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Outsmarting Senna

27. Jul 2021 
by Ziv Knoll
4030 views

The McLaren MP4/4-Honda, designed by American engineer Steve Nichols and by Gordon Murray (as a technical director), were so dominant in 1988.

Ayrton Senna, on another planet speed wise at the Monaco Grand Prix, took pole by some 1.4 sec (!) from team-mate Prost, who knew very well his way around this track, with Berger (Ferrari) a further 1.2 seconds back. Such was the dominance.

At the start, Senna led the field from Berger who had past Prost when the Frenchman momentarily could not engage second gear. Its nearly impossible to pass on this circuit and Prost was stuck behind Berger till lap 54 where he passed him on the run to Sainte-Dévote.

He was then more than 50 seconds behind his team-mate.

In an effort to put some pressure on Senna, he started trading fastest laps with him. For Senna with such a lead, it was an unnecessary battle but still he wanted to prove he was the fastest of the two.

On lap 67, Senna lost concentration, causing him to go straight into the barrier at Le Portier (picture below), damaging his front suspension and his race was over. His disappointment was immense and he went straight to his apartment nearby, without returning to the paddock and his team. He was not going to be seen in public for a few days.

Prost, delighted of the outcome, thus took his fourth Monaco win in five years, proving hereby that in order to win in the Principality, it’s not absolutely necessary to be the fastest.

Source: DR

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