Martin Brundle is one of the few modern F1 pundits who can really speak from experience what a racing driver goes through. As an F3 star in the early eighties, Brundle faced off against and beat a number of highly-regarded competitors including Ayrton Senna and Gerhard Berger. Perhaps it was the former who Brundle had the toughest time with, as Senna was known for being reckless and too aggressive during his F3 campaign in 1983.

Alongside Brundle, the two diced and gave each other no quarter, often ending in serious wreckage. Somehow, despite several major accidents, the two escaped the season without major injury, but it served to teach Brundle not only of Senna’s brazen, relentless, fighting style, but also how to conserve momentum in his underpowered Ralt RT3 machine.

Brundle leads Senna in their Ralt RT3 machines.

F3 serves as such a valuable stepping stone to the pinnacle of racing because it introduces lots of grip and very little power. Plus, it incorporates considerable amounts of downforce, so the learning curve is steep. However, it’s those former two traits which keep racing so close, and like karts without wings, F3 cars have to be driven very smoothly to get the most out of them. There’s not enough power to bring one out of a slide with the dinky, four-pot buzzers sitting behind the driver, so one had to be sure not to let the car slide too much to where that momentum would be lost.

Being a car from the early eighties, carbon composites weren’t the norm yet and many drivers had frightening, career-ending crashes in these somewhat flimsy racers. With an alumnium composition riveted together, the cars weren’t the most resilient, and often the driver’s feet would stick out in front of the front axle-line. When Senna and Brundle began fighting tooth-and-nail, the Brazilian would take huge risks trying to stay in front of the Englishman. While it won Senna the championship that year, he very nearly killed himself in the process.

One aftermath of an incident between the two. Thankfully, neither party was injured.

For more information on the Senna-Brundle rivalry from this year, a new film has been released documenting the fractious Brazilian and his charge for the title. Knowing Brundle’s brilliance in describing racing and the fireworks these two put on, it’s safe to say it’ll be worth the eight bucks.