Ayrton Senna won the 1993 Australian Grand Prix which in turn was his last Formula 1 victory in his last race for McLaren
Today we celebrate the birthday of one of the greatest Formula 1 drivers Ayrton Senna by going through his last win in the sport. 1993 Australian Grand Prix held at Adelaide was the last race for another legendary driver Alain Prost, Riccardo Patrese, and Derek Warwick.
Ayrton Senna was all set to join Williams after eight seasons with the Ford-powered McLaren. Just like every other racing legend, he gave a race that will always be remembered by the McLaren fans. it was the fifth victory of the season and he won the first and only pole position this year, which was the only pole position in 1993 which did not win any of the Williams drivers.
William’s streak breaker
Williams had been dominating the season with a streak of 24 pole positions. The Brazilian broke the streak by driving a quick 1:13:371 on his McLaren MP4-8. Williams duo Prost and Hill started second and third respectively.
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The race had three starts as in the first two incidents occurred. Martin Brundle, Ukyo Katayama had unsuccessful starts and were sent at the back of the grid.
Alain Prost led only five laps out of the 79 as Senna dominated the track. The Magic Senna won the race nine seconds ahead of rival Prost and 24 seconds ahead of Damon Hill.
Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost on the podiium one last time
Australian Grand Prix was the final time we saw Senna and Prost on the podium together. The French retired shortly after the season ended winning the championship and Senna passed away in Imola.
After winning the final race with McLaren, Ron Dennis had a suggestion talk with Senna. He said: “He told me it’s never too late to change your mind!”
Senna further added, “But anyway he said he was happy for me. And so was I, and I said that we must keep the good times, the good moments, and let’s finish that way, with the good things.”
Senna and Prost in a Williams?
Going ahead in the 1994 season with the Williams, Senna was not living up to the expectations. Senna always wanted to rekindle the rivalry with Prost however due to negative experiences in McLaren (1989), he had to settle with Damon Hill. Alain Prost declined a seat partnering with Senna but declined and retired from the sport.
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Senna always emphasized that Alain Prost is his biggest rival. Off-track their relationship healed as they greeted each other. However, on the track, Senna found it difficult to motivate himself as his arch-rival was long gone.
