Ayrton Senna ‘s first Formula 1 test was held on July 19, 1983, the year in which he also won the British Formula 3 Championship. And although it is always remembered that the Brazilian’s debut in F1 with Toleman , we must bear in mind He says that he had previously tested with three other teams, McLaren, Brabham and Williams .
Curiously, his first test was with the team for which he would sign for the 1994 season, in which he would lose his life on the fateful May 1. Thus, 11 years earlier, Senna carried out a surprising test at the wheel of the Williams FW08C that the team’s regular drivers, Keke Rosberg and Jacques Laffite, wore in the world championship, with the configuration with which the Finn had been champion in 1982.
In fact, a few days before the test, the British Grand Prix had been held, where Keke Rosberg had only been able to finish 11th, with two laps lost. Senna already knew the test circuit well, Donington, where he had won in F3 and Formula Ford, and where he would later achieve, 10 years later, one of his best F1 victories.
Before the test, the Williams engineers played a little joke on him by placing two stickers with the messages ‘ New Driver ‘ (new driver) and ‘ New pads ‘ (new paddles). However, the last smile would be for young Senna.
And it is that at 23 years old, Ayrton Senna gave no less than 83 laps on that day in July. The later three-time F1 champion was not only the fastest in the test, but also broke the Donington Park circuit track record in that configuration, with a time of 1:00.82.
It beat the mark set by Williams test driver Jonathan Palmer by more than a second.
One cannot forget, of course, the gesture that was immortalized that day, before the test began. Senna tapped the base of the Williams’ rear wing three times and said: “It’s today.” In fact, yes, that was the day of the beginning of everything…
The Brazilian television Globo TV was there, which was in charge of collecting some historical images that would later appear in the film Senna.
In Williams they were impressed, how could it be otherwise, but Senna considered the conditions offered very low. Frank Williams would say a phrase that would go down in history: “Williams does not negotiate with young and inexperienced drivers.”
Curiously, he then tried with McLaren and Brabham, but would end up not debuting with any of them.
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