Grand Prix Legends – Ayrton Senna

Many in the world of Formula One regard Ayrton Senna as possibly the greatest racing driver of all time. His legacy was sealed after his untimely death in 1994 at the San Marino Grand Prix. He remains the most recent Formula One racing driver to have lost their life at the wheel.

Senna was encouraged from a very young age by his father, entering the karting scene from the age of four. However he was too young to compete as local regulations stipulated a minimum age of 13, so he was encouraged to race on made up tracks in streets and car parks.

From there he progressed through several disciplines, culminating in the 1983 British Formula 3 Championship. After his Formula 3 success, it wasn’t long before he grabbed the attention of several Formula One teams, and after some negotiations he was signed by the British Toleman team (later to become Benetton, then Renault).

With six wins and several podiums in his first four years at the top, the majority with Lotus; Senna was soon making an impact on the world of Formula One. The turning point in his career however, was when he joined the McLaren team in readiness for the 1988 season.

Senna’s arrival at the team was blessed by the then double World Champion Alain Prost however; it would be the beginning of a bitter rivalry between the two drivers. It seemed that Senna had indeed made the right decision in joining McLaren; eight wins in his first season secured him the elusive World Driver’s Championship.

Astoundingly, McLaren won fifteen of the sixteen races in 1988, a feat that has yet to be equalled by any constructor. Ironically, Senna was actually leading the race at Monza, but collided with a back marker and failed to finish.

He would be pipped at the post for the Championship in 1989 by teammate Prost, but the relationship had deteriorated to the point where Prost had decided to leave McLaren for Ferrari. In 1990 and 1991 Senna secured back to back titles and was proving to be a formidable force in Formula One.

Famously, McLaren suffered a decline in performance from then on and in 1994 Senna made the move to Williams, something he had set his sights upon. But his season began poorly with two starts and two retirements, hardly ideal.

Senna arrived at Imola still positive however, and declared that his season would start there, confident enough of his ability to secure the title, despite only having fourteen races with which to achieve his goal.

San Marino 1994 was perhaps one of the worst races in Formula One history, in terms of safety. On the Friday afternoon, Senna’s protégé Rubens Barrichello suffered a violent crash into the tyres at Variante Bassa, causing him to swallow his tongue, and breaking his arm and nose in the process, ruling him out of the race.

Things did not improve on the Saturday. During Qualifying, Austrian driver Roland Ratzenberger was killed after the front wing of his Simtek-Ford failed as he was going flat out at the Villeneuve left-hander, ending up in the concrete wall.

Senna was concerned about the safety at the track and at other Grands Prix, and spent his final morning talking with fellow drivers about how their safety could be improved. Senna took it upon himself to instigate the setting up of the Grand Prix Driver’s Association, proffering himself as leader.

Despite their concerns with regard to safety, the drivers all agreed to start the race on the Sunday. But their concerns were vilified it seems. There was a huge accident on the start line, JJ Lehto’s Benetton-Ford stalled at the lights, and an unsighted Pedro Lamy in his Lotus-Mugen Honda collided with Lehto’s car at full speed.

Disturbingly, a wheel from Lamy’s car was propelled into the grandstand, causing injury to eight spectators and a Police officer. The race was not stopped, but was run under the control of a Safety Car.

As the Safety Car peeled off, the race re-started and Senna was showing fantastic pace, setting the third fastest lap of the race, closely followed by Schumacher. On the next lap, Senna went into the high-speed Tamburello corner and his car left the track, colliding with the concrete retaining wall at around 135 mph.

The medical team managed to remove Senna from the wreckage, and began to treat him next to the wreck before an airlift could be arranged. Unfortunately, Ayrton Senna was declared dead a little later at the Bologna hospital he had been taken to.

The right front wheel of Senna’s car catapulted up and entered the cockpit of the car, the debris impacting the right frontal area of Senna’s helmet above his right eye, killing him almost instantly.

Upon further investigation of the wreckage, Senna was concealing an Austrian flag in the cockpit of the car that he had planned to unfurl on the podium after winning the race, paying homage to his fellow racer Ratzenberger.

I suppose that was the true measure of the man, the legend that he already was, thinking of someone else before himself. Who would know what he could have achieved, had he continued racing. Unfortunately, we will never know.

A true legend was taken from us on that day, someone who would more than likely have shaped the world of Formula One as we know it today, had he still been here. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one to have shed a tear watching that race on that fateful day.

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