1993 Italian Grand Prix

{{Infobox Grand Prix race report

|Type = F1

|Grand Prix = Italian

|Country = Italy

|Official name = Pioneer 64º Gran Premio d'Italia

|Date = 12 September

|Year = 1993

|Image = Monza 1976-1993.png

|Race_No = 13

|Season_No = 16

|Location = Autodromo Nazionale di Monza
Monza, Lombardy, Italy

|Course = Permanent racing facility

|Course_mi = 3.604

|Course_km = 5.800

|Distance_laps = 53

|Distance_mi = 191.01

|Distance_km = 307.400

|Weather = Hot and sunny

|Pole_Driver = Alain Prost

|Pole_Country = France

|Pole_Team = Williams-Renault

|Pole_Time = 1:21.179

|Fast_Driver = Damon Hill

|Fast_Country = UK

|Fast_Team = Williams-Renault

|Fast_Time = 1:23.575

|Fast_Lap = 45

|First_Driver = Damon Hill

|First_Country = UK

|First_Team = Williams-Renault

|Second_Driver = Jean Alesi

|Second_Country= France

|Second_Team = Ferrari

|Third_Driver = Michael Andretti

|Third_Country = US

|Third_Team = McLaren-Ford

|Lapchart = {{F1Laps1993|ITA}}

}}

The 1993 Italian Grand Prix (formally the Pioneer 64º Gran Premio d'Italia{{cite web |title=Motor Racing Programme Covers: 1993 |url=http://www.progcovers.com/motor/monza930912.jpg |publisher=The Programme Covers Project |access-date=12 November 2017}}) was a Formula One motor race held at Monza on 12 September 1993. It was the thirteenth race of the 1993 Formula One World Championship.

The 53-lap race was won by British driver Damon Hill, driving a Williams-Renault, after he started from second position. Frenchman Jean Alesi finished second in a Ferrari, while American Michael Andretti finished third in a McLaren-Ford, in his final F1 race before returning to IndyCar. Hill's teammate, Frenchman Alain Prost, took pole position and led until suffering an engine failure with five laps to go, allowing Hill to take his third consecutive victory.

Report

The Williams cars dominated qualifying, locking out the front row of the grid with Alain Prost on pole and Damon Hill alongside him. Jean Alesi took third in his Ferrari; he was joined on the second row by Ayrton Senna in the McLaren. Michael Schumacher in the Benetton and Gerhard Berger in the second Ferrari made up the third row. Further down the grid, Pedro Lamy was making his Grand Prix debut for the cash-strapped Lotus outfit, taking the place of the injured Alessandro Zanardi, while the Jordan team, needing a replacement for Thierry Boutsen following the Belgian's retirement from F1, had decided to evaluate Japanese Formula 3000 driver Marco Apicella, after their test driver Emanuele Naspetti had turned down the opportunity to race.{{fact|date=December 2019}}

At the start, Alesi got ahead of a sluggish Hill and Senna tried to do the same, but there was contact between Hill and Senna, resulting in both drivers dropping back, with Senna ending up in 9th and Hill in 10th. Further back, two separate incidents saw five cars eliminated at the first chicane. In the first incident, the Footworks of Derek Warwick and Aguri Suzuki collided and took each other out. In the second incident, Sauber driver JJ Lehto, who had to start from the back of the grid, took himself and the Jordans of Rubens Barrichello and Apicella out of the race. Apicella's debut, which would also turn out to be his only Grand Prix start, had lasted no more than 800 metres, unofficially making him the driver with one of the shortest careers in Formula One.{{fact|date=December 2019}} Prost led Alesi, Schumacher, Berger, Johnny Herbert and Martin Brundle into lap 2. On lap 4 Schumacher passed Alesi to take second position.

On lap 8, Senna collided with Brundle's Ligier, putting them both out. Prost's championship ambitions received a major boost with Senna's retirement. Johnny Herbert spun off and hit the tyre barriers at Parabolica as he retired from 5th position since Berger pitted for tyres on lap 15, putting Berger back in 5th position but soon retired from 5th position with suspension problems 1 lap later. Hill in the meantime had moved up to fourth place and passed Alesi for third on lap 10, as Blundell in the remaining Ligier like Herbert had clipped the barrier at Parabolica and retired with a left-rear puncture and damaging his left-rear suspension on lap 21 whilst battling Wendlinger for 7th. Before Hill moved up to second on lap 22 when Schumacher's engine failed. At this point, Prost led by nearly 20 seconds, but by lap 48 Hill had reduced this lead to two seconds. Then, on lap 49, five from the end, the Renault engine in Prost's car blew. Hill took his third consecutive win by 40 seconds from Alesi, with Michael Andretti third (achieving his only podium) and Karl Wendlinger, Riccardo Patrese (scoring his final points in F1) and Érik Comas completing the top six.

The Minardis of Pierluigi Martini and Christian Fittipaldi had approached the chequered flag with Fittipaldi closely following Martini. Fittipaldi's left front wheel made contact with his teammate's right rear wheel, and the contact launched Fittipaldi's car into the air. The car completed a back flip before landing back on its wheels and skidded across the line. Neither driver was hurt and both finished the race without losing a position.

This was the Williams team's seventh consecutive victory. Prior to the race weekend, Andretti and McLaren mutually agreed to part ways and that this would be his final race with the team. He would be replaced by the team's test driver, Mika Häkkinen. His final Formula One race returned his best result of the season with his third-place finish. By winning in Italy, Hill became the first Formula One driver to take their first three wins at consecutive Grands Prix, a feat only repeated by Mika Häkkinen, though only Hill won all three races in the same year.

As of 2025, Andretti's podium finish remains the last for an American driver in Formula One.

Classification

=Qualifying=

class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 95%"
PosNoDriverConstructorQ1Q2Gap
1

| 2

| {{flagicon|France}} Alain Prost

| Williams-Renault

| 1:22.163

| 1:21.179

|

2

| 0

| {{flagicon|UK}} Damon Hill

| Williams-Renault

| 1:22.283

| 1:21.491

| +0.318

3

| 27

| {{flagicon|France}} Jean Alesi

| Ferrari

| 1:22.625

| 1:21.986

| +0.807

4

| 8

| {{flagicon|Brazil}} Ayrton Senna

| McLaren-Ford

| 1:23.310

| 1:22.633

| +1.454

5

| 5

| {{flagicon|Germany}} Michael Schumacher

| Benetton-Ford

| 1:23.888

| 1:22.910

| +1.731

6

| 28

| {{flagicon|Austria}} Gerhard Berger

| Ferrari

| 1:23.750

| 1:23.150

| +1.971

7

| 12

| {{flagicon|UK}} Johnny Herbert

| Lotus-Ford

| 1:25.463

| 1:23.769

| +2.590

8

| 10

| {{flagicon|Japan|1947}} Aguri Suzuki

| Footwork-Mugen-Honda

| 1:26.127

| 1:23.856

| +2.677

9

| 7

| {{flagicon|US}} Michael Andretti

| McLaren-Ford

| 1:25.348

| 1:23.899

| +2.720

10

| 6

| {{flagicon|Italy}} Riccardo Patrese

| Benetton-Ford

| 1:26.082

| 1:23.918

| +2.739

11

| 9

| {{flagicon|UK}} Derek Warwick

| Footwork-Mugen-Honda

| 1:24.673

| 1:24.048

| +2.869

12

| 25

| {{flagicon|UK}} Martin Brundle

| Ligier-Renault

| 1:24.608

| 1:24.137

| +2.958

13

| 30

| {{flagicon|Finland}} JJ Lehto

| Sauber

| 1:24.298

| 1:24.419

| +3.119

14

| 26

| {{flagicon|UK}} Mark Blundell

| Ligier-Renault

| 1:25.238

| 1:24.344

| +3.165

15

| 29

| {{flagicon|Austria}} Karl Wendlinger

| Sauber

| 1:25.016

| 1:24.473

| +3.294

16

| 19

| {{flagicon|France}} Philippe Alliot

| Larrousse-Lamborghini

| 1:25.529

| 1:24.807

| +3.628

17

| 3

| {{flagicon|Japan|1947}} Ukyo Katayama

| Tyrrell-Yamaha

| 1:26.300

| 1:24.886

| +3.707

18

| 4

| {{flagicon|Italy}} Andrea de Cesaris

| Tyrrell-Yamaha

| 1:25.482

| 1:24.916

| +3.737

19

| 14

| {{flagicon|Brazil}} Rubens Barrichello

| Jordan-Hart

| 1:26.664

| 1:25.144

| +3.965

20

| 20

| {{flagicon|France}} Érik Comas

| Larrousse-Lamborghini

| 1:26.323

| 1:25.257

| +4.078

21

| 21

| {{flagicon|Italy}} Michele Alboreto

| Lola-Ferrari

| 1:26.287

| 1:25.368

| +4.189

22

| 24

| {{flagicon|Italy}} Pierluigi Martini

| Minardi-Ford

| 1:25.903

| 1:25.478

| +4.299

23

| 15

| {{flagicon|Italy}} Marco Apicella

| Jordan-Hart

| 1:51.300

| 1:25.672

| +4.493

24

| 23

| {{flagicon|Brazil}} Christian Fittipaldi

| Minardi-Ford

| 1:26.135

| 1:25.699

| +4.520

25

| 22

| {{flagicon|Italy}} Luca Badoer

| Lola-Ferrari

| 1:26.049

| 1:25.957

| +4.778

26

| 11

| {{flagicon|Portugal}} Pedro Lamy

| Lotus-Ford

| 1:26.380

| 1:26.324

| +5.145

colspan="7"| Source:{{cite journal|last1=Roebuck|first1=Nigel|last2=Saward|first2=Joe|title=Italian GP: Hill in hot pursuit|url=https://archive.org/details/autosport-1993/page/n17/mode/2up|journal=Autosport|pages=24–37|volume=132|number=11|date=16 September 1993|access-date=3 October 2023|via=Internet Archive}}

=Race=

class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
1

| 0

| {{flagicon|UK}} Damon Hill

| Williams-Renault

| 53

| 1:17:07.509

| 2

| 10

2

| 27

| {{flagicon|France}} Jean Alesi

| Ferrari

| 53

| + 40.012

| 3

| 6

3

| 7

| {{flagicon|USA}} Michael Andretti

| McLaren-Ford

| 52

| + 1 lap

| 9

| 4

4

| 29

| {{flagicon|Austria}} Karl Wendlinger

| Sauber

| 52

| + 1 lap

| 15

| 3

5

| 6

| {{flagicon|Italy}} Riccardo Patrese

| Benetton-Ford

| 52

| + 1 lap

| 10

| 2

6

| 20

| {{flagicon|France}} Érik Comas

| Larrousse-Lamborghini

| 52

| + 1 lap

| 20

| 1

7

| 24

| {{flagicon|Italy}} Pierluigi Martini

| Minardi-Ford

| 51

| + 2 laps

| 22

|  

8

| 23

| {{flagicon|Brazil}} Christian Fittipaldi

| Minardi-Ford

| 51

| + 2 laps

| 24

|  

9

| 19

| {{flagicon|France}} Philippe Alliot

| Larrousse-Lamborghini

| 51

| + 2 laps

| 16

|  

10

| 22

| {{flagicon|Italy}} Luca Badoer

| Lola-Ferrari

| 51

| + 2 laps

| 25

|  

11

| 11

| {{flagicon|Portugal}} Pedro Lamy

| Lotus-Ford

| 49

| Electrical

| 26

|  

12

| 2

| {{flagicon|France}} Alain Prost

| Williams-Renault

| 48

| Engine

| 1

|  

13

| 4

| {{flagicon|Italy}} Andrea de Cesaris

| Tyrrell-Yamaha

| 47

| Oil pressure

| 18

|  

14

| 3

| {{flagicon|Japan|1947}} Ukyo Katayama

| Tyrrell-Yamaha

| 47

| + 6 laps

| 17

|  

Ret

| 21

| {{flagicon|Italy}} Michele Alboreto

| Lola-Ferrari

| 23

| Suspension

| 21

|  

Ret

| 5

| {{flagicon|Germany}} Michael Schumacher

| Benetton-Ford

| 21

| Engine

| 5

|  

Ret

| 26

| {{flagicon|UK}} Mark Blundell

| Ligier-Renault

| 20

| Accident damage

| 14

|  

Ret

| 28

| {{flagicon|Austria}} Gerhard Berger

| Ferrari

| 15

| Suspension

| 6

|  

Ret

| 12

| {{flagicon|UK}} Johnny Herbert

| Lotus-Ford

| 14

| Spun off

| 7

|  

Ret

| 25

| {{flagicon|UK}} Martin Brundle

| Ligier-Renault

| 8

| Collision

| 12

|  

Ret

| 8

| {{flagicon|Brazil}} Ayrton Senna

| McLaren-Ford

| 8

| Collision

| 4

|  

Ret

| 10

| {{flagicon|Japan|1947}} Aguri Suzuki

| Footwork-Mugen-Honda

| 0

| Collision

| 8

|  

Ret

| 9

| {{flagicon|UK}} Derek Warwick

| Footwork-Mugen-Honda

| 0

| Collision

| 11

|  

Ret

| 30

| {{flagicon|Finland}} JJ Lehto

| Sauber

| 0

| Collision

| 13

|  

Ret

| 14

| {{flagicon|Brazil}} Rubens Barrichello

| Jordan-Hart

| 0

| Collision

| 19

|  

Ret

| 15

| {{flagicon|Italy}} Marco Apicella

| Jordan-Hart

| 0

| Collision

| 23

|  

colspan="8"|{{center|Source:{{cite web |url=http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1993/96/ |title=1993 Italian Grand Prix |publisher=formula1.com |access-date=23 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141202060249/http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1993/96/ |archive-date=2 December 2014}}}}

Championship standings after the race

  • Bold text indicates the World Champions.

{{col-start}}

{{col-2}}

;Drivers' Championship standings

class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
Pos

!Driver

!Points

1

| {{flagicon|FRA}} Alain Prost

| align="right"| 81

2

| {{flagicon|GBR}} Damon Hill

| align="right"| 58

3

| {{flagicon|BRA}} Ayrton Senna

| align="right"| 53

4

| {{flagicon|GER}} Michael Schumacher

| align="right"| 42

5

| {{flagicon|ITA}} Riccardo Patrese

| align="right"| 20

colspan=4|Source: {{Cite web|url=https://www.statsf1.com/en/1993/italie/championnat.aspx|title=Italy 1993 - Championship • STATS F1|website=www.statsf1.com|access-date=18 March 2019}}

{{col-2}}

;Constructors' Championship standings

class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
Pos

! Constructor

! Points

1

| {{flagicon|GBR}} Williams-Renault

| align="right"|139

2

| {{flagicon|GBR}} Benetton-Ford

| align="right"|62

3

| {{flagicon|GBR}} McLaren-Ford

| align="right"|60

4

| {{flagicon|FRA}} Ligier-Renault

| align="right"|21

5

| {{flagicon|ITA}} Ferrari

| align="right"|20

colspan=4|Source:

{{col-end}}

  • {{small|Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.}}

References

{{Reflist}}

  • {{cite book|last=Henry |first=Alan |author-link=Alan Henry |title=AUTOCOURSE 1993–94 |publisher=Hazleton Publishing |year=1993 |isbn=1-874557-15-2}}

{{F1 race report

| Name_of_race = Italian Grand Prix

| Year_of_race = 1993

| Previous_race_in_season = 1993 Belgian Grand Prix

| Next_race_in_season = 1993 Portuguese Grand Prix

| Previous_year's_race = 1992 Italian Grand Prix

| Next_year's_race = 1994 Italian Grand Prix

}}

{{F1GP 90-99}}

Italian Grand Prix

Category:Italian Grand Prix

Grand Prix

Italian Grand Prix