Ayrton Senna da Silva was a prolific Formula One driver whose often emphatic victories and consistently brilliant performances not only immortalized his name in the racing world, but created a legend that would change Formula One forever.
His career, spanning a ten-year length, was tragically cut short by an accident at the infamous 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. His death, whose anniversary is being commemorated today, came as a stunning shock to the racing world. Senna’s death caused sweeping changes to Formula One regulations and even changed the safety philosophies of many premier racing organizations across the world.
(Senna’s being tended to on-site immediately following the crash)
Senna came from a wealthy family who readily funded his life-long ambition: racing. From a young age, Senna dedicated himself to this ambition, one that culminated in 1984, when then rookie Ayrton Senna got his first shot at Formula One racing with the small Toleman-Hart F1 team.
(Senna in the Toleman TG184, c. 1984)
In his debuting season, Senna achieved three podium finishes; an impressive feat seldom accomplished. Getting off to an incredibly impressive start, particularly with his famous performance at the 1984 Monaco Grand Prix, Senna was immediately approached with many offers. Ultimately, he chose the more experienced Lotus F1 Team, which already had championships under its belt.
With the more prepared and experienced team, Senna achieved his first win by the second race of the 1985 season with a dazzling performance at the 1985 Portuguese Grand Prix.
(Senna at the ‘85 Portuguese Grand Prix)
Following the momentous victory, there was no question in anybody’s mind that Senna was going to be a fierce driver with championship contention in years to come.
With the Lotus F1 team, however, Senna was in no condition to win a championship; though consistently dishing out great performances, it was Lotus that failed Senna. After facing consistent technical problems, albeit managing several wins and podium positions, Senna left Lotus by 1988, coming closest to championship victory with them in '87 with a 3rd place finish at the end of the season.
With the McLaren Formula One team, Senna was in a great position for the Driver’s championship in 1988; being partnered with respected World Champion Alain Prost proved to be the only downside of the deal, as friction between the two greats created a legendary rivalry. After a momentous 1988 season, wherein the two drivers competed fiercely for the world championship, Ayrton Senna finally achieved one of his foremost dreams: winning the Driver’s Championship.
(Senna at the 1988 Monaco Grand Prix)
In the 1989 season, however, teammate Alain Prost narrowly took the driver’s championship.
By 1990, the rivalry between Senna and Prost had grown so strong that Prost had abandoned the McLaren Formula One team, instead signing with the legendary Ferrari Formula One team.
(Ayrton Senna chasing Alain Prost c. 1990)
After one of Senna’s greatest season performances, he ultimately took the championship title in 1990.
1991 was a year dominated almost entirely by Senna and the McLaren F1 team; Senna took a victory or podium finish in all but four races in that season and he managed championship victory over Nigel Mansell by a wide margin.
The 1992 season was Senna’s worst since his time with Lotus and Toleman, as he finished fourth in the driver’s championship, being outperformed by then rookie Michael Schumacher for third place. Much to Senna’s dismay, it was not his own failings that got him the bad finish.
(Senna at the 1992 Monaco Grand Prix)
During the 1992 season, technical issues with Senna’s car forced him to retire from seven different races. After the disappointing season, rumors about Senna abandoning McLaren were rampant, but he ultimately signed with them again in 1993.
The 1993 season resulted in a much closer finish for Senna, but the new Williams cars were incredibly technologically advanced, featuring such driver aids as Traction Control, Launch Control, Active Suspension and Automatic Drag Reduction systems (DRS today). Rival and former teammate Alain Prost took the championship that year.
Frustrated with his performance in the 1993 season, Senna signed with the Williams Formula One team; 1994 regulations banned the driver aids and technologies that had made the cars so dominant in 1993. This caused very unstable hadling for Senna’s car, causing him to retire from the first two races of the season.
(Senna Leads in the first race of the '94 season, the Brazilian Grand Prix)
Then came the San Marino Grand Prix, which was a controversy in and of itself. Following the death of Roland Ratzenberger during qualifying, many began to argue for the race’s cancellation. The race went on, and on the seventh lap of the race, Senna’s car experienced a catastrophic suspension failure whose cause is still disputed today. His car veered off course at the Tamburello corner at 195MP/H and he hit the wall at 135MP/H.
He was airlifted to a hospital in Bologna, but was declared brain dead. He died after life support systems were disengaged.
Up on the mezzanine level the most significant F1 cars are stored. They’re mostly from the 1980s and 1990s. We counted at least nine Ayrton Senna cars up here. Technically they’re as good as ever. Since McLaren International was formed in 1981, no MP4 (post 1981) car has been sold in the open market.
May 1, 2021 marks the 27th anniversary of Ayrton Senna’s death during the San Marino Grand Prix, raced at the Imola circuit in Italy.
In the picture he is doing everything to outqualify Prost in the 1988 Portuguese Grand Prix. Prost, whose MP4/4 had a brand new, stiffer chassis, set his fastest time early in Saturday qualifying, and then sat out the rest of the session, confident that Senna could not better the time. Senna indeed qualified second.
Ayrton Senna, 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994, a Brazilian racing driver who won the Formula One World Drivers’ Championship in 1988, 1990 and 1991.
John Watson, a British former racing driver and winner of five Formula 1 Grands Prix, describes Ayrton Senna and why he considers him a genius.
“I only raced against him in one Grand Prix and that was Brands Hatch 1985. But I saw something which I’d never, ever in my life seen prior and probably haven’t seen since.
"Senna was probably the first driver who I’d heard changing gears, going down the gears, flipping the throttle, turning the steering wheel into the next corner. And he was left foot breaking which I’d never known anyone in Formula 1 to do. He was keeping the engine spinning to try and keep the boost pressure in the turbo charged motor up. So that when he got back on the throttle, he was going to have more horsepower than if he’d been lifting off the throttle.
"Just having the mental capacity to do all these things simultaneously and the pace he was going…
"The car was literally like a stone skimming across the water. It was just dancing across the racetrack and it was just carrying so much speed.
"And I went, ‘Can I believe what I’ve just witnessed? Can I believe what I’ve just heard’. Because I had never ever seen a racing driver commit and carry so much speed in a difficult part of Brands Hatch.”
He added that it was a “three or four second glimpse of an utter genius behind the wheel”.
The 1989 German Grand Prix, otherwise officially known as the LI Mobil 1 Großer Preis von Deutschland, was the ninth round of the 1989 FIA Formula One World Championship, staged at the Hockenheimring in Baden-Württemberg, West Germany, on the 30 July 1989. The race would see Ayrton Senna lead home a dominant one-two for McLaren-Honda, after a gearbox issue for team-mate Alain Prost two laps before finish handed him victory.
The old super fast Hockenheimring was a perfect natural dyno. 1986 turbo cars with unrestricted boost were long considered the most powerful F1 cars ever. But the 1989 naturally aspirated cars came immediately very close to them (lap time-wise). Let’s compare the pole position lap times at Hockenheimring form 1986 to 1991:
1986 1:42.013 (Saturday Q2, Rosberg, Mclaren MP4/2C, TAG-Porsche 1,499 cc V6, turbo) 1,350+ hp at 5.5 bar (unlimited) boost (79.7 psi) during qualifying, 195 litre limit for turbos
1987 1:42.616 (Friday Q1, Mansell, Williams FW11B, Honda RA167-E 1.5 L V6 turbo) turbos had to feature a pop-off valve which restricted boost to 4.0 bar, 195 litre limit for turbos
1988 1:44.596 (Friday Q1, Senna, Mclaren MP4/4, Honda RA168-E, 1.5 L V6 turbo) turbo boost further reduced to only 2.5 bar, 150 litre limit for turbos
The 1989 German Grand Prix, otherwise officially known as the LI Mobil 1 Großer Preis von Deutschland, was the ninth round of the 1989 FIA Formula One World Championship, staged at the Hockenheimring in Baden-Württemberg, West Germany, on the 30 July 1989. The race would see Ayrton Senna lead home a dominant one-two for McLaren-Honda, after a late gearbox issue for teammate Alain Prost handed him victory.
Photo credit: unfortunately I don´t know who took these great-light-and-colour photos on that sunny day at Hockenheimring in 89 but all credit to the person behind the camera.
“Ayrtonwas on a mission, wholeheartedly committed to giving himself completely to his profession. The fact that he never offered anything other than his absolute best incurred greater risk, and he knew that. So I believe he was one of the most courageous racing drivers there has ever been – the most gifted, the most fascinating. I don’t think you will ever see anyone else like him.” - Damon Hil
