For a brief period in Formula 1 history, the Senna and Verstappen names lined up together on the grid. Little did anyone know, as Ayrton Senna drew his Williams-Renault onto pole position for the 1994 Brazilian Grand Prix, that the great Brazilian had just a few weeks to live. And, similarly, little did anyone know, as Jos Verstappen slotted his Benetton-Ford into ninth position for the getaway, that three years later the young Dutchman would gain a son who would become the F1 superstar of his generation.
As the reigning German Formula 3 champion, Verstappen had been snapped up by Benetton boss Flavio Briatore as the team’s test driver and junior protege, with Michael Schumacher and JJ Lehto occupying the race seats. But a neck injury sustained in pre-season testing sidelined Lehto from the first two races – the Brazilian GP and Pacific GP at Japan’s Okayama circuit – giving Verstappen the chance of his F1 race debut.
Lehto returned to the cockpit for the ill-fated San Marino GP at Imola, and when he stalled on the grid his Benetton was struck by the Lotus of Pedro Lamy. The safety car was called out while the debris was cleared and injured onlookers attended to, and the loss of tyre temperatures while the field filed slowly around the circuit is commonly believed to have been a major contributing factor to the accident that claimed the life of race leader Senna.
Almost three decades later, Verstappen’s son Max is on the brink of equalling Senna’s tally of 41 grand prix victories in this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix. Here we take a look at the similarities – or otherwise – between the two careers of this pair of F1 greats.
The interesting thing here is that both drivers’ winning rates follow similar patterns from their entry to F1. Senna took no victories during his rookie season with Toleman; ditto Verstappen with Toro Rosso. Then Senna triumphed twice in three consecutive seasons with Lotus; Verstappen scored a minimum of one but maximum of three wins over his first five campaigns with Red Bull.
Then things change when they get their hands on the class act of the field. Senna took a minimum of six wins in each of his first four seasons with McLaren, while Verstappen gained 10 for Red Bull in 2021, another 15 in 2022, and is already on five this season.
What we must bear in mind is that Senna’s era comprised 16-race world championship seasons to the current 22/23 of Verstappen’s time, while the Brazilian was also alongside another all-time great in the form of Alain Prost at the McLaren team during his first two campaigns there. While Sergio Perez can be as quick as anyone on his day, he’s hardly in the Frenchman’s class.
Source: Autosport