french Grand Prix 

The Formula 1 French Grand Prix, held at the Dijon-Prenois circuit, seemed like a local party. The turbo engines of Renault from the French manufacturer secured the top positions on the grid with Patrick Tambay (Renault) and Elio de Angelis (Lotus-Renault).
Ayrton Senna didn’t seem to be worried about the 13th position in the grid. The Brazilian driver joked:
“My strategy will be spectacular. I am going to overtake them all and leave them behind.”
Afterwards, in a more serious tone, he pondered on the difficulties he would encounter during the race. Not only had his rivals faster cars, but his Toleman-Hart engine had frequently presented problems during the season.
“The only thing left for me to do now is the basics. Hold my start position and go as far as this car will take me.”
Doing simply the basics, Ayrton Senna managed to perform well in the race, when once again, a failure in the Hart engine on the 35th lap prevented him from completing. A shame: he was in a scoring position at the very moment he had to retire.