Toleman - Ayrton Senna's Debut

Ayrton Senna's Debut

The driver line-up changed completely in 1984. Warwick's performances were rewarded with a Renault contract and his place was taken by the reigning British Formula 3 Champion and Formula One rookie (and future triple World Champion) Ayrton Senna, while Giacomelli's drive was taken by Venezuelan F2 driver Johnny Cecotto.

Senna quickly made an impression in Formula One and achieved Toleman's greatest result. In a rain-soaked Monaco GP, he finished in a close 2nd place behind Alain Prost, who's McLaren was suffering from a brake balance problem that Prost reported was getting worse with each lap. The torrential conditions forced the clerk of the course (Jacky Ickx) to stop the race after 31 of the scheduled 78 laps. It was a controversial decision as Ickx had not consulted the race stewards before holding out the red flag, and one that stirred up a conspiracy theory. Prost's McLaren was powered by the Porsche designed TAG engine and Ickx was the lead driver for the factory backed Rothmans Porsche Group C Sports car team and it was rumored that the Belgian had stopped the race to ensure the Porsche engined car won. The early stopping of the race resulted in much debate about whether Senna would have won. Certainly, he had the pace to do so – he was quickly catching Prost, having reduced the gap from 35 seconds on lap 21 to be within seven seconds of the World Championship leader when the red flag was waved. It was also reported by Toleman that Senna's suspension was on the point of collapse after an earlier incident, with the team believing that the damage was sufficient to cause his retirement within 2-3 laps of when competition was halted. Senna set the fastest lap of the race, his first in Formula One, but wasn't the quickest on the circuit at the time of the red flag. Catching both Prost and Senna was the Cosworth powered Tyrrell of Stefan Bellof who, while finishing 3rd on the road, was later disqualified when the entire Tyrrell team was disqualified from the 1984 season due to technical infringements.

Before the Dutch Grand Prix, Senna signed a contract with Lotus while still legally bound to Toleman (Senna's contract with Toleman gave them the option for his services for both 1985 and 1986). In response, Toleman suspended him for the Italian Grand Prix and his place was taken by local driver Pierluigi Martini. During practice for the British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch, Cecotto crashed heavily and broke both legs, ending his F1 career, though he would go on to have a successful touring car career. Toleman opted to run only one entry for Senna in Germany at Hockenheim, the Austrian Grand Prix at the Österreichring and Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort. The second car returned at Monza with Stefan Johansson standing in for the injured Cecotto. In Senna's car, Johansson qualified 17th fastest and finished in 4th place. When Senna returned after his "penalty", he and Johansson finished the season together.

Senna gained two more podiums during the season, finishing third at the British Grand Prix behind Niki Lauda's McLaren and Warwick's Renault, while he finished off the season with a third (after qualifying a then career best 3rd) in the final round in Portugal behind the dominant McLaren's of race winner Prost and World Champion Lauda.