1993 European Grand Prix

United Kingdom  1993 European Grand Prix
Race details
Race 3 of 16 in the 1993 Formula One season

Date April 11, 1993
Official name XXXVIII Sega European Grand Prix
Location Donington Park, Leicestershire, UK
Course Permanent racing facility
4.023 km (2.500 mi)
Distance 76 laps, 305.748 km (190.000 mi)
Weather Rain with dry spells
Pole position
Driver France Alain Prost Williams-Renault
Time 1:10.458
Fastest lap
Driver Brazil Ayrton Senna McLaren-Ford
Time 1:18.029 on lap 57
Podium
First Brazil Ayrton Senna McLaren-Ford
Second United Kingdom Damon Hill Williams-Renault
Third France Alain Prost Williams-Renault

The 1993 European Grand Prix (formally the XXXVIII Sega European Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 11 April 1993 at Donington Park. It was the third round of the 1993 Formula One season. 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.[1]

Senna's drive to victory is regarded as one of his finest,[2] and his first lap exploits are particularly lauded, in which he passed four drivers to take the lead in torrential conditions.[3][4] The race was the first held under the European Grand Prix title since 1985, and to date is the only Formula One grand prix held at the circuit.[5]

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.[5] Videogame 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.[6]

Race

The Williams cars were 1–2 in qualifying with Prost on pole ahead of Hill, Schumacher, Senna, Wendlinger and 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. 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, Barrichello (who had started 12th), Schumacher and 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. Berger took the place but he too retired with suspension problems six laps later. It rained again and the leaders now pitted for wets. Schumacher stayed out and was leading but spun off on lap 23 because he was 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, Rubens Barrichello, Derek Warwick and 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 pitlane but aborted the pit stop, showing that there actually was a shortcut through the pitlane. 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. This is possibly the only fastest lap in modern F1 history set by driving through the pitlane.

Senna won from Hill and Prost, having made four pit stops in the wet-dry conditions compared to Prost's seven, which is a record that stands as of 2014. Johnny Herbert finished fourth for Lotus by stopping only once while all the other finishing drivers stopped in the pits several times. Patrese and Barbazza took the last two points scoring places. By the end, Senna had lapped the entire field except for one car and finished over a minute ahead of second place Damon Hill.

At the end of the race, Senna was led onto a podium and was given a trophy that depicted videogame character and Sega's mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog holding a trophy with the Sega logo underneath.[6] A widely circulated image on the internet shows Senna holding the trophy.[6][7] Contrary to popular belief, this is not the award Ayrton Senna got for winning the Grand Prix but a fake trophy for a photo op. Video footage shows that after having the photograph taken, He was given the actual award. A trophy that does not depict either Sonic the Hedgehog or the Sega logo.[6] The current location of the famous Sega trophy is unknown.[6][7]

Classification

Qualifying

Pos No Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap
1 2 France Alain Prost Williams-Renault 1:24.467 1:10.458
2 0 United Kingdom Damon Hill Williams-Renault 1:24.014 1:10.762 +0.304
3 5 Germany Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 1:26.264 1:12.008 +1.550
4 8 Brazil Ayrton Senna McLaren-Ford 1:23.976 1:12.107 +1.649
5 29 Austria Karl Wendlinger Sauber 1:26.805 1:12.738 +2.280
6 7 United States Michael Andretti McLaren-Ford 1:26.859 1:12.739 +2.281
7 30 Finland JJ Lehto Sauber 1:25.469 1:12.763 +2.305
8 28 Austria Gerhard Berger Ferrari 1:25.971 1:12.862 +2.404
9 27 France Jean Alesi Ferrari 1:25.699 1:12.980 +2.522
10 6 Italy Riccardo Patrese Benetton-Ford 1:27.273 1:12.982 +2.524
11 12 United Kingdom Johnny Herbert Lotus-Ford 1:27.173 1:13.328 +2.870
12 14 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Hart 1:26.557 1:13.514 +3.056
13 11 Italy Alessandro Zanardi Lotus-Ford 1:28.782 1:13.560 +3.102
14 9 United Kingdom Derek Warwick Footwork-Mugen-Honda 1:28.096 1:13.664 +3.206
15 19 France Philippe Alliot Larrousse-Lamborghini 1:28.648 1:13.665 +3.207
16 23 Brazil Christian Fittipaldi Minardi-Ford 1:28.065 1:13.666 +3.208
17 20 France Érik Comas Larrousse-Lamborghini 1:29.310 1:13.970 +3.512
18 3 Japan Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:29.851 1:14.121 +3.663
19 15 Belgium Thierry Boutsen Jordan-Hart 1:28.701 1:14.246 +3.788
20 24 Italy Fabrizio Barbazza Minardi-Ford 1:27.275 1:14.274 +3.816
21 26 United Kingdom Mark Blundell Ligier-Renault 1:27.302 1:14.301 +3.843
22 25 United Kingdom Martin Brundle Ligier-Renault 1:26.788 1:14.306 +3.848
23 10 Japan Aguri Suzuki Footwork-Mugen-Honda 1:30.107 1:14.927 +4.469
24 21 Italy Michele Alboreto Lola-Ferrari 1:30.049 1:15.322 +4.864
25 4 Italy Andrea de Cesaris Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:29.177 1:15.417 +4.959
26 22 Italy Luca Badoer Lola-Ferrari 1:31.178 1:15.641 +5.183

Race

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 8 Brazil Ayrton Senna McLaren-Ford 76 1:50:46.570 4 10
2 0 United Kingdom Damon Hill Williams-Renault 76 +1:23.199 2 6
3 2 France Alain Prost Williams-Renault 75 +1 Lap 1 4
4 12 United Kingdom Johnny Herbert Lotus-Ford 75 +1 Lap 11 3
5 6 Italy Riccardo Patrese Benetton-Ford 74 +2 Laps 10 2
6 24 Italy Fabrizio Barbazza Minardi-Ford 74 +2 Laps 20 1
7 23 Brazil Christian Fittipaldi Minardi-Ford 73 +3 Laps 16  
8 11 Italy Alessandro Zanardi Lotus-Ford 72 +4 Laps 13  
9 20 France Érik Comas Larrousse-Lamborghini 72 +4 Laps 17  
10 14 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Hart 70 Fuel system 12  
11 21 Italy Michele Alboreto Lola-Ferrari 70 +6 Laps 24  
Ret 9 United Kingdom Derek Warwick Footwork-Mugen-Honda 66 Gearbox 14  
Ret 15 Belgium Thierry Boutsen Jordan-Hart 61 Throttle 19  
Ret 4 Italy Andrea de Cesaris Tyrrell-Yamaha 55 Gearbox 25  
Ret 27 France Jean Alesi Ferrari 36 Gearbox 9  
Ret 10 Japan Aguri Suzuki Footwork-Mugen-Honda 29 Gearbox 23  
Ret 19 France Philippe Alliot Larrousse-Lamborghini 27 Collision 15  
Ret 5 Germany Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 22 Spun off 3  
Ret 26 United Kingdom Mark Blundell Ligier-Renault 20 Spun off 21  
Ret 28 Austria Gerhard Berger Ferrari 19 Suspension 8  
Ret 30 Finland JJ Lehto Sauber 13 Handling 7  
Ret 3 Japan Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 11 Clutch 18  
Ret 25 United Kingdom Martin Brundle Ligier-Renault 7 Spun off 22  
Ret 29 Austria Karl Wendlinger Sauber 0 Collision 5  
Ret 7 United States Michael Andretti McLaren-Ford 0 Collision 6  
DNQ 22 Italy Luca Badoer Lola-Ferrari  

Notes

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 Brazil Ayrton Senna 26
2 France Alain Prost 14
3 United Kingdom Damon Hill 12
4 United Kingdom Mark Blundell 6
5 United Kingdom Johnny Herbert 6

Constructors' Championship standings
Pos Constructor Points
1 United Kingdom McLaren-Ford 26
2 United Kingdom Williams-Renault 26
3 United Kingdom Lotus-Ford 7
4 United Kingdom Benetton-Ford 6
5 France Ligier-Renault 6

References

  1. "1993 European Grand Prix". The Official Formula 1 website. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  2. Harmer, Alex (1 May 2013). "Ayrton Senna's greatest drives". Motor Sport magazine. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  3. Walker, Murray (11 April 2013). "Murray's memories: European GP 1993 – Sensational Senna". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  4. "Greatest single lap in F1 history was driven at Donington's first and last grand prix". Nottingham Post. 10 June 2011. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Medland, Chris (24 June 2011). "Senna reigns supreme". ESPN. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 http://kotaku.com/5870698/the-day-a-sporting-legend-became-an-unwitting-sonic-the-hedgehog-icon
  7. 7.0 7.1 http://www.sonicgear.org/HighEnd/HighEnd.html

External links

Previous race:
1993 Brazilian Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1993 season
Next race:
1993 San Marino Grand Prix
Previous race:
1985 European Grand Prix
European Grand Prix Next race:
1994 European Grand Prix
Awards
Preceded by
1992 French Grand Prix
Formula One Promotional Trophy
for Race Promoter

1993
Succeeded by
1994 Pacific Grand Prix