The 1993 European Grand Prix (formally the Sega European Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 11 April 1993 at Donington Park, Leicestershire. It was the third race of the 1993 FIA Formula One World Championship. The race was contested over 76 laps and was won by Ayrton Senna for the McLaren team, ahead of second-placed Damon Hill and third-placed Alain Prost, both driving for the Williams team.
Senna's drive to victory is regarded as one of his finest, and his first lap exploits are particularly lauded, in which he passed four drivers – Michael Schumacher, Karl Wendlinger, Damon Hill and Alain Prost – to take the lead in a single lap in damp conditions. The race was the first held under the European Grand Prix title since 1985, and to date is the only Formula One Grand Prix to have been held at the Donington Park circuit.
Report
Background After plans to hold an Asian Grand Prix at the Nippon Autopolis in Japan failed to materialise, the first European Grand Prix for eight years was run as the third race of the 1993 season. Donington Park was awarded the race, having unsuccessfully bid to host the British Grand Prix. Video game company Sega sponsored the race and the logo could be seen throughout the Grand Prix and on the podium. Sega also had naming rights to the Grand Prix.
Ivan Capelli had agreed to part ways with the Jordan team after failing to qualify at the previous round in Brazil. He was replaced by veteran Belgian driver Thierry Boutsen.
Race
The Williams cars were 1–2 in qualifying with Prost on pole ahead of Hill, Schumacher, Senna, Wendlinger and Michael Andretti. At the start, it was damp and Schumacher blocked Senna and both lost time and Wendlinger took third. Having dropped to fifth, Senna quickly passed Schumacher at the third corner. He then went after Wendlinger, passing him through the Craner Curves with Schumacher and Andretti trying to follow through. Schumacher went through but Andretti hit Wendlinger and both were out, meaning Andretti was still yet to complete a race in his Formula One career. Senna went after Hill now and took second at McLean's Corner. Now Prost was the target and the lead was taken at the penultimate corner – the Melbourne Hairpin. Going into the second lap, Senna led Prost, Hill, Rubens Barrichello (who had started 12th), Jean Alesi, Schumacher and JJ Lehto.
The track began to dry and everyone pitted for dry tyres. Lehto was fifth, having started from the pit lane, but he retired with handling problems on lap 14. Gerhard Berger took the place but he too retired with suspension problems six laps later. The rain returned and the leaders now pitted for wets. Mark Blundell was forced off by Senna whilst battling Fittipaldi at the Esses and then spun off backwards into the gravel trap whilst attempting to rejoin the track. Schumacher stayed out and was leading but spun out on lap 23 as a result of being on the wrong tyres. The track began to dry and everyone pitted once again with Senna having a problem and losing 20 seconds. Prost now led Senna, Hill, Barrichello, Derek Warwick and Johnny Herbert.
It began to rain and the two Williams stopped for wets while Senna stayed out. It was the correct decision because it began to dry again. The Williams stopped yet again for dries. Prost stalled in the pits in his stop and when he rejoined, he was a lap behind and down in fourth. Barrichello was now second but it rained and then stopped again. He went to the pits twice and by now Hill was in second, albeit a lap down. Barrichello, third, had trouble with his fuel pressure and retired, giving the place to Prost. Senna set the fastest lap on lap 57, on a lap when he drove into the pit lane but aborted the pit stop, showing that there actually was a shortcut through the pit lane. This is due to the Grand Prix configuration of Donington, which has the pit entry before the final hairpin corner onto the start/finish straight.
Senna won from Hill and Prost, having made four pit stops in the wet-dry conditions compared to Prost's seven. Williams technical director Patrick Head explained: "Our active car maintained very low ride heights, just a few millimetres above the ground, and gained aerodynamic performance by this, but when the water was deeper than the ride height of the car, our drivers were 'surfing'". Herbert finished fourth for Lotus, stopping only once, while all the other finishing drivers making several pit stops. Riccardo Patrese and Fabrizio Barbazza completed the top six. By the end, Senna had lapped the entire field except for Hill, who finished over a minute behind.
At the end of the race, Senna was led onto a podium and given a trophy that depicted Sega's mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog, holding a trophy with the Sega logo underneath. A widely circulated image shows Senna holding the trophy. After this marketing photo op, he was given the official award, a trophy that does not depict either Sonic the Hedgehog or the Sega logo. McLaren is still in possession of the Sega trophy; for a long time, it was thought to have been lost until McLaren's official Twitter account revealed it is in one of their storerooms. On 12 June 2020, McLaren put the trophy in a trophy case in McLaren Technology Centre.
Classification
Qualifying Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap 1 2 Alain Prost Williams-Renault 1:24.467 1:10.458 2 0 Damon Hill Williams-Renault 1:24.014 1:10.762 +0.304 3 5 Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 1:26.264 1:12.008 +1.550 4 8 Ayrton Senna McLaren-Ford 1:23.976 1:12.107 +1.649 5 29 Karl Wendlinger Sauber 1:26.805 1:12.738 +2.280 6 7 Michael Andretti McLaren-Ford 1:26.859 1:12.739 +2.281 7 30 JJ Lehto Sauber 1:25.469 1:12.763 +2.305 8 28 Gerhard Berger Ferrari 1:25.971 1:12.862 +2.404 9 27 Jean Alesi Ferrari 1:25.699 1:12.980 +2.522 10 6 Riccardo Patrese Benetton-Ford 1:27.273 1:12.982 +2.524 11 12 Johnny Herbert Lotus-Ford 1:27.173 1:13.328 +2.870 12 14 Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Hart 1:26.557 1:13.514 +3.056 13 11 Alessandro Zanardi Lotus-Ford 1:28.782 1:13.560 +3.102 14 9 Derek Warwick Footwork-Mugen-Honda 1:28.096 1:13.664 +3.206 15 19 Philippe Alliot Larrousse-Lamborghini 1:28.648 1:13.665 +3.207 16 23 Christian Fittipaldi Minardi-Ford 1:28.065 1:13.666 +3.208 17 20 Érik Comas Larrousse-Lamborghini 1:29.310 1:13.970 +3.512 18 3 Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:29.851 1:14.121 +3.663 19 15 Thierry Boutsen Jordan-Hart 1:28.701 1:14.246 +3.788 20 24 Fabrizio Barbazza Minardi-Ford 1:27.275 1:14.274 +3.816 21 26 Mark Blundell Ligier-Renault 1:27.302 1:14.301 +3.843 22 25 Martin Brundle Ligier-Renault 1:26.788 1:14.306 +3.848 23 10 Aguri Suzuki Footwork-Mugen-Honda 1:30.107 1:14.927 +4.469 24 21 Michele Alboreto Lola-Ferrari 1:30.049 1:15.322 +4.864 25 4 Andrea de Cesaris Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:29.177 1:15.417 +4.959 22 Luca Badoer Lola-Ferrari 1:31.178 1:15.641 +5.183 Sources:
Race Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 8 Ayrton Senna McLaren-Ford 76 1:50:46.570 4 10 2 0 Damon Hill Williams-Renault 76 + 1:23.199 2 6 3 2 Alain Prost Williams-Renault 75 + 1 lap 1 4 4 12 Johnny Herbert Lotus-Ford 75 + 1 lap 11 3 5 6 Riccardo Patrese Benetton-Ford 74 + 2 laps 10 2 6 24 Fabrizio Barbazza Minardi-Ford 74 + 2 laps 20 1 7 23 Christian Fittipaldi Minardi-Ford 73 + 3 laps 16 8 11 Alessandro Zanardi Lotus-Ford 72 + 4 laps 13 9 20 Érik Comas Larrousse-Lamborghini 72 + 4 laps 17 10 14 Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Hart 70 Fuel pressure 12 11 21 Michele Alboreto Lola-Ferrari 70 + 6 laps 24 9 Derek Warwick Footwork-Mugen-Honda 66 Gearbox 14 15 Thierry Boutsen Jordan-Hart 61 Throttle 19 4 Andrea de Cesaris Tyrrell-Yamaha 55 Gearbox 25 27 Jean Alesi Ferrari 36 Gearbox 9 10 Aguri Suzuki Footwork-Mugen-Honda 29 Gearbox 23 19 Philippe Alliot Larrousse-Lamborghini 27 Collision 15 5 Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 22 Spun off 3 26 Mark Blundell Ligier-Renault 20 Spun off 21 28 Gerhard Berger Ferrari 19 Suspension 8 30 JJ Lehto Sauber 13 Handling 7 3 Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 11 Clutch 18 25 Martin Brundle Ligier-Renault 7 Spun off 22 29 Karl Wendlinger Sauber 0 Collision 5 7 Michael Andretti McLaren-Ford 0 Collision 6
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings PosDriverPoints 1 Ayrton Senna 26 2 Alain Prost 14 3 Damon Hill 12 4 Mark Blundell 6 1 5 Johnny Herbert 6Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 1 McLaren-Ford 26 1 2 Williams-Renault 26 2 3 Lotus-Ford 7 4 Benetton-Ford 6 2 5 Ligier-Renault 6Source:
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References
External links
AtlasF1's 'The Races we Remember' Series:The 1990s