When Senna broke his F1 duck by walking on water

Following a late electrical failure that took him out of the running for a podium finish in Rio de Janeiro’s opening round, Senna arrived at Estoril looking for his first points of the season.

Senna and Lotus had certainly showed flashes of pace-setting form in Brazil, but here he was able to unleash some fearsome speed from his Renault-powered 97T right from Friday’s first qualifying session.

He beat McLaren’s Alain Prost to pole by 0.413s, and was 1.152s faster than teammate Elio de Angelis (who had outqualified him in Rio). De Angelis complained of tyre issues on Friday, and on Saturday: “On my first run I was baulked by two cars. Then on my second qualifying run I encountered some more traffic, but I also felt that the engine was not quite right. Just then a turbo blew on the straight before I could finish the lap.”

Ayrton Senna, Lotus 97T Renault

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Ayrton Senna, Lotus 97T

Photo by: Sutton Images

Senna said of his first-ever F1 pole: “I would like to be able to get away in the lead because then you are clear of any problems on the first lap. Then I will be able to see how fast I can go and pace myself accordingly. We tried the car with full tanks and it felt good, but there is no overall race plan, we shall have to wait and see what conditions are like.

“If everything is OK, I hope that I can win my first Grand Prix.”

On raceday, heavy rain drenched the track – and F1 was about to get another glimpse of Senna’s wet-weather skills that had come so close to earning him Monaco Grand Prix glory a year before. Could he reproduce that kind of performance?

Ayrton Senna, Lotus 97T leads at the start

Photo by: Sutton Images

Ayrton Senna, Lotus 97T leads at the start

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Senna made a perfect start, leaving Prost in his wake, as de Angelis powered through to second. Prost ran third, with Ferrari’s Michele Alboreto fourth. Keke Rosberg stalled at the start, amazingly without being collected by those behind, while Williams teammate Nigel Mansell spun on the warm-up lap and on the opening lap!

Despite never having tested this car in the wet, Senna led by 2.5s on the opening lap, and simply disappeared into the distance. Meantime, drivers were spinning off left, right and centre in the dreadful conditions.

In his BBC TV commentary, former world champion James Hunt said: “With the talent that Senna showed in Monte Carlo last year in…