Race by Race :: 1993 by Riccardo Patrese

South African GP - Kyalami	Benetton B193A - Ford HB 3.5 V8	Qual - 7 Race - Rtd
"I made quite a good start, but when Alesi was slow moving away I had to lift off and that cost me some time. Everything was going well, the pit stop was good and as the race went on I found myself in third place. Then I spun and I got stuck in the run-off area. I climbed out of the car and as I was standing there the marshall somehow managed to pull the car into me and one of the front wheels bruised my right leg quite a bit."
Brazilian GP - Interlagos	Benetton B193A - Ford HB 3.5 V8	Qual - 6 Race - Rtd
"I lost hydraulic fluid because the active suspension oil cooler was split. Nothing would work after that and I came slowly back to the pits but there was nothing anyone could do. A very frustrating result."
European GP - Donington	Benetton B193B - Ford HB 3.5 V8	Qual - 10 Race - 5
"Two points for the team is not bad. There are two ways to tackle a race in these conditions - to attack or to defend and stay on the track. The results to date, South Africa and Brazil, have not been brilliant. Under no circumstances could I have tolerated another negative result. I personally decided to run a safe race, banking on other driver errors rather than racing on the limit. I'm sure the car could have raced faster but mine was a tactical choice and at the end of the day, fifth place means two points. In these conditions you can feel content to have crossed the finishing line - it was terrible out there."
San Marino GP - Imola	Benetton B193B - Ford HB 3.5 V8	Qual - 11 Race - Rtd
"My engine stalled when I was bumped from behind at Tosa and spun. I tried to re-start, but that was it."
Spanish GP - Catalunya	Benetton B193B - Ford HB 3.5 V8	Qual - 5 Race - 4
"The car was working well but since yesterday we have had a vibration problem. We had it again in the morning warm-up and we did not manage to solve it. My car was vibrating a lot at the end of the straight and I had a problem with my left front wheel. I chose not to push too hard at the start as I wanted to finish the race without changing my tyres because we had not solved the problem. We need to find more grip out of slow corners to be more competitive with the McLarens and, of course, we need traction control. All this will help the handling of the car. The result today is good for the team, a positive result for me and I am happy with it."
Monaco GP - Monte Carlo	Benetton B193B - Ford HB 3.5 V8	Qual - 6 Race - Rtd
"I had an engine failure and there was very little warning. Going through Casino Square I felt something was wrong and when I got to Mirabeau the rear wheels had locked and that was it. The car had not felt particularly good since this morning and was jumping around a lot. It had become harder to drive so I decided to stop for tyres. Then I stalled in the pits and that cost me even more time. The car was better on the fresh set, but it continued to jump around."
Canadian GP - Montreal	Benetton B193B - Ford HB 3.5 V8	Qual - 4 Race - Rtd
"I lost a lot of time at the start and then found I was battling with Gerhard Berger. Then I lost control of the car and spun, breaking part of my front wing. After a pit-stop for a new nose and fresh tyres, cramp which had been bothering me for some time got worse and I did another nine laps, but I could not feel my right leg at all. I had no option but to stop and retire."
French GP - Magny-Cours	Benetton B193B - Ford HB 3.5 V8	Qual - 12 Race - 10
"I chose to take the spare car for the race as I did not feel very comfortable with my race car. I made a good start, but the car was difficult to drive with full tanks in traffic. But it improved as the load became lighter and I managed to pick up speed in the second part of the race. I had a problem when I was following Fittipaldi and he lifted off sooner than I thought he would and our wheels touched."
British GP - Silverstone	Benetton B193B - Ford HB 3.5 V8	Qual - 5 Race - 3
"I am very pleased. It is the first race this year that I have enjoyed very much. The car went very well and it was very busy in the last part of the race after the Safety Car had been introduced because we were lapping cars. The team had a little bit of patience in the first part of the season when things did not come right for me. So I hope now it is a new start for the second half. I feel happy with today's result."
German GP - Hockenheim	Benetton B193B - Ford HB 3.5 V8	Qual - 7 Race - 5
"The race went well with the first set of tyres. With my second set of tyres I had a problem in braking, locking my rear tyres. The car was jumping around and along the straight it was handling strangely. It's difficult to analyse this afternoon because from the first set of tyres to the second things definitely got worse. It may have been a problem with the tyre pressure but without a doubt the car handled better during the first part of the race. At one point I went straight through the first chicane due to a rear wheel lockage - I braked without any other specific problems - the car was jumping around and I half spun but then I was fortunate to regain control and continue with the race. I took home two points which are no doubt a bonus."
Hungarian GP - Hungaroring	Benetton B193B - Ford HB 3.5 V8	Qual - 5 Race - 2
"I think when I am not feeling well, it brings me luck and today's was a very good result for me. The car performed very well until 25 laps to go when I lost third gear and that was the most difficult part of the race. The gearbox, particularly going through neutral, was not very easy. So it was difficult for me to contain Gerhard when he was trying to come back. But I am delighted with this second place which is very good for the Camel Benetton Ford team."
Belgian GP - Spa	Benetton B193B - Ford HB 3.5 V8	Qual - 8 Race - 6
"I am really glad to see Camel Benetton Ford second in the world championship. We both tried our best but unfortunately had trouble at the start. I was 18th and had to fight the whole race to make up places and on top of that when I changed tyres I was in such a hurry that I spun on exiting the pit lane. I lost the advantage I had gained. I had to climb back to sixth and just take one point."
Italian GP - Monza	Benetton B193B - Ford HB 3.5 V8	Qual - 10 Race - 5
"I raced my spare car as I had a handling problem with my race car during the warm-up. The car was reasonable at the start but not how I would have liked it. It was OK, certainly better than my race car which had a problem this morning. I hadn't used the spare until this morning. I was running fourth and stopped for tyres. Subsequently, the handling was very strange and I thought I had a puncture, so I came in again for another set of tyres, but in fact I didn't have a puncture. There was a problem with the suspension system, which allowed the front of the car to go very low and in particular very low on one side, hitting the ground. This obvious1y made the car very difficult to drive and so I just settled for a finish and crossed the line fifth."
Portugese GP - Estoril	Benetton B193B - Ford HB 3.5 V8	Qual - 7 Race - 16
"My start was not fantastic and I got held up in traffic. It is very difficult to overtake on this circuit. My car was running well and I was fighting with Warwick for eighth place when I tried to overtake him and locked my brakes. My car went straight on and Derek and I crashed as he was already turning into the corner."