Peter Lyon
April 10, 2025
Ayrton Senna is arguably the greatest F1 racing driver of them all. So when a milestone of this magnitude—remembering his first F1 victory!—comes along, it cannot be ignored.
April 21 marks a historic milestone in the Lotus and Formula 1 history books—the 40th anniversary of Ayrton Senna’s first Grand Prix victory. To honour this iconic moment, the same Lotus 97T Formula 1 car that Senna drove to his legendary win at the 1985 Portuguese Grand Prix, will return to the Estoril circuit for the first time since that triumph. Driving the car will be his nephew, Bruno Senna, commemorating one of F1’s most defining performances.
The event unites two major celebrations: the 75th anniversary of Formula 1 and the pivotal role Lotus played—a team that won 3 championships—in shaping its legacy. It serves as a tribute not only to Ayrton Senna but also to the engineers, designers and all the drivers who propelled Lotus to racing greatness.
Senna captured 41 F1 victories
Ayrton Senna’s victory at Estoril was a masterclass in wet-weather driving, with the Brazilian lapping nearly the entire field to claim the first of his 41 Formula 1 wins. Senna also regarded this performance as the greatest of his career, and dismissed the widely held belief that his 1993 Donington win was his finest drive: Senna was quoted saying: “No way! I had traction control there. It was a good win but compared with Estoril ‘85 it was nothing.”
The Lotus 97T itself was a pioneering race car and was the first to feature vertical aerodynamic devices behind the front wheels for airflow management, which eventually developed into the highly sophisticated bargeboards, which remain in modern F1 aerodynamics.
The tribute event solidifies the connection between Lotus and Senna’s remarkable rise in Formula 1, celebrating the golden era of turbocharged racing and the spirit of innovation that defined both the driver and the team.
Clive Chapman, Managing Director of Classic Team Lotus said: “For Team Lotus, Ayrton’s arrival was a defining moment. His talent, technical understanding and relentless drive helped push the team forward. This anniversary allows us to relive that magic and honour his legacy.
CARLIST THOUGHTS
“Compared to Estoril, it was nothing!” is a comment that only 3-time world champion Senna could make. Ayrton was famous for his superhuman wet-weather driving, in which he seemed to be able to find more grip than any other driver on the track. The world was robbed of many nail-biting finishes when he passed in 1994.
