In quarantine with AUTOhebdo – Ayrton Senna do Brasil, king of the rain!

We are not going to summarize the career of the three-time world champion Formula 1 or his duel with Alain Prost, nor will you list the list of victories and poles. Between enthusiasts, what counts is to get to the point, so here is a special “rain” playlist, an area in which Ayrton Senna excelled.

1984 Monaco Grand Prix – The revelation

Here are the final laps of the event where the Brazilian, then entered on a modest Toleman, revealed himself to the general public, with exceptional driving. The victory of Alain Prost (McLaren) was saved thanks to the stopping of the race decided by Jacky Ickx!

1985 Portuguese Grand Prix – First victory

The king of rain played with the climatic elements in Estoril. Several videos exist, but in order to vary the pleasures, here are the best moments of this major performance, without comments! The opportunity to hear the ambient sounds but also the melodies of the monstrous turbo single-seaters, equipped with stupendous torque on a wet track. Quite an art.

1991 Brazilian Grand Prix – At the end of the effort

In itself, this race is not hectic. Ayrton Senna escapes from his 54th pole position, to win in Sao Paulo ahead of Ricardo Patrese (Williams) after leading all 71 laps of the GP. 

However, this success is an achievement. On the one hand, Ayrton Senna had until now never managed to brandish the Brazilian flag in front of his supporters. The curse had to be overcome. But above all, Brazil 1991 remained etched in memories with a piercing cry, a mixture of pain, exhaustion and deliverance.

In the cockpit of the McLaren, almost all the gears in the gearbox failed, leaving “Magic” only to use sixth gear for the end of the race. “Imagine: falling from 300 to 70 km/h, only with the brakes, with the engine pushing and taking me off course,” the winner will explain, after being transported by a medical car to the podium. 

1993 European Grand Prix – An anthology lap

Without doubt the most famous first lap in Formula 1. After a difficult start, Ayrton Senna dropped to fifth place before the first corner. On the English track (and weather) of Donington, he countered the lack of performance of his McLaren by overtaking Michael Schumacher (Benetton) at the third corner.

Then, he caught Karl Wendlinger (Sauber) with a daring attack from the outside. Barely time to say “V8 Ford” when he is next to Damon Hill (Williams)! All that remains is for him to outflank his best enemy, Alain Prost (Williams). This is done at the 10th turn of the race. After less than 4 km, he is in the lead! 

Bonus: a spectator's point of view