1993 F1 Grand Prix Season
Michael Andretti Quit Formula 1 and Returned to CART
The big news at Estoril in 1993 was Mika Hakkinen’s replacing of Michael Andretti in the second McLaren. The American had failed to adapt to Formula 1 and, while his team-mate Ayrton Senna managed to challenge Alain Prost in the World Championship, Andretti only managed to finish on the podium once.
Schumacher Beats Williams in Portuguese Grand Prix
Hakkinen was the revelation of qualifying at Estoril. The young Finn outqualified his triple World Champion team-mate Senna, lining up third on the grid. Senna had to be content with fourth, but both McLaren drivers were behind the dominant Williams cars. This time it was Damon Hill on pole, with Alain Prost alongside. Jean Alesi was fifth in the Ferrari and Michael Schumacher an unhappy sixth for Benetton. After struggling to find a balance he decided to start the race in his spare car.
Hill was in trouble even before the Grand Prix started, as his Renault V10 refused to start. This resulted in the Englishman being demoted to the back of the grid. Prost was swamped at the start and found himself fourth behind Hakkinen, Senna and the leading Ferrari of Alesi.
Senna was soon out of contention, his Ford V8 blowing up. When Alesi, Hakkinen and Schumacher pitted it left the two Williams drivers running 1-2, with Prost ahead. Eventually they also pitted, for their only stop of the race. Hakkinen crashed out of the race, and Berger did likewise while exiting the pit lane. The Austrian came perilously close to collecting Derek Warwick’s Footwork as his Ferrari speared across the track into the barriers.
Prost and Hill emerged from their stops behind Schumacher’s leading Benetton, but were not overly concerned as the German was due to stop again. Schumacher had other ideas, and pushed on to the finish. He described the closing laps in the 1994 biography, “Schumacher, The Life of the New Formula 1 Champion”, written by Timothy Collings and published by Bloomsbury;
“When the others made their first pit-stops, I was out in front and had to work very hard to stay there. Alain pushed me and was definitely quicker at the end of the race, but I was able to hang on to win.”
The victory was the second Formula 1 win of Schumacher’s career. Post was second and Hill third. Then came Alesi, Karl Wendlinger and Martin Brundle. Second place was good enough for Prost to clinch his fourth Formula 1 World Championship.
Ayrton Senna's 1993 McLaren MP4/8
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