The Benetton B193 is a
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
racing car with which the
Benetton team competed in the
1993 Formula One World Championship
The 1993 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 47th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1993 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1993 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were contest ...
. Designed by
Ross Brawn
Ross James Brawn (born 23 November 1954) is a British Formula One managing director, motor sports and technical director.
He is a former motorsport engineer and Formula One team principal, and has worked for a number of Formula One teams. Serv ...
and
Rory Byrne
Rory Byrne (born 10 January 1944) is a South African semi-retired engineer and car designer, most famous for being the chief designer at the Benetton and Scuderia Ferrari Formula One teams.
Byrne-designed cars have won ninety-nine Grands Pri ...
, the car was powered by the latest
Cosworth HBA engine in an initially-exclusive deal with
Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
, and ran on
Goodyear tyres. It was driven by German
Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher (; ; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver who competed in Formula One for Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari, and Mercedes. Schumacher has a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Lewis ...
and veteran Italian
Riccardo Patrese
Riccardo Gabriele Patrese (born 17 April 1954) is an Italian former racing driver, who raced in Formula One from to .
He became the first Formula One driver to achieve 200 Grand Prix starts when he appeared at the 1990 British Grand Prix, an ...
.
Overview
The car was distinguishable from its predecessor due to its
track
Track or Tracks may refer to:
Routes or imprints
* Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity
* Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across
* Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...
being narrower per the regulations of 1993, and the addition of
bargeboards
Bargeboard (probably from Medieval Latin ''bargus'', or ''barcus'', a scaffold, and not from the now obsolete synonym "vergeboard") or rake fascia is a board fastened to each projecting gable of a roof to give it strength and protection, and to ...
at the
Monaco Grand Prix
The Monaco Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de Monaco) is a Formula One motor racing event held annually on the Circuit de Monaco, in late May or early June. Run since 1929, it is widely considered to be one of the most important and prestigiou ...
. It also had sidepods with a less pronounced cut-in for the radiator ducts. The nose height was raised from that of the B192, as well as having a longer and flatter rear 'deck' to allow for smoother airflow over the rear suspension than the B192.
The standard rear-wing endplate profile was also changed, featuring a straight leading edge rather than the curved design of the B192. Later in the season, this would further change with the addition of the 'forward wing'; an additional cantilevered wing used on high-downforce tracks, mounted forward and above the main plane, attached via endplate extensions.
The leading edge of the front wing now also followed a straight profile, rather than curving forward towards the endplates. The leading edge of the nose also followed a smoother curved profile, whereas the B192 was flatter at its tip.
In terms of performance, it was an improvement on the
1992 competitor.
Thanks to the more powerful engine,
Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher (; ; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver who competed in Formula One for Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari, and Mercedes. Schumacher has a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Lewis ...
was able to consistently challenge the McLarens and on occasion challenged the seemingly unbeatable
Williams FW15C
The Williams FW15C is a Formula One car designed by Adrian Newey and built by Williams Grand Prix Engineering for use in the 1993 Formula One World Championship. It was powered by a Renault V10 engine and driven by Frenchman Alain Prost and Bri ...
.
It is arguable that it was overall the second most competitive car on the grid, behind the
Williams, with Schumacher regularly scoring podiums and out-qualifying the single-lap ace
Ayrton Senna
Ayrton Senna da Silva (; 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver who won the Formula One List of Formula One World Drivers' Champions, World Drivers' Championship in , , and . Senna is one of three Formula One drivers fro ...
in 8 of the 16 races of the season. Having access to the most potent factory engine in contrast to McLaren having to make do with older-specification units gave Benetton a power advantage, (although Williams used a far superior Renault V10), however, the McLaren had the edge at some races, in particular in wet conditions due in part to their use of traction control. Due to McLaren's early-season results (achieved in part against the B193A run in South Africa and Brazil) McLaren were able successfully lobby Ford to provide engines of equal-spec to Benetton from Silverstone onward, with both running the Series VIII of the HB V8, where previously Benetton's exclusive deal had seen McLaren using the Series VII which Benetton also ran in the
B192/B193A.
The car was very advanced in the technological sense and featured active suspension, semi-automatic transmission, and
traction control
A traction control system (TCS), also known as ASR (from german: Antriebsschlupfregelung, lit=drive slippage regulation), is typically (but not necessarily) a secondary function of the electronic stability control (ESC) on production motor vehicle ...
, from the
Monaco Grand Prix
The Monaco Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de Monaco) is a Formula One motor racing event held annually on the Circuit de Monaco, in late May or early June. Run since 1929, it is widely considered to be one of the most important and prestigiou ...
onwards, although
Riccardo Patrese
Riccardo Gabriele Patrese (born 17 April 1954) is an Italian former racing driver, who raced in Formula One from to .
He became the first Formula One driver to achieve 200 Grand Prix starts when he appeared at the 1990 British Grand Prix, an ...
did later say that the car was a step down in quality compared to the much more sophisticated
Williams cars he had been driving for the previous five years.
A variant of this car, the B193C was used as a test mule for an innovative four-wheel steering system and was tested by Schumacher and Patrese at Estoril. Four-wheel steering had been introduced on some of Nissan and Toyota's production cars. Patrese both found the system to not add anything to the performance of the car and actually slowed the car through slower corners; however Schumacher preferred the system as estimated a gain 3 tenths of a second per lap. The system was built onto Schumacher's race car for Japan and Australia, but he failed to complete either race (this wasn't the fault of the 4WS system, but rather because of an accident and engine failure, respectively). The system would only have been legal for those 2 races; advanced technologies to aid drivers were banned for the 1994 season.
It was the last car to feature cigarette brand
Camel
A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. C ...
as the team's main sponsor, before the long term sponsorship of an Enstone-based team with
Mild Seven
, previously called , is a Japanese brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by Japan Tobacco.
History
Mevius was launched in 1977 under the name Mild Seven. It was intended to be a mild version of the Seven Stars (cigarette), Seve ...
cigarettes.
Benetton eventually finished 3rd in the Constructors' Championship just behind McLaren but with a substantial gap to Williams. The B193B was replaced for the season by the
Benetton B194
The Benetton B194 is a Formula One racing car designed by Rory Byrne for the 1994 Formula One season.
Design
The car was closely based on its predecessors, the B192 and B193, and powered by a Ford Zetec-R V8 engine (produced by Cosworth bu ...
.
Complete Formula One results
(
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
) (results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
References
External links
{{F1 cars 1993
B193
1993 Formula One season cars