Is Max Verstappen’s Brazilian GP win better than Ayrton Senna’s masterclass at Donington and Estoril? | Motor-sport News
Red Bull’s Team Principal Chrian Horner compared Max Verstappen’s win from 17th place in the rain at the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday to the late Ayrton Senna’s drive in treacherous wet conditions at Donington back in 1993, considered one of the greatest performances on a Formula One track.
Verstappen’s win at the Interlagos circuit even as his championship rival McLaren’s Lando Norris finished in sixth place after starting on pole gave Verstappen a 62-point lead, up from 44 before the British Grand Prix with three races to go.
“Today was an emotional rollercoaster,” Horner said. “Max’s mental strength and attitude to deal with that is outstanding and his start was electric. That first lap was up there with Donington 93. I think he (Verstappen) passed six cars on the first lap,” Horner said.
What happened in Donington 1993
Senna was fifth at the exit of Turn 1 at the rain-hit Grand Prix in Donington but went past four cars before the first lap was completed to go on and win the race.
The great Brazilian started fourth on the grid and then passed Michael Schumacher’s Benetton as he exited the first turn and then overtook Sauber’s Karl Wendlinger before zipping past Damon Hill in a Williams. Only Alain Prost, his great rival, was ahead of him and Senna amazingly went past him before the end of the first lap to ultimately win 83 seconds. The first lap Senna in a McLaren is often described as the ‘lap of the gods.’
Horner rated Senna’s Donington performance highly but Senna himself rated his performance at Estoril in the Portuguese Grand Prix in 1985 as his best. This was the year Senna joined Team Lotus and was already making a mark.
This was Senna’s first ever pole position and though he was in the lead from start to finish to win there are a number of reasons this drive in Estoril after the heavens opened is rated even higher than Donington.
Lotus had seen glory days but they had won just one race in the past six years.
In 10 laps, Senna had already taken a 13-second lead over his teammate Elio de Angelis and the gap grew to over 30 seconds over the next 10 laps.
“People later said that my win in the wet at Donington in ’93 was my greatest performance. ‘No way’. I had traction control OK, I didn’t make any real makes, but the car was so much easier to drive. It was a good win, sure, but compared with Estoril ’85 it was nothing, really,” is how Senna put it.
