Senna!
(We would now like to turn our attention to Formula 1, as there are so many great stories to tell. This will happen irregularly, mainly when we have good pictures.)
1986 was probably one of the most exciting Formula 1 seasons ever. The lead in the Drivers’ Championship changed hands 10 times, with Alain Prost finally prevailing in the last race in his McLaren. It was the last season in which turbos could be used without any restrictions – special engines with up to 11 bar were used in practice, enabling the 1.5-litre engines to achieve up to 1200 hp. At the Spanish Grand Prix, Ayrton Senna won by just 0.014 seconds ahead of Nigel Mansell, making it one of the closest race finishes ever (officially the closest: Peter Gethin 0.01 seconds ahead of Ronnie Peterson, Italian Grand Prix 1971). It was also the last year that the cigarette brand John Player Special, with its iconic black and gold livery, competed as a sponsor. And that brings us to the car we want to present here, the Lotus 98T.
Ayrton Senna (21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) entered Formula 1 with Toleman in 1984 and would probably have won his first race at the rainy Monaco Grand Prix had race director Jacky Ickx not given Alain Prost the victory by waving the chequered flag prematurely. This was the moment when the eternal rivalry between Prost and Senna began. However, Senna started driving for Lotus in 1985, clinching his first victory in only his second race, the Portuguese Grand Prix, and finishing the season in a respectable and unexpected fourth place. In 1986, the British team under team boss Peter Warr reckoned they had much better chances. Gérard Ducarouge had developed a completely new chassis, and Renault sent the EF15bis from its development department into the race, which revved up to 12,500 rpm and delivered 900 hp in race trim. We had already hinted above that more was possible. Senna took advantage of this, taking pole position in the first race, the Brazilian Grand Prix (and finishing second behind Nelson Piquet), setting a fabulous time on the asphalt at the Spanish Grand Prix and winning the race, as we now know, by the narrowest of margins.
In the course of the season, Ayrton Senna also won the United States Grand Prix (where he had also taken pole position), but towards the end of the year Lotus lost some of its momentum. In the last race, Alain Prost won the world championship title (because the previous leader Nigel Mansell had a puncture), Senna retired and finished fourth in the world championship again. In 1987, he won two races again in the 99T (with active suspension for the first time), which were to be Lotus’ last victories; in 1988, the Brazilian became world champion for the first time, but this time in a McLaren-Honda. The Lotus 98T shown here, chassis number 03, is Senna’s winning car in Spain and the USA, with which he achieved five pole positions. 98T-03 will be offered by RM Sotheby’s in a sealed auction at the beginning of March 2026, with an expected price of 9.5 to 12 million dollars.
We have other exciting vehicles in our archive.
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