It’s a moment that encapsulates everything about the 1993 European Grand Prix.
After the national anthems have been played, Ayrton Senna – looking as if he’d barely lifted a finger all afternoon – is handed the winner’s trophy. Perhaps if it had been the usual dignitary or politician doing the presentation, he’d have stayed where he was, politely acknowledging the brief pleasantries before raising the prize in celebration.
Instead, Senna comes down from the top step and warmly shakes hands with Tom Wheatcroft – the man who’d finally succeeded in bringing Grand Prix racing back to his beloved circuit.
Wheatcroft shouldn’t have been there. He should have been recovering from an operation following a heart attack, but on the Saturday he informed his specialist that he was going to Donington. Then, to the horror of said doctor, he decided that – on a grey and miserable Sunday morning – he was going to do some demonstration laps in a Mercedes W154.
Despite the fact that it was raining heavily, and that he’d never driven the pre-war titan, and that he was wearing a silk scarf over his mouth to prevent cold air getting to his chest, out went Wheatcroft. And then off went Wheatcroft – after struggling to catch his breath, he’d made the mistake of pulling down the scarf. The pain was such that he lost control and ended up in a gravel trap. But he wasn’t done. A tractor hooked him out, he completed his four laps and then he was taken straight to the medical centre, where he passed out.