The love that Sebastian Vettel has for racing extends beyond just driving on the track. He also has a superb collection of cars, which also includes some of his own, during his times with Red Bull and Ferrari.

Quite recently, Vettel added yet another piece to his growing troupe. This time, he became the proud owner of Nigel Mansell’s championship-winning Williams FW14B, from the 1992 season.

However, he has now revealed his favorite classic F1 car from a list of 10 cars. It is a piece of historic glory, one that people remember so fondly, during the racing generation of the early 1990s.

Sebastian Vettel deems 1993 McLaren MP4/8 as his most favorite

Speaking in an interview with SPORT1, Vettel stated, “My absolute favorite car. It was one of my first F1 models and had a place of honor in my showcase. The McLaren wasn’t the best car of the season, but Senna won five races with it.”

“Especially legendary: the rain race in Donington. Senna started fourth in the pouring rain, came as the leader with a margin from the first lap and won,” concluded Vettel. (translated via Google Translate)

Indeed, Ayrton Senna had the knack of extracting the car’s maximum potential. In the years that he raced with McLaren, was deservingly crowned champion thrice in 1988, 1990, and 1991.

It was also a golden five years for McLaren between 1988 and 1991, where they had a fearsome pairing of Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna at the steering wheels of their cars.

Senna went on to win the European Grand Prix in 1993

The race that Sebastian Vettel is referencing here is the 1993 European Grand Prix at Donington Park Circuit. Muddled with rain on the day, Senna started P4 behind pole sitter and teammate Alain Prost.

As the lights went out, Senna did not have the greatest of starts slipping down to P5. However, what followed was one of the finest opening laps in F1 history.

The Brazilian went round the outside of Sauber’s Karl Wendlinger, before passing Schumacher on the inside. Senna then pressured Damon Hill from the outside line again and overtook him to take P2.

Just as leader Prost in the Williams approached the final few corners on the lap, Senna braked late on the outside. With a fine move, he completed the opening lap and built a great margin to go on and win the race.