Williams dominated qualifying, with Alain Prost taking pole position ahead of his teammate Damon Hill. Senna qualified third in his McLaren-Ford, followed by Michael Schumacher for Benetton-Ford, Michael Andretti, and Riccardo Patrese.
At the start, Senna moved ahead of Hill into the first corner, but chaos immediately followed. Andretti collided with Gerhard Berger, sending both cars hard into the tyre barriers at turn one. The collision also eliminated Martin Brundle and Fabrizio Barbazza's Minardi from the opening sequence of the race.
The early order settled with Prost leading, followed by Senna and Hill. Schumacher passed Andretti's replacement Jean Alesi on lap 2 to move up the field. Prost built a substantial advantage at the front while Hill applied pressure to Senna, eventually taking second place on lap 11. On lap 25, Senna received a stop-go penalty for passing a backmarker under yellow flags, which dropped him behind Schumacher.
Heavy rain arrived on lap 27, and most of the leading drivers pitted for wet-weather tyres. Prost, however, stayed out on slick tyres, gambling on the conditions improving. The rain intensified and conditions caught out multiple drivers. Ukyo Katayama and Aguri Suzuki both crashed on the start-finish straight, with the Footwork of Suzuki partially blocking the circuit. The safety car was deployed for the second time in Formula One history, following its trial at the 1973 Canadian Grand Prix.
Further drama came when Emerson Fittipaldi spun at the first corner on lap 30 and stopped in the middle of the track. Prost, unable to avoid the stationary car, crashed into Fittipaldi and both were eliminated. When the safety car pulled back in, Hill led ahead of Senna, Schumacher, Jean Alesi, Johnny Herbert, and JJ Lehto.
As the circuit dried, teams cycled back to dry tyres. Herbert's pit strategy proved fortunate — he had switched to slicks just as the safety car pitted, gaining track position and moving up to third. Once racing resumed on dry tyres, Senna passed Hill for the lead and pulled away. Schumacher and Alesi were both issued stop-go penalties for passing under yellow flags during the rain period, costing Schumacher two positions and dropping Alesi several places. Schumacher recovered to third by the flag.
Senna won from Hill, Schumacher, Herbert, Mark Blundell, and Alessandro Zanardi. After the chequered flag, Brazilian fans invaded the circuit to celebrate Senna's victory.
Senna's victory was McLaren's 100th Formula One race win, a milestone celebrated at the time. It was also notable as the last occasion a Brazilian driver won the Brazilian Grand Prix until Felipe Massa repeated the feat in 2006. The race featured the safety car's second-ever Formula One appearance, a procedure that would become standard in subsequent decades.