In an effort to entice F1 back to the venue (the German Grand Prix had moved to the Hockenheimring), a new, shorter layout was proposed to meet the tougher safety requirements that had since been developed.

[6][7] The circuit was chosen to host the 1984 European Grand Prix in October; the concept of a "Race of Champions" was devised to showcase the venue and drum up interest for the return of F1.

Helping his cause was Mercedes' long tradition offering heavily discounted road cars to F1 drivers: many saw participation as a way of repaying the brand for their support.

Having successfully convinced nine world champions to take part, Kremer had leverage to secure an invitation for a young Ayrton Senna, whom he'd met at an F3 race the previous year and established what would be a long, close friendship.

Pre-race events included demonstration runs in modern F1 cars by Manfred Winkelhock (driving Nelson Piquet's championship-winning Brabham-BMW BT52), Marc Surer and Johnny Cecotto.

Niki Lauda missed out on practice time due to TV commitments (as stated during the official broadcast) and could only qualify 14th, but managed to recover to 2nd by the end of the race.

James Hunt and others cut many corners in the infield section, while John Surtees and Hans Herrmann were more concerned about bringing the car home in one piece.

To these articles' defence, the official broadcast's heavy focus on the lead pack made it difficult to follow any other developments; this was possibly done to avoid showing less-serious drivers cutting corners in the infield section.

Regardless, sources agree that Senna was highly focused throughout the weekend, was determined to prove his worth as a top-level racing driver, and that he left a lasting impression on his competitors.

[3][4][9][10][11] Senna backed up this performance with a drive to second place in torrential rain in the Monaco Grand Prix three weeks later, another race seen as marking his arrival on the world stage.