The 1984 Brazilian Grand Prix marked the arrival of one of racing’s all-time greats. Now the car that Ayrton Senna raced in his Formula 1 debut is due to be auctioned, and estimated to fetch more than £2.4m.

Senna drove the Toleman TG183B in the first four rounds of the 1984 F1 season, qualifying 16th, ahead of his team-mate Johnny Cecotto, in Brazil, then racing it to his first points finishes at the South African and Belgian Grands Prix.

Forty-two years on the car, with its distinctive front wing-mounted radiator and double rear-wing, still features its original wooden gear knob and the name Aryton (spelled incorrectly) on the footrest, along with an original-specification Hart engine.

It will go under the hammer at RM Sotheby’s Monaco sale on April 25, where it’s estimated to fetch between €2.8m and €3.8m (£2.4m-£3.3m).

Despite being an updated version of the previous season’s car — which had finished ninth in the 1983 constructors’ championship — Senna’s talent still shone though in the Toleman TG183B, which was described by Motor Sport at the time as an “also-ran”.

“[Senna] held everybody’s attention with some aggressively positive laps at the wheel of his Toleman TG183B,” wrote Alan Henry in Motor Sport‘s 1984 Brazilian Grand Prix report. “Senna replaces Derek Warwick as Toleman team leader and he quickly underlined that he has all the hallmarks of a future champion. He knows only one way to drive – flat out.

“The initial impression is one of a cocky youngster who could do with a clip round the ear – but watching him manhandle the Toleman round Rio left the writer suffused with enthusiasm.”

However, Senna’s grand prix debut would last for only eight laps before the car’s turbocharger failed.

At the next round in Kyalami, Senna qualified in 13th place with “tremendous flair and determination”, once again ahead of teammate Cecotto in 19th. Despite a messy first lap in which he damaged his front wing, Senna recovered to score his first Formula 1 point in sixth place, the lead finisher on inferior Pirelli tyres.

Points would also follow at the Belgium Grand Prix in Zolder, as Senna climbed from 19th on the grid to seventh at the chequered flag, before being promoted to the points after Tyrrell‘s cars were disqualified from the entire 1984 season for their ‘water-cooled braking’ system, which illegally exploited weight restrictions.