“Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose” – Ayrton Senna

Ayrton Senna was born in 1960 into a wealthy family in São Paulo, Brazil. Milton da Silva, his father, was a successful businessman and landowner. Along with his brother and sister, Senna enjoyed a comfortable upbringing in a privileged neighbourhood. His background freed him from having to race for money.

His loving father, who was passionate for motorsport, realised his son shared this feeling. Thus, Ayrton was given a small kart when he was 4 years old. He was marvelled every time he drove it. Knowing this, his family would take him to parks so he could drive away on the weekends. When he was 8, he already drove his family car.

Senna only began to compete at 13 since it was the minimum age for doing so in Brazil. Until then he would practice in the local kart circuit. His first race was in a race track which was part of the Interlagos complex – the place of the mythical Brazilian F1 circuit. He won it. Four years later, aged 17, Senna was crowned South American Karting Champion. In the following year, he repeated the feat.

As Ayrton recognised later in his career, his strong background in karting was essential in learning his craft. Besides, karting is still considered to be extremely important in developing the so-called race craft, which includes overtaking, being overtaken and being fast while fighting for position.

The Brazilian driver went on to the Karting World Championship for the next three seasons. Although he did not win it once, he took 2nd place in his last two attempts. This meant Senna was surely prepared to begin his single-seater racing.

In 1981, Senna moved to England to compete in Formula Ford. In his first season, he swept the Formula Ford 1600 Championship. Family pressure led to Ayrton announcing his retirement from Formula Ford. Despite this, Senna received an offer to race in Formula Ford 2000. He took it and dominated the season which won him the British and European title of Formula Ford 2000.

As the Brazilian prodigy moved to Formula 3, he continued in his “vene, vidi, vici” style: British Formula 3 Champion and Winner of the Macau Grand Prix both at his first attempt. The next step was obviously Formula One.

Senna’s performances in 1983 in Formula 3 attracted the attention of many Formula 1 teams. Therefore, he managed to test with four of them: Williams, McLaren, Brabham and Toleman. The first two did not have a place for him in 1984. As to Brabham, his compatriot Nelson Piquet, two-time world champion back then, vetoed Senna from getting the second seat. Thus, Senna had no option but to join Toleman, a recent team with only 3 years of experience in F1.

In his rookie year, Ayrton Senna impressed the paddock quite a few times. Namely in the Monaco Grand Prix. He started from 13th place and conditions were treacherous. As the Brazilian driver showed his wet weather skills, many other riders spun off or collided. Close to mid-distance, Senna was up to the 2nd place and quickly recovering to Alain Prost who was leading.

Controversially, the race was red-flagged just when Senna was very close to Prost. Anyway, Prost won the Monaco GP for the first time, Senna finished in 2nd place. Furthermore, this would be the beginning of one of the greatest rivalries in Formula One, and Senna started making bigger waves. He achieved two more podiums for Toleman throughout 1984.

Single-minded as he was, Senna was already secretly negotiating with Lotus for a seat in 1985. Despite having a 3-year contract with Toleman, he had a buy-out clause which permitted his Lotus contract. This team would certainly give him more chances to fight for top positions.

With Lotus, Senna got his first pole position in the Portuguese GP, his second race with this car. Rain conditions meant he was able to demonstrate his dominating skills and lead the whole race. Except for Michele Alboreto, who finished 1 minute behind Senna, every driver finished at least one lap behind the leader. Senna would win again in the Belgium GP that season. He also added a few podiums and finished in 4th place in the championship.

Ayrton Senna would spend two more seasons with Lotus with good results, but not enough to win a championship. Therefore, he moved to McLaren, an experienced team which had won the driver’s championship between 1984 and 1986.

In his first season with McLaren, Senna could finally show all his potential. McLaren’s car was really dominant in that season, winning 15 out of 16 races. The only issue with that was Alain Prost, his team-mate who had won 2 championships already and fought with Senna for the 1988 championship. The Brazilian driver took the upper hand that season by a mere 3 points.

The two following seasons would include the tensest moments of the Senna vs Prost rivalry. Suzuka was the place where it all happened. In 1989, if Prost would hit Senna, the title would go to the Frenchman. That was exactly what Prost did, and he became champion. He then moved to Ferrari since the rivalry was too intense.

In 1990, circumstances were reversed: if Senna would take Prost out, he would win the championship. And take Prost out he did. Right in the first corner of the first lap in Suzuka. Revenge did not have to wait. The Brazilian driver went on to win his third and last title in 1991.

During that season, Senna achieved his first win at his home Grand Prix after many times coming close to it. He started from pole although he really had to fight for it. In the last 10 laps, his gearbox was failing and he lost the 3rd, 4th and 5th gear. He had to go through slow corners in 6th gear battling the car so it would not stall. Senna managed to keep it running without losing his lead. While crossing the finish line, he screamed from the top of his lungs after an uncanny effort leading to have muscle cramps. The Brazilian crowd cheered and cried tears of joy.

Senna would struggle afterwards as Williams became much more competitive than McLaren. Therefore he decided to move to Williams for the 1994 season. By the 3rd round in Imola came one of the darkest weekends in motorsport history. In the qualifying session, Roland Ratzenberger crashed and died. Rubens Barrichello also had a big incident on the training sessions, although it was a life-threatening accident, Sid Watkins had saved his life according to Barrichello.

Ayrton Senna was under tremendous pressure for that race not only because of the accidents throughout the weekend but also because he was 20 points behind the leader in the championship. He had retired in the first two races and suspected Benetton was using an illegal traction control system. Nevertheless, Senna started from pole and retained the lead. By lap 7, his Williams inexplicably went out of track at 190 mph (306 km/h) and hit the concrete wall at 131 mph (211 km/h). That was the fatal crash for the Brazilian prodigy.

Ayrton Senna was the driver who could make millions of Brazilian people wake up early to watch him race. The one who everybody mourned. The one driver who is considered the greatest and fastest of all time. In Formula One, no one was as charismatic as he was, and probably no one will ever be. This is the legacy of Ayrton Senna.

“If you no longer go for a gap that exists, you are no longer a racing driver.” – Ayrton Senna