Editing Williams Racing (section)

=====1992 off-season=====
Williams was interested in signing Alain Prost to drive one of its two cars for 1993 as he was returning from his year long sabbatical after being sacked by Scuderia Ferrari during the 1991 World Championship. Patrese, perhaps figuring that he would be the driver being sacked in order for Prost to take one of the two available rides, decided to leave after driving for Williams since 1987. He would join up with Benetton, where he would replace [[Martin Brundle]] alongside [[Michael Schumacher]] in the team's [[Camel (cigarette)|Camel]]-backed Fords.

Mansell, meanwhile, was not pleased that Williams was looking to bring Prost aboard. Prost had joined Ferrari alongside Mansell, replacing [[Gerhard Berger]], for the 1990 World Championship after his run of success with McLaren, and the two drivers' relationship (or lack thereof) played a large part in Mansell's previously mentioned decision to leave F1 before Williams stepped in. Unwilling to serve as Prost's teammate for another year, Mansell joined the [[Championship Auto Racing Teams|CART IndyCar Series]] for 1993; he replaced [[Michael Andretti]], son of and teammate to [[Mario Andretti]], at [[Newman/Haas Racing]].

Michael Andretti, meanwhile, would be making the jump to F1 for 1993 and signed to drive for McLaren filling the seat held by Berger. He entered a team that was in flux, as there were questions as to who else would be driving for the team and what engines they would be running. Honda, the team's longtime supplier, left the World Championship following the season. Coinciding with this was the fact that Ayrton Senna's contract was due for renewal, and he was not sure he was going to stay. After McLaren was unable to procure a supply of Renault engines, Senna decided to explore other options; he approached Williams with an offer to take the seat Mansell was vacating, claiming he would forgo collecting a salary for the opportunity.

However, as with Mansell, there were lingering bad feelings between Prost and Senna from their championship chasing years at McLaren. Prost would sign a two year contract for Williams, which included a veto power clause for the 1993 season; he exercised that clause and froze Senna out of driving for Williams. Senna returned to McLaren where he ran Ford engines. Williams in turn opted not to pursue Berger, who returned to Ferrari, or Brundle, who signed with [[Équipe Ligier|Ligier]]; instead, test driver [[Damon Hill]] was promoted to pair with Prost.