At the end of lap 8 Prost was still leading ahead of his two main Championship rivals Senna and Hill, who were both outside of the points. As Senna tried to take sixth position from Brundle they collided and the accident retired both of them from the race. Hill had gained two places as a result of the collision and was now in sixth. He gained a further two places when Johnny Herbert spun out into the tyre barrier at Parabolica on lap 15 and Berger's suspension failed on the following lap. On lap 18 he passed Alesi and on lap 22 Schumacher's engine failed. Blundell had also hit the barrier at Parabolica like Herbert and retired with a right rear puncture just after pitting by lap 21. This left Hill in second position, five seconds behind Prost.