Ayrton Senna

I remember April 11^th 1993 so well. It’s the only time I ever saw Ayrton Senna race live. The European Grand Prix at Donnington has gone down in history as one of the great races as Senna drove through a myriad of conditions to take his 38^th victory. There would only be three more brilliant wins before his untimely death twenty years ago on this day at the San Marino Grand Prix.

I’ve written before about Donnington here, but I realise how lucky I was to witness a true legend of the sport compete in one his best seasons despite not winning the championship. His skills in the wet that day and on so many other occasions were truly astonishing, he just left everyone behind. 

Senna was a fascinating racing driver; there was so much about him that really shone through to take him above other competitors. His total commitment, his belief in justice that often spilled into controversy and divided opinion about his racing ethics, his compassion to other drivers when out of the car, but his raw speed was something so exciting to witness.

The sad thing is there was so much still to come. His rivalry with Alain Prost is well documented. Prost was regarded as the best when Senna came into the sport. When he became Prost’s team mate at McLaren Senna set out to destroy him. He wanted to be known as the sport’s sole number one.

That he established himself so incontrovertibly and ruthlessly made him someone you just couldn’t ignore. But there was a stage of his career that wasn’t allowed to play out. How fascinating would it have been to see how he’d have reacted to the threat of Michael Schumacher whose star was quickly rising and who Senna knew was the next big name the sport would know? Could someone do to him what he did to Prost? Undoubtedly it would have been dramatic and surely controversial, controversy being the one word that has followed both these titans of the sport.

Senna brought racing into a new realm and is often cited as inspiration by today's stars such as Lewis Hamilton. But he arguably made Formula 1 a contact sport which can be seen by how drivers these days run everything so close to the edge when racing wheel to wheel. But Senna was also a keen advocate for safety. The aftermath of Senna and the often forgotten Roland Ratzenberger’s death at Imola made the sport so much safer over the years to the extent that there hasn’t been a fatality since.

With many people who die too soon their legacy is embellished. We remember only the good parts and raise them up to be more than they were. This is in part true of Senna, his legend now is almost like a demigod, but he was certainly fallible and that’s what made him so interesting and continues to do so for many people. 

His total commitment to driving was amazing, his technical ability brilliant but his emotions sometimes made him vulnerable and could push him to do things that he knew was wrong but he could justify as being right which is why we have Japan 1990. He crashed into Prost at over 150mph to right a wrong from 1989 when he believed the title was unfairly taken from him showing the dark side of himself when on other occasions he'd stop his car on track to make sure other drivers were ok. His was a complex character.

Personally I don’t think he was the best driver that ever competed I do think he was the most exciting though. The name Senna just conjures speed. When you heard him talk it was almost like a spiritual lesson. Listen to him reflect about his qualifying laps at the 1988 Monaco Grand Prix where he believed he was driving almost unconsciously such was his focus. He qualified two seconds clear of Prost that day, his own team mate. It was one of 65 pole positions to go with his 41 wins and three world championships that made him probably the fastest driver the sport has seen.

In Monaco he demonstrated that speed better than anywhere. He committed himself so much more around the tight confines of those streets than anyone ever has before or since to win six times in the principality. It was tragic that the next race after the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994 was Monaco. 

I remember sitting in front of the television twenty years ago and watching my hero die. It was one of the saddest moments I remember witnessing. After he crashed and the car came to a stop, it looked like his head moved. I thought he was about to get out of the car as they always seemed to.

There hadn’t been a death in 12 years at a race meeting until April 30^th and Ratzenberger crashed, I’d been too young to know it was possible. Now the next day the one driver who seemed invincible wasn’t getting out of his car and it was truly unbelievable.

So much good has come out of that tragic situation. The safety in Formula 1 is amazing now and the Ayrton Senna foundation which the man himself was already establishing was continued by his family to help under privileged children in Brazil.

However, Senna had created so much good before in his life and not just with his racing. But it’s in the car that I and many others remember him. That yellow crash helmet so distinctive in his early years in the black and gold Lotus or in the winning years in the red and white McLaren’s that he drove so hard, so fast and never giving up.

I remember him at Donnington, driving out of the spray towards me and shooting past for lap after lap, crushing the dominant Williams Renault cars and just leaving everyone else behind. That’ll always be the ultimate Senna memory to me. 

all photo's taken from autosport.com