Davies also left McLaren, joining Ferrari to replace his great friend Ayrton Senna. He would be joined by another great friend of his, Gerhard Berger, who was re-joining the team after a two-year stint at Joest.
* McLaren replaced Davies and Schumacher with Mika Häkkinen, who had series of impressive performances during his time at Lotus, and established race winner, Michael Andretti.
* After impressing Frank Williams with superb performances upon replacing Jean Alesi in 1992, Damon Hill was retained at Williams. But, he would have a new partner after 1992 World Champion Nigel Mansell opted to retire from Formula One. Mansell joined Newman/Haas Racing of the Indy Car World Series. Double World Champion Ayrton Senna was signed to replace Mansell.
	+ As the defending World Constructors' Champions, McLaren had the right to use the number 1 on their cars. The absence of the defending World Drivers' Champion Mansell meant that McLaren could not use the number 1 on their cars, so the number 0 was used instead, by Andretti, while Häkkinen used the number 2.
* Footwork kept hold of Derek Warwick, but would employ the services of Aguri Suzuki for 1993, appeasing the considerable Japanese interest in the team.
* After holding out for the opportunity to drive for Williams when he lost his seat at Benetton, Johnny Herbert signed for Lotus. Alessandro Zanardi moved over from Larrousse to replace Mark Blundell.
* Jordan would hand debuts to young Brazilian Rubens Barrichello, and Eddie Irvine, who made a name for himself in the Japanese Formula 3000 series.
* Mark Blundell returned to Brabham, signing a new two-year deal with the team. He was joined by 35-year-old Dutchman Cor Euser, who last drove for Euro Racing in the World Sportscar Championship.
* Philippe Alliot returned to the sport after enjoying some success with Peugeot's World Sportscar Championship program. Peugeot placed him in the first seat at Larrousse, partnering him with Éric Bernard.
* Gianni Morbidelli joined Scuderia Italia , where he was paired with Ivan Capelli.
* After leaving Scuderia Italia, Christian Fittipaldi moved to Minardi, where he would partner Pierluigi Martini.
* Following the retirement of Riccardo Patrese, Joest tempted Heinz-Harald Frentzen away from Jordan. The team completed their all German line-up by handing the second seat to Michael Bartels.
* Former Footwork driver JJ Lehto was joined at the new Sauber team by Karl Wendlinger, who replaced Damon Hill at Jordan for the second half of the 1992 season.
* Pacific's first signing was Finnish rookie Mika Salo, who last competed in the Japanese F3000 series. Former Leyton House driver, Roland Ratzenberger was later announced to drive the second race seat for 1993.
* For their return to the sport, Zakspeed created the second all rookie line-up, leaning on their partnership with engine supplier Yamaha. Former Japanese Formula 3 champion Akihiko Nakaya was joined by compatriot Naoki Hattori.
* Veterans Michele Alboreto and Roberto Moreno would continue their Formula One careers, each signing a one-year deal with Andrea Moda.

#### In-season changes

* Jean Alesi was banned for two races by the FIA Motor Sports Council after an incident with Michael Bartels at the 1993 European Grand Prix. Ligier-Prost were linked with several candidates to replace him, including Nigel Mansell (at the behest of Bernie Ecclestone). French-born Brazilian driver Gil de Ferran, the 1992 British Formula Three champion, was chosen over Olivier Panis to take the seat, beginning at the 1993 San Marino Grand Prix.

## Season calendar

### World Championship schedule

The 1993 calendar features sixteen races.

### Calendar changes

* After a one-year absence, the United States Grand Prix returned to the calendar, as a result of pressure from incoming engine supplier Chevrolet, and an increase in support for Michael Andretti during his F1 tenure. The race would again take place at its spiritual home of Watkins Glen in upstate New York.
* The European Grand Prix returned to the calendar as a second race in Great Britain, but this time at the historic Donington Park circuit.
* The Mexican Grand Prix was removed from the calendar once more, this time due to safety concerns regarding the very bumpy surface of the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez circuit.
* The Portuguese Grand Prix was dropped.
* In December 1992, FISA announced that French Grand Prix was dropped from the calendar as a result of the country's stringent new laws banning tobacco advertising (the *loi Évin*). FISA confirmed in February 1993 that the Grand Prix will definitely take place on July 4.

## Season summary

### Pre-season

One of the first big stories of the pre-season would be Joey Davies leading a consortium with Dutch magazine publishers, UnRacedF1. The flamboyant lifestyle of the shadowy figure behind UnRacedF1, and Davies' own headline grabbing lifestyle, led Ferrari President Luca Cordero di Montezemolo to express concerns that the Brabham team may be a distraction for Davies in the fight for the 1993 championship.

## Season Results

### Points scoring system

Points were awarded to the top six finishers in each race as follows:

### World Drivers' Championship standings

The full results of the **1993** **FIA Formula One World Championship** for Drivers are to be outlined below:

Notes

* † ‐ Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

### World Constructors' Championship standings

The full results of the **1993 FIA Formula One World Championship** for Teams are to be outlined below:

Notes

* † ‐ Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

## Notes

1. ↑ F1 rules and stats 1990-1999. f1technical.net (1 January 2009). Retrieved on July 11, 2011.
2. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Collantine, Keith (3 May 2007). "Banned! Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT)". *F1 Fanatic*. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
3. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Collantine, Keith (15 February 2007). "Banned! Rocket Fuel". *F1 Fanatic*. Retrieved 11 July 2011.