One of the pros of being a Formula 1 world champion is having the ability to say what you want to whoever you want within the paddock, and three-time title winner Jackie Stewart used that to his advantage as he dissected Ayrton Senna during a heated interview in 1990.
No matter what generation you are from in the F1 world, the often echoed sentiment is the amount of respect that drivers have for the legends that paved the way before them.
Lewis Hamilton holds a higher regard for champions like Ayrton Senna due to the harsher racing conditions that he had to compete with in his own respective era. The sport simply didn’t take enough consideration into the necessary safety precautions.
However, this didn’t stop Ayrton Senna from losing his temper with Jackie Stewart during the latter’s interview with him following the highly controversial events that took place at the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix.
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Ayrton Senna did not enjoy Jackie Stewart’s dissection of his clash with Alain Prost at Suzuka
Stewart is one of the most legendary figures in the history of motorsport and, as documented by F1’s most iconic voice, Murray Walker, sparks flew when he was given the opportunity to interview Senna in 1990.
On page 311 of Walker’s 2002 autobiography, Unless I’m Very Much Mistaken, the British commentator recalled Stewart’s interview with the then two-time world champion Senna, calling it the most “wonderful” interview he has ever witnessed.
“In 1990, I had to sit down in Australia and interview him for BBC TV about his collision with Prost at Suzuka, where he had quite clearly not only been in the wrong but could have killed them both,” Walker wrote.
“I wasn’t looking forward to it, to be honest, but was preceded by Jackie Stewart, who was doing the same thing for Australia’s Channel 9.
“In the most wonderful interview I have ever heard, using all his considerable debating skills, communication skills and his deep knowledge as a three-time world champion, Jackie calmly and patiently took Senna apart until he lost his temper and was shouting angrily in an effort to justify himself.
“The interview ended acrimoniously, and then I was on. I’d like to say I did as well as Jackie, but the truth is that I didn’t.”
Senna went on to retire from the 1990 Australian Grand Prix, crashing out of the lead after suffering from gearbox issues in his Marlboro-liveried McLaren MP4/5.
The result didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things due to the fact that the Brazilian had already clinched the championship at the preceding Japanese Grand Prix.
READ MORE: Martin Brundle once explained why Ayrton Senna was ‘annoyed’ with his Formula 1 career
What happened between Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost at the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix?
Senna shared a fierce rivalry with Alain Prost during their F1 careers, with both drivers also sharing a storied history on the Japanese tarmac of the Suzuka circuit.
The 1989 title was decided by a clash between the two McLaren teammates at the Japanese Grand Prix as they tangled at the penultimate corner of the race.
Prost was forced to retire, and Senna was able to continue and take the chequered flag in first place before he was disqualified for illegally rejoining the track, thus handing Prost his third F1 world championship.
With Prost making the switch to Ferrari due to the toxicity between himself and Senna at McLaren, the fierce rivals went at it again in the 1990 season, which reached a boiling point once again at the second-to-last round of the season in Japan.
For the two championship protagonists, the Grand Prix lasted less than 300 metres. Senna dived down the inside of Prost at turn one of the first lap in a move that was replicated by Lewis Hamilton in 2016. Both cars slid off into the gravel trap and out of the race.
Senna was crowned the 1990 champion, and Prost was left with a sour taste in his mouth over the fact that he had been deliberately taken out of the race through no fault of his own.
After winning his third title in the following season, the Brazilian admitted that the move on Prost was deliberate, payback for the unfortunate circumstances surrounding the 1989 title decider.
The pair later put their differences aside on the podium in their final race together at the Australian Grand Prix, two years later.