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| The young Ayrton Senna in his Karting days. Source: FormulaOneStuff.com |
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| The winner of the 1991 Brazilian Grand Prix Ayrton Senna. Source: Formula1.com |
Senna made his Formula One
debut with Toleman in 1984 before moving
to Lotus the following year and winning six Grand Prix’s
over the next three seasons. In 1988, he joined Alain
Prost at McLaren. Among them, they won all but one of the 16 Grand
Prix’s that season and Senna claimed his first World Championship. Prost
claimed the championship in 1989, and Senna his second and third championships
in 1990 and 1991. In 1992, Senna managed to finish
the 1993 season as
runner-up, winning five races and negotiating a move to Williams for the 1994
season.
Former F1 driver John Watson said "He
did things with the car that I hadn’t even thought about, let alone put in to
practice. After witnessing this, I knew that my time as racecar driver was
effectively over.”
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| Ayrton Senna the Rain-master piloting his McLaren. Source: McLarenF1 |
Ayrton
Senna is and will also be well known for his exceptional driving during
wet conditions, winning almost every Grand Prix in those conditions. But he
wasn't always a rain-master. He would win every race in the dry, but when it
rained, he wasn’t any good. Completely unhappy with his results in the rain,
Ayrton would sit at his local karting circuit, just waiting for it to rain. He
would spend hours in the wet, often coming home soaking wet. While every other
driver wanted shelter in the wet conditions, Ayrton was the first to get out
there and drive.
Ayrton Senna - "Being
a racing driver means you are racing with other people. And if you no longer go
for a gap that exists, you are no longer a racing driver because we are
competing, competing to win. And the main motivation is to compete for victory;
it's not to come 3rd, 4th, 5th or 6th. I race to win as long as I feel it's
possible. Sometimes you get it wrong? Sure, it's impossible to get it right all
the time. But I race designed to win, as long as I feel I'm doing it
right."
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| A famous photograph of Senna getting a lift from Mansell. Source: formulaonestuff.com |
Ayrton Senna has been
voted the best driver of all time in various motorsport polls. He was recognized
for his qualifying speed over one lap and
from 1989 until 2006 held the record for most pole
positions. He was also much-admired for his wet weather performances, such as
the 1984 Monaco Grand Prix, the 1985 Portuguese Grand Prix, and
the 1993 European Grand Prix. He holds a record six victories at the prestigious Monaco
Grand Prix, and is the third most successful driver of all time in terms
of race wins. Senna courted controversy throughout his career,
particularly during his rivalry with Alain Prost. Both the 1989 Championship
won by Prost and the 1990 Championship won by Senna were decided by collisions
between the pair at those years' Japanese Grands Prix.
Ayrton
Senna F1 Statistics:
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| Ayrton Senna focussed on the job at hand. Source: RoadandTrack.com |
Races Attended
|
162
|
Races Won
|
41
|
Pole Positions
|
65
|
Fastest Laps
|
19
|
Points
|
610
|
Championships
|
3 (1988 1990 1991)
|
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| The children who attend the Instituto Ayrton Senna. Source: Michele Zollini |
Ayrton
Senna’s greatest accomplishments may have come off the track. It only became
clear after his unfortunate death that Senna had been donating millions of his
own money to charities for children in his home country. Senna recognized the
hardships that many of his countrymen faced and was most concerned about kids
and their future.
The
legacy of Senna's death is that safety standards in F1 and across numerous
other formulas have improved significantly. No driver has lost their life in F1
since Senna's death. Ayrton Senna da Silva exuded something that we have never
seen before, and likely never will again. Ayrton Senna da Silva gone to soon!
Special THANKS to Riaz
Aziz and Rahiema Hoosain.
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