The Lotus Years

It was in Lotus that had the most impact for Senna's career because this is where he had deep connection with the engine supplier which was Honda. In the 80's Honda was very successful in Formula 1, whenever they supplied engines for any team. That team would simply be unstoppable because Honda had the power and the reliability on their engines that they made. Ayrton Senna won his maiden victory in a Lotus car and had his series of pole positions in a Lotus as well.

When Senna finally moved to Lotus in 1985, he quickly capitalized the moment by winning the race in Estoril. It was a classic win because it was a very damp track and everybody was struggling to cope with the rain and the wet track. Senna started on pole and stayed there until he crossed the chequered flag. After that victory, he consistently beat his team mate in either qualifying or winning a race. In 1985 season the two most dominant car were Mclaren and the Williams team. Although these two were dominating the track; Senna proved to them that he can match them as well in his underpowered Lotus. He did just that when he won races in 1985 and he was consistently claiming poles and getting podiums in a car that was not meant to be a world beater. Senna won 2 races while driving for Lotus in 1985 and those two races were both in a damp track, so it says a lot about his skills as a wet weather specialist and qualifying master.
The 1986 season was a bit tricky because Williams and Mclaren again was on the hunt for the championship. Even though Senna was out of the league, he still did his best to get out there and win races. So he did in Detroit but other than that it was nearly impossible to win against the mighty Williams. The Williams Drivers' were Piquet and Mansell, both of these drivers are great drivers and they were hungry for victory. Yet, at the end of the season they both loss to Alain Prost because of the on track rivalry of Mansell and Piquet. Despite that, Senna never gave up and he went racing knowing that he had a very little chance of winning the championship. Alain Prost again took the World Drivers Championship by a mere 2 points. He was a truly great driver and I applaud his greatness.

Honda's presence in 1987 were more pronounced because they showed the world just how much power they can give in their engines. Not just power but also reliability as well. The evidence of the volcanic power in the Honda engine was depicted in the form of Williams and Lotus. Those two teams used the Honda engines; therefore, they were dominant in 1987 season. Although Lotus have the engines the Williams had a better chassis and other components in the car that was better, but same engines that the Lotus used.

Finally Senna had the car truly worthy of competing against the front runners. His car was closely match the William's car in the opening season. His consistent podiums and pole positions finally had him leading the championship. He won in Monaco and Detroit, those two victories made a real difference in the championship standings. As the season progressed Senna couldn't keep up with the Williams and ultimately the championship would be either Nelson Piquet or Nigel Mansell. Nonetheless, Senna made more acquisition in pole positions and victories in the years he was in Lotus.

After a long 3 season with the Lotus team, Senna had developed a deep rapport with Honda and the long partnership was just beginning. When Ayrton Senna moved to Mclaren, so did the engine supplier Honda. This marked the turning point of Senna's career.