Ayrton Senna’s dazzling legacy endures, 30 years on from F1 star’s tragic death

For a career as distinguished as three-time Formula One world champion Ayrton Senna’s, his record at his home race in Brazil was peculiarly underwhelming. Having made his debut in 1984 and tasted disqualification while leading in 1988, Sao Paulo’s favourite son only claimed his first victory at Interlagos in 1991. And, like much in Senna’s enthralling time in F1, it was no easy ride.

Starting on pole, Senna’s path to victory seemed nailed on until a late gearbox issue forced him to complete the final laps solely in sixth gear. With the heavens having opened too, a stall or a spin seemed excruciatingly inevitable but somehow, in a manner which would have been described as miraculous if it wasn’t Ayrton Senna’s doing, he inched home by two seconds. Physically and mentally exhausted, the hometown hero needed