“Lotus triggered $120,000 release clause to get Ayrton Senna out”– How 3 time world champion got suspended for 1984 Italian Grand Prix

Tanish Chachra | 18/08/2022
"Lotus triggered $120,000 release clause to get Ayrton Senna out"– How 3 time world champion got suspended for 1984 Italian Grand Prix

Ayrton Senna being poached by Lotus infuriated the Brazilian’s rookie year team Toleman and got him suspended for the Italian GP in 1984.

The Brazilian race driver Ayrton Senna became a sensation as soon as he joined F1. Having his debut in the sport with Toleman, Senna had incredible sets of performances.

Though he couldn’t finish half of the races from his first season, he never ended below P7 in any of the results. Thus, it attracted him massive attention.

Lotus then eyed to poach him and even paid $120,000, which was his buyout clause. However, it still infuriated Toleman, as in the contract, as Sennas was secretly in talks with Lotus.

According to the contract with Toleman, the Brazilian was supposed to inform them before dealing with other teams. Therefore, he was suspended by Toleman for the 1984 Italian Grand Prix.

But in the end, Senna’s move to Lotus for 1985 from here was seamless. Meanwhile, his 1984 season, which was his rookie year, showed the world that he was a special talent, as he finished P9 in the drivers’ standings with limited resources.

Also read: When Kimi Raikkonen fell asleep on his $140 Million bed in garage

A start of glorious Ayrton Senna

With Lotus, Senna had an underwhelming debut. But in the second race, he turned up, gave an electrifying performance, and won his first F1 race at his home Grand Prix in Brazil.

It was also the first Grand Slam by Senna, and the Brazilian even admitted that it was his greatest performance in F1. Though, the major reliable concerns in that Lotus car which Renault powered, made Senna finish not above P4 in the drivers’ standings.

Then, Senna competed for two more years with Lotus and joined McLaren in 1988. The rest is history as he went on to win three world championships while creating a legendary rivalry with Alain Prost.

Also read: When Michael Schumacher, Jacques Villeneuve and Harald Frentzen fetched pole position together during controversial Grand Prix in 1997

Post Edited By: Tanish Chachra
Ayrton Senna McLaren

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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