The warning had been there right from the morning warm-up at Spa-Francorchamps, when Michael Schumacher lapped within three tenths of a second of Damon Hill, and a second quicker than Alain Prost.
"My car felt fine, but we just don't know how much fuel he might have been using..." said Hill. "All we do know," he added reflectively, "is that he was too close for comfort."
As usual the two Williams-Renaults had wrapped up the front row of the grid, but again Schumacher had been the closest as a demon lap from Jean Alesi had deposed Ayrton Senna. Unusually, Prost led from the line, making his second best start of the year (Monaco was superior) to lead into La Source. Hill didn't exactly stumble, but Senna and Alesi both squeezed by at the hairpin. Hill duly disposed of the Ferrari on the run to Eau Rouge, but it took him another lap and a bit before he breezed by the Brazilian on the climb to Les Combes. By then, Prost was away up the road, already looking set for his 52nd Grande Epreuve success. Fate, however, had other plans. What had been a relatively tame race for the first half suddenly developed into a real humdinger as it neared the 22 lap mark. There were several reasons for this late maturity.
