German Grand Prix – 1984

It was on the Hockenheim circuit that Ayrton Senna had his first big scare involving Formula 1.

Knowing that it would be quite difficult for his Toleman to keep up with the competitive Ferrari, Renault e McLaren cars, he decided to gamble on changing the aerodynamics for the speedy German circuit.

In the qualifying sessions, the strategy worked. Ayrton Senna left set the rear end at zero to gain speed on long straight stretches, and started in 9th place, in front of important drivers like René Arnoux (Ferrari) Jacques Laffite (Ligier) and Nigel Mansell (Lotus).

Excited, he left for the race. Or was it for an adventure?

The set up did not work out during the actual race. On the fourth lap, the rear airfoil came apart and his Toleman left the ground.

“It was an experience that I would not like to repeat.”

After the shock, Ayrton Senna said: “I saw myself inside of a tunnel with no gravity, flying. Even after stopping, I didn’t know where I was. I had lost all sense of direction”.