Martin Brundle and Ayrton Senna entered Formula 1 in 1984 as the two young drivers to watch.
A tightly fought battle in British Formula Three saw Ayrton Senna narrowly come out on top against Martin Brundle in 1983 before they both made their way onto the Formula 1 grid.
Senna’s tragic passing in 1994 brought to an end an incredible career that saw the Brazilian win three drivers’ championships and compete in one of the most iconic rivalries in F1 history against Alain Prost.
Brundle drove for some iconic Formula 1 teams during his career, including Benetton, Jordan and McLaren.
However, the British driver never won a race and had to settle for nine podium finishes, with the likes of Senna and Michael Schumacher denying him that much-desired victory.
Now an iconic commentator, Brundle is more concerned about the battle between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris than how his own racing career panned out.
Despite the immense success that Senna enjoyed, he was initially jealous of the progress that Brundle was making during their first campaign on the grid.
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Ayrton Senna ‘jealous’ of Martin Brundle’s maiden Formula 1 campaign
Brundle was asked on an episode of the Beyond the Grid Podcast whether Senna ever let his guard down with him and said: “Occasionally, and funnily enough, I met him in the lift at the hotel the night before he died, and it was a pretty tense weekend as we all know with Roland Ratzenberger and Rubens Barrichello, somewhat different but serious incidents.
“And we never got that close; that was partly my fault, I guess.
“We’d sort of come through together. He was annoyed that my career started better than his in Formula 1.
“He was with Toleman, I was with Tyrrell. Fifth in my first race, second in my sixth race, I think it was before I smashed myself up the following weekend.
“So, no, we would acknowledge [each other], we’d stop and have a chat. I’ve seen a few photographs of us chatting away, especially when I moved to McLaren.
“I took his seat at McLaren when he elected to go to Williams, if you can think about it.
“But no, we never really sat down and talked about old times or had a drink together.”
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How Ayrton Senna and Martin Brundle’s Formula 1 careers compared
Senna did enough in that debut campaign with Toleman to earn a move to Lotus in his second season in Formula 1.
He finished ninth in the drivers’ championship in his maiden campaign, while Brundle and Tyrrell were disqualified from the entire campaign due to a technical infringement.
Brundle didn’t officially score a point until his third season in Formula 1, and by that point, Senna already had a couple of victories under his belt.
The Brazilian won his first championship in 1988 as Brundle fell off the grid following a season with Zakspeed, and only took part in a single race for Williams as a stand-in for Nigel Mansell, who was unwell.
| Martin Brundle | Ayrton Senna | |
| Grand Prix starts | 158 | 161 |
| Pole positions | 0 | 65 |
| Wins | 0 | 41 |
| Podiums | 9 | 80 |
| Fastest laps | 0 | 19 |
| Points | 98 | 610 (614) |
| Championships | 0 (Best result: 6th, 1992) | 3 (1988, 1990, 1991) |
Brundle’s career finally started to take off at Benetton in 1992, and he formed a formidable partnership with Schumacher.
But it was nothing compared to the battles that took place between Senna and Prost, with the pair trading championships at McLaren before Brundle took his team when the Brazilian decided to move to Williams.
The British driver was unlucky to race at a time with so many incredible drivers like Senna, Prost, Mansell and Schumacher.
If even one of them wasn’t competing in F1, he would surely have become a multiple race winner.