Winning Schumacher Benetton to return to Adelaide

A famous Benetton once raced by the legendary Michael Schumacher will return to the Adelaide Street Circuit in March.

The 1993 Benetton B193B Ford steered by Schumacher will be at the Adelaide Motorsport Festival from March 16-17.

Schumacher raced the car throughout his second full Formula 1 season in 1993 and the car will make a fitting return to the scene of its last ever Grand Prix more than 30 years ago.

The 1993 Australian Grand Prix started with promise for the young German who was keeping up with leader and eventual winner Ayrton Senna, plus the two Williams of Alain Prost and Damon Hill during the early stages.

However, Schumacher was forced to retire from fourth after just 20 laps when the Ford engine expired.

Despite the late retirement, the 1993 season was an important step forward for the rising star as he built more experience which led to his back to back championships in 1994 and 1995.

It was a season of highs and lows with Schumacher either finishing on the podium or retiring.

He finished nine of the 16 Grands Prix and on each occasion he was on the podium. The final finish was easily the best in Portugal.

Despite qualifying only sixth, Schumacher and Benetton outsmarted their rivals by swapping to the spare car race morning and executing the one-stop strategy.

Michael Schumacher celebrates his 1993 Portuguese GP victory at Circuito Estoril (Photo by LAT Images)

He pitted early on lap 20 and once the Williams completed their final stops 10 laps later the #5 Benetton was in the lead in the final stint, but on fresher tyres world champion Prost was catching him.

The flying Frenchman caught Schumacher and despite the German making a small mistake, he managed to stay cool under pressure on 51-lap old tyres and fend off the eventual world champion by nine tenths of a second.

Designed by Ross Brawn and Rory Byrne, the B193B is powered by a V8 Ford Cosworth that produces 700 horsepower at 13,200RPM.

Schumacher raced that season with more experienced Italian Riccardo Patrese and convincingly outdrove him, scoring 32 more points and eight more podiums.

Adelaide Motorsport Festival event director Tim Possingham said it will be special to see the 1993 Benetton in action.

“This car is absolutely iconic and has an incredibly rich provenance,” he said. 

“Cars like this are only seen on track a couple of times a year and mostly only in the northern hemisphere at places such as Goodwood. 

“We are very pleased to see that the Adelaide Motorsport Festival is attracting cars such as this. 

“Our proximity to Europe, where these cars reside, is a challenge for us, but it is great to see that we are attracting more and more of these cars year on year and going from strength to strength.”

Don’t forget the latest issue of Auto Action available via subscription here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ – the only place you’ll get to read the full story. For more of the latest motorsport news, subscribe to AUTO ACTION magazine.