Ayrton Senna, Brazilian Grand Prix, 1991
Ayrton Senna never managed to win in his six starts at Rio de Janeiro’s Jacarepagua circuit, and while he started from pole position for Interlagos’ 1990 comeback, a clash while lapping Satoru Nakajima thwarted his chances.
In 1991 Senna controlled the race from pole position but a gearbox problem as the race wore on slowed his efforts, requiring him to coax his ailing McLaren MP4/6 around Interlagos as the gears gradually packed up. With just sixth gear remaining for the final laps, and Williams’ Riccardo Patrese closing in, it looked like fate was about to rob him yet again of the victory he craved more than any other.
He desperately kept the McLaren machine moving, Senna’s 40-second lead was whittled away, and a rain shower across the final couple of laps added to the drama, but somehow he held on to win by 2.9 seconds, before crying out in elation after crossing the line, in one of the most iconic radio messages in history.
Having given everything, an exhausted Senna needed help climbing out of the McLaren, before emotionally hoisting aloft the Brazilian flag – and trophy – on the podium as his home fans went wild.