LoginAyrton Senna
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Birth Name: Ayrton Senna da Silva
Born: 21 March 1960 Died: 1 May 1994
Country of origin: 
Brazil
Height: 5' 9"
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Ayrton Senna da Silva (21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver. Senna was a three-time Formula One world champion and is widely regarded the greatest F1 driver of all time. He died in a crash at Tamburello corner while leading the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix and is the most recent driver to die at the wheel of a Formula One car.
Senna began his motorsport career in karting, moving up to open-wheel racing in 1981, and winning the British Formula 3 championship in 1983. He made his Formula One debut with Toleman-Hart in 1984 before moving to Lotus-Renault the following year and winning six Grands Prix over th
Ayrton Senna da Silva (21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver. Senna was a three-time Formula One world champion and is widely regarded the greatest F1 driver of all time. He died in a crash at Tamburello corner while leading the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix and is the most recent driver to die at the wheel of a Formula One car.
Senna began his motorsport career in karting, moving up to open-wheel racing in 1981, and winning the British Formula 3 championship in 1983. He made his Formula One debut with Toleman-Hart in 1984 before moving to Lotus-Renault the following year and winning six Grands Prix over the next three seasons. In 1988, he joined Frenchman Alain Prost at McLaren-Honda. Between them, they won all but one of the 16 Grands Prix that year and Senna his first World Championship. Prost claimed the championship in 1989, and Senna his second and third championships in 1990 and 1991. In 1992, the Williams-Renault combination began to dominate Formula One. Senna nonetheless managed to finish the 1993 season as runner-up, winning five races and negotiating a move to Williams in 1994.
Senna was recognised for his qualifying speed over one lap and from 1989 until 2006 held the record for most pole positions. He was especially quick in wet conditions, as shown by his performances in the 1984 Monaco Grand Prix, the 1985 Portuguese Grand Prix, and the 1993 European Grand Prix. He also holds the record for most victories at the prestigious Monaco Grand Prix – six – and is the third most successful driver of all time in terms of race wins. Senna courted controversy throughout his career, particularly during his turbulent rivalry with Alain Prost. Both the 1989 Championship won by Prost and the 1990 Championship won by Senna were decided by collisions between them at those years' Japanese Grands Prix.
Early life and career
Senna was born in Santana, a neighbourhood of São Paulo city,[8] the son of wealthy Brazilian landowner and factory owner Milton da Silva and his wife Neide Senna da Silva (whose family is of Italian lineage). He was highly athletic, excelling in gymnastics and other sports, and developed an interest in cars and motor racing at the age of four.[9]
Senna's first kart was a small 1 HP go-kart, built by his father using a lawnmower engine. Senna entered karting competition at the age of 13[10] and, in 1977, won the South American Kart Championship. He contested the Karting World Championship each year from 1978 to 1982, finishing runner-up in 1979 and 1980.[11]
In 1981, Senna moved to England to begin single-seater racing, winning the RAC and Townsend-Thoreson Formula Ford 1600 Championships that year with the Van Diemen team. Despite this, Senna initially did not believe he would continue in motorsport. At the end of the season, under pressure from his parents to take up a role in the family business, he returned to Brazil.[12] Before leaving England, however, Senna was offered a drive with a Formula Ford 2000 team for £10,000. Back in Brazil, he decided to take up this offer and returned to live in England. As Silva is a very common Brazilian name, he adopted his mother's maiden name, Senna.[13] Senna went on to win the 1982 British and European Formula Ford 2000 championships under that surname.[14]
In 1983, Senna drove in the British Formula Three Championship with the West Surrey Racing team. He dominated the first half of the season until Martin Brundle, driving a similar car for Eddie Jordan Racing, closed the gap in the second part of the championship. Senna won the title at the final round after a closely fought and, at times, acrimonious battle.[15] In November that year, he triumphed at the inaugural Macau Formula 3 Grand Prix with Teddy Yip's Toyota powered Theodore Racing Team.
Formula One career
1984: Toleman
Senna's Toleman TG184 from 1984 on display in the Donington Grand Prix Collection
Senna tested for Formula One teams Williams, McLaren, Brabham and Toleman. Peter Warr of Lotus, Ron Dennis of McLaren, and Bernie Ecclestone of Brabham made offers for testing in 1984 and presented long-term contracts that tied Senna to driving later on. At his test for Williams at Donington Park, Senna completed 40 laps and was quicker than the other drivers inculding Keke Rosberg.[18] Neither Williams nor McLaren had a vacancy for the 1984 season.[18] Warr actually wanted to replace Nigel Mansell with Senna at Lotus, but the title sponsor, Imperial Tobacco, wanted a British driver. Senna, however, was determined to drive that season and certainly on his own terms. Senna was also linked to Brabham's second seat, but the lead driver, Nelson Piquet, preferred Roberto Moreno.[19] Consequently, he joined Toleman, a relatively new team, using less competitive Pirelli tyres.[20][21] Venezuelan Johnny Cecotto was his team mate.[22]
Senna made his debut at the Brazilian Grand Prix in Rio de Janeiro. He scored his first World Championship point in his second race at the South African Grand Prix with severe muscle spasms, replicating that result two weeks later at the Belgian Grand Prix. A combination of tyre issues and a fuel pressure problem resulted in his failure to qualify for the San Marino Grand Prix, the only time this happened during his career.[23] Senna's best result of the season came at the Monaco Grand Prix, the first wet weather race of the season. Qualifying 13th on the grid, he made steady progress in climbing through the field, passing Niki Lauda for second on lap 19. He quickly began to cut the gap to race leader Alain Prost, but before he could attack Prost the race was stopped on lap 31 for safety reasons, as the rain had grown even heavier. At the time the race was stopped Senna was catching Prost at 4 seconds per lap.[24] Senna finally passed Prost during the 32nd lap at the end of which the red flag was shown. However according to the rules, the positions counted were those from the last lap completed by every driver, lap 31, at which point Prost was still leading.[25] Senna's second place was his first podium in Formula One.[26]
Still in 1984, Senna took two more podium finishes that year—third at the British and Portuguese Grands Prix—and placed 9th in the Drivers Championship with 13 points overall. He did not take part in the Italian Grand Prix after he was suspended by Toleman for being in breach of his contract by signing for Lotus for 1985 without informing the Toleman team first.[27]
Senna also raced in two high-profile non-Formula One races in 1984: The ADAC 1000 km Nürburgring where, alongside Henri Pescarolo and Stefan Johansson, he co-drove a Joest Racing Porsche 956 to finish 8th, as well as an exhibition race to celebrate the opening of the new Nürburgring, which was attended by several Formula 1 drivers, each driving identical Mercedes 190E 2.3–16. Senna won from Niki Lauda and Carlos Reutemann.[28][29] After the race Senna was quoted as saying, "Now I know I can do it."[30]
1985–1987: Lotus
1985
Senna was partnered in his first year at Lotus-Renault by Italian driver Elio de Angelis. At the second round of the season, the Portuguese Grand Prix, Senna took the first pole position of his Formula 1 career. He converted it into his first victory in the race, which was held in very wet conditions, winning by over a minute from Michele Alboreto.[31] He would not finish in the points again until coming second at the Austrian Grand Prix, despite taking pole three more times in the intervening period. (His determination to take pole at the Monaco Grand Prix had infuriated Alboreto and Niki Lauda; Senna had set a fast time early and was accused of deliberately baulking the other drivers by running more laps than necessary, a charge he rejected.)[32] Two more podiums followed in the Netherlands and Italy, before Senna added his second victory, again in wet conditions, at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.[33] Senna's relationship with De Angelis soured over the season, as both drivers demanded top driver status within Lotus and, after spending six years at the team, De Angelis departed for Brabham at the end of the year, convinced that Lotus were becoming focused around the Brazilian.[34] Senna and De Angelis finished the season 4th and 5th respectively in the driver rankings, separated by five points in the quick but unreliable 97T. In terms of qualifying, however, Senna had begun to establish himself as the quickest in the field: his tally of seven poles that season was far more than that of any of the other drivers.[35]
1986
Senna driving for Lotus at the 1986 British Grand Prix
De Angelis was replaced at Lotus by Scot Johnny Dumfries after Senna vetoed Derek Warwick from joining the team, saying that Lotus were not able to run competitive cars for two top drivers at the same time. Senna later admitted "It was bad, bad. Until then I had a good relationship with Derek."[36] Senna started the season well, coming second in Brazil and winning the Spanish Grand Prix by just 0.014s from Nigel Mansell—one of the closest finishes in Formula One history—to find himself leading the World Championship after two races.[37] However, poor reliability, particularly in the second half of the season, saw him drift behind the Williams pairing of Mansell and Piquet, as well as eventual champion, Alain Prost. Nonetheless, Senna was once more the top qualifier, with eight poles, and he took a further six podium finishes that season, including another victory at the Detroit Grand Prix, and finished the season fourth in the driver's standings again, with 55 points.[38]
After winning the Detroit Grand Prix, two days after Brazil was eliminated from the 1986 FIFA World Cup, Senna asked a supporter for the Brazilian flag and drove one lap waving the flag. Thereafter, he repeated this ritual every time he won a race.[39]
1987
Lotus had a new engine deal in 1987, running the same Honda engines as Williams had used to win the previous year's Constructors' Championship, and with them came a new team-mate, 34 year-old Japanese driver, Satoru Nakajima. Senna started the season with mixed fortunes: a podium at the San Marino Grand Prix was tempered by controversy at the following race at Spa-Francorchamps, where he collided with Mansell and was confronted by the angered Englishman in the pits afterwards.[40] Senna then won two races in a row: the ensuing Monaco Grand Prix (the first of his record six victories at the Principality) and the Detroit Grand Prix, his second victory in two years at the Michigan street circuit, to take the lead in the World Championship. As the championship wore on however, it became evident that the Williams cars had the advantage over the rest of the field, the gap between the Honda-engined teams made most obvious at the British Grand Prix, where Mansell and Piquet lapped the Lotuses of Senna and Nakajima. Senna became dissatisfied with his chances at Lotus and at Monza it was announced that he would be joining McLaren for 1988.[41] Senna finished the season strongly, coming second in the final two races in Japan and Australia, however post-race scrutineering at the final race found the brake ducts of his Lotus to be wider than permitted by the rules and he was disqualified, bringing his last and most successful season with Lotus to a sour end.[42] Senna was classified third in the final standings, with 57 points, one pole position and six podium finishes. This season marked a turning point in Senna's career as, throughout the year, he built a deep relationship with Honda, one which would pay big dividends, as McLaren had secured Williams' supply of Honda's V6 turbo engines for 1988.[43]
1988–1993: McLaren
1988
Senna won his first World Championship in 1988 driving the McLaren MP4/4.
In 1988, thanks to the relationship he had built up with Honda throughout the 1987 season with Lotus, and with the approval of McLaren's number one driver and then-double world champion, Alain Prost, Senna joined the McLaren team.[44] The foundation for a fierce competition between Senna and Prost was laid, culminating in a number of dramatic race incidents between the two over the next five years.[45] At the 1988 Portuguese Grand Prix, Prost made a slightly faster start than Senna but the Brazilian dived into the first corner ahead. Prost responded and went to pass Senna at the end of the first lap. Senna swerved to block Prost, forcing the Frenchman to nearly run into the pitwall at 180 mph (290 km/h). Prost kept his foot down and soon edged Senna into the first corner and started pulling away. Though Prost was angered by Senna's manoeuvre, the Brazilian got away with a warning from the FIA. Senna would later apologize to Prost for the incident. Ultimately, the pair won 15 of 16 races in the McLaren MP4/4 in 1988 with Senna coming out on top, winning his first Formula One world championship title by taking eight wins to Prost's seven (Prost had scored more points over the season, but had to drop three second places as only the 11 best scores counted).[46]
1989
Senna driving the McLaren MP4/5 in 1989
The following year, the rivalry between Senna and Prost intensified into numerous battles on the track and a psychological war off it.[47] Tension and mistrust between the two drivers increased when Senna overtook Prost at the restart of the San Marino Grand Prix, a move which Prost claimed violated a pre-race agreement. Senna took an early lead in the championship with victories in San Marino, Monaco, and Mexico. However, unreliability in Phoenix, Canada, France, Britain and Italy, together with collisions in Brazil and Portugal, swung the title in Prost's favour.[48]
Senna talking to the press in Imola during the 1989 San Marino Grand Prix
Prost took the 1989 world title after a collision with Senna at the Suzuka Circuit in Japan, the penultimate race of the season, which Senna needed to win to remain in contention for the title. Senna had attempted an inside pass on Prost who turned into the corner and cut him off, with the two McLarens finishing up with their wheels interlocked in the Suzuka chicane escape road. Senna then got a push-start from marshals, pitted to replace the damaged nose of his car, and rejoined the race. He took the lead from the Benetton of Alessandro Nannini and went on to claim victory, only to be disqualified by the FIA at the insistence of Prost who ran into the race marshals' office after seeing Senna rejoin the race. Senna was disqualfied for cutting the chicane after the collision with Prost and for crossing into the pit lane entry which was not part of the track.[49][50] A large fine and temporary suspension of his Super License followed in the winter of 1989, and an irate Senna engaged in a bitter war of words with the FIA and its then President Jean-Marie Balestre.[51] Senna finished the season second with six wins and one second place. Prost left McLaren for rivals Ferrari for the following year.[52]
1990
In 1990, Senna took a commanding lead in the championship with six wins, two second places and three thirds. His most memorable victories were at the opening round in Phoenix, in which he diced for the lead for several laps with a then-unknown Jean Alesi before coming out on top, and at Germany where he fought Benetton driver Alessandro Nannini throughout the race for the win. As the season reached its final quarter however, Alain Prost in his Ferrari rose to the challenge with five wins, including a crucial victory in Spain where he and teammate Nigel Mansell finished 1–2 for the Scuderia. Senna had gone out with a damaged radiator and the gap between Senna and Prost was now reduced to 11 points with two races remaining.[53]
At the penultimate round of the Championship in Japan at Suzuka (the same circuit where Senna and Prost had their collision a year before), Senna took pole ahead of Prost. The pole position in Suzuka was universally known to be on the left-hand, racing-line of the track. However, at FIA President Balestre's direction (no-one else has the power to make this order) Prost was given the racing-line start position and Senna was placed on the right-hand, dirty side of the track. As a result, Ferrari made a better start and pulled ahead of Senna's McLaren. At the first turn Senna aggressively kept his inside line, while Prost turned in and the McLaren ploughed into the rear wheel of Prost's Ferrari at about 270 km/h (170 mph), putting both cars off the track, this time making Senna the Formula 1 world champion.[54] A year later, after taking his third world championship, Senna explained to the press his actions of the previous year in Suzuka. He maintained that prior to qualifying fastest, he had sought and received assurances from race officials that pole position would be changed to the left-hand, clean side of the track, only to find this decision reversed by Jean-Marie Balestre after he had taken pole.[55] Explaining the collision with Prost, Senna said that what he had wanted was to make it clear that he was not going to accept the unquestionably unfair decision-making by Balestre, including his 1989 disqualification and the incorrect pole position in 1990.[56] Senna also testified that no matter what happened he would not yield the corner and that Prost taking his normal racing line (to which the leading driver is entitled) would result in an accident. Prost would later go on record slamming Senna's actions as "disgusting" and that he seriously considered retiring from the sport after that incident.[44]
1991
Senna won the 1991 United States Grand Prix in his McLaren MP4/6.
Senna captured his third title in 1991, taking seven wins and staying largely clear of controversy. Prost, because of the downturn in performance at Ferrari, was no longer a serious competitor. Senna won the first four races. By mid-season, Mansell in the more advanced Williams was able to put up a challenge. There were some memorable moments, such as at the Spanish Grand Prix when Senna and Mansell went wheel to wheel with only centimetres to spare, at over 320 km/h (200 mph) down the main straight, a race that the Briton eventually won. Quite a different spectacle was offered following Mansell's victory in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Senna's car had come to a halt on the final lap but he was not left stranded out on the circuit, as Mansell pulled over on his parade lap and allowed the Brazilian to ride on the Williams side-pod back to the pits. Though Senna's consistency and the Williams's unreliability at the beginning of the season gave him an early advantage, Senna insisted that Honda step up their engine development program and demanded further improvements to the car before it was too late. These modifications enabled him to make a late season push and he managed to win three more races to secure the championship, which was settled for good in Japan (yet again) when Mansell (who needed to win), went off at the first corner while running third and beached his Williams-Renault into the gravel trap. Senna finished second, handing the victory to teammate Gerhard Berger at the last corner as a thank-you gesture for his support over the season.[57] Senna was planning to move to the Williams team for the 1992 season, but Honda's CEO, Nobuhiko Kawamoto, personally requested that he remain at McLaren-Honda, which Senna did out of a sense of loyalty.[58]
1992
Ayrton Senna driving the McLaren MP4/7A at Monte-Carlo
In 1992, Senna's determination to win manifested itself in dismay at McLaren's inability to challenge Williams's all-conquering FW14B car.[59] McLaren's new car for the season had several shortcomings. There was delay in getting the new model running (it debuted in the third race of the season, the Brazilian Grand Prix) and in addition to lacking active suspension, the new car suffered from reliability issues, was unpredictable in fast corners, while its Honda V12 engine was no longer the most powerful on the circuit.[60] Senna scored wins in Monaco, Hungary, and Italy that year. During qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix, French driver Érik Comas crashed heavily and Senna was the first to arrive at the scene. He got out of his car and ran across the track to help the Frenchman, disregarding his own safety in an effort to aid a fellow driver. He later went to visit Comas in hospital. Senna finished fourth overall in the championship, behind the Williams duo of Mansell and Patrese, and Benetton's Michael Schumacher.[61][62]
1993
Senna came from the back of the field to finish fourth at the 1993 German Grand Prix at Hockenheim.
Questions about Senna's intentions for 1993 lingered throughout 1992, as he did not have a contract with any team by the end of the year. He felt the McLaren cars were less competitive than in previous years (especially after Honda bowed out of Formula 1 at the end of the 1992 season and preseason testing with a Lamborghini V12 unit proved fruitless). Joining Williams alongside Prost (who had secured a drive for the team for 1993) became impossible, since Prost had a clause on his contract vetoing Senna as a team-mate, even though the Brazilian offered to drive for free. An infuriated Senna called Prost a coward in a press conference in Estoril.[63][64] In December, Senna went to Phoenix, Arizona and tested Emerson Fittipaldi's Penske IndyCar.[65] McLaren boss Ron Dennis meanwhile was trying to secure a supply of the dominant Renault V10 engine for 1993.[66] When this deal fell through, McLaren was forced to take a customer supply of Ford V8 engines which were two specifications behind that of Ford's factory team, Benetton.[67] McLaren hoped to make up for the inferior horsepower with mechanical sophistication, including an effective active suspension system.[68] Dennis then finally persuaded Senna to return to McLaren. The Brazilian, however, agreed only to sign up for the first race in South Africa, where he would assess whether McLaren's equipment was competitive enough for him to put in a good season. After driving McLaren's 1993 car, Senna concluded that the new car had a surprising potential, albeit the engine was still down on power and would be no match for Prost's Williams Renault.[69] Senna declined to sign a one-year contract but agreed to drive on a race-by-race basis, eventually staying for the year.[70]
After finishing second in the opening race in South Africa,[71] Senna won in changing conditions in Brazil and Donington. The latter has often been regarded as one of Senna's greatest victories.[72] He was fifth at the first corner and led the race at the end of the first lap going on to lap all but 2nd place in a race where up to seven pit stops were required by some drivers for rain or slick tyres.[73][74] Senna then scored a second-place finish in Spain and a record-breaking sixth win at Monaco.[75] After Monaco, the sixth race of the season, Senna unexpectedly led the championship from Prost in the Williams-Renault.[76] As the season progressed, Prost and Damon Hill asserted the superiority of the Williams-Renault car, with Prost securing the drivers' championship while Hill moved up to second in the standings. Senna concluded the season and his McLaren career with two wins in Japan and Australia, finishing second overall in the championship.[68][77] The penultimate race was noted for an incident where Jordan's rookie Eddie Irvine unlapped himself against Senna. The incensed Brazilian later appeared at Jordan's garage and after a lengthy and heated discussion, punched the Irishman in the face.[78] For the 1994 season, Senna had offers from McLaren, WIlliams, Benetton, and Ferrari, the team he believed was the soul of Formula 1, and to which he planned to move to in 1996 before retiring in 2000. According to his manager, Julian Jakobi, a deal was in the works with Ferrari who had already offered Senna, the most sought after driver, a groundbreaking $22 million a year.[79]
1994: Williams
For 1994, Senna finally signed with the Williams-Renault team after Prost had reluctantly decided to end his career. Prost's contract clause forbidding Senna from joining Williams did not extend to 1994 and Prost retired with one year left on his contract, rather than face the prospect of a repeat of the animosities of 1989 and 1990.[80] Pre-season testing showed that the new Williams FW16 car had speed, but it was extremely difficult to control. Senna himself had made numerous diplomatic comments that the FW16 had some quirks which needed to be ironed out due to the fact that, contractually, he was forbidden from outright criticising the car. It was obvious that the FW16, after the regulation changes banning active suspension, traction control, power brakes, and ABS, exhibited none of the superiority of the FW15C and FW14B cars that had preceded it. It was also the first season that Williams used power steering, a system which had been problematic. Furthermore, the cockpit was too tight for Senna's frame, and several adjustments were subsequently made, including the lengthening of the steering column by 12 millimetres. The surprise of testing was the Benetton team, whose car was more nimble than the Williams although less powerful. Senna prophetically commented, "It's going to be a season with lots of accidents, and I'll risk saying that we'll be lucky if something really serious doesn't happen.”[81]
The first race of the season was in Brazil, where Senna took pole. In the race Senna took an early lead but Schumacher's Benetton was never far behind. Schumacher took the race lead for good after passing Senna in the pits. Senna refused to settle for second. While trying for a win, he pushed too hard and spun the car coming out of Junção on lap 56, stalling it and retiring from the race. The second race was the Pacific Grand Prix at Aida where Senna again placed the car on pole. However, after being beaten to the first corner by second qualifier Schumacher, he was hit from behind in the first corner by Mika Häkkinen and his race came to a definitive end when a Ferrari driven by Nicola Larini also crashed into his Williams. Hill also retired with transmission problems, while Schumacher took victory again.[82]
It was Senna's worst start to an F1 season, failing to finish or score points in the first two races, despite taking pole both times. Schumacher was leading Senna in the drivers' championship by twenty points.[83]
Death
Main article: Death of Ayrton Senna
Senna's fatal accident at the moment of impact
Senna's third and final race of the 1994 season, the San Marino Grand Prix, was held on the "Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari" circuit located in Imola, Italy. Imola had traditionally been considered the beginning of the F1 season proper, on European soil.
Senna, who did not finish the two opening races of the season, declared that this was where his season would start, with fourteen races, as opposed to sixteen, in which to win the title.[84] Senna placed the car on pole for a then-record 65th and final time, but he was upset by events unfolding that race weekend. That weekend, Senna's feedback about the FW16 included comments about the car switching between oversteering and understeering and that the car's performance was generally worse instead of better after the engineers' latest adjustments.[85]
During the afternoon qualifying session, Senna's compatriot and protégé Rubens Barrichello was involved in a serious accident when his Jordan became airborne at the Variante Bassa chicane (the last of the circuit) violently slamming into the tyres and fence. In the impact, Barrichello suffered a broken nose and arm; injuries that prevented him from competing in the race. Barrichello indicated that Senna was the first person he saw upon regaining consciousness.[86]
The next day, Saturday, Austrian rookie driver Roland Ratzenberger was killed during qualifying in a devastating accident when the front wing broke on his Simtek-Ford while going flat out at the fast Villeneuve right-hander bend and into the concrete wall.[87] A distraught Senna requested a track marshall to take him to the site of Ratzenberger's fatal crash. Senna was met by FIA's Medical Chief Professor Sid Watkins, who recalled that Senna was tearful, despite having only just met Ratzenberger the previous day. Professor Watkins suggested to Senna on that occasion to stop racing and go fishing (a hobby they both shared), to which Senna said he could not stop racing.[88]
To obtain information about his injured colleagues that weekend, Senna climbed the fence of the Medical Centre after he inspected the crash site. Senna had commandeered an official's car to visit that site, yet the FIA chose not to take any formal disciplinary actions against Senna.
Senna spent his final morning making time to meet with fellow drivers to discuss the re-establishment of a drivers' group (i.e. Grand Prix Drivers' Association) in an attempt to increase safety in Formula One, because of that weekend's tragic events. As the most senior driver, Senna offered to take the role of leader, starting from the next race event in Monaco.
During the drivers' briefing, complaints were raised about the commercial gimmick of a Porsche 911 lead car for the warm-up lap. As this lap neared, Senna again queried the closeness of the Porsche and was jokingly told by his team's chief engineer, Patrick Head, that the 911 would remain close by, as per the preceding races. Instead, the Porsche was ordered to leave earlier, to Senna's content.
At the start of the Grand Prix race, Senna retained the lead from Schumacher but proceedings soon became interrupted by a huge accident on the start line, caused by JJ Lehto's Benetton-Ford stalling, and an unsighted Pedro Lamy ramming him in his Lotus-Mugen Honda at nearly full speed. A wheel was torn off the car and landed in the main grandstand, injuring eight fans and a police officer. The safety car – which was a sporty version of the Opel Vectra medium family sedan – was deployed and the drivers followed it for several laps. The Vectra's slow pace was later questioned because of the consequential drop in tyre pressures on the Formula One cars. In fact, under those safety car conditions, video footage shows Senna pulling alongside the Vectra, gesticulating to the Vectra driver, Max Angelelli, to increase his speed.[89] On the restart (lap 6), Senna immediately set a quick pace with the third quickest lap of the race, followed by Schumacher. As Senna entered the high-speed Tamburello corner on lap 7, the car left the track at around 205 mph (330 km/h), hitting the concrete retaining wall at around 135 mph (217 km/h), after what telemetry showed to be an application of the brakes for around 2 seconds. The red flag was shown as a consequence of the accident. Within two minutes of crashing, Senna was extracted from his race car by Professor Sid Watkins and his medical team. Initial treatment took place by the side of the car, with Senna having a weak heartbeat and significant blood loss (approximately 4.5 liters). Because of Senna's poor neurological condition, Professor Watkins performed an on site tracheotomy and requested the immediate airlifting of Senna to Bologna's Maggiore Hospital, where he was declared dead hours later. Watkins later said that as soon as he saw Senna's fully dilated pupils, he knew that his brainstem was inactive and that he would not survive.[90]
It is believed that the right suspension frame was sent stabbing back into the cockpit, striking Senna on the right side of his helmet, forcing his head back against the headrest and causing fatal skull fractures and brain injury. A piece of the upright attached to the wheel partially penetrated his helmet causing trauma to his forehead. In addition, it appeared that a jagged piece of the upright assembly, most likely a tie rod, penetrated the Bell helmet visor, which was a new, thinner version, above his right eye. Senna also suffered a burst temporal artery.[91]
It was later revealed that, as medical staff examined Senna, a furled Austrian flag was found in his car—a flag that he had intended to raise in honour of Ratzenberger after the race.[92]
Photographs of Ayrton Senna after the accident were taken by Senna's friend and Autosprint's picture editor, Angelo Orsi. Out of respect, those photographs have never been sold to interested parties.
Funeral
Senna's grave, with the inscription "Nothing can separate me from the love of God"
Senna's death was considered by many of his Brazilian fans to be a national tragedy, and the Brazilian government declared three days of national mourning. The Italian Air Force offered to fly the coffin back to Brazil, but the Senna family wished that it return home in a Brazilian plane. Contrary to airline policy and out of respect, Senna's coffin was allowed to be flown back to his home country not as cargo but in the passenger cabin of Varig's McDonnel-Douglas MD-11 commercial jetliner (registration PP-VOQ (cn 48435/478)), accompanied by his distraught younger brother, Leonardo, and close friends. The plane was escorted by fighter jets into São Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport, where it was met by São Paulo's mayor, Paulo Maluf, and state governor, Luís Antônio Fleury. The coffin was carried by soldiers from the Policia da Aeronautical to a fire engine, where eight cadets from the Military Police Academy mounted guard as it carried the coffin on the 20-mile journey into the city. Leading the motorcade were seventeen police motorbikes, and 2,500 policemen lined the route to keep the crowds at bay.[93]
An estimated three million people flocked to the streets of Senna's hometown of São Paulo to offer him their salute. This is widely accepted as the largest recorded gathering of mourners in modern times.[94] Over 200,000 people filed past as his body lay in state at the Legislative Assembly building in Ibirapuera Park. After the public viewing, a 21-gun salute was fired by the 2nd Artillery Brigade and seven jets of the Brazilian Air Force flew in a diamond formation as the funeral procession made its way to Morumbi Cemetery. Many prominent motor racing figures attended Senna's state funeral, such as team managers Ken Tyrrell, Peter Collins, Ron Dennis, and Frank Williams, and driver Jackie Stewart. The pallbearers included drivers Gerhard Berger, Michele Alboreto, Alain Prost, Thierry Boutsen, Damon Hill, Rubens Barrichello, Roberto Moreno, Derek Warwick, Mauricio Gugelmin, Hans Stuck, Johnny Herbert, Pedro Lamy, Maurizio Sala, Raul Boesel, Emerson Fittipaldi, Wilson Fittipaldi, and Christian Fittipaldi. Neither Sid Watkins nor Jo Ramirez, the McLaren team coordinator, could bear to attend because they were so grief-stricken. Senna's family did not allow FOM president Bernie Ecclestone, a friend of Senna's, to attend the ceremony, after an altercation between Ecclestone and Senna's brother Leonardo at Imola regarding Ecclestone's misconstrued reaction to the news of Ayrton's death and the fact that the race had not been abandoned after his accident.[95] FIA President Max Mosley instead attended the funeral of Ratzenberger which took place on 7 May 1994, in Salzburg, Austria.[96] Mosley said in a press conference ten years later, "I went to his funeral because everyone went to Senna's. I thought it was important that somebody went to his."[97] Senna's grave bears the epitaph "Nada pode me separar do amor de Deus," which means "Nothing can separate me from the love of God" (a reference to Romans 8:38-39[98]).
A testament to the adulation he inspired among fans worldwide was the scene at the Tokyo headquarters of Honda where the McLaren cars were typically displayed after each race. Upon his death, so many floral tributes were received that it overwhelmed the large exhibition lobby.[99] This despite the fact Senna no longer drove for McLaren and that McLaren in the preceding seasons did not use Honda power. Senna had a special relationship with company founder Soichiro Honda[100] and was beloved in Japan, where he achieved a near mythic status. For the next race at Monaco, the FIA decided to leave the first two grid positions empty and painted them with the colours of the Brazilian and the Austrian flags, to honour Senna and Ratzenberger.
Trial
The cause of the accident has been identified as a steering column failure. Italian law demands that any unusual incident be investigated. Many court cases followed immediately afterwards and the judgment went on for years, with Williams being investigated for manslaughter. The last word from the Italian Court of Appeal was on 13 April 2007. In verdict no. 15050, the Court ruled thus: "It has been determined that the accident was caused by a steering column failure. This failure was caused by badly designed and badly executed modifications. The responsibility of this falls on Patrick Head, culpable of omitted control". Patrick Head was not arrested; in Italy the statute of limitation for manslaughter is 7 years and 6 months, and the final verdict was pronounced 13 years after the accident.[101] Despite Formula One regulations, the Williams-Renault team was allowed to extract Senna's black boxes from the wreck of his FW16 once it returned in the pitlane, only for them to be returned completely bereft of any telemetry, despite no external damage. Had Senna's death been declared immediately, under Italian Law, the wreckage would have had to have been immediately impounded and the race event suspended. Instead, the Imola Grand Prix proceeded, with drivers being advised of Senna's condition only at the end of the race.[102]
Personal life
Senna was a devout Catholic, once saying "Just because I believe in God, just because I have faith in God, it doesn't mean that I'm immune. It doesn't mean that I'm immortal" (1989).[103] He often read the Bible on long flights from São Paulo to Europe.[104][105] In Senna, a documentary about his racing career that was released in 2010, Ayrton's sister, Viviane, revealed that following, first the accident of his friend Rubens Barrichello followed the next day by the death of Roland Ratzenberger during the San Marino Grand Prix of 1994, Senna had sought strength from the Bible. "Faced with a night of turmoil, of conflict, no one knew what his decision would be on Sunday morning, on race day ...'On that final morning, he woke and opened his bible and read a text,' explained Viviane 'that he would receive the greatest gift of all, which was God himself.'" [103]
As his profile rose, Senna expressed concern over the widespread poverty in Brazil. After his death it was discovered that he had quietly donated an extremely large portion of his personal fortune (estimated at around $400 million) to help poor children.[106] Shortly before his death, he created the framework for an organisation dedicated to Brazilian children, which later became Instituto Ayrton Senna.[107]
Senna, renowned for his intensity and almost mystic qualities, was often quoted using driving as a means for self-discovery and racing as a metaphor for life: "The harder I push, the more I find within myself. I am always looking for the next step, a different world to go into, areas where I have not been before. It's lonely driving a Grand Prix car, but very absorbing. I have experienced new sensations, and I want more. That is my excitement, my motivation."[108]
Towards the end of his career, Senna became increasingly preoccupied with the dangers of his profession. On the morning of his death he initiated the re-formation of the GPDA safety organisation, with which he had intended to work to improve the safety of his sport.[109]
In the late 1980s, to take advantage of the close relationship Honda had formed with Senna, the Japanese company asked him to help fine-tune the Honda NSX's suspension setting during its final development stages. The tests were conducted at Suzuka Circuit with chief NSX engineer Shigeru Uehara and his engineering team present to gather Senna's direct input. Senna found the prototype NSX initially lacked chassis stiffness to the level he was accustomed to, so the final production version was further reinforced to his satisfaction.
Senna was also instrumental in bringing Audi cars into his native country, both as an import and manufacturing business. Audi entered Brazil in 1994 via Ayrton Senna's company, Senna Import, founded in 1993. Sales began in April that year, just a month before his untimely death. In 1999, Audi Senna was created as a joint venture of Audi with Senna Import.[110] Senna's personal car in 1994 was an Audi S4.[111]
Planning a retirement in 2000 with Ferrari,[112] exercised his strong entrepreneurial spirit in the early 1990s by developing his own logo, the double S, after his full surname, "Senna da Silva".[113] This logo is meant to represent an S chicane on a racing circuit. The Senna brand was on apparel, watches (TAG Heuer), bicycles (Carraro), and boats. TAG Heuer and Hublot have created limited edition watches to honor Senna, both during his lifetime and after his death.
Senna owned several properties, including an organic farm in Tatuí, Brazil, a beach house in Angra dos Reis, Brazil, an apartment in São Paulo, an apartment in Monaco, and a house in Algarve, Portugal.[114]
Ayrton enjoyed a range of physical activities including running, waterskiing, jet skiing, and paddleboarding. He also had several hobbies, such as flying real and model planes and helicopters,[115] boating, fishing and riding his favourite Ducati motorbikes. His private jet was a British Aerospace 125 (BAe HS125), and he also piloted his own helicopter between his residences in Brazil. He was left-handed.[116]
His nickname from childhood was "Beco",[9]and the Japanese Honda engineers would call him "Harry" because they had difficulty pronouncing "Ayrton".
Senna was close friends with McLaren teammate Gerhard Berger, and the two were always playing practical jokes on each other.[117] Berger is quoted as saying "He taught me a lot about our sport, I taught him to laugh." He calls their three seasons together (1990 to 1992) "the James Bond years" since, as biographer Tom Rubython notes, "money, success, and girls littered every corner of their lives."[118] In the documentary film The Right to Win, made in 2004 as a tribute to Senna, Frank Williams notably recalls that as good a driver as Senna was, ultimately "he was an even greater man outside of the car than he was in it."
Senna was married to Lilian de Vasconcelos Souza, whom he had known since childhood, from 1981 until 1982. The marriage ended due to the fact that Lilian was used to an easy life with servants in Brazil and could not handle the freezing cold of England and the comparatively spartan and isolated lifestyle that her husband's racing demanded. Senna, who did not have much of an income early in his racing career, insisted on supporting his wife with no help from his father out of a sense of pride.[119] After his marriage to Vasconcelos ended, Senna dated several women including model Marjorie Andrade. He subsequently courted Adriane Yamin, daughter of an entrepreneur from São Paulo, who was 15 years old when they began the relationship in 1985 and often chaperoned by her mother during meetings with Senna. They were briefly engaged, but the relationship was broken off by Senna in late 1988.[120] Senna dated Brazilian TV star Xuxa from late 1988 until 1990. He then dated Christine Ferracciu, who lived with him at his homes in Monaco and Portugal, on and off between 1990 and 1991. By the time of his death, Senna had been dating Brazilian model Adriane Galisteu for a year and a half.[121]
Ayrton was the uncle of Formula One driver Bruno Senna (Viviane's son), of whom he said in 1993: "If you think I'm fast, just wait until you see my nephew Bruno."[122]
Legacy
Memorial at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, where Senna was killed
Many safety improvements were made in the sport following Senna's and Ratzenberger's deaths. These include improved crash barriers, redesigned tracks, higher crash safety standards (such as larger sills along the driver cockpit) and major cuts to engine power. Ironically, these knee-jerk measures resulted in further major crashes that year (e.g., at the Spanish Grand Prix). Also ironically, entry to the fatal Tamburello corner and other chicanes on the Imola circuit had been significantly altered for 1995. This was despite calls for action in 1989, after a serious high-speed crash that saw Senna's best friend, Gerhard Berger, suffering burns to his hand. No action took place after that crash because, following an inspection by Senna and Berger, they ended up siding with officials who had, for years, claimed that the wall could not be moved further back due to a river nearby.
Soon after his death in 1994, the Brazilian football World Cup winning team dedicated their win to the great racer in order to recognise his contributions to Formula 1.[123][124]
Memorial at the site of his win at the 1993 European Grand Prix, Donington Park.
A few months before his death, Senna had discussed with his sister the foundation of a charitable organization, based on a desire to contribute to those less fortunate in a more organised and effective manner. After his death, Viviane Senna set up the Instituto Ayrton Senna in his honor, which has invested nearly US$80 million over the last twelve years in social programs and actions in partnership with schools, government, NGOs, and the private sector aimed at offering children and teenagers from low-income backgrounds the skills and opportunities they need to develop their full potential as persons, citizens and future professionals.[125] The foundation is officially advised by Bernie Ecclestone, Frank Williams, Alain Prost, and Gerhard Berger. The "Senninha" ("Little Senna") cartoon character, born in 1993/94, was another means by which Senna extended his role model status in favour of Brazilian children.[126]
In his home country of Brazil, the main freeway from the international airport to São Paulo and a tunnel along route to the heart of the city is named in his honour. Also, one of the most important freeways of Rio de Janeiro is named after Senna ("Avenida Ayrton Senna"). The main road in Senna's Portuguese resort at Quinta do Lago, Algarve, was also dedicated to him, due to the fact that his villa there was very near (but not on) this road. A portion of the Interlagos circuit in São Paulo is named the "Senna Esses Chicane" in his honor. In the English town of Reading, Berkshire, where Senna lived for a short period of time, Ayrton Senna's name has been given to an avenue in the suburb of Tilehurst.[127]
In 2004, a book called Ayrton: The Hero Revealed (original title: Ayrton: O Herói Revelado[128]) was published in Brazil for the tenth anniversary of his passing. Senna remains a national hero in Brazil and his grave attracts more visitors than the graves of John F. Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley combined.[104]
In addition, to mark the tenth anniversary of Senna's death, on 21 April 2004, over 10,000 people attended a charity match in a football stadium near Imola. The game was organised by several devoted Italian and Canadian fans of Senna, bringing the 1994 FIFA World Cup winning team of Brazil (who dedicated their 1994 FIFA World Cup win to Senna) to face the "Nazionale Piloti", an exhibition team composed exclusively of top race car drivers. Senna had been a part of the latter in 1985. Michael Schumacher, Jarno Trulli, Rubens Barrichello, Fernando Alonso and many others faced the likes of Dunga, Careca, Taffarel and several of the team that won the World Cup in the United States ten years earlier. The match finished 5–5 and the money was donated to Instituto Ayrton Senna. Viviane Senna, the president of the institute, gave the initial kick. That same weekend, Bernie Ecclestone revealed that he still believed Senna was and remained the best F1 driver he had ever seen.[95]
Since his death, Senna has been the subject of songs by Italian singer-songwriter Lucio Dalla, Jazz pianist Kim Pensyl, Japanese jazz-fusion guitarist and T-square bandleader Masahiro Andoh (on songs such as "Faces" and subsequential revisions, like "The Face") and Chris Rea (on his song "Saudade"). The Spanish band, Delorean, released an extended play entitled Ayrton Senna in 2009.
Between 1996 and 1998, to pay tribute to Senna, the Italian motorcycle manufacturer Ducati produced special Senna editions of their 916 superbike. Ducati was at the time owned by Claudio Castiglioni, a personal friend of Senna who was an avid Ducati lover. In 2002, the MV Agusta F4 750 Senna motorbike was created, again by Castiglioni, now president of MV Agusta. The production was limited to 300 bikes, and all profits from sales went to the Ayrton Senna Foundation.[129]
In 2009, it was announced that Senna's nephew Bruno would be making his Formula One debut in 2010.[130]
The former Formula One grand prix circuit in Adelaide, Australia, renamed its first chicane the "Senna Chicane" in honour of his memory. This track—which remains the site of Senna's last Formula One win—is still used for local V8 Supercars racing after the move of the F1 grand prix to Melbourne. There is also a street named after him in the Adelaide suburb of Wingfield. The Adelaide street circuit was said to be a favourite of Senna's, and he was reportedly unhappy about the upcoming shift of venue from Adelaide to Melbourne in 1996.[131]
He has been voted the best driver of all time in various motorsport polls, including F1 Racing Magazine's 2004 poll and one involving current drivers as published by the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag in July 2010.[132] In 2009, a poll of 217 current and former Formula One drivers conducted by the British magazine Autosport named Senna as "the greatest Formula One driver who ever lived".[2][133]
On 25 July 2010, popular BBC motoring show, Top Gear paid an emotional tribute to Senna with British Formula One World Champion, Lewis Hamilton driving Senna's original MP4/4, with which he won the 1988 title.
A documentary film Senna was released in 2010 to great critical acclaim.
Helmet Design
Senna's helmet design was yellow with a green stripe surrounding the upper visor and a light metallic blue stripe surrounding the lower visor (both stripes are delineated in the other stripes color). The helmet never had significant changes, minus the sponsors. The tone of yellow changed a number of times, in 1985 and 1986 in some races he used a neon yellow base color. In 1994 the helmet was a lighter yellow to complement the blue and white of the Williams car. He used a number of helmet brands throughout his career. From 1984 to 1988 he used Bell, from 1990 to 1991 Honda's own Rheos brand, 1992 to 1993 he used Shoei and for 1994 he used Bell. His nephew Bruno, currently racing in Formula One, bears a modified version of his helmet design (a yellow helmet with a green and blue stripe), but the stripes are shaped after an S rather than being straight, under the chin area it has a green stripe and it has a blue rounded rectangle in the top area. ... (more) (less)
Senna began his motorsport career in karting, moving up to open-wheel racing in 1981, and winning the British Formula 3 championship in 1983. He made his Formula One debut with Toleman-Hart in 1984 before moving to Lotus-Renault the following year and winning six Grands Prix over the next three seasons. In 1988, he joined Frenchman Alain Prost at McLaren-Honda. Between them, they won all but one of the 16 Grands Prix that year and Senna his first World Championship. Prost claimed the championship in 1989, and Senna his second and third championships in 1990 and 1991. In 1992, the Williams-Renault combination began to dominate Formula One. Senna nonetheless managed to finish the 1993 season as runner-up, winning five races and negotiating a move to Williams in 1994.
Senna was recognised for his qualifying speed over one lap and from 1989 until 2006 held the record for most pole positions. He was especially quick in wet conditions, as shown by his performances in the 1984 Monaco Grand Prix, the 1985 Portuguese Grand Prix, and the 1993 European Grand Prix. He also holds the record for most victories at the prestigious Monaco Grand Prix – six – and is the third most successful driver of all time in terms of race wins. Senna courted controversy throughout his career, particularly during his turbulent rivalry with Alain Prost. Both the 1989 Championship won by Prost and the 1990 Championship won by Senna were decided by collisions between them at those years' Japanese Grands Prix.
Early life and career
Senna was born in Santana, a neighbourhood of São Paulo city,[8] the son of wealthy Brazilian landowner and factory owner Milton da Silva and his wife Neide Senna da Silva (whose family is of Italian lineage). He was highly athletic, excelling in gymnastics and other sports, and developed an interest in cars and motor racing at the age of four.[9]
Senna's first kart was a small 1 HP go-kart, built by his father using a lawnmower engine. Senna entered karting competition at the age of 13[10] and, in 1977, won the South American Kart Championship. He contested the Karting World Championship each year from 1978 to 1982, finishing runner-up in 1979 and 1980.[11]
In 1981, Senna moved to England to begin single-seater racing, winning the RAC and Townsend-Thoreson Formula Ford 1600 Championships that year with the Van Diemen team. Despite this, Senna initially did not believe he would continue in motorsport. At the end of the season, under pressure from his parents to take up a role in the family business, he returned to Brazil.[12] Before leaving England, however, Senna was offered a drive with a Formula Ford 2000 team for £10,000. Back in Brazil, he decided to take up this offer and returned to live in England. As Silva is a very common Brazilian name, he adopted his mother's maiden name, Senna.[13] Senna went on to win the 1982 British and European Formula Ford 2000 championships under that surname.[14]
In 1983, Senna drove in the British Formula Three Championship with the West Surrey Racing team. He dominated the first half of the season until Martin Brundle, driving a similar car for Eddie Jordan Racing, closed the gap in the second part of the championship. Senna won the title at the final round after a closely fought and, at times, acrimonious battle.[15] In November that year, he triumphed at the inaugural Macau Formula 3 Grand Prix with Teddy Yip's Toyota powered Theodore Racing Team.
Formula One career
1984: Toleman
Senna's Toleman TG184 from 1984 on display in the Donington Grand Prix Collection
Senna tested for Formula One teams Williams, McLaren, Brabham and Toleman. Peter Warr of Lotus, Ron Dennis of McLaren, and Bernie Ecclestone of Brabham made offers for testing in 1984 and presented long-term contracts that tied Senna to driving later on. At his test for Williams at Donington Park, Senna completed 40 laps and was quicker than the other drivers inculding Keke Rosberg.[18] Neither Williams nor McLaren had a vacancy for the 1984 season.[18] Warr actually wanted to replace Nigel Mansell with Senna at Lotus, but the title sponsor, Imperial Tobacco, wanted a British driver. Senna, however, was determined to drive that season and certainly on his own terms. Senna was also linked to Brabham's second seat, but the lead driver, Nelson Piquet, preferred Roberto Moreno.[19] Consequently, he joined Toleman, a relatively new team, using less competitive Pirelli tyres.[20][21] Venezuelan Johnny Cecotto was his team mate.[22]
Senna made his debut at the Brazilian Grand Prix in Rio de Janeiro. He scored his first World Championship point in his second race at the South African Grand Prix with severe muscle spasms, replicating that result two weeks later at the Belgian Grand Prix. A combination of tyre issues and a fuel pressure problem resulted in his failure to qualify for the San Marino Grand Prix, the only time this happened during his career.[23] Senna's best result of the season came at the Monaco Grand Prix, the first wet weather race of the season. Qualifying 13th on the grid, he made steady progress in climbing through the field, passing Niki Lauda for second on lap 19. He quickly began to cut the gap to race leader Alain Prost, but before he could attack Prost the race was stopped on lap 31 for safety reasons, as the rain had grown even heavier. At the time the race was stopped Senna was catching Prost at 4 seconds per lap.[24] Senna finally passed Prost during the 32nd lap at the end of which the red flag was shown. However according to the rules, the positions counted were those from the last lap completed by every driver, lap 31, at which point Prost was still leading.[25] Senna's second place was his first podium in Formula One.[26]
Still in 1984, Senna took two more podium finishes that year—third at the British and Portuguese Grands Prix—and placed 9th in the Drivers Championship with 13 points overall. He did not take part in the Italian Grand Prix after he was suspended by Toleman for being in breach of his contract by signing for Lotus for 1985 without informing the Toleman team first.[27]
Senna also raced in two high-profile non-Formula One races in 1984: The ADAC 1000 km Nürburgring where, alongside Henri Pescarolo and Stefan Johansson, he co-drove a Joest Racing Porsche 956 to finish 8th, as well as an exhibition race to celebrate the opening of the new Nürburgring, which was attended by several Formula 1 drivers, each driving identical Mercedes 190E 2.3–16. Senna won from Niki Lauda and Carlos Reutemann.[28][29] After the race Senna was quoted as saying, "Now I know I can do it."[30]
1985–1987: Lotus
1985
Senna was partnered in his first year at Lotus-Renault by Italian driver Elio de Angelis. At the second round of the season, the Portuguese Grand Prix, Senna took the first pole position of his Formula 1 career. He converted it into his first victory in the race, which was held in very wet conditions, winning by over a minute from Michele Alboreto.[31] He would not finish in the points again until coming second at the Austrian Grand Prix, despite taking pole three more times in the intervening period. (His determination to take pole at the Monaco Grand Prix had infuriated Alboreto and Niki Lauda; Senna had set a fast time early and was accused of deliberately baulking the other drivers by running more laps than necessary, a charge he rejected.)[32] Two more podiums followed in the Netherlands and Italy, before Senna added his second victory, again in wet conditions, at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.[33] Senna's relationship with De Angelis soured over the season, as both drivers demanded top driver status within Lotus and, after spending six years at the team, De Angelis departed for Brabham at the end of the year, convinced that Lotus were becoming focused around the Brazilian.[34] Senna and De Angelis finished the season 4th and 5th respectively in the driver rankings, separated by five points in the quick but unreliable 97T. In terms of qualifying, however, Senna had begun to establish himself as the quickest in the field: his tally of seven poles that season was far more than that of any of the other drivers.[35]
1986
Senna driving for Lotus at the 1986 British Grand Prix
De Angelis was replaced at Lotus by Scot Johnny Dumfries after Senna vetoed Derek Warwick from joining the team, saying that Lotus were not able to run competitive cars for two top drivers at the same time. Senna later admitted "It was bad, bad. Until then I had a good relationship with Derek."[36] Senna started the season well, coming second in Brazil and winning the Spanish Grand Prix by just 0.014s from Nigel Mansell—one of the closest finishes in Formula One history—to find himself leading the World Championship after two races.[37] However, poor reliability, particularly in the second half of the season, saw him drift behind the Williams pairing of Mansell and Piquet, as well as eventual champion, Alain Prost. Nonetheless, Senna was once more the top qualifier, with eight poles, and he took a further six podium finishes that season, including another victory at the Detroit Grand Prix, and finished the season fourth in the driver's standings again, with 55 points.[38]
After winning the Detroit Grand Prix, two days after Brazil was eliminated from the 1986 FIFA World Cup, Senna asked a supporter for the Brazilian flag and drove one lap waving the flag. Thereafter, he repeated this ritual every time he won a race.[39]
1987
Lotus had a new engine deal in 1987, running the same Honda engines as Williams had used to win the previous year's Constructors' Championship, and with them came a new team-mate, 34 year-old Japanese driver, Satoru Nakajima. Senna started the season with mixed fortunes: a podium at the San Marino Grand Prix was tempered by controversy at the following race at Spa-Francorchamps, where he collided with Mansell and was confronted by the angered Englishman in the pits afterwards.[40] Senna then won two races in a row: the ensuing Monaco Grand Prix (the first of his record six victories at the Principality) and the Detroit Grand Prix, his second victory in two years at the Michigan street circuit, to take the lead in the World Championship. As the championship wore on however, it became evident that the Williams cars had the advantage over the rest of the field, the gap between the Honda-engined teams made most obvious at the British Grand Prix, where Mansell and Piquet lapped the Lotuses of Senna and Nakajima. Senna became dissatisfied with his chances at Lotus and at Monza it was announced that he would be joining McLaren for 1988.[41] Senna finished the season strongly, coming second in the final two races in Japan and Australia, however post-race scrutineering at the final race found the brake ducts of his Lotus to be wider than permitted by the rules and he was disqualified, bringing his last and most successful season with Lotus to a sour end.[42] Senna was classified third in the final standings, with 57 points, one pole position and six podium finishes. This season marked a turning point in Senna's career as, throughout the year, he built a deep relationship with Honda, one which would pay big dividends, as McLaren had secured Williams' supply of Honda's V6 turbo engines for 1988.[43]
1988–1993: McLaren
1988
Senna won his first World Championship in 1988 driving the McLaren MP4/4.
In 1988, thanks to the relationship he had built up with Honda throughout the 1987 season with Lotus, and with the approval of McLaren's number one driver and then-double world champion, Alain Prost, Senna joined the McLaren team.[44] The foundation for a fierce competition between Senna and Prost was laid, culminating in a number of dramatic race incidents between the two over the next five years.[45] At the 1988 Portuguese Grand Prix, Prost made a slightly faster start than Senna but the Brazilian dived into the first corner ahead. Prost responded and went to pass Senna at the end of the first lap. Senna swerved to block Prost, forcing the Frenchman to nearly run into the pitwall at 180 mph (290 km/h). Prost kept his foot down and soon edged Senna into the first corner and started pulling away. Though Prost was angered by Senna's manoeuvre, the Brazilian got away with a warning from the FIA. Senna would later apologize to Prost for the incident. Ultimately, the pair won 15 of 16 races in the McLaren MP4/4 in 1988 with Senna coming out on top, winning his first Formula One world championship title by taking eight wins to Prost's seven (Prost had scored more points over the season, but had to drop three second places as only the 11 best scores counted).[46]
1989
Senna driving the McLaren MP4/5 in 1989
The following year, the rivalry between Senna and Prost intensified into numerous battles on the track and a psychological war off it.[47] Tension and mistrust between the two drivers increased when Senna overtook Prost at the restart of the San Marino Grand Prix, a move which Prost claimed violated a pre-race agreement. Senna took an early lead in the championship with victories in San Marino, Monaco, and Mexico. However, unreliability in Phoenix, Canada, France, Britain and Italy, together with collisions in Brazil and Portugal, swung the title in Prost's favour.[48]
Senna talking to the press in Imola during the 1989 San Marino Grand Prix
Prost took the 1989 world title after a collision with Senna at the Suzuka Circuit in Japan, the penultimate race of the season, which Senna needed to win to remain in contention for the title. Senna had attempted an inside pass on Prost who turned into the corner and cut him off, with the two McLarens finishing up with their wheels interlocked in the Suzuka chicane escape road. Senna then got a push-start from marshals, pitted to replace the damaged nose of his car, and rejoined the race. He took the lead from the Benetton of Alessandro Nannini and went on to claim victory, only to be disqualified by the FIA at the insistence of Prost who ran into the race marshals' office after seeing Senna rejoin the race. Senna was disqualfied for cutting the chicane after the collision with Prost and for crossing into the pit lane entry which was not part of the track.[49][50] A large fine and temporary suspension of his Super License followed in the winter of 1989, and an irate Senna engaged in a bitter war of words with the FIA and its then President Jean-Marie Balestre.[51] Senna finished the season second with six wins and one second place. Prost left McLaren for rivals Ferrari for the following year.[52]
1990
In 1990, Senna took a commanding lead in the championship with six wins, two second places and three thirds. His most memorable victories were at the opening round in Phoenix, in which he diced for the lead for several laps with a then-unknown Jean Alesi before coming out on top, and at Germany where he fought Benetton driver Alessandro Nannini throughout the race for the win. As the season reached its final quarter however, Alain Prost in his Ferrari rose to the challenge with five wins, including a crucial victory in Spain where he and teammate Nigel Mansell finished 1–2 for the Scuderia. Senna had gone out with a damaged radiator and the gap between Senna and Prost was now reduced to 11 points with two races remaining.[53]
At the penultimate round of the Championship in Japan at Suzuka (the same circuit where Senna and Prost had their collision a year before), Senna took pole ahead of Prost. The pole position in Suzuka was universally known to be on the left-hand, racing-line of the track. However, at FIA President Balestre's direction (no-one else has the power to make this order) Prost was given the racing-line start position and Senna was placed on the right-hand, dirty side of the track. As a result, Ferrari made a better start and pulled ahead of Senna's McLaren. At the first turn Senna aggressively kept his inside line, while Prost turned in and the McLaren ploughed into the rear wheel of Prost's Ferrari at about 270 km/h (170 mph), putting both cars off the track, this time making Senna the Formula 1 world champion.[54] A year later, after taking his third world championship, Senna explained to the press his actions of the previous year in Suzuka. He maintained that prior to qualifying fastest, he had sought and received assurances from race officials that pole position would be changed to the left-hand, clean side of the track, only to find this decision reversed by Jean-Marie Balestre after he had taken pole.[55] Explaining the collision with Prost, Senna said that what he had wanted was to make it clear that he was not going to accept the unquestionably unfair decision-making by Balestre, including his 1989 disqualification and the incorrect pole position in 1990.[56] Senna also testified that no matter what happened he would not yield the corner and that Prost taking his normal racing line (to which the leading driver is entitled) would result in an accident. Prost would later go on record slamming Senna's actions as "disgusting" and that he seriously considered retiring from the sport after that incident.[44]
1991
Senna won the 1991 United States Grand Prix in his McLaren MP4/6.
Senna captured his third title in 1991, taking seven wins and staying largely clear of controversy. Prost, because of the downturn in performance at Ferrari, was no longer a serious competitor. Senna won the first four races. By mid-season, Mansell in the more advanced Williams was able to put up a challenge. There were some memorable moments, such as at the Spanish Grand Prix when Senna and Mansell went wheel to wheel with only centimetres to spare, at over 320 km/h (200 mph) down the main straight, a race that the Briton eventually won. Quite a different spectacle was offered following Mansell's victory in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Senna's car had come to a halt on the final lap but he was not left stranded out on the circuit, as Mansell pulled over on his parade lap and allowed the Brazilian to ride on the Williams side-pod back to the pits. Though Senna's consistency and the Williams's unreliability at the beginning of the season gave him an early advantage, Senna insisted that Honda step up their engine development program and demanded further improvements to the car before it was too late. These modifications enabled him to make a late season push and he managed to win three more races to secure the championship, which was settled for good in Japan (yet again) when Mansell (who needed to win), went off at the first corner while running third and beached his Williams-Renault into the gravel trap. Senna finished second, handing the victory to teammate Gerhard Berger at the last corner as a thank-you gesture for his support over the season.[57] Senna was planning to move to the Williams team for the 1992 season, but Honda's CEO, Nobuhiko Kawamoto, personally requested that he remain at McLaren-Honda, which Senna did out of a sense of loyalty.[58]
1992
Ayrton Senna driving the McLaren MP4/7A at Monte-Carlo
In 1992, Senna's determination to win manifested itself in dismay at McLaren's inability to challenge Williams's all-conquering FW14B car.[59] McLaren's new car for the season had several shortcomings. There was delay in getting the new model running (it debuted in the third race of the season, the Brazilian Grand Prix) and in addition to lacking active suspension, the new car suffered from reliability issues, was unpredictable in fast corners, while its Honda V12 engine was no longer the most powerful on the circuit.[60] Senna scored wins in Monaco, Hungary, and Italy that year. During qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix, French driver Érik Comas crashed heavily and Senna was the first to arrive at the scene. He got out of his car and ran across the track to help the Frenchman, disregarding his own safety in an effort to aid a fellow driver. He later went to visit Comas in hospital. Senna finished fourth overall in the championship, behind the Williams duo of Mansell and Patrese, and Benetton's Michael Schumacher.[61][62]
1993
Senna came from the back of the field to finish fourth at the 1993 German Grand Prix at Hockenheim.
Questions about Senna's intentions for 1993 lingered throughout 1992, as he did not have a contract with any team by the end of the year. He felt the McLaren cars were less competitive than in previous years (especially after Honda bowed out of Formula 1 at the end of the 1992 season and preseason testing with a Lamborghini V12 unit proved fruitless). Joining Williams alongside Prost (who had secured a drive for the team for 1993) became impossible, since Prost had a clause on his contract vetoing Senna as a team-mate, even though the Brazilian offered to drive for free. An infuriated Senna called Prost a coward in a press conference in Estoril.[63][64] In December, Senna went to Phoenix, Arizona and tested Emerson Fittipaldi's Penske IndyCar.[65] McLaren boss Ron Dennis meanwhile was trying to secure a supply of the dominant Renault V10 engine for 1993.[66] When this deal fell through, McLaren was forced to take a customer supply of Ford V8 engines which were two specifications behind that of Ford's factory team, Benetton.[67] McLaren hoped to make up for the inferior horsepower with mechanical sophistication, including an effective active suspension system.[68] Dennis then finally persuaded Senna to return to McLaren. The Brazilian, however, agreed only to sign up for the first race in South Africa, where he would assess whether McLaren's equipment was competitive enough for him to put in a good season. After driving McLaren's 1993 car, Senna concluded that the new car had a surprising potential, albeit the engine was still down on power and would be no match for Prost's Williams Renault.[69] Senna declined to sign a one-year contract but agreed to drive on a race-by-race basis, eventually staying for the year.[70]
After finishing second in the opening race in South Africa,[71] Senna won in changing conditions in Brazil and Donington. The latter has often been regarded as one of Senna's greatest victories.[72] He was fifth at the first corner and led the race at the end of the first lap going on to lap all but 2nd place in a race where up to seven pit stops were required by some drivers for rain or slick tyres.[73][74] Senna then scored a second-place finish in Spain and a record-breaking sixth win at Monaco.[75] After Monaco, the sixth race of the season, Senna unexpectedly led the championship from Prost in the Williams-Renault.[76] As the season progressed, Prost and Damon Hill asserted the superiority of the Williams-Renault car, with Prost securing the drivers' championship while Hill moved up to second in the standings. Senna concluded the season and his McLaren career with two wins in Japan and Australia, finishing second overall in the championship.[68][77] The penultimate race was noted for an incident where Jordan's rookie Eddie Irvine unlapped himself against Senna. The incensed Brazilian later appeared at Jordan's garage and after a lengthy and heated discussion, punched the Irishman in the face.[78] For the 1994 season, Senna had offers from McLaren, WIlliams, Benetton, and Ferrari, the team he believed was the soul of Formula 1, and to which he planned to move to in 1996 before retiring in 2000. According to his manager, Julian Jakobi, a deal was in the works with Ferrari who had already offered Senna, the most sought after driver, a groundbreaking $22 million a year.[79]
1994: Williams
For 1994, Senna finally signed with the Williams-Renault team after Prost had reluctantly decided to end his career. Prost's contract clause forbidding Senna from joining Williams did not extend to 1994 and Prost retired with one year left on his contract, rather than face the prospect of a repeat of the animosities of 1989 and 1990.[80] Pre-season testing showed that the new Williams FW16 car had speed, but it was extremely difficult to control. Senna himself had made numerous diplomatic comments that the FW16 had some quirks which needed to be ironed out due to the fact that, contractually, he was forbidden from outright criticising the car. It was obvious that the FW16, after the regulation changes banning active suspension, traction control, power brakes, and ABS, exhibited none of the superiority of the FW15C and FW14B cars that had preceded it. It was also the first season that Williams used power steering, a system which had been problematic. Furthermore, the cockpit was too tight for Senna's frame, and several adjustments were subsequently made, including the lengthening of the steering column by 12 millimetres. The surprise of testing was the Benetton team, whose car was more nimble than the Williams although less powerful. Senna prophetically commented, "It's going to be a season with lots of accidents, and I'll risk saying that we'll be lucky if something really serious doesn't happen.”[81]
The first race of the season was in Brazil, where Senna took pole. In the race Senna took an early lead but Schumacher's Benetton was never far behind. Schumacher took the race lead for good after passing Senna in the pits. Senna refused to settle for second. While trying for a win, he pushed too hard and spun the car coming out of Junção on lap 56, stalling it and retiring from the race. The second race was the Pacific Grand Prix at Aida where Senna again placed the car on pole. However, after being beaten to the first corner by second qualifier Schumacher, he was hit from behind in the first corner by Mika Häkkinen and his race came to a definitive end when a Ferrari driven by Nicola Larini also crashed into his Williams. Hill also retired with transmission problems, while Schumacher took victory again.[82]
It was Senna's worst start to an F1 season, failing to finish or score points in the first two races, despite taking pole both times. Schumacher was leading Senna in the drivers' championship by twenty points.[83]
Death
Main article: Death of Ayrton Senna
Senna's fatal accident at the moment of impact
Senna's third and final race of the 1994 season, the San Marino Grand Prix, was held on the "Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari" circuit located in Imola, Italy. Imola had traditionally been considered the beginning of the F1 season proper, on European soil.
Senna, who did not finish the two opening races of the season, declared that this was where his season would start, with fourteen races, as opposed to sixteen, in which to win the title.[84] Senna placed the car on pole for a then-record 65th and final time, but he was upset by events unfolding that race weekend. That weekend, Senna's feedback about the FW16 included comments about the car switching between oversteering and understeering and that the car's performance was generally worse instead of better after the engineers' latest adjustments.[85]
During the afternoon qualifying session, Senna's compatriot and protégé Rubens Barrichello was involved in a serious accident when his Jordan became airborne at the Variante Bassa chicane (the last of the circuit) violently slamming into the tyres and fence. In the impact, Barrichello suffered a broken nose and arm; injuries that prevented him from competing in the race. Barrichello indicated that Senna was the first person he saw upon regaining consciousness.[86]
The next day, Saturday, Austrian rookie driver Roland Ratzenberger was killed during qualifying in a devastating accident when the front wing broke on his Simtek-Ford while going flat out at the fast Villeneuve right-hander bend and into the concrete wall.[87] A distraught Senna requested a track marshall to take him to the site of Ratzenberger's fatal crash. Senna was met by FIA's Medical Chief Professor Sid Watkins, who recalled that Senna was tearful, despite having only just met Ratzenberger the previous day. Professor Watkins suggested to Senna on that occasion to stop racing and go fishing (a hobby they both shared), to which Senna said he could not stop racing.[88]
To obtain information about his injured colleagues that weekend, Senna climbed the fence of the Medical Centre after he inspected the crash site. Senna had commandeered an official's car to visit that site, yet the FIA chose not to take any formal disciplinary actions against Senna.
Senna spent his final morning making time to meet with fellow drivers to discuss the re-establishment of a drivers' group (i.e. Grand Prix Drivers' Association) in an attempt to increase safety in Formula One, because of that weekend's tragic events. As the most senior driver, Senna offered to take the role of leader, starting from the next race event in Monaco.
During the drivers' briefing, complaints were raised about the commercial gimmick of a Porsche 911 lead car for the warm-up lap. As this lap neared, Senna again queried the closeness of the Porsche and was jokingly told by his team's chief engineer, Patrick Head, that the 911 would remain close by, as per the preceding races. Instead, the Porsche was ordered to leave earlier, to Senna's content.
At the start of the Grand Prix race, Senna retained the lead from Schumacher but proceedings soon became interrupted by a huge accident on the start line, caused by JJ Lehto's Benetton-Ford stalling, and an unsighted Pedro Lamy ramming him in his Lotus-Mugen Honda at nearly full speed. A wheel was torn off the car and landed in the main grandstand, injuring eight fans and a police officer. The safety car – which was a sporty version of the Opel Vectra medium family sedan – was deployed and the drivers followed it for several laps. The Vectra's slow pace was later questioned because of the consequential drop in tyre pressures on the Formula One cars. In fact, under those safety car conditions, video footage shows Senna pulling alongside the Vectra, gesticulating to the Vectra driver, Max Angelelli, to increase his speed.[89] On the restart (lap 6), Senna immediately set a quick pace with the third quickest lap of the race, followed by Schumacher. As Senna entered the high-speed Tamburello corner on lap 7, the car left the track at around 205 mph (330 km/h), hitting the concrete retaining wall at around 135 mph (217 km/h), after what telemetry showed to be an application of the brakes for around 2 seconds. The red flag was shown as a consequence of the accident. Within two minutes of crashing, Senna was extracted from his race car by Professor Sid Watkins and his medical team. Initial treatment took place by the side of the car, with Senna having a weak heartbeat and significant blood loss (approximately 4.5 liters). Because of Senna's poor neurological condition, Professor Watkins performed an on site tracheotomy and requested the immediate airlifting of Senna to Bologna's Maggiore Hospital, where he was declared dead hours later. Watkins later said that as soon as he saw Senna's fully dilated pupils, he knew that his brainstem was inactive and that he would not survive.[90]
It is believed that the right suspension frame was sent stabbing back into the cockpit, striking Senna on the right side of his helmet, forcing his head back against the headrest and causing fatal skull fractures and brain injury. A piece of the upright attached to the wheel partially penetrated his helmet causing trauma to his forehead. In addition, it appeared that a jagged piece of the upright assembly, most likely a tie rod, penetrated the Bell helmet visor, which was a new, thinner version, above his right eye. Senna also suffered a burst temporal artery.[91]
It was later revealed that, as medical staff examined Senna, a furled Austrian flag was found in his car—a flag that he had intended to raise in honour of Ratzenberger after the race.[92]
Photographs of Ayrton Senna after the accident were taken by Senna's friend and Autosprint's picture editor, Angelo Orsi. Out of respect, those photographs have never been sold to interested parties.
Funeral
Senna's grave, with the inscription "Nothing can separate me from the love of God"
Senna's death was considered by many of his Brazilian fans to be a national tragedy, and the Brazilian government declared three days of national mourning. The Italian Air Force offered to fly the coffin back to Brazil, but the Senna family wished that it return home in a Brazilian plane. Contrary to airline policy and out of respect, Senna's coffin was allowed to be flown back to his home country not as cargo but in the passenger cabin of Varig's McDonnel-Douglas MD-11 commercial jetliner (registration PP-VOQ (cn 48435/478)), accompanied by his distraught younger brother, Leonardo, and close friends. The plane was escorted by fighter jets into São Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport, where it was met by São Paulo's mayor, Paulo Maluf, and state governor, Luís Antônio Fleury. The coffin was carried by soldiers from the Policia da Aeronautical to a fire engine, where eight cadets from the Military Police Academy mounted guard as it carried the coffin on the 20-mile journey into the city. Leading the motorcade were seventeen police motorbikes, and 2,500 policemen lined the route to keep the crowds at bay.[93]
An estimated three million people flocked to the streets of Senna's hometown of São Paulo to offer him their salute. This is widely accepted as the largest recorded gathering of mourners in modern times.[94] Over 200,000 people filed past as his body lay in state at the Legislative Assembly building in Ibirapuera Park. After the public viewing, a 21-gun salute was fired by the 2nd Artillery Brigade and seven jets of the Brazilian Air Force flew in a diamond formation as the funeral procession made its way to Morumbi Cemetery. Many prominent motor racing figures attended Senna's state funeral, such as team managers Ken Tyrrell, Peter Collins, Ron Dennis, and Frank Williams, and driver Jackie Stewart. The pallbearers included drivers Gerhard Berger, Michele Alboreto, Alain Prost, Thierry Boutsen, Damon Hill, Rubens Barrichello, Roberto Moreno, Derek Warwick, Mauricio Gugelmin, Hans Stuck, Johnny Herbert, Pedro Lamy, Maurizio Sala, Raul Boesel, Emerson Fittipaldi, Wilson Fittipaldi, and Christian Fittipaldi. Neither Sid Watkins nor Jo Ramirez, the McLaren team coordinator, could bear to attend because they were so grief-stricken. Senna's family did not allow FOM president Bernie Ecclestone, a friend of Senna's, to attend the ceremony, after an altercation between Ecclestone and Senna's brother Leonardo at Imola regarding Ecclestone's misconstrued reaction to the news of Ayrton's death and the fact that the race had not been abandoned after his accident.[95] FIA President Max Mosley instead attended the funeral of Ratzenberger which took place on 7 May 1994, in Salzburg, Austria.[96] Mosley said in a press conference ten years later, "I went to his funeral because everyone went to Senna's. I thought it was important that somebody went to his."[97] Senna's grave bears the epitaph "Nada pode me separar do amor de Deus," which means "Nothing can separate me from the love of God" (a reference to Romans 8:38-39[98]).
A testament to the adulation he inspired among fans worldwide was the scene at the Tokyo headquarters of Honda where the McLaren cars were typically displayed after each race. Upon his death, so many floral tributes were received that it overwhelmed the large exhibition lobby.[99] This despite the fact Senna no longer drove for McLaren and that McLaren in the preceding seasons did not use Honda power. Senna had a special relationship with company founder Soichiro Honda[100] and was beloved in Japan, where he achieved a near mythic status. For the next race at Monaco, the FIA decided to leave the first two grid positions empty and painted them with the colours of the Brazilian and the Austrian flags, to honour Senna and Ratzenberger.
Trial
The cause of the accident has been identified as a steering column failure. Italian law demands that any unusual incident be investigated. Many court cases followed immediately afterwards and the judgment went on for years, with Williams being investigated for manslaughter. The last word from the Italian Court of Appeal was on 13 April 2007. In verdict no. 15050, the Court ruled thus: "It has been determined that the accident was caused by a steering column failure. This failure was caused by badly designed and badly executed modifications. The responsibility of this falls on Patrick Head, culpable of omitted control". Patrick Head was not arrested; in Italy the statute of limitation for manslaughter is 7 years and 6 months, and the final verdict was pronounced 13 years after the accident.[101] Despite Formula One regulations, the Williams-Renault team was allowed to extract Senna's black boxes from the wreck of his FW16 once it returned in the pitlane, only for them to be returned completely bereft of any telemetry, despite no external damage. Had Senna's death been declared immediately, under Italian Law, the wreckage would have had to have been immediately impounded and the race event suspended. Instead, the Imola Grand Prix proceeded, with drivers being advised of Senna's condition only at the end of the race.[102]
Personal life
Senna was a devout Catholic, once saying "Just because I believe in God, just because I have faith in God, it doesn't mean that I'm immune. It doesn't mean that I'm immortal" (1989).[103] He often read the Bible on long flights from São Paulo to Europe.[104][105] In Senna, a documentary about his racing career that was released in 2010, Ayrton's sister, Viviane, revealed that following, first the accident of his friend Rubens Barrichello followed the next day by the death of Roland Ratzenberger during the San Marino Grand Prix of 1994, Senna had sought strength from the Bible. "Faced with a night of turmoil, of conflict, no one knew what his decision would be on Sunday morning, on race day ...'On that final morning, he woke and opened his bible and read a text,' explained Viviane 'that he would receive the greatest gift of all, which was God himself.'" [103]
As his profile rose, Senna expressed concern over the widespread poverty in Brazil. After his death it was discovered that he had quietly donated an extremely large portion of his personal fortune (estimated at around $400 million) to help poor children.[106] Shortly before his death, he created the framework for an organisation dedicated to Brazilian children, which later became Instituto Ayrton Senna.[107]
Senna, renowned for his intensity and almost mystic qualities, was often quoted using driving as a means for self-discovery and racing as a metaphor for life: "The harder I push, the more I find within myself. I am always looking for the next step, a different world to go into, areas where I have not been before. It's lonely driving a Grand Prix car, but very absorbing. I have experienced new sensations, and I want more. That is my excitement, my motivation."[108]
Towards the end of his career, Senna became increasingly preoccupied with the dangers of his profession. On the morning of his death he initiated the re-formation of the GPDA safety organisation, with which he had intended to work to improve the safety of his sport.[109]
In the late 1980s, to take advantage of the close relationship Honda had formed with Senna, the Japanese company asked him to help fine-tune the Honda NSX's suspension setting during its final development stages. The tests were conducted at Suzuka Circuit with chief NSX engineer Shigeru Uehara and his engineering team present to gather Senna's direct input. Senna found the prototype NSX initially lacked chassis stiffness to the level he was accustomed to, so the final production version was further reinforced to his satisfaction.
Senna was also instrumental in bringing Audi cars into his native country, both as an import and manufacturing business. Audi entered Brazil in 1994 via Ayrton Senna's company, Senna Import, founded in 1993. Sales began in April that year, just a month before his untimely death. In 1999, Audi Senna was created as a joint venture of Audi with Senna Import.[110] Senna's personal car in 1994 was an Audi S4.[111]
Planning a retirement in 2000 with Ferrari,[112] exercised his strong entrepreneurial spirit in the early 1990s by developing his own logo, the double S, after his full surname, "Senna da Silva".[113] This logo is meant to represent an S chicane on a racing circuit. The Senna brand was on apparel, watches (TAG Heuer), bicycles (Carraro), and boats. TAG Heuer and Hublot have created limited edition watches to honor Senna, both during his lifetime and after his death.
Senna owned several properties, including an organic farm in Tatuí, Brazil, a beach house in Angra dos Reis, Brazil, an apartment in São Paulo, an apartment in Monaco, and a house in Algarve, Portugal.[114]
Ayrton enjoyed a range of physical activities including running, waterskiing, jet skiing, and paddleboarding. He also had several hobbies, such as flying real and model planes and helicopters,[115] boating, fishing and riding his favourite Ducati motorbikes. His private jet was a British Aerospace 125 (BAe HS125), and he also piloted his own helicopter between his residences in Brazil. He was left-handed.[116]
His nickname from childhood was "Beco",[9]and the Japanese Honda engineers would call him "Harry" because they had difficulty pronouncing "Ayrton".
Senna was close friends with McLaren teammate Gerhard Berger, and the two were always playing practical jokes on each other.[117] Berger is quoted as saying "He taught me a lot about our sport, I taught him to laugh." He calls their three seasons together (1990 to 1992) "the James Bond years" since, as biographer Tom Rubython notes, "money, success, and girls littered every corner of their lives."[118] In the documentary film The Right to Win, made in 2004 as a tribute to Senna, Frank Williams notably recalls that as good a driver as Senna was, ultimately "he was an even greater man outside of the car than he was in it."
Senna was married to Lilian de Vasconcelos Souza, whom he had known since childhood, from 1981 until 1982. The marriage ended due to the fact that Lilian was used to an easy life with servants in Brazil and could not handle the freezing cold of England and the comparatively spartan and isolated lifestyle that her husband's racing demanded. Senna, who did not have much of an income early in his racing career, insisted on supporting his wife with no help from his father out of a sense of pride.[119] After his marriage to Vasconcelos ended, Senna dated several women including model Marjorie Andrade. He subsequently courted Adriane Yamin, daughter of an entrepreneur from São Paulo, who was 15 years old when they began the relationship in 1985 and often chaperoned by her mother during meetings with Senna. They were briefly engaged, but the relationship was broken off by Senna in late 1988.[120] Senna dated Brazilian TV star Xuxa from late 1988 until 1990. He then dated Christine Ferracciu, who lived with him at his homes in Monaco and Portugal, on and off between 1990 and 1991. By the time of his death, Senna had been dating Brazilian model Adriane Galisteu for a year and a half.[121]
Ayrton was the uncle of Formula One driver Bruno Senna (Viviane's son), of whom he said in 1993: "If you think I'm fast, just wait until you see my nephew Bruno."[122]
Legacy
Memorial at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, where Senna was killed
Many safety improvements were made in the sport following Senna's and Ratzenberger's deaths. These include improved crash barriers, redesigned tracks, higher crash safety standards (such as larger sills along the driver cockpit) and major cuts to engine power. Ironically, these knee-jerk measures resulted in further major crashes that year (e.g., at the Spanish Grand Prix). Also ironically, entry to the fatal Tamburello corner and other chicanes on the Imola circuit had been significantly altered for 1995. This was despite calls for action in 1989, after a serious high-speed crash that saw Senna's best friend, Gerhard Berger, suffering burns to his hand. No action took place after that crash because, following an inspection by Senna and Berger, they ended up siding with officials who had, for years, claimed that the wall could not be moved further back due to a river nearby.
Soon after his death in 1994, the Brazilian football World Cup winning team dedicated their win to the great racer in order to recognise his contributions to Formula 1.[123][124]
Memorial at the site of his win at the 1993 European Grand Prix, Donington Park.
A few months before his death, Senna had discussed with his sister the foundation of a charitable organization, based on a desire to contribute to those less fortunate in a more organised and effective manner. After his death, Viviane Senna set up the Instituto Ayrton Senna in his honor, which has invested nearly US$80 million over the last twelve years in social programs and actions in partnership with schools, government, NGOs, and the private sector aimed at offering children and teenagers from low-income backgrounds the skills and opportunities they need to develop their full potential as persons, citizens and future professionals.[125] The foundation is officially advised by Bernie Ecclestone, Frank Williams, Alain Prost, and Gerhard Berger. The "Senninha" ("Little Senna") cartoon character, born in 1993/94, was another means by which Senna extended his role model status in favour of Brazilian children.[126]
In his home country of Brazil, the main freeway from the international airport to São Paulo and a tunnel along route to the heart of the city is named in his honour. Also, one of the most important freeways of Rio de Janeiro is named after Senna ("Avenida Ayrton Senna"). The main road in Senna's Portuguese resort at Quinta do Lago, Algarve, was also dedicated to him, due to the fact that his villa there was very near (but not on) this road. A portion of the Interlagos circuit in São Paulo is named the "Senna Esses Chicane" in his honor. In the English town of Reading, Berkshire, where Senna lived for a short period of time, Ayrton Senna's name has been given to an avenue in the suburb of Tilehurst.[127]
In 2004, a book called Ayrton: The Hero Revealed (original title: Ayrton: O Herói Revelado[128]) was published in Brazil for the tenth anniversary of his passing. Senna remains a national hero in Brazil and his grave attracts more visitors than the graves of John F. Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley combined.[104]
In addition, to mark the tenth anniversary of Senna's death, on 21 April 2004, over 10,000 people attended a charity match in a football stadium near Imola. The game was organised by several devoted Italian and Canadian fans of Senna, bringing the 1994 FIFA World Cup winning team of Brazil (who dedicated their 1994 FIFA World Cup win to Senna) to face the "Nazionale Piloti", an exhibition team composed exclusively of top race car drivers. Senna had been a part of the latter in 1985. Michael Schumacher, Jarno Trulli, Rubens Barrichello, Fernando Alonso and many others faced the likes of Dunga, Careca, Taffarel and several of the team that won the World Cup in the United States ten years earlier. The match finished 5–5 and the money was donated to Instituto Ayrton Senna. Viviane Senna, the president of the institute, gave the initial kick. That same weekend, Bernie Ecclestone revealed that he still believed Senna was and remained the best F1 driver he had ever seen.[95]
Since his death, Senna has been the subject of songs by Italian singer-songwriter Lucio Dalla, Jazz pianist Kim Pensyl, Japanese jazz-fusion guitarist and T-square bandleader Masahiro Andoh (on songs such as "Faces" and subsequential revisions, like "The Face") and Chris Rea (on his song "Saudade"). The Spanish band, Delorean, released an extended play entitled Ayrton Senna in 2009.
Between 1996 and 1998, to pay tribute to Senna, the Italian motorcycle manufacturer Ducati produced special Senna editions of their 916 superbike. Ducati was at the time owned by Claudio Castiglioni, a personal friend of Senna who was an avid Ducati lover. In 2002, the MV Agusta F4 750 Senna motorbike was created, again by Castiglioni, now president of MV Agusta. The production was limited to 300 bikes, and all profits from sales went to the Ayrton Senna Foundation.[129]
In 2009, it was announced that Senna's nephew Bruno would be making his Formula One debut in 2010.[130]
The former Formula One grand prix circuit in Adelaide, Australia, renamed its first chicane the "Senna Chicane" in honour of his memory. This track—which remains the site of Senna's last Formula One win—is still used for local V8 Supercars racing after the move of the F1 grand prix to Melbourne. There is also a street named after him in the Adelaide suburb of Wingfield. The Adelaide street circuit was said to be a favourite of Senna's, and he was reportedly unhappy about the upcoming shift of venue from Adelaide to Melbourne in 1996.[131]
He has been voted the best driver of all time in various motorsport polls, including F1 Racing Magazine's 2004 poll and one involving current drivers as published by the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag in July 2010.[132] In 2009, a poll of 217 current and former Formula One drivers conducted by the British magazine Autosport named Senna as "the greatest Formula One driver who ever lived".[2][133]
On 25 July 2010, popular BBC motoring show, Top Gear paid an emotional tribute to Senna with British Formula One World Champion, Lewis Hamilton driving Senna's original MP4/4, with which he won the 1988 title.
A documentary film Senna was released in 2010 to great critical acclaim.
Helmet Design
Senna's helmet design was yellow with a green stripe surrounding the upper visor and a light metallic blue stripe surrounding the lower visor (both stripes are delineated in the other stripes color). The helmet never had significant changes, minus the sponsors. The tone of yellow changed a number of times, in 1985 and 1986 in some races he used a neon yellow base color. In 1994 the helmet was a lighter yellow to complement the blue and white of the Williams car. He used a number of helmet brands throughout his career. From 1984 to 1988 he used Bell, from 1990 to 1991 Honda's own Rheos brand, 1992 to 1993 he used Shoei and for 1994 he used Bell. His nephew Bruno, currently racing in Formula One, bears a modified version of his helmet design (a yellow helmet with a green and blue stripe), but the stripes are shaped after an S rather than being straight, under the chin area it has a green stripe and it has a blue rounded rectangle in the top area. ... (more) (less)
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Themes heist, drugs, kidnapping, coming of age
Genre drama, parody, sci-fi, comedy
Locations paris, submarine, new york
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1. Senna
| Rating: | 8 | 260 Watched |
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2. The Brazilian Grand Prix (2015)
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3. 1: Life on the Limit (2013)
| Rating: | 7.8 | 13 Watched |
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5. Beyond Citizen Kane (1993)
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2. Xou da Xuxa
| Rating: | 4.4 | 17 Watched |
| Rating: | 7.2 | 6 Watched |
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5. Jornal Nacional (1969)
| Rating: | 5.6 | 16 Watched |
View all Ayrton Senna TV (2 more)
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