Inside the mind of Ayrton Senna: unseen letters and pictures from kart-obsessed teenager
Rare letters sent by Ayrton Senna to a friend in Brazil are expected to fetch between £200,000 and £300,000 when they are auctioned
This week in motor sport from the Database and Archive, featuring numerous German Grands Prix, birthdays for Le Mans winners and much more.

1982: Nelson Piquet’s retirement hands Renault a 1-2 at home. René Arnoux leads team-mate Alain Prost, Didier Pironi completes a French 1-2-3 at Paul Ricard. Report
1985: Nelson Piquet Jr is born. Report
1993: A tyre blow-out denies Damon Hill victory at Hockenheim, team-mate Prost wins ahead of Michael Schumacher and Mark Blundell. Report
1925: Antonio Ascari dies at Montlhéry, crashing fatally while leading the French Grand Prix. In profile
1987: Piquet claims an attritional German Grand Prix, Stefan Johansson finishes second with three wheels. Report
1992: At Hockenheim, Nigel Mansell scores his eighth win of the season to match Ayrton Senna’s record. Report

1948: Bentley hero Woolf Barnato dies following an operation. In profile
1953: Philippe Alliot is born. In profile
1935: Tazio Nuvolari shocks the home teams with victory at the Nürburgring. Report
1961: Four-time Le Mans winner Yannick Dalmas is born. In profile
1991: Mansell leads Riccardo Patrese in a Williams 1-2 at Hockenheim, while Senna runs out of fuel. Report
1973: Jackie Stewart wins a tragic Dutch Grand Prix, during which Roger Williamson is killed. Report
1979: Alan Jones wins the German Grand Prix, despite a slow puncture and misfire. Report
1981: Fernando Alonso is born. In profile
1990: Senna beats Alessandro Nannini to victory at Hockenheim. Report
1972: Jacky Ickx wins ‘one of the better Grand Prix races’ at the Nürburgring for Ferrari. Report
1978: Mario Andretti cruises to his fifth victory of the season, winning at the Hockenheim. Report
1989: Prost shadows Senna to the flag at Hockenheim as McLaren dominate. Report
1977: A calm and confident Niki Lauda controls the German Grand Prix having taken the lead from Jody Scheckter. Report
1978: Justin Wilson is born. In profile
1994: Gerhard Berger converts his pole into victory at Hockenheim, Jos Verstappen’s Benetton catches fire in the pitlane, Ligier takes second and third. Report
Rare letters sent by Ayrton Senna to a friend in Brazil are expected to fetch between £200,000 and £300,000 when they are auctioned
Alain Prost's racing technique was so silky that rivals thought he was cruising as he set pole laps. At a Motor Sport celebration event celebrating, the four-time champion revealed the origin of his deceptively fast approach
Mark Hughes revisits the race that gave McLaren team principal Andrea Stella a sleepless night ahead of this year's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: how victory in 2025 was forged from a Ferrari failure 15 years earlier
McLaren has monetised the future by selling a 2026 Formula 1 car before it has raced