Senna. Lauda. Prost. Nine world champions. One 190E.

The race that made Senna

Mercedes had a problem. The new Nürburgring, shorter, safer, more commercial than the Nordschleife it replaced, needed an opening event worth the occasion. The organisers wanted something that would show the revived circuit to the world.

Mercedes had the answer. Twenty-one 2.3-16s, fresh from the production line, prepared to a consistent race specification and allocated to the biggest available names in motorsport. Development engineer Gerhard Lepler prepared each car identically: roll cage, race seat, stiffened suspension. The engines were untouched.

Gerd Kramer, who had long managed the company's unofficial arrangement giving prominent drivers access to discounted road cars, assembled the grid. Nine world champions accepted. A tenth, Senna, was a 23-year-old Brazilian four races into his first F1 season with Toleman. Nobody had heard of him. Kramer had met him, liked him, and put his name on the list.

"Ayrton thought if he really applied himself, he'd make the front page. He believed that if he could beat them all, people would pay attention. I think he was the only one who took it seriously.", Domingos Piedade, Senna's manager

Senna told Piedade his plan before the weekend: win the race, beat every name on the grid, make the front pages. Prost picked him up from the airport. They spent half a day together. Prost recalls: "He knew nobody. Which was really strange."

The race

It rained at the start. Prost, on pole, was hit by de Angelis going into the first corner and dropped to the back with damage. Senna, running second on the opening lap, moved through into the lead and was never headed.

Over twelve laps, Senna put a demonstration on. He stayed on the circuit while others cut corners over the kerbs, took shortcuts through the grass, and put wheels on the grass in search of fractions. "The outstanding thing was how Senna drove," said Surtees. "There were a lot of drivers showing off, going straight across the grass. And then there was Senna, doing his laps, staying on the track, and pulling away."

Lauda, never willing to look slow, chased him hard. He finished 1.38 seconds behind at the flag. Reutemann was third. Rosberg, Watson, Hulme, Scheckter, Brabham, Ludwig, and Hunt completed the top ten.

Scheckter set the fastest lap of the race. He later said: "I was leading the fastest lap. I just drove straight across the chicane or something. Out in front there's this guy called Senna, I didn't even know who he was."

Surtees was sufficiently impressed to write to Enzo Ferrari immediately after the race, recommending Mercedes sign this unknown Brazilian. Ferrari didn't act on it. McLaren did, twelve months later.

The car that won

Senna's car, number 11, blauschwarz metallic, was retained by Mercedes before the race, announced as the intended prize for the winner, then kept when the winner turned out to be someone no one had planned for. It went straight into the museum.

Most other cars were sold. Watson's went to Manfred Winkelhock, whose family still owns it. The cars' racing specification differed from production in a dozen specific ways, all documented below.

Senna's next race was Monaco, three weeks later. He led from lap 13 in torrential rain before Jacky Ickx red-flagged the race. He finished second, classified behind Prost. The Nürburgring win had done exactly what he intended.