Ayrton Senna’s Formula 1 debut was in Rio de Janeiro. The driver had tested out cars from different teams before signing with Toleman. Even though he was debuting in his own country, he had never competed in Jacarepaguá.
“It is six o’clock in the morning. Intercontinental wishes you a wonderful day. The temperature is 78.8 degrees and the forecast indicates good weather.”
On Sunday, March 25, 1984, the day of the Formula 1 race, Ayrton Senna had been awake since 5 am. And when the automated good morning message played from the alarm call, he responded all the same and jumped out of bed.
The qualifying session had not been promising for Senna. He expected to get a good position, even though he was competing with big names like Niki Lauda, Alain Prost (McLaren), Keke Rosberg (Williams), Nelson Piquet (Brabham), and Nigel Mansell (Lotus), and against the power of engines from Porsche-TAG, Honda, Renault, BMW and Ferrari, which were superior to the Hart engine in his Toleman.
But with a strange vibration coming from his front suspension, he managed to secure the 16th position on the grid, in the eighth row. Italian Elio de Angelis took the pole position, his first one ever.
Even starting in the eighth row, Senna was the best-placed newcomer. The other drivers experiencing the thrill of their first GP were: Martin Brundle in 18th, Fançois Hensault in 19th, Stefan Bellof in 22nd, and Phillipe Alliot in 25th. There were 27 cars on the grid.
Since Monday, Senna seemed to know exactly how far he could go. Before the qualifying session, Ayrton discussed his expectations for that historic day in his career:
“As far as my car goes, the Toleman is strong and sturdy, but, right now, it’s an outdated model in terms of speed. This will have an impact on my starting position. During the time trials, my chances of getting a good position are very slim”, said Senna in an interview with Brazilian radio station Jovem Pan.
“When the race starts, due to the low fuel consumption of my Hart engine and my car’s durability, we have a good chance of gaining positions lap by lap. Eventually, after one and a half, two hours [of racing], we can even finish in a surprising position”, he said in the same interview.
“The most important thing is to keep calm and give my best during those two hours, and to take the result – whether good or really bad – as the start of a new phase in my career, in which I’ll need all the experience I can get”, he added.
Though it was his debut, Ayrton Senna started well, far away from the spotlight of international broadcasting. He performed well, considering his starting position, more or less as he had predicted.
On the second lap, the Toleman driver was already fighting for 13th place with German Stefan Bellof (Tyrell) after gaining three positions in the first lap.
Ayrton reached the ninth place. He was only stopped by his Hart engine, which went out on the eighth lap.
“It seems like the turbocharger broke down. Something happened because the car started vibrating a lot. It was very sudden”, said Senna, at the garages, to the Brazilian TV network Rede Globo.
To improve matters slightly, that day in Rio de Janeiro was a truly beautiful and sunny one.
The race was won by Alain Prost. Keke Rosberg and Elio de Angelis rounded out the podium.
It wasn’t the debut he was hoping for. But, a few GPs later, the whole world would get a glimpse of the full potential of a young driver named Ayrton Senna – as heavy rain fell over the narrow streets of Monaco.
brazilian gp
1º
E. de Angelis
2º
M. Alboreto
3º
D. Warwick
4º
A. Prost
5º
N. Mansell
6º
N. Lauda
7º
N. Piquet
8º
P. Tambay
9º
K. Rosberg
10º
R. Arnoux
11º
R. Patrese
12º
E. Cheever
13º
J. Laffite
14º
A. de Cesaris
15º
T. Fabi
16º
Ayrton Senna
17º
J. Cecotto
18º
M. Brundle
19º
F. Hesnault
20º
T. Boutsen
21º
P. Ghinzani
22º
S. Bellof
23º
M. Baldi
24º
M. Surer
25º
P. Alliot
26º
J. Palmer
61
laps
26
cars
17
Retirements
1’36”499
fastest lap
1º
Sunny weather
podium
1º
A. Prost
2º
K. Rosberg
3º
E. de Angelis
–
final position (retired on lap 8)
7º
position in championship following the race
16º
starting place
0
championship points accumulated
1’42”286
best lap
