The mystery of Senna's #11 photo solved
More than 25 years after his death, interest in three-time world champion Ayrton Senna remains undimmed as his legend lives on.

That much was proved last week when, in the wake of an announcement about a fan festival to celebrate the Brazilian in his home town of Sao Paulo, intrigue surrounded art work from the event.
The fan festival, which will be held the week before the Brazilian GP, will see Senna's 1984 Toleman TG184 and his 1985 Lotus 97T driven through the streets.
The poster for the Senna Tribute event featured his famous helmet colours, as well as an image of what appeared to be his 1985 F1 car but without its tobacco logos.

Ayrton Senna Sao Paulo fan festival poster
Photo by: Formula 1
Sharp-eyed fans noticed, however, that the car featured not the #12 that Senna raced with during his Lotus years, but the #11 (main image, top).
A few took the opportunity to use the graphic to slate F1's owners Liberty Media for having Senna at the wheel of a car number that he had never used.
In light of that criticism, F1 responded on Twitter with a copy of the photograph that the artwork was based on: showing Senna at the wheel of a black-and-gold Lotus that featured #11.
The immediate indication was that the photograph was not from the 1985 Brazilian GP itself (as photos of the race show Senna using #12) but perhaps another event.
With the photograph dated from race day in Brazil, the suggestion was that this perhaps from the warm-up.
But closer inspection of the photograph pointed to it not actually being from that weekend at all.
For the John Player Special logos on the rear wing were very different to the Brazil 1985 race (below), and Senna can be seen sporting yellow gloves rather than the red ones he used in his first Lotus campaign.

Ayrton Senna, Lotus 97T Renault
Photo by: Motorsport Images
Having got Motorsport Images' production manager Tim Wright on the case to help get to the bottom of the truth behind the photograph, the answer has been uncovered.
As part of the move to digitise photograph archives, images have often had to be uploaded and captioned from an original film strip that may not have been labelled when pictures were originally taken. This has meant some dates and events for cars have needed some educated guesses.
At some point, the Senna #11 image of what was an interim 97T/98T was therefore duly captioned as being from the 1985 Brazilian Grand Prix.
Amid some further investigation and comparisons of other images in the archive, it was duly found that this shot was from the pre-season test at Brazil in 1986 and taken by Steve Tee.
The photograph was taken from the top of the control tower at Rio's Jacarepagua circuit as the cars came in to the pits.
Further digging has found that an #11 car also featured on the front cover of the Autosport magazine back in 1985 too – proving beyond all doubt that Senna did indeed drive with that number more than once during his career.

Autosport title 1985
Photo by: Autosport
But, as a final twist in the tale, despite the Autosport cover line coming from after the Rio test, a note inside the magazine about the photograph says: "Ayrton Senna briefly tested the new Lotus 97T at Donington Park before car and driver were flown off to the Rio F1 tests."
Read Also:

Previous article
McLaren: 2020 car concept change not a gamble
Next article
Hamilton: No hope of beating Ferrari on Mexico straights

About this article
Series | Formula 1 |
Author | Jonathan Noble |
The mystery of Senna's #11 photo solved
Trending
The updates Williams hopes will lead to a point-scoring return
After producing a car which demonstrated progress but lacked the points to prove it last year, Williams starts its new era of team ownership with the FW43B, its bid to continue the climb up the Formula 1 grid in 2021
How Ferrari plans to recover from its 2020 F1 nightmare
The 2020 Formula 1 season was Ferrari's worst for 40 years as it slumped to sixth in the standings. A repeat performance will not be acceptable for the proud Italian team, which has adopted a notably pragmatic approach to forging its path back to the top
Why Aston Martin’s arrival is more than just new green livery
In the most eagerly anticipated Formula 1 team launch of the season, the rebranded Aston Martin squad’s changes go much further than the striking paint job. But rather than a restart, the team hopes to build on top of solid foundations.
The car Aston Martin begins its new F1 journey with
The team formerly known as Racing Point gambled successfully on a Mercedes look-alike in 2020 as it mounted a strong challenge for third in the constructors' race and won the Sakhir GP. Now clothed in British racing green, Aston Martin's first Formula 1 challenger since 1960 provides the clearest indicator yet of what to expect from the new-for-2021 regulations
The tricky driver conundrums facing Mercedes in F1 2021
Ahead of the new Formula 1 season, reigning world champions Mercedes will take on challenges both old and new. This also can be said for its driver conundrum which could become key to sustaining its ongoing success...
How Alpine's cure to 2021 F1 rules starts at the front
A new name, new faces and new colours pulls the rebranded Alpine Formula 1 team into a new era while carrying over core elements of its 2020 car. But under the surface there's more than meets the eye with the A521 which hints at how the team will tackle 2021...
Can Mercedes' W12 retain the team's crown?
Replacing Formula 1's fastest car was never going to be an easy feat for Mercedes. Amid the technical rule tweaks to peg back the W12 and its 2021 rivals, the new Mercedes challenger will remain the target to beat
The pointed note that starts Ferrari's Leclerc vs Sainz era
Ferrari is starting its post-Sebastian Vettel age by welcoming Carlos Sainz in alongside Charles Leclerc. But while Sainz has a tough challenge to match his new teammate, Ferrari is also sending a message that previous intra-team spats must end