Senna's Lotus 'the most beautiful F1 livery'

"Unfortunately for me, all his cars are too small. Certainly I have longer legs and I always have huge bruises on my body from driving the car just because the seat is poking me in the wrong places."

Despite the discomfort, the chance to step into the JPS Lotus 97T in which his late uncle achieved his first grand prix victory at a rainy Estoril on 21 April 1985 is always a huge thrill for Bruno Senna.

Not just because Ayrton Senna is unquestionably one of the all-time greats of Formula 1, but also because he sees it as a way of maintaining an emotional connection to his life and racing legacy.

The statistics are simple - Ayrton Senna won three Formula 1 World Drivers' Championship titles, 41 grands prix and took pole on 65 occasions.

His rivalries with other drivers, primarily France's Alain Prost, but also Nigel Mansell and Michael Schumacher, are among the most epic in the sport's history.

But although those world titles were all achieved for McLaren, Bruno believes the 1985 Lotus was something special.

"It's probably the most beautiful livery ever in F1," he told BBC Radio Northampton.

"It's a very iconic, classic livery, the black and gold colour scheme. Everybody who knows anything about motor racing will recognise this car.

"When you look at the modern cars, they're so big and so complicated, this is like the polar opposite. They're small, they're simple and it makes you sort of sit on the road with a rocket on your back."

Bruno also competed in Formula 1, from 2010 to 2012, and believes modern drivers are "spoiled" when it comes to the machinery provided for them.

He stepped into the Lotus at the Goodwood 82nd Members' Meeting and described it as a "real visceral experience".

The 41-year-old said: "I raced in modern cars my whole life and they are so refined, so simple and easy. When you drive these things it's such a stressful experience because the smallest mistake you make and it's game over."

On 1 May, it will be exactly 31 years since Ayrton Senna died in a crash at the Tamburello corner at Imola at the age of only 34.

He was given a state funeral and his memory lives on thanks to the work of the Instituto Ayrton Senna, which was founded by his sister.

"In all sports people remember the greatest, but Ayrton sort of went above that. He was someone people connected with on the very personal side, rather than just admiring a successful sportsman," said Bruno.

"I think it's mostly because of what he stood for, what he believed in and how strongly he carried that message.

"When you see young kids born decades after Ayrton passed away being so passionate about him, it's because their parents or grandparents carry this on and they identify with this."

He continued: "It's amazing that this legacy stays so strong. We are very proud of it because we believe the world needs a lot of Ayrton's values to be a better place, and the 30th anniversary (of his death) last year was a huge celebration of his legacy."

Bruno was only 18 months old when his uncle triumphed at Estoril, a victory that always remained special throughout his career.

"He'd always been someone who puts so much pressure on himself to deliver and I think this moment allowed him to get into his own groove and then achieve everything he achieved afterwards," he said.

"When I was three or four years old I remember watching his races but by then he was with McLaren. I didn't watch many of these Lotus races live, I watched them on replays but always the family was rooting for him back home.

"He was my hero and I was driving go-karts when I was five years old, so obviously I was trying to follow in his footsteps from a very early age."

Bruno was always fascinated to hear his uncle speak about Prost and his other rivals.

"In Portuguese you have so many specific expressions that don't mean anything in other languages, but he had so much respect for Alain, even at the height of their rivalry.

"It was a lot of fun talking to him about some races where something went wrong or something went right, he understood the challenge he had from his opponents and the whole racing career built him to what he was."

So how did it feel for him to step behind the wheel of the Lotus 97T at Goodwood, apart from the difficulty of fitting into the driver's seat?

"I think the moment you kind of feel emotional about it is when you do the in-lap and you're just cruising around, cooling the car.

"Then you can sort of interact with the crowd a little bit and see what their faces are expressing. It means so much to the people.... a lot of them never even saw this car on the race track and having this opportunity really is a special thing.

He added: "We're so happy the classic Team Lotus keep this car in such great shape, but the human element here is as important as the machine."