With several titles and records in the entry categories, Ayrton Senna caught the eye of the big teams even before his F1 debut, in 1984. With great performances over the course of his first year – especially his first podium-finish in Monaco, under a heavy rain – the Brazilian attracted a lot of interest from the category’s top teams for the following year.

And in August 1984, Senna secured a position as a Lotus driver for the 1985 season.  That, however, had to remain under wraps, in order to avoid problems in his relationship with Toleman at the end of the current season.

On the day He signed the contract, in England, Reginaldo Leme, a TV Globo reporter, was the only journalist in attendance, and he talked to Senna and Peter Warr, the principal of team Lotus. Watch the interviews (in portuguese).

In his appearance on Senna TV, Reginaldo recalled He had to sign an embargo  (a confidentiality agreement), in the name of TV Globo , in which they declared the content recorded on that day would only be aired after the official announcement by Lotus.

In October 1984, Quatro Rodas Magazine published a special feature, containing several details about the Lotus deal and the moment when the official announcement to the international press was made on August 26.