Ayrton Senna da Silva is a Brazilian racing driver, three-time world champion in motor racing in the Formula 1 class (1988, 1990 and 1991).
Place of Birth, Education
He was born on May 1, 1960 in São Paulo.
Senna’s father has supported his son’s passion for motorsport since childhood and already at the age of four put him behind the wheel of a kart.
When the future racing driver was 13 years old, he first took part in karting competitions.
Career
In 1977, he became the winner of the South American Karting Championship. After that, he played in the World Championship, where he finished second seven times.
In 1981, he went to Europe and won the British championship in the Formula Ford 1600 class. Then he began to use his mother’s premarital surname – Senna, since “da Silva” was too common in Brazil.
In 1982, he won the European and British Formula Ford 2000 championships, and also won the Macau Grand Prix.
During 1983, he was tested in Formula 1 teams. He signed a contract with Toleman, receiving a place as a combat pilot for the 1984 season.
Formula 1
Toleman
At that time, Toleman was small compared to others. Despite this, the engineers managed to build a good car, behind the wheel of which Senna later made his first name in Formula 1.
He scored his first point in the World Championship on April 7, 1984 at the Kyalami circuit during the South African Grand Prix.
In the next three races, the driver scored two more points, and the real breakthrough came at the Monaco Grand Prix. Then, during heavy rain, he overtook several rivals in much more powerful cars, including two-time world champion Niki Lauda. Senna finished second, although he had every chance of winning, but the race was stopped early due to weather conditions.
By the end of the season, he was on the podium twice more, finishing third at the British Grand Prix and the Portuguese Grand Prix.
At the end of the 1984 season, Senna finished the championship in ninth position.
Lotus
In 1985, he moved to the Lotus team. The transfer was accompanied by a conflict with Toleman, since according to the contract he was supposed to stay there for another year, and the team did not want to let him go.
It was then that Lotus created one of its most successful cars – the 97T. Senna’s partner was Elio di Angelis. Already at the first race of the season – the Brazilian Grand Prix – the racing driver won his first pole, but could not finish due to problems with electronics.
At the second race of the season, the Portuguese Grand Prix, which took place on April 21, 1985 at the Estoril circuit in heavy rain, Senna started again from pole and won his first Formula 1 victory.
Subsequent stages of the season were accompanied by constant technical malfunctions. Despite the fact that Senna often won qualifying and started from the first positions, he did not always manage to finish the races. His only victory after Portugal was his race at Spa during the Belgian Grand Prix.
At the end of the season, Senna scored 38 points and took fourth place in the championship.
The second season with the Lotus team in 1986 turned out to be more successful, as engineers significantly improved his car.
At the opening of the season – the Brazilian Grand Prix – Senna finished second, second only to compatriot Nelson Piqué. At the very next stage, the Spanish Grand Prix at the Jerez circuit, he won, holding the lead until the finish.
However, the leadership did not last long – the fight for the title unfolded between the McLaren and Williams teams, while Lotus again began to face technical problems. Despite this, the racing driver won another victory and finished second three times. At the end of the season, he scored 55 points, won eight poles and finished the championship in fourth place.
The 1987 season began for Senna with high hopes, as Lotus switched to Honda engines. The start was unsuccessful, but later the racing driver won two consecutive victories – at the prestigious Monaco Grand Prix and at the US Grand Prix in Detroit.
However, after the Mexican Grand Prix, where Senna flew off the track due to a clutch malfunction, he finally lost his chances for the championship title, which was eventually played between the Williams drivers.
In the last two races, the driver finished second twice and scored enough points to move up to second place overall. However, after the end of the season, the stewards found a violation of the technical regulations – the brake cooling holes on Senna’s car turned out to be wider than allowed by the rules. As a result, he was disqualified from the Australian Grand Prix, and at the end of the championship he took third place with 57 points.
When his contract with the Lotus team expired at the end of the year, he received an invitation to join McLaren.
McLaren
In 1988, Senna moved to the McLaren team, where his partner was two-time world champion Alain Prost.
In the 1988 season, McLaren drivers won 15 out of 16 possible – the only race won by another team was the Italian Grand Prix, where Ferrari won. Of these 15 victories, 8 belonged to Senna and 7 to Prost.
The 1988 world champion was Senna.
In the 1989 season, the rivalry between Senna and Prost became even more intense and turned into a constant struggle not only on the track, but also off it. One of the highlights was the German Grand Prix, where racing drivers competed for first place throughout the race.
The season culminated in the Japanese Grand Prix at the Suzuka circuit. During the decisive race, Senna tried a risky overtaking, as a result of which his car and Prost’s car collided, catching on each other. The maneuver caused a wave of criticism, as it was extremely dangerous, although many admitted that this particular place on the track was the only place where you could really try to overtake your opponent. If Senna had not made this attempt, the championship title would have gone to Prost.
Some believed that it was Prost who was to blame for the clash, who did not want to give in. Senna was eventually able to finish first. However, after the end of the race, he was disqualified. In a comment, he said that he was “grossly robbed”, which prompted sanctions from the FIA. The racing driver was fined and temporarily deprived of his license to participate in Formula 1 races.
Before the 1990 season, Prost moved to Ferrari, saying that McLaren preferred Senny. However, the fate of the championship was again decided at the penultimate stage – the Japanese Grand Prix at the Suzuka track. The struggle was again between Senna and Prost. Already in the first corner after the start, their cars collided, and both drivers were eliminated from the race. Since Senna had more points up to this point, he automatically became world champion.
Before the 1991 Japanese Grand Prix, Senna publicly admitted that the collision was intentional and again accused the FIA of injustice during the 1989 season.
In the 1991 season, the main rivalry unfolded between Senna and Nigel Mansell, who played for the Williams team. Senna won the first four Grands Prix of the season. Over time, Mansell seized the initiative, and the struggle between them became even more intense. By the end of the championship, both had approximately equal chances for the title. However, during the Japanese Grand Prix, Mansell flew off the track, effectively losing the opportunity to become champion. Senna ended the season with a victory at his home circuit in Brazil and became the Formula 1 world champion for the third time in his career.
In 1992, Mansell dominated the championship, winning 9 of 16 races and becoming world champion ahead of schedule. Senna won three victories that year – at the Grand Prix of Monaco, Hungary and Italy.
For the 1993 season, Senna was left without a contract. McLaren, meanwhile, managed to sign an agreement with Ford, but on the condition that the team would receive less powerful engines than those supplied to the main partner, the Benetton team.
McLaren hoped to make up for this shortcoming with a more efficient chassis and improved electronics. Senna tested the new car in the off-season and admitted that the chassis really turned out to be of very high quality, but the lack of engine power remained noticeable. Because of this, he refused to sign a contract for the entire season, agreeing to drive for McLaren, making a separate deal before each race.
Senna started the 1993 season well. At the opening of the championship in South Africa, he took second place, and at the next stages – the Brazilian Grand Prix and the European Grand Prix – he won two consecutive victories. The race in Europe, which took place in the rain and is considered one of the best starts in his career, was special.
The successful streak continued with victories at the Spanish and Monaco Grand Prix. After that, he signed a contract with McLaren until the end of the season and actively persuaded Ford to supply the team with the most powerful engines.
The racing driver ended the season with a victory at the Australian Grand Prix.
Williams-Mercedes
In 1994, Senna moved from the team to Williams-Renault, which at that time was considered the strongest in Formula 1. Already in the first two stages of the season – the Brazilian Grand Prix and the Pacific Grand Prix – he won pole positions, but never was able to reach the finish line.
Death/Fatalities
On May 1, 1994, Senna took part in his third race for the Williams-Renault team – the San Marino Grand Prix. He started again from pole position, but this race ended tragically.
During the competition, his car fell off the track in the Tamburello turn and crashed into a concrete wall at high speed. According to telemetry, at the moment when the car lost control, the speed was about 310 km / h. Senna managed to apply the brakes and slow down a bit, but when hitting the wall, the car was still moving at about 218 km/h.
When it became obvious that the racing driver was not moving, the race was immediately stopped, and doctors arrived at the scene of the accident. The racer was carefully removed from the wreckage of the car – he showed almost no signs of life. Doctors performed a tracheostomy and connected him to an artificial respirator, after which he was taken to the hospital by helicopter.
After the examination, doctors found that the racer’s brain was not active and there was no chance of getting out of the coma. It was decided to stop artificial life support.
Subsequently, it turned out that during the collision, the right front wheel came off along with part of the suspension, which hit Senna on the head.
Marital Status
In 1981, Senna married his longtime girlfriend Lilian da Vasconselos Sousa. The spouses shared common interests, for some time they even participated in the race together, but the marriage did not last long – in 1983 the couple divorced.
After that, the race car driver had several romantic relationships, but never married again.
