1993 San Marino Grand Prix

Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in 1993

## Lap Leaders

The **1993 San Marino Grand Prix** (officially known as **XIII Gran Premio di San Marino**) was a Formula One motor race held on 25 April 1993 at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari (often referred to as Imola) in Imola, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. It was the fourth race of the 1993 FIA Formula One World Championship, and the 13th running of the San Marino Grand Prix.

Joey Davies won his second consecutive race to delight the *tifosi*, giving him the lead of the World Drivers' Championship in the process. Both Williams-Renault filled the other two places on the rostrum, with Damon Hill ahead of an unwell Ayrton Senna.

## Background

The fallout from the 1993 European Grand Prix, in particular the incident between Jean Alesi and Michael Bartels dominated the discussions between the first two European rounds of the season. On 16 April, Jean Alesi was summoned before the FIA to answer a charge of dangerous driving, in relation to his crash with Michael Bartels on lap 17 that forced both drivers to retire from the race. Alesi claimed that a marshall directed him back onto the track moments before the incident, and that it was visible on his on-board footage. After some deliberation, the FIA announced that Alesi was handed a two-race ban the following day. Team Principal Alain Prost called the ban "outrageous", and on 18 April, Alesi was quoted in *L'Équipe*:

> "J'ai été fait bouc émissaire par la FIA et cette interdiction est une blague ! J'ai été pénalisé pour quelque chose qui n'était pas encore délibéré l'année dernière, Davies et Mansell n'ont rien eu malgré leurs affrontements ?! C'est une putain de blague !"
> (*"I've been made a scapegoat by the FIA and this ban is a joke! I've been penalised for something that wasn't even deliberate last year, Davies and Mansell got nothing despite their clashes…! It's a fucking joke!"*)
>
>

These comments earned a swift rebuke from Max Mosley, who demanded Alesi apologise for the remarks or else have his ban increased. As several drivers reportedly began contacting Ligier-Prost regarding their availability, Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone expressed a preference for Nigel Mansell to return to the sport, as the next two races would not clash with Mansell's ongoing 1993 PPG Indy Car World Series campaign. By 21 April, the three leading names were Mansell, and two Formula 3000 drivers: Olivier Panis, and Gil de Ferran. It was confirmed the following day that Gil de Ferran, the French-born Brazilian driver who won the 1992 British Formula Three Championship, was selected, as talks with Nigel Mansell broke down. Mansell reaffirmed his commitment to current employers Newman/Haas Racing, and in particular concentrating on the 1993 Indianapolis 500. de Ferran was eager to show his worth, stating before the weekend:

> "There is a lot to learn and no time but I am eager to get in the car and see just how fast I will be. Hopefully I can repay the faith in me."
>
>

This would be the final race for the current crop of pre-qualifiers, and Joest needed a strong weekend to avoid returning to pre-qualifying for the first time in several seasons. The PQ for the next four rounds will be determined at the end of this weekend, as the season's first quarter concludes.

In the fortnight since the previous race, BMS teamed up with former Brabham and Fondmetal designer Sergio Rinland to help Scuderia Italia recover from its current struggles. Jean-Marc Gounon continued with development work for the squad at Snetterton. Several more teams would be introducing upgrade packages at the race, with Andrea Moda, BMS, Brabham, Dallara, Ferrari, Lotus, Minardi, Pacific, Sauber, Williams, and Zakspeed all fielding a chassis upgrade. McLaren would benefit from an upgraded Chevrolet engine, and some of the Ford-backed teams (Benetton, Lotus, and Minardi) would also benefit from a power boost. Unsurprisingly, given the teams failure to finish a race in 1993 so far, Ligier-Prost concentrated on reliability prior to the race. Prost revealed that he had personally invested over 22 million French francs (approximately £3m) as a way of allowing his team to retain upgrade tokens.

### Entry list

The full entry list for the 1993 San Marino Grand Prix is outlined below:

## Qualifying

### Qualifying classification

The full qualifying results for the 1993 San Marino Grand Prix are outlined below:

Notes

* **Bold** indicates a driver's best/qualifying time.

## Race

### Results

Notes

* † – Driver(s) did not finish the Grand Prix, but were classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.

## Milestones

* With his entry for this race, Alain Prost ties Nelson Piquet for the second most race entries in history (208).
* Maiden entry and start for Gil de Ferran.
* 100th career start for Satoru Nakajima.
* 50th career start for Éric Bernard, all for Larrousse.
* 20th pole position, 28th fastest lap, and 17th victory for Joey Davies.
	+ With this victory, Davies breaks his tie with Stirling Moss to become the ninth winningest driver in Formula One history.
	+ Davies's 28th fastest lap ties him with Jim Clark for third overall.
* 124th pole position, 116th fastest lap, 113th win for Ferrari as a team, 114th win as a constructor.

## Aftermath

Joey Davies's victory for the team from Maranello sparked scenes of pandemonium across Italy, and the capacity crowd at Imola led the celebrations, with the *tifosi* serenading their new hero. Davies declared:

> "This is what dreams are made of! To win for Ferrari in this manner, in Italy, is just mega!"
>
>

Damon Hill's mood contrasted to the previous round. Hill said he was "pleased" with his performance, then stating:

> "We were no match for [Joey Davies] today but another 6 points feels good and gives me confidence for Barcelona…"
>
>

A visibly unwell Ayrton Senna admitted his third place finish was lucky.

> "I tried to keep pace with [Joey Davies] but after 15 laps I had no more to give and my focus was just on finishing…"
>
>

Alain Prost was happy to finally see the Ligier-Prost team get off the mark.

> "This has been a poor start for us but finally we finish both cars and I got 3 points so I am happy."
>
>

Gil de Ferran's superb performance to finish seventh in his first race, with limited time in the car drew wide praise. de Ferran said of his weekend:

> "This is a dream for me and I want to thank Alain and especially Jackie Stewart for granting me this debut. It feels amazing!"
>
>

Former World Champion Jackie Stewart also praised his latest charge:

> "To get seventh in a car he only drove on Friday is astonishing. It only shows the faith we have is worth it."
>
>

Meanwhile, Sauber left Imola rueing another disappointing Sunday. The team qualified well once more, but another double DNF disheartened team boss Peter Sauber, as it means the team will remain in pre-qualifying until at least the French Grand Prix. Peter Sauber said of the failure to finish:

> "This cannot continue, we need more investment and more focus on reliability to finish."
>
>

## Standings

With his victory, Davies took the lead in the World Drivers' Championship, opening up a two-point lead. A double podium finish was enough for Williams–Renault to remain in the lead of the World Constructors' Championship, with a ten-point lead over Ferrari.

*Only point scoring drivers and constructors are shown.*

## References

1. ↑ https://twitter.com/Gp2Joey/status/1743696897670263186
2. ↑ https://twitter.com/Gp2Joey/status/1743713776149405794
3. ↑ https://twitter.com/Gp2Joey/status/1743977898984304680
4. ↑ https://twitter.com/Gp2Joey/status/1744007499445887108
5. ↑ https://twitter.com/Gp2Joey/status/1744013422335807571
6. ↑ https://twitter.com/Gp2Joey/status/1744099651437969836
7. ↑ https://twitter.com/Gp2Joey/status/1744102154992746876
8. ↑ https://twitter.com/Gp2Joey/status/1744817522073854187
9. ↑ https://twitter.com/Gp2Joey/status/1745016467483939170
10. ↑ https://twitter.com/Gp2Joey/status/1745170166768435702
11. ↑ https://twitter.com/Gp2Joey/status/1745183718640160849
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>"The month in MOTOR SPORT". *Motor Sport*. Teesdale Publishing Company Limited. 1993-06-01.
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 https://twitter.com/Gp2Joey/status/1745183814907814210
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 https://twitter.com/Gp2Joey/status/1745492642874499371
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 https://twitter.com/Gp2Joey/status/1745503562463875197
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 https://twitter.com/Gp2Joey/status/1745837522549158033
17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 https://twitter.com/Gp2Joey/status/1746271958667346348
18. ↑ https://twitter.com/Gp2Joey/status/1746828044549943732
19. ↑ https://twitter.com/Gp2Joey/status/1746857140399096215
20. ↑ https://twitter.com/Gp2Joey/status/1746865941915300300
21. ↑ https://twitter.com/Gp2Joey/status/1746871183495111004
22. ↑ https://twitter.com/Gp2Joey/status/1746886778429026532
23. ↑ https://twitter.com/Gp2Joey/status/1746908294097121301
24. ↑ https://twitter.com/Gp2Joey/status/1746920247725109634
25. ↑ https://twitter.com/Gp2Joey/status/1746918385852559580