Ayrton Senna raced at Silverstone for the first time on June 21, 1981, when he competed in the Formula Ford 1600 championship. The Brazilian made his debut at the circuit with a second place after a thrilling battle with his rival Rick Morris, who overtook Senna in the final meters.

From 1982, the English circuit saw the birth of a motorsport legend who broke record after record. The first victory came on March 28th, when Senna finished 17 seconds ahead of the runner-up, Colin Jack's Reynard, in a race of only 15 laps.

That year, Senna competed in three races at Silverstone and won all of them. That's how the legend of "Silvastone" was born, a nickname that the British press invented for the famous Silverstone circuit, making a pun on "Silva". At the time, Ayrton was known as "da Silva" and it was only a little time later that he began using his mother's last name, Neyde Senna, as his racing name.