Brundle & Warwick: our front row seats for Ayrton Senna’s 1985 Estoril masterclass

Martin Brundle

“It’s 40 years ago but naturally I remember Ayrton Senna’s performance in the rain. I was very familiar with his talent in the wet having fought him for the British Formula 3 Championship all season long two years earlier.

“I was at Estoril in the Tyrrell 012, Ken having given me my opportunity in Formula 1 the year before, and I retired after 20 laps with transmission trouble. Ayrton was also in his second season and we’d had so many great battles in Formula 3 in 1983. There was a wet race at Silverstone when I realised he was on another level of understanding where to find the grip in the rain. So, clearly, Estoril was the breakthrough we were all waiting for from Senna on a day when the race would have been abandoned if it had been like that these days… or more likely it would never have been started.

“That race was an immense mental and physical challenge and timed out after two hours. Every corner was an opportunity to spin out and many did. I recall Keke Rosberg’s Williams being marooned for ages on the racing line in the middle of the long and fast final corner for us all to navigate around. No safety car or red flags were deployed and that probably sums up the challenge of surviving that race, let alone dominating it and leading every lap.

“Estoril was Ayrton’s maiden Formula 1 victory, the first of two that season, and I remember seeing all those images of Ayrton and Peter Warr, the Lotus team manager, celebrating in the torrential rain at the end of the race. Ayrton simply walked on water that day in Portugal.”

Derek Warwick

“I think that race at Estoril in 1985 was when we all realised that Ayrton Senna was something special, and certainly something special in the wet. He always had this unbelievable confidence in the rain and he showed that in the grand prix that day.

“I finished seventh in the Renault RE60. We struggled for grip everywhere, while the Lotus-Renault was obviously working well, and so were its Goodyear tyres, but at the end of the day you have to keep the car on the track and that’s never easy in those conditions on any circuit. It was a great drive from Ayrton and when you look at the pictures from the end of the race, the whole team celebrating, jumping up and down in the pitlane, you can see how much it meant.

“I think it was really his first step on the way to superstardom. His performance had been exceptional, extraordinary, and he delivered. All the front runners had Goodyear tyres but Michele Alboreto’s Ferrari was the only car on the same lap as Ayrton at the end, everyone else one or two laps behind and the highest Pirelli finisher was six laps behind.

“The rain was relentless and torrential, so a lot of people spun off and it was a struggle to keep the car on the circuit, but Ayrton… he was just very special that day.”