Ayrton Senna is arguably the best driver the sport has seen. He won 3 World Championships in 10 years. Unfortunately, his life was cut short before he could achieve more. Senna was considered the best driver during his time.
Ayrton Senna entered the sport at a time when there were already so many famous drivers competing for a championship. There was Niki Lauda, Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell, Keke Rosberg and Nelson Piquet. Most of these drivers were at the peak of their careers when Senna made his Formula 1 debut with the Toleman Group.
Ayrton Senna’s debut and his iconic performance at Monaco
The Toleman Group was not a competitive team. In 1983, one year before the arrival of Ayrton Senna, the Toleman group finished the season in 15th place on a 16-team grid.
Senna made his F1 debut at the 1984 Brazilian Grand Prix. Unfortunately, Senna was forced to retire with reliability issues with the car. Senna scored his first Championship points during the South African Grand Prix at Kyalami and another one in the following race. For most of the 1984 season, Senna faced reliability issues.
However, during the 1984 Monaco Grand Prix, Ayrton Senna put on one of the best performances anyone had ever seen. Senna started 13th on the grid during a wet Monaco Grand Prix. Monaco is a narrow street circuit that does not provide many opportunities to overtake.
Despite this fact, Senna stormed through the field at an incredible pace. Ayrton Senna was able to pass Niki Lauda who was in 2nd place in the McLaren by lap 19. Alain Prost was the car ahead leading the race.
Senna was proving to be much faster than Alain Prost to catch up and pass him before the end of the race. But unfortunately, the heavy rain caused the race officials to end the session on lap 33. There was no doubt that if the race were to continue, Senna would have easily caught up with Alain Prost. Even today, this is considered to be one of the best performances with a car such as the Toleman.
The rest of the season was filled with reliability issues for Senna, but he was still able to achieve two more podiums before the season ended.
Ayrton Senna in the famous black Lotus
His performances with the Toleman group drew attention from a lot of teams. No one could think that the Toleman group could achieve multiple podiums in a season. In 1985, Senna signed a contract with Lotus.
During this time, he was able to provide better results while achieving his first victory at the Portuguese Grand Prix in 1985. During the season, he was able to achieve 5 podiums and 2 victories. Unfortunately, Senna was not able to keep up with the Championship contenders due to reliability issues again. He finished the season in 4th place behind Keke Rosberg, Michele Alboreto, and Alain Prost who won the Championship.
The 1986 season was more or less the same. However, Senna was able to take 7 pole positions which was the most by any driver during that season. He once again finished 4th with Alain Prost taking the title, Nigel Mansell in 2nd, and Nelson Piquet in 3rd.
The 1987 season saw the McLaren team struggle with performance. This would have provided Senna a good chance at the title, but the Williams team had developed a strong car to keep in front of Senna.
Although Senna had 8 podiums in the 1987 season, he was only able to come in 3rd place with Nelson Piquet taking the Championship with his teammate, Nigel Mansell in 2nd. Senna finished 3rd at the WDC table, which was his best result at the time.
Ayrton Senna with McLaren
Following the 1987 season, Senna concluded that he will not be able to win a championship with Lotus. This caused him to make a move that eventually gave us some of the most intense battles in Formula 1 history.
Ayrton Senna decided to make the move to go to McLaren for the 1988 season. Looking back at the driver lineup for McLaren during the 1988 season. We can now say that it is one of the best lineups that anyone could have imagined. McLaren had Senna in one car, and Alain Prost in the other.
It was clear that McLaren was dominant in the 1988 season. Both Senna and Prost were battling for the lead in almost every race. After the end of the season, although Prost had more points over the 16 races that were held, Senna took home the championship. This was because, at the time, only the best 11 results will be counted for the Championship table. Senna won because of this as he had more wins than Prost.
The Senna-Prost rivalry
The 1989 season had a very controversial end. The season again saw McLaren in the front row in almost every race. But the rivalry between Senna and Prost became more intense.
Going into the Japanese Grand Prix, Prost was 16 points in the lead. With only one more race remaining in the season, Senna had to finish in 1st place to stay in contention. As the race started, Prost was leading with Senna close behind him. Prost had an advantage on straights due to an adjustment he had made to the car. This made it difficult for Senna to get past him.
Senna was finally able to see an opportunity to overtake Prost at the final few corners of lap 46. As he tried to take the inside line and overtake him. But at the last minute, Prost closed the gap causing the two drivers to collide. The collision took Prost out of the Grand Prix, but Senna was able to restart the car with a push start from the marshals. After the car restarted, Senna took an escape road to rejoin the track. This proved to be a mistake.
Senna had to pit for repairs due to the damages the car suffered from the accident. By the time he came out of the pits, he was behind both Williams and the Benettons. However, Senna was able to overtake all the cars and finish in 1st place.
After the race, the FIA decided to disqualify Senna from the race as he had taken an escape road after the collision with Prost. According to the FIA, this meant that Senna had not completed the lap. This sparked a lot of controversy at the time. Senna felt the stewards were forced by FIA president, Jean-Marie Balestre, who wanted his fellow Frenchman to win the title.
Following this, Prost decided to leave McLaren stating that he could no longer work with Senna. Senna went on to win 2 more Championships with McLaren in 1990 and 1991. The 1992 and 1993 seasons were dominated by Williams with the help of Adrian Newey‘s design.
Ayrton Senna’s short-term with Williams
After the 1993 season, Senna made his move to Williams, which Senna thought would help him win more championships. However, the Williams car had a lot of issues in the 1994 season. Senna had a lot of complaints about the car.
During this season, Michael Schumacher was driving for Benetton and was looking to challenge Senna for the Championship.
Senna was able to challenge for the lead of the race but saw retirements during the first 2 races of the season. He complained that the car was not stable. Going into the San Marino Grand Prix, Senna said the car had some improvements. But no one could have prepared themselves for what happened next.
Disaster at Imola
During qualifying in the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, Roland Ratzenberger crashed into the wall at a high speed which later proved to be fatal. This shook everyone at the paddock. However, the FIA decided to continue with the weekend. Senna qualified at pole with Schumacher in 2nd.
The race-start saw another major accident causing a safety car. The accident saw debris fly into the stands injuring 4 spectators and a policeman. As the race restarted, Schumacher was close behind Senna. On lap 7, Senna mysteriously lost control of the car and went straight to the wall at Tamburello. He crashed the wall going at 135 mph.
After the crash, Senna remained motionless in the cockpit. The marshalls waited for the medical team to arrive. Senna was immediately airlifted to a hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
Could Ayrton Senna have won more championships?
Ayrton Senna had won 3 World Championships with McLaren. It can’t be said with certainty that he would have won more if given the chance, but Senna still had what it took to win. Any team would have been lucky to have him racing for them. He would have done everything possible to fight again.
Michael Schumacher went on to win the 1994 and 1995 seasons. Senna’s teammate in 1994, Damon Hill, won the title in 1996.
Ayrton Senna’s legacy
A state funeral was arranged for Ayrton Senna in his hometown in Brazil. The funeral was attended by at least 3 million people from around the world. Senna was loved by a lot of people. He never forgot to give back to the community.
Following the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994, the FIA made a lot of changes concerning the safety of the drivers. There were also changes made to some of the tracks to make them safer.
The Brazilian football team won the world cup in 1994. They dedicated the victory to Ayrton Senna. A part of the Interlagos Circuit was renamed the Senna Esse Chicane. McLaren released a supercar in 2017 named the McLaren Senna.
There is a state outside the Imola circuit with Senna’s statue. Even now he is considered to be one of the greatest drivers to have ever lived. His legacy will live on forever.