Owner of many victories, Ayrton won two international titles before achieving one in Brazil, but the race was full of challenges; check out!
On May 1, 1994, the world said goodbye to one of the greatest drivers in the history of motorsport: Ayrton Senna. His tragic death at the San Marino Grand Prix in Italy, at the age of 34, left a huge void in the sport and in the hearts of millions of fans around the world.
Senna was more than a driver, he was an icon, a symbol of overcoming, talent and passion. His aggressive and precise driving, combined with his intelligence and charisma, made him one of the most popular and admired sportsmen of all time. In fact, one of the most memorable moments of his career was certainly his victory at the Interlagos race track in 1991.
This race was so important to him that even the Netflix miniseries “Senna”, inspired by the driver’s life, will highlight this moment, which took place on March 24, 1991, earning him first place in the Interlagos Grand Prix. Watch the production trailer that shows the athlete’s preparation for the race in question:
However, how did this race actually happen? As Ayrton Did you win your first big victory in Brazil? Check it out below:
91 Brazilian GP
The 1991 Brazilian Grand Prix race was marked as a historic event for Ayrton Senna, who finally achieved victory in his homeland. However, the route proved to be more challenging than anticipated. To fully understand how events unfolded, it is necessary to contextualize them.
Ayrton Senna he had already won two world titles, but had never triumphed in his country. His previous record at the Brazilian GP included a second place in 1986, a third place in 1990 and other less favorable results, such as eleventh place in 1989 and disqualifications and retirements in the following years.
The notable incident in 1990 when Senna was leading the race until he collided with a slower car, driven by Satoru Nakajima from the Tyrrell team, stood out as an iconic moment. This collision forced him to pit, allowing his main rival at the time, Alain Prosttake the lead and eventually win the race.
The scenario changed in 1991. The season started in Phoenix (USA), where Senna won, with Prost (Ferrari) in second place. However, Prost would not be a significant opponent that year due to the Italian team’s performance problems. Instead, McLaren would face a new rival, Williams, with Nigel Mansell It is Riccardo Patresealthough none of the Williams cars had completed the first stage at that point.
As time went on, Williams emerged as a strong competitor in the season, driven by several factors. One of these factors was the Renault V10 engine, which after two years of development by the team, proved to be superior to the Honda V12 engines previously used by McLaren, according to the Terra portal.
Concern for Senna
This represented a concern for Senna, especially considering Ferrari’s switch to the V12 engine. The Japanese had altered its engine, a decision that would later prove to be a significant error, especially from 1992 onwards.
As regards the race itself, during the qualifying session, Senna demonstrated his skill by taking pole position, surpassing Patrese for 0.383 seconds and Mansell for 0.451 seconds. At the start of the 71 laps of the race, Senna maintained the lead, while Mansell He quickly took second place, demonstrating a strong pace.
The advantage of Senna on the straights, where McLaren excelled, it allowed him to maintain the lead, while Mansell tried to catch up. The battle continued until lap 25, when Mansell made his pit stop in an attempt to overcome Senna through the strategy of stopping early and returning to the track with newer tires (known as undercut).
However, the Williams pit stop was not executed efficiently, resulting in a significant loss of time. Senna, in turn, he managed to make his stop on lap 27 and returned to the track still in the lead, with an advantage of 8.047 seconds over Mansell.
Mansell gradually reduced the gap to Senna, but gearbox problems began to affect both drivers in the final laps of the race.
Problems on the track
In reality, Patrese I wasn’t trying to overtake Senna. Both the driver and the Williams team believed that Senna I was just controlling the pace of the race. This perception was reinforced by McLaren’s apparent calmness, which did not indicate any problems faced by Ayrton.
Patrese only became aware of the problems of Senna on lap 65 and then decided to increase the pace. The gap between the two narrowed to just 5.446 seconds with three laps to go. It is not clear when Senna lost first and second gears, but he was only using sixth gear in the final laps, with times in the region of 1m28s.
However, in decisive moments, Ayrton managed to complete two laps with times around 1m25s. He began manipulating the clutch on corner exits to increase engine speed, allowing him to manage the car with just one functional gear.
Patrese he also faced problems with the gearbox in the last two laps, resulting in lap times of 1m24s, while previously it was around 1m21s. To further intensify the drama, a light drizzle turned into heavy rain on the final lap.
Ayrton’s victory
Despite the adversities, Senna managed to win, expressing a mixture of happiness and exhaustion over the radio. An officer handed him the Brazilian flag, a scene that would become iconic and was repeated by Lewis Hamilton at the 2021 São Paulo GP.
Senna held the flag for a few moments before returning it. Some inspectors tried to push the car to make it start, but Senna he was so exhausted that he almost passed out in the car and had to be removed by medical staff. Even so, he got on the podium and had difficulty lifting the trophy, but he remained there.
It is important to highlight that Senna He was extremely focused and was the first driver to give great importance to physical preparation, changing the standards of the time. This certainly contributed to his ability to resist. It is even fair to say that another driver that season would hardly have achieved what the Brazilian accomplished.
