Today marks
the 19th anniversary of the passing of one of Formula One’s greatest
ever drivers, Ayrton Senna (pictured).
The
three-time world champion was a national hero in Brazil, at a time where the
country wasn’t experiencing the best of periods.
For many locals, he brought the nation together, and his 41 Grand Prix
victories all had their own special moments.
Not everyone
endeared themselves to Senna’s ability.
His ruthlessness and determination to win led to some high-profile
controversial moments.
The feud with
Alain Prost pushed Grand Prix racing into the sporting limelight in the late
80s and early 90s. There were the
regular run-ins with the flamboyant FISA president Jean-Marie Balestre, and
raging battles with the likes of Nigel Mansell, Nelson Piquet and in his final
days, Michael Schumacher.
One of F1’s
unanswered questions we will never know will be whether Senna at his peak, aged
34 could have defeated the young wonder in Schumacher. Certainly, the Benetton Ford package at the
start of 1994 had the upper hand on the evil-handling Williams Renault
FW16. It was Schumacher 20, Senna 0 in
points heading to Imola.
However, the
Brazilian persisted with a car that was certainly not to his liking, and was
dominant all weekend at the San Marino Grand Prix meeting. He was leading going into lap seven and
then, he perished at one of F1’s most feared corners at the time, Tamburello.
What made him so great?
There were
two great qualities for me that made Senna stand out from the normal
driver. They were the wet weather
ability and the amount of pole positions he collected in his career.
When the rain
comes down, some drivers have the ability to make the genuine difference. Jean Alesi, Wolfgang von Trips, Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton have shown their quality in tricky conditions
throughout their careers, but there was something uniquely different about
Senna.
The first
signs came in his debut season in 1984, when he charged around the streets of Monte
Carlo in filthy weather. From 12th
on the grid, he took the underpowered Toleman unit into second place, with some
brave and devilish overtaking. Had it
not been for a slightly convenient red flag, he probably would have caught
Prost in the McLaren and won the race.
A year later,
the Brazilian transferred to the Lotus stable and in Portugal, just his second
race for them, he destroyed the competition in wet weather lapping all but one
car.
It was the
first of his victories, and he repeated his skill when the skies opened on
several more occasions.
His first lap
at Donington on a damp, dull Easter weekend in 1993 is in my mind, the greatest
first lap I’ve ever seen in Grand Prix racing.
The skill, the commitment and the delicate approach he would take in the
wet was masterful.
From the
start of the Lotus days, Senna’s ability to be the fastest over a single flying
lap became legendary. There were times
where he would still set laps much faster than other competitors, even when he
had to deal with slow moving EuroBrun or Coloni cars infront (two of the hard-trying
backmarker teams in the late 1980s).
He achieved
65 pole positions, the last one coming on Saturday, 30 April 1994 – a day
before he paid the ultimate price.
Schumacher has beaten this figure, but it took him 15 years to do it,
and Sebastian Vettel has every chance nowadays to top this list.
However,
neither can compare to what Senna could do on a quick lap. Don’t forget, these were the days of qualifying
cars, monstrous V12 engines, and having to make manual gear changes on a
regular basis.
And one
record that still remains is his six victories around Monaco. At Monte Carlo, he was almost virtually
unbeatable.
The detractors
His ruthless
approach to winning sometimes cost Senna, and it didn’t win him many friends.
The feud with
Prost which started when they became McLaren team-mates in 1988 was gold dust
for the race promoters and the neutral spectators. At a time where if you weren’t in a McLaren,
you could forget winning – they produced some classic battles.
Senna
frightened Prost when he drove him towards the pitwall in Portugal in 1988, but
that was only the start of things to come.
He didn’t
make any friends for breaking an agreement made at his behest with Prost at
Imola in 1989.
Senna wanted
the pair to agree on whoever led off the startline to win the race. On the restart after Gerhard Berger’s fiery
accident, The Professor got the better getaway, but Senna broke the agreement
into Tosa on the first circuit, broke away and won the race by miles.
Prost refused
to attend the press conference and the cordial relationship was over – similar to
what is happening at Red Bull in today’s paddock.
No-one will
forget the clashes at Suzuka in 1989 and 1990.
Some feel Senna was harshly treated in 1989 when he was disqualified for
receiving outside assistance. In 1990,
he had enough of the bickering, and pulled off a dangerous move that could have
had worse consequences.
So annoyed
the pole position had been moved onto the dirtier side of the track, he vowed
to punish Prost if he turned into the first corner first. That’s exactly what happened, and the result
was catastrophic.
The pair
ended in the gravel, and into the tyres.
They strapped themselves out of their cars, neither talking to the other
and Senna was hiding a massive secret.
He had
deliberately crashed into Prost, but that was something he only admitted after
wrapping up his third title in 1991.
There will be
those detractors, who will never forgive him for this act of frankly disgusting
driving, but everyone has made mistakes, and most have some kind of darker side
or done something we are not proud of, but at the time thought it was okay.
Was he the best?
It is almost
impossible to declare who is the greatest Grand Prix driver of all-time?
Schumacher might have most of the records,
but then Prost was the most measured, Juan Manuel Fangio the best in an era where you had a
50 per cent of dying, Jim Clark was the best when it came to protecting an
inter-team relationship, Fernando Alonso the best when it comes to consistently getting
the job done, no matter the equipment at his disposal.
So I don’t
want to make comparisons, considering these were different eras, different
cars, different circuits and different safety regulations. However, in his prime – Ayrton Senna was the
best of his generation.
When he died
at the wheel of the Williams on Sunday, 1 May 1994 – he became a legend that
will never ever be forgotten, no matter of the legacy he left.
19 years on –
F1 has moved on, but devoted fans will always remember Senna’s personality and
genius behind the wheel of a racing car.
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