Your classic grand prix - race 18

The 1991 Brazilian Grand Prix is the selected race in the latest edition of our classic Formula 1 series.

It was clear from your responses on last week's blog that you approved of all our four choices, which also included the 1980, 2003 and 2007 races, but ultimately the draw of seeing one of the late Ayrton Senna's greatest wins proved decisive.

The 1991 race was chosen by more than double the number of people who went for the next most popular option, Rene Arnoux's maiden victory in the turbo Renault on the original layout of Sao Paulo's Interlagos track in 1980.

That was the last race before the Brazilian Grand Prix switched to Rio de Janeiro for 10 years and Senna's landmark victory in 1991 came in only the second race after it returned to the city where he was born and where he is now buried, in Morumbi cemetery, not far from Interlagos.

It was his first victory in his home race and as such it cemented a relationship between Senna and his nation that went far deeper than is normal for a leading sportsman.

A combination of Senna's incredible skills, force of personality and deep love for Brazil touched a nerve at home to the extent that he was revered, and afforded almost god-like status.

This victory played a large part in his legend.

Achieved against incredible odds, Senna spent the race - as he did the 1991 season - holding off the faster Williams-Renaults of Nigel Mansell and Riccardo Patrese.

After Mansell's gearbox failed with 10 laps to go, Patrese began to close on Senna, who had been struggling without fourth gear for some time.

As the end of the race neared, he also lost fifth and third gears, meaning he had to take many of the corners in sixth.

The physical effort required to manage this - in the days before paddle-shift, semi-automatic gearboxes - was immense and he was on the verge of exhaustion.

To add to his problems, it started to rain and a desperate Senna started gesticulating to officials to wave the red flag to stop the race.

It ran full distance, though, and at the end Senna, in agony, had to be lifted from his car.

It was a remarkable performance, certainly among the beat of his 41 wins, and it's well worth watching the full 'Grand Prix' programme broadcast on BBC Two that evening -'the honour afforded the chosen race in this series.

This is embedded below, with the links to the shorter highlights of all the other choices linked below, as well as long and short versions of last year's Brazilian race, when Jenson Button clinched the world title with a cracking drive from close to the back of the grid.

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WATCH SHORT HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 1980 BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX
WATCH SHORT HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 1991 BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX
WATCH SHORT HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2003 BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX
WATCH SHORT HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2007 BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX
WATCH SHORT HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2009 BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX
WATCH LONG HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2009 BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX

The classic grands prix will be available on the BBC red button on satellite and cable viewers from 1500 GMT on Wednesday 3 November until 2100 GMT on Thursday 4 November. Because of a lack of bandwidth they will not be available on Freeview.

These shorter films are all well worth watching - the 1980 race for a glimpse of the old Interlagos track; 2003 for the rain-induced chaos and confusion; and 2007 for the drama of the conclusion of a three-way title fight between Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen.

The winner, Raikkonen, is gone from F1 now, almost certainly for ever, but the other two head to Sao Paulo this weekend for the penultimate race in an even more dramatic championship climax.

Will Alonso clinch the title for Ferrari this weekend? Can Red Bull's Mark Webber close the 11-point gap the Spaniard established with victory in Korea last time out? Can Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, who are effectively a win behind, catch up? Or will Button - nearly two wins behind - miraculously revive his faded title ambitions?

It should be a great race - and these four classic grands prix should whet your appetites nicely.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2010/11/your_classic_grand_prix_-_race_5.html

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