1993 Canadian Grand Prix

How long is it since Ayrton Senna qualified as low as eighth for a GP? It was a question many were mulling over just before the start of the Canadian GP, as the Brazilian and McLaren tried to put behind them an awful two days of qualifying in which the MP4/8s were in dire handling trouble. In fact, it was so bad that nobody was really placing bets on him having much of a chance in the race either, except perhaps McLaren personnel who, after the morning warm-up, knew a thing or two. The Williams Renaults of Prost and Hill had dominated practice, and to make matters more interesting Schumacher and Patrese had lined their Benetton Fords up third and fourth ahead of the improving Ferraris of Berger and Alesi. Even Martin Brundle had snuck his Ligier Renault ahead of the McLaren Ford.

When the Sunday morning warm-up produced times in the 1m 23s bracket for Prost, Schumacher, Hill and Alesi a ripple of anticipation crept down the pit lane, and the start of what is a notoriously hard race on cars and fuel consumption was eagerly awaited. Throw in Prost's start 'problem' in Monte Carlo, and there was an added nuance. Would he be nervous?

[caption id="attachment_638174" align="alignnone" width="2000"] Damon Hill leads team-mate Alain Prost into the first corner[/caption]