"Now, lots of drivers do that - join a small team, disappear without trace - they perform to the level of the team. But there are a sort of rare breed of drivers, of whom Senna was absolutely one, who can go into a small team and perform so far above the perceived level of the car that everybody turns round and thinks, 'How did he do that?'. What he had done was make everybody, everybody, in the paddock aware of what he could do, who he was and what his potential was. That he could take this (Toleman) car, which had nothing, and deliver a result like that, in the worst possible conditions." - Richard Williams [on the 1984 Monaco GP], Senna: Beyond The Speed Of Sound (extended edition), 2010.
First things first - congratulations to Sebastian Vettel on his consecutive F1 World Championship title - placing him in the club alongside greats like Juan Manuel Fangio, Alain Prost, Mika Hakkinen, Michael Schumacher and the indomitable Senna.
Cast your mind back or if you're too young like me, imagine. It's 1986. Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet are racing for Williams. Alain Prost is driving for McLaren and is aiming to be only the fourth driver ever to win back to back championships after Ascari, Fangio and Brabham, all of which had been won at least 25 years ago. You'd be forgiven then for thinking that the record for most pole positions that season went to one of those three legendary drivers.
In fact, that honour went to possibly the most legendary driver of the modern era - Ayrton Senna - claiming a remarkable eight pole positions for a Lotus team that was just starting to slide into its decline.
Throughout his career, one of the hallmarks was the ability to be the fastest driver over not only just a race, but one lap. At the time of his death, his record of 65 pole positions was a F1 record and has only been surpassed by the enigmatic Michael Schumacher with 68 pole positions.
Solely in terms of numbers though, his record of 65 poles from 162 races gives a result that 40% of races Ayrton was involved in, he was the fastest driver there, often despite his car not always being the fastest, most nimble or most powerful on the grid. This percentage has only been bettered by three drivers, by the early legends Alberto Ascari, Juan Manuel Fangio and Jim Clark. Senna's record of eight consecutive pole positions has stood since 1989 and may not be beaten for some time, however current double World Champion Sebastian Vettel is currently on a run of five consecutive poles.
Senna's early career with Toleman and then Lotus was testament to his true talent and what he could deliver even with cars that were not in the top echelon of competitiveness that the top teams of the time were in - Williams, McLaren and Ferrari. What was evident from the 1984 Monaco Grand Prix in Senna's debut season was that his talent would, or could, overcome a lot of the deficiencies of the car he was in.
The Toleman car he was driving that year was nowhere near a race-winning car, even in the best of conditions. Senna's race in 1984 in monsoon conditions was nothing short of jaw-dropping. Starting the race from 13th position, Ayrton swept aside the rest of the field and passed triple-World Champion Niki Lauda on lap 19 to get into second place and start to catch then-Champion Alain Prost.
Senna was catching Prost at around four seconds a lap and finally managed to pass him on lap 32, at which point red flags were shown, indicating that the race had been stopped due to the deteriorating weather. Fortunately for Prost or unluckily for Senna, the rules stipulated that the race would be decided by the order of the cars as they last passed the start line at the end of the last lap - lap 31- which would make Prost the winner and Senna second.
Perhaps typically for Senna, instead of being delighted at getting an incredible 2nd place finish in his Toleman, he was angry that the race had been stopped then, allowing Prost to win. What Senna also felt aggrieved at was the fact that the decision was taken and would benefit a French racing driver at a very French (if not technically so) racing circuit and handed down indirectly from the controversial French FIA president Jean-Marie Balestre.
Just for the record, in my opinion the race should have been stopped and nowadays, would have been stopped long before it was then.
This was just the first instance of his pseudo-psychic ability to know just how hard to push a car, how far it would go in the corners despite the setup or performance of a car and what he could get out of it on the track. This ability to drag a car to the very edge of its limits and still have it hang on round corners and opponents on the track was another hallmark of his indomitable genius behind a wheel. It has been said that a lot of the best and most successful modern F1 drivers are the ones that have a natural ability for overtaking drivers on the circuit (see Button, Hamilton, Schumacher, Hakkinen and Alonso) and in this niche, Senna was unparalleled.
His talent for not only overtaking but also driving in wet conditions further marked him as a future champion during his time with Lotus. During his second season in F1 and his first with Lotus, he qualified on pole for the second race of the season in Portugal and again in wet conditions, put in a monumental performance and drove home to win his first ever F1 race in emphatic style. His closest competitor, Ferrari's Michele Alboreto was over a minute behind him on the track.
Although not a wholly successful season, Senna managed to finish fourth in the Driver's Championship, a remarkable achievement considering his inexperience and the fact that Lotus were on the slide as a power in the sport. Over the next two years, Senna's dominance over his car and his apparent talent showing that Lotus were not big enough or competitive enough for him and at the end of the 1987 season, Senna announced that he would be joining double champion Alain Prost at McLaren, headed by Ron Dennis.
Next up - Senna's move to McLaren, World Championship wins and his epic battle with Prost.
No comments:
Post a Comment