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A clip of Ayrton Senna's 1991 US Grand Prix pole lap has surfaced on Twitter. The Brazilian legend outclassed rival Alain Prost by a staggering 1.2 seconds in qualifying, with the Frenchman having finished in P2.
Watch the clip below:
It is no secret that Senna was the king of qualifying in the late eighties and early nineties. Alain Prost's Ferrari 642, however, was expected to be faster at the 1991 US Grand Prix. While the Ferrari certainly boasted higher top speed and straight-line performance, the Brazilian's McLaren MP4/6 was better suited for the twisty and narrow track in Phoenix, Arizona.
Ayrton Senna held the record for the highest number of pole positions secured by a single driver – with his 53rd pole being won at the Grand Prix in Arizona. The record was a mighty one, as the Brazilian was significantly ahead of legends such as Prost, Jim Clark, Nigel Mansell and Niki Lauda.
At the time, Senna was not comfortable with the newly-introduced computing power in F1. To make himself more comfortable with the car, the driver compared computer predictions to his own driving data on Friday. The F1 legend said of the pre-qualifying period:
“Friday, to understand and interpret things properly, I worked with the engineers into the evening. It has been a long time since I did that. The engineers and I talked our way around the circuit, then we compared this with what the computer predicted. It was great because the computer confirmed almost everything, and it also showed where there was room for improvement.”
Ayrton Senna went on to win the 1991 F1 championship, defeating rival Nigel Mansell by 24 points at the end of the year.
Helmut Marko compared Max Verstappen to F1 legend Ayrton Senna
The reigning world champion Max Verstappen has been both praised and criticized for his aggressive style of driving. Red Bull senior talent scout Dr. Helmut Marko has claimed that the Dutchman's style is akin to that of F1 legends such as Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna.
Dr. Marko claims Vertsappen shares the same kind of "ruthlessness" as Senna and Schumacher, both of whom were known to be aggressive on track. Speaking to AutoRevue, the Austrian said:
“It’s impossible to compare because they’re different periods but what they all have is a complete focus. You could also call it ruthlessness. There is nothing else but ‘I want to win and I’ll do anything for it.’”
While their driving styles are certainly similar, Max Verstappen will take a number of years before his personal driving statistics match that of Schumacher and Senna, who spent a long time on the top steps of motorsport.
