Senna's 1st F1 test

[Dare]

[Steven Roy]

Interesting vid.  I have seen the Williams footage before but not the others.

It is amazing the stuff you forget.  I have no memory of Senna being associated with Brabham but clearly it was in the public domain at that time.  Bernie clearly blew a deal that could have made him a stack of money. 

[John S]

Good to see Frank's relaxed attitude to allowing a young driver to test an F1 car.

I think I read somewhere that Frank often invited young drivers to dinner , perhaps still does, and Ayrton was a frequent guest. Suprising therefore that he never drove for Williams before his final season.

Also suprising is the fact that the big teams could afford to let Senna sign to Toleman when he clearly showed he could get more speed from their cars first time out.

[Steven Roy]

McLaren had Lauda and Prost for 84 and Williams had Rosberg and Laffitte.

McLaren just before Ron took over gave Prost and Villeneuve their race debuts and let both of them go.

[John S]

Thanks Steven I had overlooked that. Of course at that time there was no test driver role to keep someone up and coming on the payroll.

Senna's lap times must have given the contracted drivers some food for thought, maybe that was Frank and Ron's intention to keep the others on their toes.

[TheStig]

Fantastic find dare,
I noticed Senna having a go at Bernnie even then about money,and Mr. Williams
who was still mobile at the time.

Great Video dare

Stig

[rmassart]

I found this statement the most telling:

The F1 is more in car than the driver.

And this was back in 1983 by the one driver who could probably coax more out of an underpowered car than anybody else.

Great footage!

[Ian]

Cushty one Neil, could that man drive or what. 

[TheStig]

This is Gold in the collection.
All the new members should take a look into the historical files on this site!

Note for dare:
I think if you check the records,i found Fazards Sounds Of F1. as well!

TheStig