Flashback: Ayrton Senna's airport debrief
For two decades Maurice Hamilton reported from the F1 paddock with pen, notebook and Canon Sure Shot camera. This month we’re at a Spanish airport in 1986, a time when the sport’s best travelled on charter flights with the press
Maurice Hamilton
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In these days of private jets, it’s rare for journalists to share a flight with an F1 driver, let alone have the chance to chat. I captured this moment on the asphalt of Santiago de Compostela Airport on the day after Ayrton Senna had won his third F1 race, the 1986 Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez. The track’s comparatively remote location meant F1 folk were having to use the same charter flight, one which needed to refuel in north-west Spain prior to completing the journey to the UK.
While waiting outside the aircraft, Senna spent time chatting with Michael Tee, son of Wesley J Tee, former proprietor of Motor Sport. Michael, who later founded the LAT photographic agency, was deputy chairman of Championship Sporting Specialists dealing with sponsorship for five F1 teams, including Lotus.
Senna was accustomed not to only seeing Tee in the Lotus motor home, but also being familiar with his role as a trackside photographer. Senna took the opportunity to quiz Tee about what he observed during a dramatic race which finished with Senna holding off Nigel Mansell’s Williams by 0.014sec.
