#fatal accident

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”.