Ayrton Senna’s decision to remain loyal to Honda prevented him moving to Williams for 1992, it has been revealed.
Senna went on to claim his third Formula 1 world championship in 1991 with McLaren, beating season-long rival and Williams driver Nigel Mansell to the crown.
Although it is know Senna was keen on a switch to Williams in the early 1990s, the Brazilian didn’t join the Grove-based outfit until 1994.
He would be tragically killed in just his third race for the team at the San Marino Grand Prix. But Senna’s ex-manager Julian Jakobi has shed new light on the three-time champion’s career, as he revealed Senna had an option to sign a Williams contract for 1992.
“Ayrton wanted to go to Williams, but he was loyal to Honda,” Jakobi told the Beyond the Grid podcast.
“His basic instinct was to go to Williams earlier, but he was loyal particularly to Mr. [Nobuhiko] Kawamoto, who was the president of Honda.
“He was very close to him, because Honda had basically brought themselves and Ayrton to McLaren in 1988, and they’d won three championships together.
“Even late ’91, when he won the third championship, he didn’t feel instinctively that the Honda was what it was, and he was worried about the future.”
It has emerged that Senna arrived at the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix holding two ready-to-sign contracts from both McLaren and Williams.
Jakobi was expecting Senna to sign a deal with Williams, but an overnight call from Honda president Kawamoto swayed his mind.
“I remember going to Spa with two contracts for Ayrton, one for McLaren and one for Williams. And Ayrton knew, I think, that he should have gone to Williams,” Jakobi said.
“We had both contracts ready to sign. And we thought on Sunday morning that he was going to sign with Williams.
“But then he’d spoken to Kawamoto in overnight in Japan, and he came in on a Sunday morning and he said: ‘I’m going to stay another year’. So he stayed at McLaren for ’92.”
Senna’s fears that Honda’s supremacy was coming to an end rang true as Williams dominated the ’92 season, winning 10 races and both world titles.
The Japanese manufacturer would pull the plug on its F1 operation at the end of that season, a decision Jakobi said left Senna contemplating taking a sabbatical for 1993.
“So Kawamoto persuaded him to stay [for 1992] and that Honda would remain committed,” he said.
“Honda decided to pull out, and they told Ayrton I think three months before they told Ron [Dennis], and he was devastated.
“Then we had to find another drive for ’93. How close did he come to not driving in 1993? The answer is pretty close.”
