The 1993 European Grand Prix at Donnington was a demonstration of Aryton Senna’s brilliance and blend of sublime driving skills. Senna wasn’t always seen as the near god-like figure he has become since his untimely passing in 1994. Back then, the British media portrayed Senna as a sinister, untrustworthy individual, whose win at any cost mindset was not in keeping with the British sense of fair play.

Senna was ruthless, but he wasn’t the demon he was made out to be. Nevertheless as a teenage Nigel Mansell fan I got caught up in how the media spun Senna’s character. I believed what I read in the newspapers. As I watched every race in 1993 I began to question the media narrative. Senna outperformed the McLaren by orders of magnitude that can not be measured.

All too often the media, then as now have an agenda. The media wants to propagate a narrative, divide and conquer opinion, or flag wave to the tune of patriotism. The 1993 F1 season was Senna at his very best, in an inferior McLaren he took the fight to the superiority of the Williams FW15-C.

Ultimately Senna would be overwhelmed such was the outright performance of the FW15-C. Nevertheless, there has never been a better demonstration of man conquering machine.

Senna’s McLaren Ford was supremely inferior next to the Williams. You have to realize the FW15-C was so advanced for the day that it was as if an alien spacecraft had landed and shown everyone just how unadvanced the rest of the world really was.

That is why Senna’s opening lap at the 1993 European Grand Prix is an utter masterclass. It was a wet/dry/wet race, starting from 4th on the grid Senna was initially crowded out and dropped to 5th.

Not soon after Senna made his way up the field with some daring overtakes, 5th became 4th, 4th became 3rd. Damon Hill was in his rookie year and was easy prey for the experienced  Senna. By the penultimate corner, Senna was in the lead, and Alain Prost put up no defense.

Prost was a wise and canny driver and immediately realized that Senna was just too quick. And that was confirmed as Senna pulled out an immediate lead that would end up becoming 83-seconds as Senna crossed the line victorious at the conclusion of the race.

Wittensing Senna driving throughout the 1993 season is a reason why he has become elevated to almost mystical levels by present-day revisionist media commentators. His win at Donnington in 1993 will never be bettered.

The video above links to YouTube and features commentary from the erstwhile pair of Murray Walker and James Hunt.