Ayrton Senna da Silva: In Life Unbeatable- In Death Irreplaceable
He was a hero who graced Formula One racing with a fiercely competitive streak that remains unsurpassed to this day. An “other-worldly” maestro, whose magnificence on track was paralleled by a stunning intellectual prowess, and a sparkling mystique, that lit-up the sport in a style unprecedented in history.
Ayrton Senna’s is an enduring legacy that continues to touch the lives of millions worldwide. Decades after his untimely death that ultimately cast him into a martyr but whose magnetism has by no means waned. Senna’s is a name synonymous with Formula One racing itself, a name that epitomizes what it means to be a master of the four wheel drive.
Born on March 21, 1960, to a prosperous Brazilian family, Ayrton Senna da Silva discovered his profound passion for racing at the age of four when his father presented him with a toy go-kart, an object that immediately captured young Senna’s fascination.
Remarkably he would go on to mark his very first stunt as a competitive kart-racer with a victory at the age of thirteen. By the time he was twenty-one, the young Brazilian had turned to single-seater racing in Britain, and in the next three years added five impressive championship triumphs to his name.
It was at Toleman in 1984 that Senna first put his fortunes to test in the harsh, unrelenting world of Formula One racing. In his single-mindedly determined pursuit of reaching the very epoch of his profession, the rookie had by now terminated a short-lived marriage as well as having relinquished the prospect of a relatively comfortable career in his father’s entrepreneurial ventures back in Brazil.
But it was Senna’s marvelously thrilling second place exploit at the iconic rain-drenched Monaco circuit as he battled head to head with McLaren’s Alain Prost that set the Formula One world astir with talk of an extraordinary genius who was all set to elevate the competition to unheard-of heights. It would to be at Monaco that Senna would subsequently go on to cast an indelible mark in the annals of history with an astounding six titles to his name.
Toleman’s straitened means ultimately proved insignificant in satiating Senna’s gargantuan drive. Instigating his switch to Lotus in 1985, where he eventually conquered six championships. Having exploited the opportunities with Lotus to the brim, the Brazilian then completed a move to McLaren in 1988. Senna’s six seasons with the racing giants marked perhaps the most illustrious phase of his career, where he clinched an outstanding thirty-five victories and three world championships.
The 1988 season saw Senna pip team mate Alain Prost to land his very first race car title. The two masters’ burgeoning rivalry was to subsequently become one of the sport’s most memorably notorious and vicious disputes and the following two years saw Senna and Prost tail each other ferociously for dominance.
In 1990, Senna was finally able to avenge the opportunity lost to Prost in 1989 by sealing his second championship victory after routing his archrival’s Ferrari at the first corner at Suzuka. The 1991 season saw Senna’s burgeoning supremacy ascend to new heights after he sealed a decisive third title.
His spectacular victories on track coincided with an increasing fixation to reach out for even greater glory, a mania the world watched with baited breath. Senna’s last season with McLaren produced some of his most captivating displays, which he followed up with a switch to Williams for the tragically doomed 1994 season.
Yet Senna’s magnificence as a driver was leveled in equal measure by his extraordinary intellect. His entrancingly articulate press conference performances gripped audiences worldwide, and prompted pundit Martin Brundle to famously remark that Senna was a “genius”. Behind the facade of a ruthless contender whose win at all costs attitude on track prompted censure from detractors, Senna was an intensely compassionate man who imparted large sums of his wealth to disadvantaged children in his native Brazil and who agonized over the adversities that plagued the world.
Upon reflecting on his future in early 1994, Senna memorably remarked that, “I want to live fully, very intensely. I would never want to live partially, suffering from illness or injury. If I ever happen to have an accident that eventually costs my life, I hope it happens in one instant”. And this is how events ultimately and tragically did unfold, when on May 1, 1994, at the San Marino Grand Prix, Senna’s Williams unexplainably spun off track and barged into the concrete Tamburello corner as he led the race, an accident that was to eventually claim his life.
Senna’s was an untimely, unaccountable death that left the world stunned with grief; Frank Williams, the Williams boss echoed the thoughts of many mourners world over, saying, “Ayrton was no ordinary person. He was actually a greater man out of the car than in it”.
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