A warning: If you are not familiar with the history and structure of Formula One; don’t know its complicated, ever-changing rules and regulations; and haven’t followed its internecine politics, you may find yourself struggling to understand the terminology. The film briefly touches on the controversy that arose after the arrival of a new breed of cars equipped with computers to help stabilize them. The brouhaha is not unlike the debate in other sports about the use of steroids.

The movie begins in 1984 with Senna’s stunning emergence in the world racing scene in Monaco, where he came from behind to finish second. Four years later he won his first world championship in the Japanese Grand Prix, moving from 16th to first in an incredible burst of speed.

The film also revisits the bitter competition between Senna and Alain Prost, the reigning French champion. It developed into a “war,” in which Jean-Marie Balestre, then the president of the Fédération Internationale de Sport Automobile, sided with Prost. After Senna and Prost collided at the 1989 Japanese Grand Prix, Senna was disqualified and suspended; when he protested the decision, he was fined. The film, sympathetic to Senna’s side of the story, explores a decision that casts Mr. Balestre (who died in 2008) as the villain.