Ayrton Senna’s remarkable qualifying lap at the 1988 Monaco Grand Prix, which some say was the fastest of all time, has been remembered by McLaren as part of the Senna tributes on the 20th anniversary of his death.

The Brazilian managed to qualify his car on pole for the street circuit race in 1988 a full 1.427 seconds clear of his nearest rival, Alain Prost. Such margins are almost inconceivable in a sport like Formula One.

The twist in the story comes on the race day. Senna had destroyed the field and eked out a huge, unassailable lead. With just 12 laps of 78 remaining, where others would have eased off, Senna continued to drive on the limit and made a single mistake which put him into the barriers.

Prost took a victory while Senna was left to rue what might have been.