“It’s like looping a Boeing 767.”
Once again, Nelson Piquet’s epic overtaking of Ayrton Senna in Hungary in 1986. It is undoubtedly among the best overtaking in F1 history. Nelson Piquet intensely pursued his rival and countryman Ayrton Senna, without giving away a meter. On several occasions he tried to pass him without success, although he did not stop trying. After several laps, he invented a line with which he managed to pass him, leaving Senna himself surprised.
It was during the opening race of the 1986 Hungarian GP. It was held at the Hungaroring Circuit, a track where one of the most memorable battles in Formula 1 took place. In the first corner, after the finish straight, and after several attempts, he managed to overtake his rival and get ahead. The image he left us, with the Williams skidding in front of Senna’s Lotus, is considered one of the best images of motorsport in the last century.
Let us remember that in the middle of 1986, the Cold War and the Iron Curtain were still leading international politics, and the event was considered an invention of capitalism for the still alive USSR. Of course, in the same race there was a large number of spectators from various countries and different motivations, because while the majority came to enjoy the show, others, such as secret service agents, had espionage as their mission.
Senna had managed to start from the first place, getting the pole the day before. Although that did not give him much advantage, as Nelson Piquet’s Williams Honda did not let Senna himself leave in the race, following him a few meters on each lap. In the end he managed to pass him in an overtaking that Jackie Stewart, three-time world champion, described as follows: “it’s like looping a Boeing 767”.
