Editor Chris Balfe remembers the 1993 European GP - Donington, 11 April 1993

It feels like it was yesterday,yet it seems so long ago.

Can it really be just six years, is that how quickly F1 moves along?

Look at the entry list! Prost, Hill (in his first full season), Patrese, Michael Andretti (remember him?), Lehto, Berger, De Cesaris and Ayrton Senna. Then again, above the pits sat Princess Diana alongside her two sons William and Harry. Was this really just six years ago.

It's an irritation that Hollywood has always portrayed Englishmen as either "gawd blimey guv" chirpy cockneys - in the Dick Van Dyke/Mary Poppins mode or cold upper class cads in the Edward Fox/Jeremy Irons mode. The same goes for the weather, in the movies, English weather usually involves heavy rain, pea-souper fogs - or both. Yet that weekend back in April '93, Hollywood seemed to have got it right.

On Friday, the rain was torrential and unforgiving. The cold bit through to your bones as you struggled to stay upright in the appalling conditions - God alone knows how the drivers coped. On Saturday it was bright sunshine - I got sunburnt. Whilst on Sunday we were back to the sort of weather only Noah (and Ayrton Senna) would appreciate.

It must have been a major culture shock for the beautiful people. Following South Africa and Brazil, it was back to earth with a bang as the circus set up home in a rainswept corner of Leicestershire.

This was Donington, pride and joy of Tom Wheatcroft. Tom had worked for many years to bring Grand Prix cars to Donington - indeed the effort of staging this race had almost killed him. When Bernie Ecclestone needed an extra GP to plug a major gap in the calendar, Tom was waiting. In a matter of weeks, Wheatcroft moved mountains (almost literally) in order to get the track up to FIA standard. The cost was tremendous. Financially, the race cost him millions. What with the track improvements, the cost of TV coverage (he had to pay the BBC to televise the race), and the lack of race goers - only 50000 braved the elements on race day. Added to this, Tom had a series of heart attacks in the weeks leading up to the race.

But as Tom stood on the podium following the race, it was clear it had all been worthwhile. This was the man whose heart had been broken by F1 following the death of his protégé Roger Williamson. This was the man who'd fought tooth and nail to bring GP racing back to the track where over 50 years earlier, the real silver arrows had thrilled he crowds.

Following a wet and miserable Friday, the qualifying hour on Saturday was altogether different. In bright sunshine, Ayrton Senna struggled in the low 1:12s as Prost (Williams) took pole with a 1:10.4. Other than the two Williams, interest centred on the Ford powered cars of Schumacher (Benetton) and Senna (McLaren). At the end of the magic hour, Prost had pole ahead of team-mate Hill. Behind them, Schumacher, Senna, Wendlinger, Andretti, Lehto, Berger, Alesi and Andretti were covered by less than a second.

There are many who believe that Ayrton Senna spent much of the evening of Saturday April 10, 1993 doing a dance originally choreographed by Chief Running Bear. For come Sunday morning, the sky was black as the rain teemed down - and the man in the yellow helmet was wearing an enormous grin.

The warm-up saw Damon Hill top the timesheets, followed by Lehto then the McLarens of Senna and Andretti, Prost could only manage 11th.