SILVERSTONE, England -- Alain Prost of France became the first person to win 50 grands prix Sunday, capturing the British Formula One Grand Prix.
Prost's victory came at the expense of Williams Renault teammate Damon Hill, who saw his dream of winning his first-ever Grand Prix go up in smoke. Hill seemed set to crown his homecoming to Britain with a success until his engine blew up while he was leading the race on lap 42.
'I feel empty. It is only the second time an engine has blown up and both times it has cost me a race,' Hill said.
'There is just a feeling of disbelief. It's infuriating. You do everything right and then something stops you. You feel anger more than disappointment.'
Prost finished the 59-lap race in 1 hour 25 minutes 38.189 seconds to extend his lead in the drivers' championship to 20 points over runnerup Ayrton Senna of Brazil, who finished fifth after running out of fuel on the penultimate lap.The Brazilian had been third at the time in his McLaren Ford behind Michael Scumacher of Germany.
Schumacher continued his consistent form in the Benetton Ford this season by holding second to overtake Hill for third place in the championship standings. Schumacher's Italian partner Riccardo Patrese capitalized on Senna's misfortune to finish third, ahead of British Lotus Ford pilot Johnny Herbert.
Derek Warwick ensured two British drivers earned points when he drove his Footwork-Mugen Honda into sixth place.
Hill's bid to triumph in the one race his former double world champion father Graham had failed to win in 17 attempts began brilliantly when he raced into the lead from second on the grid as Prost was slow to move.
Senna, who had qualified third quickest, passed the Frenchman before the first turn to take second but was always under pressure from the superior Williams Renault machine and eventually relinquished his position on lap 7.
It was a poor day for the McLaren Ford team. Senna's teammate, American Michael Andretti, crashed for the fourth time this season when he slid into sand on the opening lap and Senna's unscheduled late stop gave Williams Renault a commanding 45 points lead in the constructors' championship.
'This has been a weekend of mistakes,' said McLaren Ford team manager Ron Dennis. 'We had constant setup problems, and regarding Ayrton's stoppage, we will have to wait for the car to come back to be able to say exactly what happened.'
With Senna behind him, Prost set about reducing the gap between himself and Hill and managed to close within four seconds of his British teammate by the time the pair had changed for fresh rubber midway through the race.
But just as Prost was about to challenge Hill, the race took an unexpected turn when the safety car was brought onto the Silverstone circuit to allow officials to clear away the broken down BMS Lola Ferrari of Luca Badoer.
The introduction of the safety car allowed the remaining drivers on the track to close up on the leaders, effectively causing a re-start.
Hill once again got the best of it when the race resumed at speed and immediately pulled clear of Prost by setting the fastest lap of the race at 1:22.515, only to see his efforts end in vain as his engine blew up on the very next lap.
'If Damon had not stopped it would have been difficult to take today's win away from him,' admitted Prost. 'It would definitely have been difficult to overtake him. I was just waiting and would have waited there behind him until the end, for the right moment.'
Schumacher, who inherited second when Hill departed, shaved several seconds off Prost's lead in the closing stages but was never likely to deny the Frenchman an historic 50th victory.
'I was pushing really hard at the end on Alain who I thought might have had a problem after Damon had gone,' Schumacher said. 'But after I closed up to about four seconds, he was able to push a little harder.
'We had both drivers in the first three and I have to say that it is a very good result for the team.'
The 10th round of the 16 race Formula One season is the German Grand Prix which will be held at Hockenheim July 25.
