The Toleman Years

Senna only stayed at Toleman team for just one season, yet despite that he was able to race against some of the front runners and score points. The Toleman was a backmarker team and in performance category; the Toleman team would be in the bottom of the food chain.

The Toleman group first appeared in Formula 1 in 1980. Toleman had Lancia to supply them with engines and the tires the that they used was Pirellis. The 1980's was the turbo era so most cars had turbo and the turbo that the Toleman used was manufactured by Brian Hart. Also their car designer was Rory Byrne. As with any new team just like the Toleman, they struggled throughout their first season.

The TG181 was the car Toleman ran in 1981 and it was a complete fiasco. The drivers for Toleman at this time was Dereck Warick and Henton. They both failed qualify in many qualifying session in 1981, but as the seasons went by they were getting better and better. In 1983 was a good year for Toleman because they finally scored their very first point in Holland, then scored more points 3 races later.

Senna debut in 1984 with the Toleman team and in his first season he already made his mark in Formula 1 by securing 2ND place in Monaco Grand Prix. If the raced continued Senna definitely would have won the event. That was the best result that Toleman had and it was all the done by the great Ayrton Senna. Senna scored more points for Toleman in British GP by securing 3rd.

Ayrton Senna was a very ambitious driver; therefore, he needed to get a faster car. So he signed up with Lotus for 1985 to get himself a faster and more reliable car. The boss of Toleman was infuriated because Senna broke his contract with the team. The ramification was that Senna was banned to race in Italy, but Senna could care less because he have the car next season to compete with the front runners.