1993 McLaren MP4/8

This is a photograph I took at the Donington Park Museum in September 2014.

It's the 1993 McLaren MP4/8 that Ayrton Senna drove in the 1993 season and there was a board alongside the car showing its history which reads as follows: 

'1993 McLaren MP4/8

The McLaren MP4/8 was a Formula One racing car that competed in the 1993 season. It raced in all sixteen Grand Prix , scoring five wins. The engine was a Ford HBD7 3.5 V8. The car was designed by Neil Oatley around advanced racecar technology, including a semi-automatic transmission, active suspension and traction control systems.

McLaren had to make do with the Ford HBD7 3.5 V8 engine which had inferior power compared to the Renault engine found in their chief rival Williams, and even the higher spec Ford engine fitted in the Benetton that season. Because Benetton had a pre-existing contract as the Ford factory team, McLaren had to settle for a customer engine which lacked some of the technological advancements of Benetton’s factory engine. McLaren did secure a supply of the higher spec Ford engines after the British Grand Prix. The customer spec Ford engine was approximately 40 hp less that the works Ford engine in the Benetton, and at least 100 hp less than the Williams. During the season, McLaren improved their car and engine performance with technology from TAG Electronics.

Initially, Ayrton Senna was so unconvinced by the car and the engine that he demanded a race-by-race contract at $1 million per Grand Prix, though others suggested that this was a marketing ploy between Senna and Ron Dennis to keep sponsors on edge and interested.

However, the MP4/8 was competitive enough to achieve some remarkable successes. Even though rival Alain Prost was in the superior Williams FW15C, Senna’s skill enabled him to lead the championship during the first weeks of the season. The MP4/8 was known for having a considerably shorter wheelbase (length) than the FW15C and was a noticeably smaller car in length than Prost’s Williams. Later in the season the Frenchman asserted the dominance of his Williams to take the lead for good, while Senna fell off pace during the second half of the schedule and dropped to third place. While Prost clinched the championship with two races to spare, Senna went on to win the last two races. The Brazilian had five wins in total, including one of his greatest drives in the 1993 European Grand Prix , and finished second in the drivers’ championship to Alain Prost, whilst McLaren finished runners up to Williams in the manufacturers’ championship.

This is the Senna T car from the Donington European Grand Prix weekend.'