Friday 12th March 1993

Alain Prost answered those who doubted he could return from his year’s sabbatical as sharp as he was before by setting the fastest time for the South African Grand Prix, the first round of the 16-race 1993 world championship. Prost, driving a Williams-Renault FW15C, beat fierce rival Ayrton Senna’s McLaren MP4/8 to whet the appetite of fans who had to endure an easy title win for Nigel Mansell the previous season. But Senna continued to seethe, blaming Prost for keeping him out of the Williams set-up. “The way he is behaving is like a coward,” Senna said. “He has everything laid out for him in 1993. It’s like running a 100 metre race with him in running shoes and everybody in lead boots.”