After the 1992 Formula 1 season ended in Australia there were major changes in personnel before the first race of the new year in South Africa. Reigning World Champion Nigel Mansell departed for America, to race in the CART series. His seat at Williams was taken by Alain Prost, but the Frenchman prevented the team from signing Ayrton Senna as his partner. Prost had no wish to revisit the intense rivalry which developed between the two when they were team-mates at McLaren. Instead, his team-mate for 1993 would be the Williams test driver Damon Hill.
After much consideration Senna eventually agreed to drive for McLaren, but on a race-by-race basis. His new team-mate was Michael Andretti, the son of 1978 Formula 1 World Champion Mario, and a star in CART. McLaren also signed Mika Hakkinen from Lotus, but the Finn would have to wait several months before getting the chance to race the team’s Ford powered MP4/8.
Riccardo Patrese, having lost his drive at Williams, moved to Benetton alongside Michael Schumacher. The French Ligier team had an all British driver line-up, with Martin Brundle and Mark Blundell. Jean Alesi stayed with Ferrari and was joined by Gerhard Berger. Ferrari refugee Ivan Capelli found a drive with Jordan, alongside the young Brazilian rookie Rubens Barrichello.
There was a promising new team entered for the 1993 season. Sauber had major backing from Mercedes-Benz and a talented driver line-up. JJ Lehto would partner Karl Wendlinger in the predominantly black cars. Meanwhile, Derek Warwick returned to Formula 1 with the Footwork team and Lotus hired Italian Alex Zanardi.
Prost Marks Comeback with Victory at Kyalami
Prost and Senna renewed their rivalry during qualifying for the South African Grand Prix, with the Williams driver edging pole position. Behind them were Schumacher in third and the second Williams of Hill.
Senna led away at the start, but Hill made a mess of the first corner and spun, compromising his team-mate who dropped behind Schumacher. Prost eventually passed the Benetton and then caught Senna’s leading McLaren. The Frenchman passed for the lead and proceeded to disappear. Schumacher also caught Senna but spun off while attempting a pass. His team-mate Patrese completed a miserable day for Benetton by also spinning out of contention. Andretti had a disastrous start to his Formula 1 career, crashing out early on.
It rained towards the end of the Grand Prix, but Prost kept it together to win from Senna. Blundell was third for Ligier, a lap down. In fourth was Christian Fittipaldi’s Minardi, while Lehto scored two points for Sauber on the team’s debut with a fifth place finish. The final point went to Berger.
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