1993 European Grand Prix

July 2021 F1 United Kingdom European Sega European Grand Prix Donington as of 2006.svg 11 April 1993 3 16 Donington Park, Leicestershire, United Kingdom Permanent racing facility 2.500 4.023 76 189.983 305.748 Very cold, rain with dry spells Alain Prost Williams-Renault 1:10.458 France Ayrton Senna McLaren-Ford 1:18.029 (lap record) 57 Brazil Ayrton Senna McLaren-Ford Brazil Damon Hill Williams-Renault United Kingdom Alain Prost Williams-Renault France EUR The 1993 European Grand Prix (formally the Sega European Grand PrixMotor Racing Programme Covers: 1993 http://www.progcovers.com/motor/donington930411.jpg The Programme Covers Project 29 October 2017) 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,http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/f1/history/sennas-greatest-drives/ https://web.archive.org/web/20151222121020/http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/f1/history/sennas-greatest-drives/ 22 December 2015 Ayrton Senna's greatest drives Motor Sport magazine Alex Harmer 1 May 2013 19 September 2013 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.https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/22085091 https://web.archive.org/web/20140309121705/http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/22085091 9 March 2014 Murray's memories: European GP 1993 – Sensational Senna BBC Sport Murray Walker 11 April 2013 live 19 September 2013http://www.nottinghampost.com/Greatest-single-lap-F1-history-driven-Donington-s/story-12746779-detail/story.html https://web.archive.org/web/20141129052456/http://www.nottinghampost.com/Greatest-single-lap-F1-history-driven-Donington-s/story-12746779-detail/story.html 29 November 2014 Greatest single lap in F1 history was driven at Donington's first and last grand prix Nottingham Post 10 June 2011 19 September 2013 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.http://www.espn.co.uk/f1/motorsport/story/52308.html https://web.archive.org/web/20141129015950/http://www.espn.co.uk/f1/motorsport/story/52308.html 29 November 2014 Senna reigns supreme ESPN Chris Medland 24 June 2011 19 September 2013 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.Plunkett Luke 23 December 2012 The Day a Sporting Legend Became an Unwitting Sonic the Hedgehog Icon https://kotaku.com/the-day-a-sporting-legend-became-an-unwitting-sonic-the-5870698 Kotaku.com live https://web.archive.org/web/20150903114944/http://kotaku.com/5870698/the-day-a-sporting-legend-became-an-unwitting-sonic-the-hedgehog-icon 3 September 2015 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 thumb|Ayrton Senna won the race for McLaren. 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'".https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/articles/single-seaters/f1/mclaren-mp4-8-the-underrated-1993-f1-car-senna-still-loved/ McLaren MP4/8 – the underrated 1993 F1 car Senna still 'loved' 11 April 2023 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. thumb|The Sonic the Hedgehog trophy 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.http://sonicgear.org/HighEnd/HighEnd.html https://web.archive.org/web/20160116230705/http://sonicgear.org/HighEnd/HighEnd.html High End Sonic the Hedgehog Merchandise sonicgear.org 16 January 2016 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.http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2018/04/random_the_legendary_sonic_formula_one_trophy_won_by_ayrton_senna_still_exists Random: The Legendary Sonic Formula One Trophy Won By Ayrton Senna Still Exists Nintendo Life Damien McFerran 12 April 2018 15 June 2018 On 12 June 2020, McLaren put the trophy in a trophy case in McLaren Technology Centre.McLarenF1 1271443886863507461 11 April 1993 ➡️ Senna wins the iconic SEGA trophy at Donington Park after one of his finest drives. 👏 🏆12 June 2020 ➡️ The trophy returns to MTC. You asked, we listened! 🧡 23 July 2021 McLaren McLaren Classification Qualifying PosEurope 1993 – Qualifications https://www.statsf1.com/en/1993/europe/qualification.aspx StatsF1 5 January 2024 No Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Gap 1 2 France Alain Prost Williams-Renault 1:24.467 1:10.458 2 0 UK 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 UK 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 UK 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 1947 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 UK Mark Blundell Ligier-Renault 1:27.302 1:14.301 +3.843 22 25 UK Martin Brundle Ligier-Renault 1:26.788 1:14.306 +3.848 23 10 Japan 1947 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 +4.959DNQ Did not qualify 22 Italy Luca Badoer Lola-Ferrari 1:31.178 1:15.641 +5.183 Sources:SEGA European Grand Prix – Qualifying 1 https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1993/races/592/europe/qualifying-1.html Formula1.com 5 January 2024SEGA European Grand Prix – Qualifying 2 https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1993/races/592/europe/qualifying-2.html Formula1.com 5 January 20241993 European Grand Prix Classification Qualifying https://www.motorsportstats.com/results/fia-formula-one-world-championship/1993/european-grand-prix/classification/qualifying Motorsport Stats 5 January 2024 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 UK Damon Hill Williams-Renault 76 + 1:23.199 2 6 3 2 France Alain Prost Williams-Renault 75 + 1 lap 1 4 4 12 UK 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 pressure 12   11 21 Italy Michele Alboreto Lola-Ferrari 70 + 6 laps 24   Ret Retired 9 UK Derek Warwick Footwork-Mugen-Honda 66 Gearbox 14   Ret Retired 15 Belgium Thierry Boutsen Jordan-Hart 61 Throttle 19   Ret Retired 4 Italy Andrea de Cesaris Tyrrell-Yamaha 55 Gearbox 25   Ret Retired 27 France Jean Alesi Ferrari 36 Gearbox 9   Ret Retired 10 Japan 1947 Aguri Suzuki Footwork-Mugen-Honda 29 Gearbox 23   Ret Retired 19 France Philippe Alliot Larrousse-Lamborghini 27 Collision 15   Ret Retired 5 Germany Michael Schumacher Benetton-Ford 22 Spun off 3   Ret Retired 26 UK Mark Blundell Ligier-Renault 20 Spun off 21   Ret Retired 28 Austria Gerhard Berger Ferrari 19 Suspension 8   Ret Retired 30 Finland JJ Lehto Sauber 13 Handling 7   Ret Retired 3 Japan 1947 Ukyo Katayama Tyrrell-Yamaha 11 Clutch 18   Ret Retired 25 UK Martin Brundle Ligier-Renault 7 Spun off 22   Ret Retired 29 Austria Karl Wendlinger Sauber 0 Collision 5   Ret Retired 7 USA Michael Andretti McLaren-Ford 0 Collision 6  Source:http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1993/86/ 1993 European Grand Prix formula1.com 23 December 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20141129053635/http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1993/86/ 29 November 2014 Championship standings after the race Drivers' Championship standings PosDriverPoints 10px 1 BRA Ayrton Senna 26 10px 2 FRA Alain Prost 14 10px 3 GBR Damon Hill 12 10px 4 GBR Mark Blundell 6 10px 1 5 GBR Johnny Herbert 6Source:https://www.statsf1.com/en/1993/europe/championnat.aspx Europe 1993 - Championship • STATS F1 www.statsf1.com 15 March 2019 Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 10px 1 1 GBR McLaren-Ford 26 10px 1 2 GBR Williams-Renault 26 10px 2 3 GBR Lotus-Ford 7 10px 4 GBR Benetton-Ford 6 10px 2 5 FRA Ligier-Renault 6Source: Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. References Henry Alan Alan Henry AUTOCOURSE 1993–94 Hazleton Publishing 1993 1-874557-15-2 External links AtlasF1's 'The Races we Remember' Series:The 1990s European Grand Prix 1993 1993 Brazilian Grand Prix 1993 San Marino Grand Prix 1985 European Grand Prix 1994 European Grand Prix 1992 French Grand Prix 1994 Pacific Grand Prix European Grand Prix European Grand Prix Category:European Grand Prix Category:Sega European Grand Prix Category:Auto races in the United Kingdom