It was the 11th April 1993, and the first time I had ever watched a Formula One Grand Prix in full. I was transfixed, glued to the screen, for the racing I was seeing in front of me was mesmerising – and the driver catching my undivided attention was Ayrton Senna.
Today would have been the 54th birthday of the Brazilian legend, had he not been so tragically taken from us on that black day, on the 1st May 1994. It is a credit to Senna’s greatness that he is still remembered in the hearts of millions of fans, young and old, to this day.
The conditions prior to the start of the 1993 European Grand Prix at Donnington Park had been torrential, rain poured from the sky, and darkness descended on the circuit. It looked like it would never stop, but as race time got closer the downpour ceased, leaving a wet and water logged track. The drivers lined up on full wets ready to roll into action.
Senna had qualified on the second row of the grid in fourth position, with Alain Prost, Damon Hill and Michael Schumacher ahead of him. He did not get the best of starts off the line, initially falling behind fifth placed Karl Wendlinger as he was pushed out by Schumacher, but once he had gained his composure he was unstoppable. He glided past Schumacher before going round the outside of Wendlinger to make his pass. Seemingly having all the grip in the World at his disposal he then eased passed Hill without a second glance. Prost had stormed ahead, but Senna sped on, catching and passing the Frenchman to take the lead just three corners later, sliding by under braking at the Melbourne hairpin. By the end of the first lap the Brazilian was leading the race, and by the end of the second he was 4.2 seconds clear of the rest of the field.
Senna’s fellow countryman Rubens Barrichello, in only his third Grand Prix for the Jordan team got a similarly impressive start off the line. Making up eight places from his initial twelfth position on the grid, he lay in fourth place after the first lap.
Up ahead, the Brazilians’ lead kept building in the McLaren as he majestically flew around the Park, but as the track began to dry out, Alain Prost in his Williams began to bring that margin back down. On lap 17, with the circuit conditions now seemingly ready for them, Senna switched to the slick tyres, reacting to Hill who had been lying third in the pack and pitted one lap earlier. This gave Prost the lead briefly before he too pitted for slicks and Senna regained the front spot.
Moments later Senna narrowly missed being taken out of the race when a sliding Mark Blundell, trying to overtake Christian Fittipaldi at the chicane but failing, blocked the McLaren man before skidding off track in the rain that had now begun to fall once more. Whilst Fittipaldi, unaware of Senna’s presence behind him, only just managed to avoid a coming together with the leader as he turned inwards.
With the rain coming down, Prost and Hill immediately clambered into the pits to change on to full wets whilst Senna tried this hardest to stay out on the slicks as long as he could to extend his lead. He lasted until Lap 28 before deciding it was time for him too to put on the full wets. But within just a few laps of returning to the track the rain had stopped, the typical British weather not knowing what it was doing was playing havoc with strategies up and down the field.
Prost was first to make the tyre switch once again, with Senna close behind just one lap later, but a problem with his right rear wheel nut saw him lose precious time as the pit crew worked to replace it. The lead he had worked so hard to build up over Prost ebbing away with every moment spent stationery in the pits. The Frenchman inevitably took the lead, but when a further rain shower tumbled down, Prost, ever eager to be first to react to the changing conditions, made his way into the pits on lap 38, changing back to the full wets. Senna made the call to stay out on his slicks, and his swift decision making paid off. Ten laps further on, whilst Senna persevered with his slicks, the Williams man was forced to make another trip to the pits, changing tyres once again. The Frenchman, seemingly having the same bout of luck that his rival had experienced earlier in the race, had his turn for issues in the pits and on exiting the garages his Williams stalled. By the time he finally made it back onto the circuit Senna, who had by now mastered the wet track on his slick tyres, had pegged his lead back and was now over a lap ahead. The Professor then also succumbed to a puncture, forcing him to return to the pits once more and putting him further behind his rival. A final pit stop towards the end of the race to return to full wets saw the Frenchman make a total of seven pit stops during the race, undeniably the reason he was so far behind.
Senna on the other hand had made five, the final one becoming a drive through when he realised that his pit crew were not ready to receive him. As there was no pit lane speed limit in those days, the Brazilian hit the gas and was able to post the fastest time ever recorded at the track, the brief detour providing a shortened lap distance and aiding him in this feat.
Elsewhere in the field, Prost’s final pit stop had bumped Barrichello up to third place, but cruelly after his gallant efforts throughout the race his engine failed on him, forcing him to retire from the race. His tank under fuelled by just six laps.
The Brazilian led the field home in his McLaren after his final change to full wets, from Damon Hill, the only other driver still on the same lap as the leader, with a gap of 1:23.199, from Prost in third a lap down, and Johnny Herbert an impressive fourth after only ever making one pit stop throughout the whole race. Only 11 of the 25 drivers made it home in what was one of the most spectacular races of the season, and possibly Senna’s best before that ill-fated day, just over a year later.
Senna had read the conditions perfectly that day and made a mockery of his fellow drivers, including the talented Prost, who had struggled in their campaign. Demonstrating the class and skill he was renowned for in the wet, he was a racing genius, able to get the maximum out of the car, whatever the weather. A formidable opponent, who was breath-taking to watch at times, I only wish I had been able to catch more racing from this legend amongst men.
I was hooked on the sport from that moment on, unable to believe that these men could drive without fear, at such speeds. It was evident that Formula One drivers were of a different breed, a special class of human being and I did not want to miss a moment of the thrilling action! Ayrton Senna had produced in me another fan of the high octane World of motor racing that day, with a breath-taking performance of skill and bravery. I was now one of many already in love with the sport and one of countless more to come. Senna will always be revered as one of the greatest drivers ever to grace this earth, and deservedly so.
Memory added on January 7, 2015
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