As debut victories in Formula One go, few come close to the masterclass delivered by Ayrton Senna for Lotus at the Portuguese Grand Prix in 1985. A drive which still stands 40 years later as one of the defining moments of the Brazilian’s extraordinary career, not least when witnessed first-hand by No 1 mechanic in Estoril, Chris Dinnage.
“It was an exceptional performance by a gifted racing driver who had one mission and that was to win, to be the best,” says Dinnage. “I think there’s very few races since where you could say someone had such a command of what they were doing.”
Senna’s victory was his first of 41 in F1 before his untimely death in 1994 and the first for Lotus since the death of their founder Colin Chapman in 1982, a significant and highly emotional moment for the team. Dinnage had joined them in 1982 and since 1993 has managed Classic Team Lotus, which curates and runs the team’s remarkable collection of former race cars.
This weekend four of them under his charge will be at the Silverstone festival as part of a striking display of cars representing each of the 34 F1 world champions crowned since the series began in 1950. Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull, McLaren and Williams among others are all represented as well as Lotus at the circuit’s marvellous celebration of racing.
Indeed, Dinnage has actually driven Senna’s Lotus 97T/2 from 1985, a feat he admits would have been inconceivable to the then 24-year-old mechanic and one made all the more special given the Brazilian’s iconic performance that day.
Dinnage remembers when the black clouds rolled into Estoril over the nearby Sintra mountains and engulfed the circuit in relentless swathes of rain. Senna had already taken pole by four-tenths of a second from McLaren’s Alain Prost but his work was cut out on race day.
“It was pissing with rain from start to finish,” the Renault driver Patrick Tambay observed bluntly. “Very, very flooded everywhere, the cloud ceiling very low and the light very poor. It was survival of the fittest.”
Yet Senna, as he had demonstrated in the wet in Monaco the previous season, revelled in the challenge. As the black and gold Lotus shot off the line into the gloom, it quickly became clear he was on a different plane. By the end of the opening lap he had a 2.7sec lead over his teammate Elio de Angelis. By lap 10, finding pace and grip where there was seemingly none, the lead was 13 seconds as behind him the field floundered, with driver after driver spinning off.
Dinnage believes it was indicative of how Senna could operate at another level to his rivals. “The thing with Ayrton was he had an ability to drive a racing car as fast if not faster than anybody else on the grid but he only used 50% of his capacity to do so,” he says. “So he had another 50% to be aware of his surroundings, the track conditions, how far away he was, he was just totally in control. He would go faster than anybody but he would still be aware of everything around him. I have never seen that in anybody, in any walk of life, let alone motor racing.”
As Senna’s lead increased, the carnage continued in his wake. Jacques Laffite, struggling with his tyres, retired his Ligier after 15 laps declaring the conditions unacceptable. The former world champion, Keke Rosberg, crashed out at the final corner on the 16th lap and even Prost was caught out on the start-finish straight, aquaplaning rear-first into the barriers at 180mph on lap 30.
Even Senna began gesticulating from his car that the race should be stopped but on it went and so on he went until the two-hour point was reached and after 67 laps, the flag finally waved. Senna finished more than a minute in front of Ferrari’s Michele Alboreto, the only driver even on the same lap, while only nine of the 26 who had begun the race were classified.
“He was totally in tune with everything. I’ve never worked with another driver like him at all,” says Dinnage. “He was so precise that if he found a spot on the circuit which was particularly slippery then he would just avoid it on the next lap.”
Dinnage also still remembers how Senna made the effort to connect with his team. “He made friends with all the crew, so he had everybody on side,” he says. “So everybody liked him. When you like somebody you’re far more likely to engage and do everything you possibly can for them, unlike some of the drivers who barely say hello in the morning.”
Unsurprisingly then, as Senna crossed the line the Lotus crew could not contain themselves, climbing the pit wall and celebrating on the track. Dinnage can be seen leaping in the air barely feet from Senna’s car. A special moment and the last time it would happen, as venturing on to the track was promptly banned.
Many consider Senna’s similarly exceptional drive in the European GP at Donington in 1993 as more impressive but the Brazilian rated Estoril higher, given that in 1985 he did it with no traction control and no braking assistance. Dinnage remains convinced Senna would have taken the title that season but for the reliability problems that plagued the car.
He nonetheless retains a great sense of pride in what Lotus achieved, his part in keeping the team’s legacy alive and having been there on a rain-drenched afternoon in Portugal 40 years ago when Senna positively shone. “I believe that he was the most complete racing driver of all time,” says Dinnage in a final reflection on his former Lotus charge.
