1993 European Grand Prix

The 1993 European Grand Prix (formally the Sega European Grand Prix<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>) 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.<ref name="formula1.com"/>

Senna's drive to victory is regarded as one of his finest,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref name="Senna reigns supreme">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.<ref name="Senna reigns supreme"/> 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.<ref name="kotaku.com">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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

File:Senna 1993 European GP.jpg

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 racing lap 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'".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.

File:1993 European Grand Prix Trophy at Formula 1 Exhibition, London.jpg

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.<ref name="kotaku.com"/> A widely circulated image shows Senna holding the trophy.<ref name="kotaku.com"/><ref name="sonicgear.org">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name="kotaku.com"/> 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.<ref name="kotaku.com"/><ref name="sonicgear.org"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> On 12 June 2020, McLaren put the trophy in a trophy case in McLaren Technology Centre.<ref>Template:Cite tweet</ref>

Classification

Qualifying

citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> !! No !! Driver !! Constructor !! Q1 !! Q2 !! Gap
1	2	Template:Flagicon Alain Prost	Williams-Renault	1:24.467	1:10.458
2	0	Template:Flagicon Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	1:24.014	1:10.762	+0.304
3	5	Template:Flagicon Michael Schumacher	Benetton-Ford	1:26.264	1:12.008	+1.550
4	8	Template:Flagicon Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Ford	1:23.976	1:12.107	+1.649
5	29	Template:Flagicon Karl Wendlinger	Sauber	1:26.805	1:12.738	+2.280
6	7	Template:Flagicon Michael Andretti	McLaren-Ford	1:26.859	1:12.739	+2.281
7	30	Template:Flagicon JJ Lehto	Sauber	1:25.469	1:12.763	+2.305
8	28	Template:Flagicon Gerhard Berger	Ferrari	1:25.971	1:12.862	+2.404
9	27	Template:Flagicon Jean Alesi	Ferrari	1:25.699	1:12.980	+2.522
10	6	Template:Flagicon Riccardo Patrese	Benetton-Ford	1:27.273	1:12.982	+2.524
11	12	Template:Flagicon Johnny Herbert	Lotus-Ford	1:27.173	1:13.328	+2.870
12	14	Template:Flagicon Rubens Barrichello	Jordan-Hart	1:26.557	1:13.514	+3.056
13	11	Template:Flagicon Alessandro Zanardi	Lotus-Ford	1:28.782	1:13.560	+3.102
14	9	Template:Flagicon Derek Warwick	Footwork-Mugen-Honda	1:28.096	1:13.664	+3.206
15	19	Template:Flagicon Philippe Alliot	Larrousse-Lamborghini	1:28.648	1:13.665	+3.207
16	23	Template:Flagicon Christian Fittipaldi	Minardi-Ford	1:28.065	1:13.666	+3.208
17	20	Template:Flagicon Érik Comas	Larrousse-Lamborghini	1:29.310	1:13.970	+3.512
18	3	Template:Flagicon Ukyo Katayama	Tyrrell-Yamaha	1:29.851	1:14.121	+3.663
19	15	Template:Flagicon Thierry Boutsen	Jordan-Hart	1:28.701	1:14.246	+3.788
20	24	Template:Flagicon Fabrizio Barbazza	Minardi-Ford	1:27.275	1:14.274	+3.816
21	26	Template:Flagicon Mark Blundell	Ligier-Renault	1:27.302	1:14.301	+3.843
22	25	Template:Flagicon Martin Brundle	Ligier-Renault	1:26.788	1:14.306	+3.848
23	10	Template:Flagicon Aguri Suzuki	Footwork-Mugen-Honda	1:30.107	1:14.927	+4.469
24	21	Template:Flagicon Michele Alboreto	Lola-Ferrari	1:30.049	1:15.322	+4.864
25	4	Template:Flagicon Andrea de Cesaris	Tyrrell-Yamaha	1:29.177	1:15.417	+4.959
DNQ	22	Template:Flagicon Luca Badoer	Lola-Ferrari	1:31.178	1:15.641	+5.183
Sources:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation							CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	8	Template:Flagicon Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Ford	76	1:50:46.570	4	10
2	0	Template:Flagicon Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	76	+ 1:23.199	2	6
3	2	Template:Flagicon Alain Prost	Williams-Renault	75	+ 1 lap	1	4
4	12	Template:Flagicon Johnny Herbert	Lotus-Ford	75	+ 1 lap	11	3
5	6	Template:Flagicon Riccardo Patrese	Benetton-Ford	74	+ 2 laps	10	2
6	24	Template:Flagicon Fabrizio Barbazza	Minardi-Ford	74	+ 2 laps	20	1
7	23	Template:Flagicon Christian Fittipaldi	Minardi-Ford	73	+ 3 laps	16
8	11	Template:Flagicon Alessandro Zanardi	Lotus-Ford	72	+ 4 laps	13
9	20	Template:Flagicon Érik Comas	Larrousse-Lamborghini	72	+ 4 laps	17
10	14	Template:Flagicon Rubens Barrichello	Jordan-Hart	70	Fuel pressure	12
11	21	Template:Flagicon Michele Alboreto	Lola-Ferrari	70	+ 6 laps	24
Ret	9	Template:Flagicon Derek Warwick	Footwork-Mugen-Honda	66	Gearbox	14
Ret	15	Template:Flagicon Thierry Boutsen	Jordan-Hart	61	Throttle	19
Ret	4	Template:Flagicon Andrea de Cesaris	Tyrrell-Yamaha	55	Gearbox	25
Ret	27	Template:Flagicon Jean Alesi	Ferrari	36	Gearbox	9
Ret	10	Template:Flagicon Aguri Suzuki	Footwork-Mugen-Honda	29	Gearbox	23
Ret	19	Template:Flagicon Philippe Alliot	Larrousse-Lamborghini	27	Collision	15
Ret	5	Template:Flagicon Michael Schumacher	Benetton-Ford	22	Spun off	3
Ret	26	Template:Flagicon Mark Blundell	Ligier-Renault	20	Spun off	21
Ret	28	Template:Flagicon Gerhard Berger	Ferrari	19	Suspension	8
Ret	30	Template:Flagicon JJ Lehto	Sauber	13	Handling	7
Ret	3	Template:Flagicon Ukyo Katayama	Tyrrell-Yamaha	11	Clutch	18
Ret	25	Template:Flagicon Martin Brundle	Ligier-Renault	7	Spun off	22
Ret	29	Template:Flagicon Karl Wendlinger	Sauber	0	Collision	5
Ret	7	Template:Flagicon Michael Andretti	McLaren-Ford	0	Collision	6
{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Template:Flagicon Ayrton Senna	26
2	Template:Flagicon Alain Prost	14
3	Template:Flagicon Damon Hill	12
4	Template:Flagicon Mark Blundell	6
5	Template:Flagicon Johnny Herbert	6
Source:<ref name="champ">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation				CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Constructors' Championship standings

Pos	Constructor	Points
1	Template:Flagicon McLaren-Ford	26
2	Template:Flagicon Williams-Renault	26
3	Template:Flagicon Lotus-Ford	7
4	Template:Flagicon Benetton-Ford	6
5	Template:Flagicon Ligier-Renault	6
Source:<ref name="champ"/>

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

• Template:Cite book

External links

• AtlasF1's 'The Races we Remember' Series:The 1990s

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