The Life of Senna

by Rubython, Tom

  Senna returned from Brazil refreshed, ready for the rescheduled Belgian Grand Prix at Spa. Typically Belgian weather meant the race was held in the rain. Conditions were tailor-made for his second victory and Senna duly won again. He qualified second on the grid, just 0.097 seconds behind Prost. The track suited Senna perfectly, and once again he impressed his team with his technical ability. As Bernard Dudot recalls: “He described to me for three-quarters of an hour a single practice lap, with all his impressions and feelings, but in particular all the technical data, rev-counts, oil pressure, etc. At every point, in every bend, absolutely precisely, going into the bend, in the middle of the bend and at the exit from the bend. Afterwards we compared it with the telemetry data – and it was all exactly right. It was incredible.”

  Senna led all the way in changeable conditions, excluding pitstops for tyres. He had some worries about an engine misfire but was otherwise untroubled. He had recently been confirmed as the leader of Lotus’s attack on the world championship in 1986, at the cost of de Angelis, who had decided to move elsewhere. Up until that point Senna had been officially team number two, although few doubted which of the team’s drivers really had the upper hand.

  After Spa Senna drove to the Lotus factory for a meeting with Peter Warr to finalise terms for 1986. He took Mauricio Gugelmin with him for company. Senna was concerned that Derek Warwick might be his number two in 1986, and told Warr he didn’t want him. Christopher Hilton, Senna’s first biographer, recalls Warr patronising Senna and telling him he was by then championship material. Gugelmin told Hilton that Senna and Warr had a row: Senna told him he had always been world championship material and that it was the team that was deficient and had to be brought up to scratch. Warr was astonished at his arrogance and the relationship changed after that. By then Senna was effectively running his team. Warr was a passenger.

  Britain had two races that year as the European Grand Prix was held at Brands Hatch, a circuit Senna knew like the back of his hand. The race marked the end of the duel for the championship between Alain Prost’s McLaren and Michele Alboreto’s Ferrari. It was also the weekend when the grid for the following year fell into place. Rosberg had decided to leave Williams and join McLaren for what many believed would be his final season. It set Piquet off to leave Brabham for Williams, and de Angelis seized the opportunity to take his place at Brabham. Senna decided to stick with Lotus when he could have had any of the three drives mentioned. He would have been better off joining any of them. It was a grievous mistake he repeated a few years later.

  But that was not evident by the stunning form he was in as the season drew to a close. He was more familiar with Brands Hatch than any other driver on the track, courtesy of his Formula Ford and Formula Three years. In qualifying on Friday, he set a time of 1m 8.02secs, well over a second faster than Nelson Piquet’s Brabham BMW, which managed 1m 9.204secs – second fastest.

  Lotus was still innovating even without Chapman, and had introduced tyre warmers to Formula One in 1985. On Saturday, Williams and Brabham decided to follow Lotus’s example by pre-heating their tyres. Rosberg and Mansell in the Williams Hondas went faster, so Senna returned to the track and put in a 1m 7.786secs, just to make sure. Then Piquet came out and went faster still: 1m 7.482secs. Piquet’s time was surely unbeatable, but Senna decided to have another go. With the qualifying session drawing to a close he struck a time of 1m 7.169secs.

  “It was a good lap, but not a perfect one,” Senna said afterwards to the astonishment of those present. “We still have a bit of understeer we need to get rid of, and in two places I was not that precise, but the car is the best I’ve had all year. This is not a place for accidents, you know, but when the car is so safe you can go no more, it offers you the possibility to go more.”

  John Watson, standing in for Niki Lauda at the McLaren team after the Austrian had injured his wrist, was an eyewitness to Senna’s unbelievable qualifying performance. He recalls: “I was out on the circuit and had just completed a qualifying run when I saw a car in my mirrors coming very quickly indeed. It was black with the familiar yellow helmet – it was Senna on a committed lap. I gave him all the space I had and he came through, out of Westfield Bend, down into Dingle Dell Corner. And I just sat there gobsmacked, because I had done what I had done to get wherever it was on the grid and here was a guy in a car that to me was dancing. It was like rain dancing on the pavement. That was a clear signal that my time as a Grand Prix driver was effectively finished. Here was a man who was doing things that I had not even thought of, let alone put into effect.”

  Senna flew into the lead at the start, but Rosberg would not let him disappear into the distance. The doughty Finn looked for every way past, but Senna blocked and blocked, even though the Williams Honda was clearly the faster car. On lap seven, the ever-resourceful Rosberg made a risky move under braking for Surtees. Senna cut across the corner, slicing the Finn’s front tyre, and Rosberg spun across the track, collecting championship-challenger Piquet on the way. Rosberg was not surprised, having witnessed Senna’s driving style a few times in the past two years. He said afterwards: “After eight years in Formula One, it seems I need to go back to Formula Three for a month to learn how to drive race cars. You get big eyes when someone starts weaving at 180mph – you’re not used to that. I’ll admit it, I don’t have the balls to start banging off on occasions like that any more.”

  He had fought off Rosberg, but even Senna was no match for Nigel Mansell in front of his home crowd. The second Williams squeezed through into the lead on lap nine and Senna’s problems were compounded when Rosberg, by then repaired, emerged from the pits between them and made sure that his team-mate built up a comfortable lead. Rosberg got his revenge on Senna’s earlier move, and later revealed he deliberately slotted himself between the leading Williams and the charging Senna. As he says: “I put myself between Nigel and Senna and made sure that Nigel would win the race.”

  It worked – by the end Senna was second and Mansell took the first victory of his career to an ecstatic welcome home from the partisan British crowd. That day set the pattern for the next seven years, as Prost also won the championship. The three drivers duelled for all the championships of the following years, with only Piquet disturbing the party. But Rosberg was not impressed with Senna’s driving, as he said later to Christopher Hilton: “I think he was dangerous in those days.”

  Senna spent the weekend after Brands Hatch with Mauricio Gugelmin as he polished off the Marlboro British Formula Three championship at Silverstone that Senna had won in 1983.

  Although the Formula One world championship was decided, there was still a season to finish. Next up was the South African Grand Prix, although the country was in the grip of apartheid and for a long time it did not look as if the race would go ahead. Certainly Senna’s participation in it was in doubt. There had been calls for sporting isolation of the country, but FISA, ever independent, insisted that the Grand Prix would go ahead. Bernie Ecclestone was also determined the race would take place. FOCA spokesman Mervyn Key said: “Motor racing is comprised of private manufacturing concerns, which is not the same as a national team which can be subjected to government pressure. In Grand Prix racing no one represents a country. The drivers are on contract to teams. Teams have contracts with their sponsors to do 16 races and if they miss one or two of them, sponsors will want some of their money back.” And with new rules introduced to cover travel costs for the top 10 teams in the championship, every point counted. If the race was to go ahead, then no one wanted anyone else getting the points. Money won. But there was also strong governmental pressure, notably in France. Under pressure from the French government, the Ligier and Renault teams withdrew from the event. The Finnish and Swedish governments joined forces with the French to urge FISA president Jean-Marie Balestre to hold the race elsewhere. Balestre refused. Prost insisted that he did not want to race in South Africa, but said it was McLaren’s decision. Rosberg received a request from the Finnish government a
sking him not to race. “Finland doesn’t pay my bills,” Frank Williams replied.

  The Brazilian government began to put similar pressures on its drivers. Senna said: “It is necessary to weigh the pros and cons. Things seem to be complicated over there and I don’t believe it is safe to race under such adverse conditions. I am personally against the regime. I would not like to go there, but I have a commitment to my team.” Brazil had recently banned all sporting and cultural links with South Africa, and there were suggestions that Senna could even have been breaking the law if he raced.

  Peter Warr said in response: “I think he is still hoping the race will be called off, but it’s not a matter of his making up his mind. We are under contract to race at Kyalami, and he is under contract to us. The team will be taking part in the race and Senna has a contract to drive our car. It’s as simple as that.”

  Prost, who had already wrapped up his first drivers’ title at Brands Hatch, was clearly hoping for action similar to that taken in the 1982 drivers’ strike, but was unable to muster enough support. He told French newspaper L’Équipe: “We either all go to South Africa or we don’t go. Without Rosberg, Piquet and Ayrton Senna it would not be a Grand Prix.”

  In the end the race did go ahead – and only Renault and Ligier boycotted, although Zakspeed and RAM were absent for financial reasons. Many of the cars ran without the decals of sponsors who had decided they did not want to be associated with the event – ironic, since all the teams had insisted they must go to South Africa because the sponsors did not want to miss the race. Perhaps a few years later Senna would have stuck by his principles and defied his team and the governing body, but in 1985 he was still in the early stages of his career and did not have the clout of a world champion. It was too much of a risk.

  When it came to it, he qualified fourth, but retired after eight laps with another engine failure. Those eight laps were marked by a battle with de Angelis, which could have easily resulted in both Lotus cars going off the road. The Italian said: “I was so angry that I almost came to blows with him afterwards. And although we later shook hands, that was not the point. I think that was the incident which brought out his true character... I mean, with me it’s not a matter of saying whose fault it was, I am just saying that what he did was not right. He is a very strange guy, and he had a strange attitude towards me.” It was just as well that de Angelis was leaving.

  As for the race, Mansell proved that he was a coming man when he took pole and then dominated the race for his second successive victory.

  At the last race of the season – the first to be held in Adelaide – Senna’s weekend was overshadowed by a disagreement with Nigel Mansell, the first of many. Since Brands Hatch Senna had recognised him as another serious rival and rather than an older fading star, this was a driver who like himself was from the new Formula One generation. Mansell’s domination of Kyalami reinforced that. It all started when Senna claimed that Mansell had blocked him during qualifying on Friday, after which Mansell was on provisional pole with Senna in second. The pair traded fastest times through Saturday, but it was Senna who had the edge by 0.694 seconds. No one else got within two seconds of pole.

  It was all set up for a terrific race, which everyone realised could be settled on the first lap. Indeed it was, as Senna and Mansell collided while fighting for the lead. Mansell was eliminated and was furious. “Senna was a total idiot to drive me off the circuit like that at the start,” he complained. “He might be quick, he might be good, but he is not a good driver.”

  To top it off, Senna got embroiled in a row with the other Williams driver, Keke Rosberg. “The problem with Ayrton is that he is very talented and very fast but he is just going too hard,” he said. Rosberg had battled with Senna for the lead in the middle stages of the race, but Senna ripped the front aerofoil off his Lotus when he ran into the back of Rosberg. Senna pitted for repairs but another blown Renault engine ended his race and brought an ignominious end to his season, as Rosberg came through to win his last race for Williams.

  In only his second year of Formula One, Senna had won two races, taken seven poles and led nine Grand Prix races. He finished fourth in the championship with a total of 38 points. It is difficult to judge how far he might have climbed with better reliability from Lotus and Renault, but certainly he would at least have been challenging for the championship.

  Many starring rookies fall by the wayside after a brilliant first year, but after a second season of competing at the highest level, Senna had emphatically arrived. He was no longer just another competitor, he had become a threat and a rival to some of the biggest names in the sport. But as good as he had proved himself to be, he was still searching for the perfect lap and the perfect race.

  Thirty-year-old Alain Prost took his first world title in 1985 in the McLaren TAG. Ironically, with a little bit of reliability Senna could easily have been world champion himself and denied Prost his glory. But Senna had chosen the wrong team and was stuck with his choice for another two years. Prost had chosen correctly – McLaren remained dominant for all the years he was with the team. Senna instead had two wins, two seconds, two thirds, but seven pole positions and 10 front-row starts. His 38 points gave him fourth place in the table, just ahead of his team-mate, who had started the season as number one. Cue de Angelis’s departure for Bernie Ecclestone’s Brabham BMW team. He did not find Senna an agreeable team-mate.

  Senna became the undisputed Lotus team leader, and extended his status to the prerogative of choosing his own team-mate. That he chose to veto Derek Warwick was to cause an unholy row in the first few months of 1986.

  Just in case Warr dared to defy him Senna approached the Benetton team about the possibility of a drive for 1986. Benetton was the old Toleman team that Senna had left barely a year before because it was in disarray and had no prospects. Since then it had been taken over by the Benetton clothing company and the new owners had lured Williams team manager, Peter Collins to run it. Collins had secured a supply of BMW turbo engines as used by the Brabham team. Senna sensed Benetton was on the up and wanted some insurance as he was determine in his own mind to leave Lotus if Warr signed Warwick. But Warr blinked first and the insurance did not become necessary. The affair was to earn Senna the enmity of most of the the British press. Ayrton Senna had chosen to cross one of their heroes and it did not go down well at all.

  CHAPTER 11

  1986: Champion Potential

  So near and yet so far with Lotus

  After just two seasons in the top flight, the 26-year-old Ayrton Senna was already beginning to exhibit the ruthless streak that later became a fundamental part of his image. In no way was this better illustrated than in his selection of a team-mate for 1986. Senna and Lotus clashed mightily when team principal Peter Warr selected a driver Senna didn’t want, and it was the young and still relatively inexperienced Brazilian who won out.

  Senna had officially begun his Lotus career as team number two to Elio de Angelis, but when the Brazilian’s superiority quickly showed through, it soon became clear that this would not be the case for long. Almost immediately the team began to reform around Senna, pushing de Angelis onto the sidelines. It first became noticeable to de Angelis at a test session at Paul Ricard, a few days after Senna’s stunning performance at the Monaco Grand Prix. It was then that he decided he would leave the team the following year.

  At the close of the 1985 season, de Angelis spoke at length to the now defunct Grand Prix International magazine. He poured his heart out and was honest about how deficient he was compared to the Brazilian: “I was put on one side by Lotus. All they could think about was Senna,” he said. “There had been some criticisms of the way I had been driving, because I had been more cautious than Ayrton. But I was leading the world drivers’ championship. When I got to the circuit they allowed me on the track just to do three laps. Imagine, on the day that I was leading the world championship, being left to trundle round like some new kid on the team. It was that same night tha
t I made up my mind to leave Lotus. From that moment on, as far as I was concerned Lotus was a chapter in my career that was over. I didn’t want to be treated like that ever again.

  “I knew from the beginning that it was going to be a difficult year. I knew that he would be a difficult person, of course. I admired his determination and he is very determined – maybe too much. I felt that he found it necessary to show off his ability: even with the success that he had with Toleman the previous year, he was desperate to show that he had something more. Like the Arabs say: ‘It is written’. There is something strong inside his mind: sometimes it is good for him, sometimes it is bad. I think he found the ground at Team Lotus to build up his personality, with the help of Peter Warr. Ayrton became a protégé to Peter, almost like a son, his own discovery. But he was very quick, I must say.

  “I think Senna had a fortunate year: he should have had more accidents than he did. That kind of driving doesn’t always pay off. I’ve had six years at Lotus, and I think I’ve been crazy enough with this team. People tend to forget I’ve gone jumping over the top of other cars and banged wheels with people. I’ve done all those things. But once you’ve done it, you quickly realise that your chances of having a big shunt are increasing. As far as motivation is concerned, I have much more now than when I started. Now I know exactly what I want: I’m not doing this just for the pleasure of driving in Formula One. That pleasure is what my Brazilian team-mate was enjoying last year.

  “Look at Lauda. People say he isn’t quick any more. But when the race starts, he’s really fast and he’s been world champion three times. Senna has been compared with Gilles Villeneuve, and me with Lauda. I could have done two races in 1985 – Imola and Canada – like Senna did, by taking the lead and staying there, knowing that there was no hope of the fuel lasting. I am unspectacular in the car because I work out the situation. Senna is certainly more spectacular than I am.