Date of birth 21 March 1960
Date of death 1 May 1994 (aged 34)
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality Brazilian
Active years 1984–1994
Teams Toleman, Lotus, McLaren, Williams
Races 162 (161 starts)
Championships 3 (1988, 1990, 1991)
Wins 41
Podiums 80
Career points 610 (614)[1]
Pole positions 65
Fastest laps 19
First race 1984 Brazilian Grand Prix
First win 1985 Portuguese Grand Prix
Last win 1993 Australian Grand Prix
Last race 1994 San Marino Grand Prix
Senna passed away on May 1. That day made many cry hard. We remember Senna as the man who changed the sport. His accident triggered the safety changes. He was a living legend and his death made the legend continue.
The Senna Story
A Blisteringly fast driver with a passionate temperament, Senna was one of the sport’s greatest racers, described by many as an enigma and a true genius. Shy, thoughtful, and supremely intelligent, he was constantly learning, certain that each new piece of information would help him push his car even closer to the edge.
Senna raced in 10 full seasons before his life was cut in a tragic accident at the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994 Senna finished on the podium in almost half his 161 starts, taking 41 wins on the way to three world titles, but he will always be remembered for the astonishing last-gasp qualifying laps that won him 65 pole positions, a record which held until Michael Schumacher broke it with the new qualifying format in 2006.
The Early Years
Born into a wealthy family in Sao Paolo in 1960, Ayrton Senna da Silva first got behind the wheel at the age of four and raced karts before moving to England in I98l to step into single-seaters. He won the Formula Ford championship that year with 12 race victories, then dominated Formula Ford 2000 the next year with 21 wins from 27 starts.
A move to Formula Three in 1983 saw him dominate the first half of the season before a mid-season slump almost threw the title away and Martin Brundle fought back But Senna won the final round to take the title, then proved his talent further when he raced to victory in the prestigious Macau Grand Prix at the end of the year.
Making a Mark
Formula One had noticed the young Brazilian and, following tests with Williams and McLaren, ToIeman gave him his debut in I984. He retired from his first race, in Brazil, but after finishing second in only his sixth outing a lack of results, due to poor reliability, made him decide to join Lotus the following year:
His first victory came in the wet in Portugal, in the second race of the 1985 season, but with McLaren and Williams producing the best cars, Senna’s three seasons at Lotus saw Him win just six races. His best finish in the championship was third.
In 1987 and, with top spot in his targets, he made a switch to the more successful McLaren team.
That season saw the start of an intense rivalry with Prost, with Senna winning a straight fight against his new two-time World Champion team-mate as the Honda-powered MP4/4 dominated the season. Senna scored eight wins and won his first title with a great comeback victory in the wet in japan.
Senna won six more races in I989, but the pair collided in Japan and Prost’s consistent results gave him the title. The Frenchman joined Ferrari in 1990, but the battle continued with Senna taking six wins and a second title after taking Prost off in Japan. He then fended off Nigel Mansell’s challenge to take the crown a third time in 1991.
End of an ERA
Senna’s chances of further championships wene dented when Williams dominated in 1992 and, with McLaren off the boil, he won three times and finished only fourth. The next year, uncertain of McLaren’s –pace, he agreed to compete on a race- by-race basis and won the European Grand Prix at Donington with an incredible performance in wet-dry conditions, then took a record sixth victory at Monaco. With Prost now the target at Williams, he was inspired to see out the entire season and finished second as his old rival took the title and retired.
Senna joined Williams in 1994 and was expected to dominate, but the form team—which had moved to the front with a technologically advanced car—lost their way when driver aids were eliminated and Senna failed to finish the first two races. Then came the blackest weekend of them all.
After Brazilian Rubens Barrichello escaped from a dramatic crash in Friday practice came Roland Ratzenberger’s accident on Saturday .The Austrian’s death brought Senna to tears and, one day later, the great champion himself was lost alter his car ploughed into a concrete wall at the Tamburello corner.
Ultimately Senna was unbelievingly fast. He beat Prost a multiple double world champion back then in 1988 at the qualifying of the Monaco GP by 1.5 seconds. He won races in 1992 and 1993 on a lousy McLaren car that would barely finish the race and he also challenged in both years for the championship.
Above all Senna was an exemplary sports man. Many could criticize his ways and methods of winning especially in the Prost era but he was fighting hard as they all used to do in the Formula 1 muscle days. Senna was a bit different. He took his good sportsmanship to high levels.
