On May 23, 1993, Ayrton Senna made Formula One history by winning the Monaco GP for the sixth time in his career. With that result, the Brazilian broke Graham Hill’s record of five wins, all of them achieved in the ‘60s.
Take look at a few curious details that marked Senna’s wins in the Principality.
1- 1987 Monaco GP
After standing out in 1984 with a strong second-place finish, scoring the pole position in 1985 and getting third place in 1986, Senna finally won for the first time at the Monegasque track in 1987, driving a yellow Lotus. The three-time champion also had the quickest track. But the most memorable image was the Brazilian happily spraying champagne on the royal family. Check out the video:
2- 1989 Monaco GP
Senna wanted to make up for the mistake he made in the previous year, when he was more than 50 seconds ahead of Prost and crashed into the guard-rail. In 1989, Senna secured another pole position by being more than 1 second faster than his rival and won from start to finish, not giving any chance to the other drivers. The race is also remembered by the gridlock at Loews, the slowest corner in F1, caused when Andrea de Cesaris and Nelson Piquet crashed into each other, blocking the way. Meanwhile, Ayrton Senna left the pack behind.
3- 1990 Monaco GP
In 1990, Senna led for the full 78 laps and scored a Grand Chelem, also known as The Perfect Weekend: he secured the pole position, won from start to finish and had the race’s quickest lap. Jean Alesi also had a good race, finishing in second place with his Tyrell. On the podium, Senna joked around, pretending he was going to spray champagne on the royal family once again. But, this time, his victim was the official broadcast’s cameraman.
4- 1991 Monaco GP
Another cakewalk by Senna in the Principality – this time, with a special homage to Mrs,Neyde, since that Sunday, May 12, was mother’s Day. It was Ayrton’s 30th win in Formula One, and his only setback during the race took place when a marshal crossed the track right in front of his McLaren. The Brazilian had to slow down to avoid hitting him, and fortunately nothing happened.
5- 1992 Monaco GP
Senna had four pole positions in a row, in Monaco (from 1988 to 1991), but in 1992 the Williams were virtually unstoppable. Mansell had an easy lead, but his tires started wearing out and he decided to make a pit-stop. He came back behind Senna, but with a much better car, and tried everything to take back the lead. Ayrton held him back several times for eight laps, and crossed the finish line only 0s215 ahead of the Britton.
6- 1993 Monaco GP
The 1993 season was marked by Senna’s epic wins at Interlagos and Donington. But it was in Monaco that he achieved his greatest feat: he won for the sixth time in the Principality, breaking the record set by Graham Hill – whose son, Damon Hill, shared the podium with Senna. To win the race and break a 24 year-old record, Senna also had to overtake both Alain Prost and Michael Schumacher, who had started ahead of him.
