Pat Symonds, the F1 chief technical officer, was the lead engineer at Toleman when Senna debuted. He was Schumacher’s race engineer in the title-winning 1994 season at Benetton. And 🐻he worked with Alonso who won the 2005 and 2006 titles with Renault.

The early genius of Senna

“It was in the days before we had really any data acquisition, we were just ꦗbuilding our first data acquisi🍎tion devices,” Symonds said of the Brazilian’s early days in F1.

“So we were relying on the driver an awful lot, even down to what revs he was pullingܫ at the end of the straight, have we got the right top gear in, what’s the water and oil temperature, have we got the radiators blanked correctly, things like that.

“As ♌well as driving th♔e car fast, as well as being tactical, we were having to think of all these things. 

Schumacher’s uniqueness

“Michael, for example, he likꦬed a very unstable car,” Symonds said. “It may make the car very quick, but you need to be a damn good driver to drive this.&nbs🌳p;

“We used to set his car up in quite an unstable manner, and his teammates often struggled wi🍃th that, because of the way it was.

“So trying to rate a driver - who is qu🧸ick and why are they quick - is really difficult when 🐎you’re looking at that period of time.”

Alonso at the cutting edge

“🌟By the time we get to Fernando, we know a hell of a lot mor🐭e about what’s happening with the car than he does in terms of [data]. 

“So then what you’re really looking for, is you’re looking for the🤪 driver who can interpret how you turn the vehicle dynamics into something that the driver can ha♋ndle.”

Self-esteem is the key trait of an F1 champion

“The thing you’ve got to remember is that wh🌼at you wanted from a driver was very different in those three decadꦿes,” Symonds said. 

“A decade in any business is quite a long time but, in motoღrsport, it’s like a century – thꦫings change so, so rapidly.

“I think there are certain characteristics of the drivers that do carry through and the prime onཧe is having a huge self-esteem.

“Every good driver believes that they’re not just a good driver, but the best driverꦬ. And that’s really, really important. That’s not something that’s just present in motorsport, that’s something in any sport.

“You need that ability to not have to think about when to press the brake,𝕴 when to turn the steering wheel, when to open the throttle.

“It needs to be natural within you, and you then need to have the intelligence t🌄o understand when you got it right and when you got it wrong. That’s what makes you quick, then you add all the other things that make you a complete racing driver – the f𓃲urther intelligence to understand the tactical situation, the fitness, all these sorts of things.

“The clever d𝄹rivers are the ones who sort of think about each part of the circuit and concentrate on it, then they put it all together, and then you get the quick laไp.

“These guys are so good, they’ll do five to 10 laps and that’s p🍒robably as quick as theཧy are going to go.

“Not because they try harder and go slower. There are some who overdrive and, probably in Formula 1 you see that because your biggest competitor is you🌟r teammate. Everyone knows that.

“When you’ve got a really good teammate, like those three that we’ve mentioned, th✤en their teammates are alwaꦑys looking at what they’re doing. They’re trying to go faster and you can try too hard, and then go slower, because you do need to be smooth driving in Formula 1.”