INTERVIEW: Bruno Senna on the emotions of driving the Lotus 97T

This weekend forms part of a wider celebration of Ayrton Senna’s first win at the 1985 Portuguese Grand Prix, which will see the Lotus return to the scene of that historic weekend for what is bound to be a hugely poignant moment.

We’re well used to emotional reunions during Goodwood’s motorsport events, but few will be quite so stirring as watching Bruno head out onto the Motor Circuit in the car that Ayrton drove to one of F1’s most remarkable victories.

The sight of that famous yellow helmet never fails to induce goosebumps, even on a wonderfully warm day at Goodwood, and especially when it’s matched with that iconic John Player Special livery and an evocative turbo V6 roar.

“I get the chance of driving lots of Ayrton’s cars, and each car has a special significance,” Bruno told us as he perched on the front wheel of his uncle’s car. “But some cars, you know, first victory, first title, even first pole position, they give you this special feeling that almost simulates a bit of what he was feeling when he got those accolades in his career.

“To drive this car… it's just special to be able to give not only myself, but everybody else the opportunity to see these special machines out there and to experience them a little bit.”

It’s not the first time Bruno has driven one of Ayrton Senna’s cars around the Goodwood Motor Circuit. At the 78^th Members’ Meeting he stunned crowds with a dramatic demonstration of the 1991 World Championship-winning McLaren MP4/6, another hugely emotional moment that will live long in the memory, so he’s well used to putting on a show in some of the world’s most valuable racing cars.

“Of course, we never drive these cars on the limit, they are historic machines. Even if they're high performance, you still always give some margin. There's the responsibility of taking good care of a car like this because it's rare, it's unique and you don't want to cause any issues.

“But at the same time, you have the urge of driving it to get a feel for it. So, these two feelings, they clash quite strongly together. Sometimes you get to push a little bit more, sometimes you have to just be careful. Today I think the main objective is to have fun, enjoy, and give everybody a good feel.”

Moments like this are a window into the past, an opportunity to experience cars that would otherwise be hidden away in workshops or museums. For those of us who weren’t lucky enough to experience the talent of Ayrton Senna in our lifetimes, it’s a chance to get a sense of the man himself, and the talent he possessed to drive cars like this at the absolute limit.

“I think the thing that you get when you drive these cars, when you experience them is how different, how difficult it was for them to drive,” Bruno says. “I'm not driving anywhere near the limits and it still is a stressful experience in so many ways.

“It's not as ergonomically comfortable as modern cars. To drive at that level back then required so much talent, but also so much courage and so much dedication. I think we take it for granted nowadays where everything that we drive is so easy in some ways. It's a stressful but enlightening experience.

“Turbo cars from this era, they had a huge amount of turbo lag. I don't think people appreciate how much power you gain on a switch. You go on the throttle, you have maybe 200, 300 horsepower, and suddenly you have 700 horsepower.

“You have to predict this moment where the power is coming in, and if you're on the limit of the grip, it's quite tricky. It required a special talent, especially in circuits like Monaco, where the drivers were running below the boost most of the time, Ayrton was running on the boost most of the time. It took him so much confidence and talent to manage these beasts.”

The kind of talent that led him to become one of the most celebrated and revered racing drivers of all time. Ayrton Senna won three World Championships, 41 Grands Prix and took 65 pole positions in a ten-year F1 career, but his relentless commitment to winning continues to endear him to fans of motorsport more than 30 years since his passing.

There are few more famous victory celebrations than Senna’s that day in Estoril, when having taken the chequered flag more than a minute ahead of Michele Alboreto and having lapped the rest of the field, he undid his shoulder straps and flung his arms from the cockpit in shear elation. Bruno was 18 months old when his uncle won a Grand Prix for the first time.

“I think I must have been home,” he says. “I probably don't remember it obviously watching, most of the races I remember watching were when he was in McLaren already because I was a bit older then. Of course, I've watched all his races in F1 archives and so on, and this was a special one.

“The more you do racing, the more you understand how special some of his achievements were. Particularly this one, where he was the class of the field by a large margin. Car and driver and team, they came together that weekend and it was an amazing victory.

“When you see how disappointed he was by not winning the race in Monaco in ‘84 with the Toleman, where he was like absolutely sure he could have won it, I can only imagine how long it felt for him to have to wait until the next year to actually have the opportunity to win a race again.”

“Conditions were perfect for him. He got to win another race that year with his car, but that first one just takes all this weight off your shoulders. And I know for a fact that when he won his first Championship, that really took so much weight off his shoulders. He became much more light and much more relaxed.”

Returning to the scene of that victory 40 years later is bound to be emotional for all involved. Bruno will be joined at the circuit by several members of Classic Team Lotus, a company run by members of the original team set up by Colin Chapman all those years ago.

Chris Dinnage, one of Senna’s lead mechanics that weekend in Estoril, continues to work with the car, which is sure to add another level of poignance to an extremely significant weekend.

“Going back there on such an important date, such an important car. I just hope it's not raining,” Bruno laughs as we eye up the set of wet tyres situated at the back of the Lotus’ paddock shelter.

“In any case, it’ll be giving me back so many feelings. Lots of people always ask me if I remembered Ayrton when I won a race, when I was on a podium on a race track. When I won in Monaco in Formula 2, that podium really brought back all these memories that I had from a kid. All the photos we have from the archives and all the Lotus team cheering on the pit wall, I think that will also be quite an emotional moment. I'm looking forward to it.” 

And asked whether there will be tears under the helmet when he retraces the tyre tracks of his legendary uncle?

“It's always emotional. I think it might be more emotional after I'm done. When you're driving, you're probably focused on driving, but after you've driven, you get this release of the tension, it's a real special release and you can enjoy it.

“Last year was a celebration of his life, the 30^th anniversary since he passed away, and there were so many tributes to him. When you think that 30 years seems like a long time ago, 40 years is extremely long.

“And to have not only McLaren, which is the main connection of Ayrton and F1, but Lotus and everybody really pushing this memory forward and keeping young people who never saw it and getting them to know him. We're very, very happy that this is being done. And when they called me to get to drive the car, I never said a yes as fast as I did like this.”

We’re certainly glad of that last fact. Ayrton Senna will never be forgotten, but moments like this at the 82^nd Members’ Meeting ensure his star will continue to burn as it did back in Estoril in 1985.

The 82^nd Members' Meeting is live now! You can watch every moment of the action on our live stream right here on GRR.

Tickets for the 83^rd Members’ Meeting will be available for a limited time immediately after this year’s event for Members and Fellows of the GRRC. Admission and Grandstand tickets will go on sale on Monday 14^th April for Members, and Wednesday 16^th April for Fellows.

Photography by Charlie Brenninkmeijer and Pete Summers.