Portuguese Grand Prix

During the qualifying sessions, Senna started writing the script that would become a blueprint for almost all of his Formula 1 conquests: he scored a spectacular pole position, half a second in front of Alain Prost, who was one of the favorites to win the race with his well-balanced McLaren. The previous year, 1984, they had won the constructor’s championship and put two drivers on the top spots: Niki Lauda as champion and the Frenchman in second place.

With his 97T Lotus, Senna’s time was 1min221s007. It was his first pole position in the category, a feat he would repeat another 64 times – which helped earn the Brazilian the reputation as the fastest driver ever.

Under a thunderstorm that made 13 of the 26 drivers spin in spectacular fashion, the Brazilian driver’s impressing performance led the British magazine Motoring News to write: “Senna glided, navigating like an experienced helmsman over a track full of traps, while veteran drivers aquaplaned and shipwrecked.”

After 1984’s spectacle in Monaco, the Portuguese Grand Prix finally established the myth of Ayrton Senna in the rain: Formula 1‘s best driver on a wet track.

As a result, Senna scored nine points, tying with McLaren’s Alain Prost in second place. Ferrari’s Michele Alboreto led the championship with 12. It was also Lotus’ first win in three years.

Their last triumph had been at the 1982 Austrian Grand Prix (with Italian driver Elio de Angelis), and their penultimate, in 1978 (with American driver Mario Andretti), which made clear that Senna was the main factor behind the traditional team’s return to the top of the podium over the next three years (1985 to 1987).