Welcome to another week of TheJudge13 #F1 Bar Exam.

Last week’s question(s): Can you name the drivers in the photo (three in foreground), the race and circuit and how many Grand Prix were held at this circuit. Who won the race?

The answer(s) I was looking for were: The drivers in the foreground are Ayrton Senna closely followed by Alain Prost and Damon Hill in their Williams Renaults. The race is the 1993 European Grand Prix (XXXVIII Sega European Grand Prix) held at Donington Park, where the Formula 1 circus only made one visit. It was also the first race held under the European Grand Prix title since 1985.

Plans to resurrect the race there failed after a £100m investment came to nothing. The race was won by Ayrton Senna.

During qualifying the Williams were more than 1.5 seconds faster than the McLaren. 

It was a narrow track and difficult to pass and before the race Prost said, “It’s the kind of track you can do almost what you want if you’re leading the race, a bit like Monaco.” 

Senna had driven at Donington previously. In fact, his first ever drive in a Formula One car was here when he tested for Williams in 1983. He said before the race, “I’ve always had tremendous good results in diverse conditions. Now, that doesn’t mean that I like it because as you know, as a driver, situations like those can really catch you. It’s very uncertain, these situations. But if conditions are stable and all predictable, Williams are well ahead. No hope basically. If you’re looking for not only a podium but also victory you need uncertainty and hope that you make better decision than the competition.” 

Senna got his wish – conditions were variable with the track wet at the start. Senna passed Schumacher, at the third corner, followed by Wendlinger, Hill, and finally Prost at the penultimate corner and was in the lead going into the second lap. There was episodic rain throughout the race, causing multiple pit stops changing from slicks to wets and back again. In the end Senna made four pit stops to Prost’s seven. Senna lapped everyone except for Damon Hill and he was over a minute ahead of him. 

Donington Park was created as a racing circuit during the pre-war era where it staged Grand Prix races in 1935 (Shuttleworth, Alfa Romeo P3), 1936 (Hans Rüesch/Dick Seaman, Alfa Romeo Tipo 8C-35), 1937 (Bernd Rosemeyer, Auto Union Type C) and 1938 (Tazio Nuvolari, Auto Union Type D). It was then used as a military vehicle storage depot during WW2 and fell into disrepair. It has only hosted one post-war Formula One race – the European Grand Prix in 1993. 

Well done to Emil, Tony, The13thDuke, Taflach, Milestone11, Steve, SteveB, Cassius42, Andrew, Thomas888, TimmyJ, Avgerinos, Chris, Tim, Johnny, AV2290, Reinis, Samppa and Jim.

This week’s question(s): Can you name the driver, team and race at which the photo was taken. Who won the race and what was the significance of this race?

Please provide your answers in the field below: