Brazil hit its peak in F1 in the ‘80s and early ‘90s. During that period, Brazilian “one-twos” on the podium stated becoming more common. There were already two of them in the history books, both from 1975 – the first with José Carlos Pace and Emerson Fittipaldi as the winner, at the Brazilian GP and the second featuring the same drivers in reverse order, at the British GP.
Eleven years later, Brazil became a dominant force in F1 once again, with two drivers reaching the podium – it was the first of a number of one-twos by Ayrton Senna and Nelson Piquet. They met on the podium for the first time in 1986, when F1’s rising star, only in his third season in the category, was already starting to worry established champions, such as Piquet (then a two-time world champion).
Making things even more special, that one-two came at the end of the 1986 Brazilian GP, which took place in Jacarepaguá, Rio de Janeiro. The winner was Piquet, who had started in Formula one in 1978 and had already won the 1981 and 1983 championships. On the day of the race, Ayrton took the pole position – his first in Brazil, driving a Lotus.
In total, Brazil had 11 one-twos in Formula one, featuring five drivers: Ayrton Senna, Nelson Piquet, José Carlos Pace, Emerson Fittipaldi and Roberto Moreno.
The final two Brazilian one-twos in the main category of motor sports will have their 30th anniversary in 2020. The next-to-last had Senna as the winner of the Canadian GP, with Piquet in second place, and the last one took place in in the same race that Ayrton secured his second world title, in Japan, when he and Prost crashed during the first lap. The winner at Suzuka was Piquet, with Moreno in second place.
Out of the 11 times in which two Brazilians took the top spots of the podium of an F1 GP, Ayrton Senna and Nelson Piquet did the honors in eight of them, making this the golden age of Brazil in F1.
Take a look at all the Brazilian one-twos in F1:
1 – 1975 Brazilian GP – Pace (1) and Fittipaldi (2)
2 – 1975 British GP – Fittipaldi (1) and Pace (2)
3 – 1986 Brazilian GP – Piquet (1) and Senna (2)
4 – 1986 German GP – Piquet (1) and Senna (2)
5 – 1986 Hungarian GP – Piquet (1) and Senna (2)
6 – 1987 Monaco GP – Senna (1) and Piquet (2)
7 – 1987 USA GP – Senna (1) and Piquet (2)
8 – 1987 Hungarian GP – Piquet (1) and Senna (2)
9 – 1987 Italian GP – Piquet (1) and Senna (2)
10 – 1990 Canadian GP – Senna (1) and Piquet (2)
11 – 1990 Japanese GP – Piquet (1) and Roberto Moreno (2)
