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1993 Japanese Grand Prix

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1993 Japanese Grand Prix
Race 15 of 16 in the 1993 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date 24 October 1993
Official name XIX Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix
Location Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka, Japan
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.864 km (3.644 miles)
Distance 53 laps, 310.792 km (193.117 miles)
Weather Dry, warm, cloudy
Pole position
Driver Williams-Renault
Time 1:37.154
Fastest lap
Driver France Alain Prost Williams-Renault
Time 1:41.176 on lap 53
Podium
First McLaren-Ford
Second Williams-Renault
Third McLaren-Ford

The 1993 Japanese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Suzuka on October 24, 1993. It was the fifteenth and penultimate round of the 1993 Formula One season.

Eddie Irvine made his debut for Jordan, finishing 6th (thereby scoring his first points) and then being punched by Ayrton Senna for unlapping himself during the race.[1] The race also saw Mika Häkkinen score his first career podium, Rubens Barrichello score his first points and Toshio Suzuki and Jean-Marc Gounon make the Formula One debuts.

Only 24 cars turned up for the event, following BMS Scuderia Italia's withdrawal from Formula One.

Qualifying

Prost took pole (the last of his career) ahead of Senna, Häkkinen, Schumacher, Berger and Hill.

Race

At the start, Senna got ahead of Prost while Berger took Schumacher. Eddie Irvine, the fifth occupant of the second Jordan this year, then got by both Schumacher and Hill. Hill briefly passed Schumacher in the esses but Schumacher retook the position. The order was: Senna, Prost, Häkkinen, Berger, Irvine and Schumacher. Schumacher would pass Irvine on lap 2 with Hill getting ahead two laps later.

Schumacher and Hill then closed in on Berger. At the end of lap 9, the three came out of the final chicane nose to tail and Hill passed Schumacher on the start/finish straight to take 5th place away. On lap 11, Hill got a run on Berger coming out of the 130R and Berger took the inside line going into the chicane. Hill tried to pass on the outside but was not able to complete the move. Schumacher, having stayed to the inside, couldn't stop fast enough as Hill turned in behind Berger and hit Hill's right rear wheel, damaging his left front suspension and putting himself out. Hill was able to keep going and inherited 4th on the next lap when Berger came in for tyres.

Meanwhile, Prost inherited the lead when Senna pitted for tyres. Shortly after it began to rain, which was an advantage for Prost and other drivers who had not yet stopped for tyres since they would have to make one less stop. Senna began to catch Prost as the track got wetter and on lap 21, as the rain intensified, Senna passed Prost on the approach to the Spoon curve. At the end of the lap, Senna was two seconds in front and the two both pitted for wets. Senna pulled away rapidly in the wet conditions, building over a 30 second lead by lap 27. Prost then went off at the first corner but was able to rejoin without losing time to Senna, who was delayed by traffic. The rain then stopped and drivers began coming in for slick tyres as the track began to dry. Hill rejoined after his pit stop nearly a lap down to Senna, who was still on wets. Unable to lap Hill, Senna was re-passed by Irvine, who had been lapped but was chasing Hill for 4th position. Irvine, who was also still on wets, challenged Hill in the first corner but was not able to make the pass stick while Senna waited behind to lap the pair. Senna lost 15 seconds to Prost by the time he forced his way back past Irvine and Hill let him through. At the end of lap 42, after he and Prost had made their pit stops for slicks, Senna's lead was back up to 24 seconds. With only 12 laps remaining, Prost never challenged after that and settled for second. Häkkinen's 3rd place was his first podium finish.

Behind, Barrichello had got Irvine during the stops for wets and then Berger's engine failed on lap 41. With 4 laps to go and battling with Derek Warwick for 6th, Irvine ran into the back of Warwick under braking on the approach to the chicane and knocked him out of the race. Irvine was able to continue and finish with a point in his first grand prix. Irvine's debut was slightly marred in a post-race altercation with Ayrton Senna, who had strong words and a punch for the Ulsterman.

Senna won ahead of Prost, Häkkinen, Hill, Barrichello and Irvine. Fastest lap of the race was set by Prost, the last of his career.

Classification

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 8 Brazil Ayrton Senna McLaren-Ford 53 1:40:27.912 2 10
2 2 France Alain Prost Williams-Renault 53 +11.435 1 6
3 7 Finland Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Ford 53 +26.129 3 4
4 0 United Kingdom Damon Hill Williams-Renault 53 +1:23.538 6 3
5 14 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Hart 53 +1:35.101 12 2
6 15 United Kingdom Eddie Irvine Jordan-Hart 53 +1:46.421 8 1
7 26 United Kingdom Mark Blundell Ligier-Renault 52 +1 Lap 17  
8 30 Finland Jyrki Järvilehto Sauber 52 +1 Lap 11  
9 25 United Kingdom Martin Brundle Ligier-Renault 51 Collision 15  
10 24 Italy Pierluigi Martini Minardi-Ford 51 +2 Laps 22  
11 12 United Kingdom Johnny Herbert Lotus-Ford 51 +2 Laps 19  
12 19 Japan Toshio Suzuki Larrousse-Lamborghini 51 +2 Laps 23  
13 11 Portugal Pedro Lamy Lotus-Ford 49 Accident 20  
14 9 United Kingdom Derek Warwick Footwork-Mugen-Honda 48 Collision 7  
Ret 6 Italy Riccardo Patrese Benetton-Ford 45 Accident 10  
Ret 28 Austria Gerhard Berger Ferrari 40 Engine 5  
Ret 10 Japan Aguri Suzuki Footwork-Mugen-Honda 28 Spun off 9  
Ret 23 France Jean-Marc Gounon Minardi-Ford 26 Withdrew 24  
Ret 3 Japan Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 26 Engine 13  
Ret 29 Austria Karl Wendlinger Sauber 25 Engine 16  
Ret 20 France Érik Comas Larrousse-Lamborghini 17 Engine 21  
Ret 5 Germany Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 10 Collision 4  
Ret 27 France Jean Alesi Ferrari 7 Engine 14  
Ret 4 Italy Andrea de Cesaris Tyrrell-Yamaha 0 Collision 18  

Standings after the race

  • Bold Text indicates World Champions.
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

  • "The Official Formula 1 website". Retrieved 2007-09-01.
  • Henry, Alan (1993). AUTOCOURSE 1993-94. Hazleton Publishing. ISBN 1-874557-15-2.


Previous race:
1993 Portuguese Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1993 season
Next race:
1993 Australian Grand Prix
Previous race:
1992 Japanese Grand Prix
Japanese Grand Prix Next race:
1994 Japanese Grand Prix