Brundle: 'I have this picture in my gym as motivation'

Martin Brundle and Ayrton Senna went head to head on numerous occasions in British Formula 3, times that Brundle looks back on fondly.

Senna's closest competitor in British Formula 3, Brundle was unable to match the highs of the Brazilian in Formula 1, but the driver turned Sky Sports commentator revealed how Senna paid him the biggest compliment possible following a race at Thruxton in 1983.

"Ayrton told me at this moment, happy in F3 championship victory in the final few laps, that I was the best British driver since Jim Clark," wrote Brundle. "He was trying to make me feel better. I have this picture in my gym as motivation, second place hurts a lot. Senna Sempre."

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Ayrton told me at this moment, happy in F3 championship victory in the final few laps, that I was the best British driver since Jim Clark. He was trying to make me feel better. I have this picture in my gym as motivation, second place hurts a lot. Senna Sempre. #senna #ayrtonsenna #sennasempre #goat #ripsenna #f1 #formula1

A post shared by Martin Brundle (@martinbrundlef1) on May 1, 2020 at 3:00am PDT

Senna took the 1983 British F3 title scoring 132-points to Brundle's 123 - the pair streets ahead of third placed David Leslie.

Both drivers progressed from the championship into Formula 1 for 1984 but, while Senna would quickly move from Toleman, to Lotus, to McLaren, Brundle was left driving relatively poor machinery for several years.

Despite their closeness in the junior Formula, the mismatch in machinery meant that the two would only stand on the Formula 1 podium together once - the Italian Grand Prix in 1992.

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