Formula 1 Legends - Ayrton Senna
Remembering the F1 greats: A profile of Ayrton Senna and his amazing career
In OCTOBER 2020 Formula 1 caravan returned to Portugal for the first time since 1996. Ayrton Senna won his first Formula 1 race at 1985 Portuguese Grand Prix held in Estoril.
The Portuguese Grand Prix now takes place at the Algarve International Circuit near Portimão, but this is a great opportunity to take a walk down memory lane and remember one of Formula 1’s greats. Domagoj Vlahinić makes his writing debut for The Sporting Blog with a profile of one of the true sporting legends.
Senna’s Early Life
Ayrton Senna da Silva, one of Formula 1’s greatest drivers, was born on March 23rd 1960 in Sao Paulo, the capital of the same name Brazilian federal state, as a son of a wealthy industrialist who soon developed his son’s interest in automobiles.
Senna sat in his first go-kart when he was four years old.
He entered the official go-kart racing championships immediately when local law permitted when he was thirteen years old.
In 1981, Senna moved to Europe, where he entered the British Formula Ford 1600 Championship, which he won. In 1982, Senna won another two championships: British and European Formula Ford 2000.
Senna entered the Formula 3 championship in 1983, where he developed a rivalry with Martin Brundle and where he won a prestigious Macau Grand Prix. After testing for Formula 1 teams such as Williams, Brabham and McLaren, Senna eventually secured his place on 1984 Formula 1 grid with Toleman.
Ayrton Senna in Formula 1
Senna’s first Formula 1 car was Toleman’s TG183B, which just was not fast enough to compete with much faster cars driven by other greats such as Alain Prost, Niki Lauda, Keke Rosberg, Nelson Piquet, Nigel Mansell… Nevertheless, Senna scored his first championship points in his second race in South Africa, after retiring in the first week of the championship due to engine problems on his home circuit in Brazil.
Senna got noticed by the pundits when he drove a magnificent race in Monte Carlo, eventually finishing 2nd before the race got abandoned due to heavy rainfall. He finished his first season with three podiums and 13 points on the tally which earned him a move to Lotus where he would spend three years of his career.
Senna achieved his maiden victory at 1985 Portugal Grand Prix in Estoril under rainy conditions. Despite having an unreliable car, Senna achieved five more podiums that season, including a victory in the Belgium Grand Prix and managed to grab seven pole positions in the process. His second year with Lotus was a successful one. Senna achieved two victories, notable one being the second round in Spanish Jerez where he finished ahead of Nigel Mansell by fourteen one-thousands of a second! In 1986, Senna achieved another victory in Detroit and finished on the podium on another six occasions.
In his last year driving for Lotus, Senna repeated his success of the previous year, winning two street races in a row (Monte Carlo and Detroit) and grabbing another 6 podiums. This saw him climb to the third place in driver’s championship. However, Senna was not satisfied with the speed of his Lotus car powered by Honda’s motor, so during the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, Senna announced his move to McLaren.
Ayrton Senna - McLaren Golden Years
Senna did not wait long for his maiden win with McLaren. After being disqualified in the first round in Brazil, Senna won his second race in San Marino. This was the year where he started to develop his very well-known rivalry with Alain Prost, his McLaren teammate.
The McLaren MP4/4, powered by Honda’s engine was the fastest car on the grid and it won all Grand Prix weekends that year, except for Italian Grand Prix in Monza. Senna won eight Grand Prix weekends in the 1988 season, which also meant that he became the Formula 1 World Champion for the first time in his career.
An interesting fact is that during the course of the season, Prost had accumulated more points than Senna, but Senna had one win more, which was crucial in the end due to the dropped scores system.
The 1989 season, was without any doubt, the peak of Senna-Prost rivalry. Both drivers were excelling throughout the year and it all culminated at Suzuka circuit in the Japanese Grand Prix. Senna had to win this and the next round in Australia to claim another Championship. Prost had other plans though when he (intentionally?) crashed his car into Senna’s at the final chicane and put them both off the track. Senna, however, managed to continue and after the pit stop actually won the race ahead of Alessandro Nannini.
Following the race, Senna was disqualified for getting a push start from the circuit marshals, thus handing over the World Championship title to his teammate – Alain Prost. To this day, this still remains one of the most controversial decisions in Formula 1 history.
In 1990, Prost changed teams and went to drive for Ferrari, but the two drivers remained fierce rivals. Senna won six races that year and achieved two more second places and three third places. And it all came boiling down again in Japan, only this time roles were reversed. It was Prost who had to beat Senna to have any chance of winning the title. Senna won the pole position in qualifying, but another controversial decision before the race put his starting position on a dirty side of the track.
This meant that Prost, who was second at the grid, had a clean track and a better angle to attack Turn 1. Prost took advantage of this at the start and took the lead by Turn 1. Senna was very aggressive on his way in and Prost decided not to yield and not give space for Senna. This resulted in a crash and both drivers retired from the race, meaning Ayrton Senna just won his second World Championship.
Ayrton Senna was dominant in the next season, mostly due to the fact that Ferrari lagged behind and Prost wasn’t able to compete. The competition came in likes of Nigel Mansell, but Senna was too dominant grabbing seven wins in the process with five more podiums. Race in front of his home crowd in Brazil remained as one of his most memorable victories as he won the race despite his car having transmission issues.
Senna won the World Championship with 96 points, most that he ever achieved in his Formula 1 career.
Senna’s Decline
Senna’s decline in Formula 1 is generally attributed to a power shift among team constructors. It was the Williams-Renault that produced the best and fastest car at the time and Senna’s McLaren could not compete with it.
Nevertheless, in 1992 season, Senna managed to secure three victories and four podiums, but couldn’t make it higher than 4th position in the Drivers Championship. In 1993, a Ford powered McLaren was a tad more competitive, and Senna bagged five Grand Prix victories and two more podiums.
However, he was unable to compete with Alain Prost who moved to Williams-Renault that year, won the World Championship and retired afterwards.
In his contract with Williams-Renault, Prost was explicit in his intent that Senna could not be his teammate.
In 1994, Senna took the Williams-Renault driving seat and created a dream team scenario – the fastest driver in the fastest car. But everything changed that year when the Formula 1 governing body, the FIA, made a revision to the sport’s rulebook which had allowed Williams-Renault to be dominant in the previous two seasons.
In a nutshell, this meant that Senna was now driving a very fast car, still the fastest on the grid, but very aerodynamically inefficient due to weak traction and in turn, weak grip which made the car almost impossible to drive.
Senna talks to Sir Jackie Stewart
After retiring in first two races of the season, Senna arrived in San Marino with hope to turn thing around. Unfortunately for race fans everywhere, in lap seven of the race he was leading, Senna’s car left the racing line at Tamburello turn, left the track itself, and hit an unprotected concrete barrier.
At just 34-years old Ayrton Senna died that afternoon in a nearby hospital from fatal fractures to his skull and Formula 1 was changed completely.
Ayrton Senna’s Formula 1 Legacy and Records
Senna was not the only Formula 1 driver that died that May afternoon in San Marino. Roland Ratzenberger died during qualifying the day before. Albeit tragic, this was a pivotal moment in development of Formula 1, especially to its safety protocols. Despite attaining incredible speeds, modern Formula 1 drivers are more secure than ever and the entire sport still puts its main focus on driver’s safety in all of its decisions.
Some records that were set by Senna were “conquered” over the years by the sport’s all-time greats such as Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton. Some, however, remain to this day and they still look very hard to surpass.
Ayrton Senna still owns record for most consecutive pole positions – 8, and most consecutive front row starts – 24. Senna’s performances at the Monaco Grand Prix were out of this world and his record for most consecutive wins at the same Grand Prix proves this – From 1989 to 1993, Senna won the Monaco Grand Prix 5 times in a row.
San Marino is home to two more Senna’s records. He holds the record for most pole positions at the same Grand Prix – 8 (record shared with Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton), and in turn, most consecutive pole position at the same Grand Prix – 7, all happening at San Marino. His 8th pole position at San Marino was his last race.
In addition, Senna holds the record for most consecutive podiums at the same Grand Prix – 7, Hungarian Grand Prix (shared with Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton). And, very interestingly, Senna holds the record for highest percentage of front row starts in a season – 100% in 1989 season (this record is shared with Alain Prost (1993) and Damon Hill (1996)).
In his formidable Formula 1 career (1984 – 1994), Ayrton Senna took part in 162 races. In the process, he won three World Championships (1988, 1990, 1991), achieved 41 Grand Prix victories and 80 podiums! To add, he won pole position 65 times (40% of all his races) and set the fastest lap on 19 races.
It is hard to comprehend how much the sport has lost with Senna’s death, and how would he influence generation of drivers that came after him. But his accomplishments echo to this day and continue to push Formula 1 forward.
