Who is Ayrton Senna?

Ayrton Senna was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 1960. He would go on to become one of the country's most enduring sporting icons, with murals of the great driver still adorning inner city areas in his home town and the Ayrton Senna charity carrying on the work he started to raise money to help underprivileged children across the nation. At a time when sporting figures from the country were trying to distance themselves from their homeland, Ayrton Senna's helmet design proudly carried the colours of the Brazilian flag. His yellow helmet went on to become iconic, creating fear in the hearts of any driver who saw the brightly coloured head piece appearing in their mirrors.

Unfortunately, the practice of F1 drivers choosing their own race number is a relatively new phenomenon having only been introduced in 2014. However, Senna is most commonly associated with the number 12 having coincidentally it during his three years at Lotus (1985-1987) and his first year at McLaren in 1988 when he claimed his first world championship.

Senna started in F1 in 1984 driving for the lowly Toleman squad, a team which had only scored 10 points in the previous 3 seasons. Naturally, the Brazilian transformed their fortunes, taking three podiums in his first year in the sport and almost winning the 1984 Monaco Grand Prix. He accepted a deal to join former champions Lotus for 1985, with the iconic Ayrton Senna JPS Lotus quickly becoming a fan favourite. Sadly, Lotus was on the decline and only Senna's herculean efforts kept them in contention for wins. For 1988, Senna made the move to the team he is most associated with. Ayrton Senna and McLaren are synonymous, with the Brazilian winning three drivers championships and taking 35 race wins over the following six years. His final move was to the Williams team for 1994 whose technologically advanced cars had prevented Senna from adding to his championship tally over the previous two seasons. Much was expected of the partnership but sadly the alliance would last only three races until it met a tragic end.

While Ayrton Senna never drove for Ferrari, he is widely regarded to have coveted a move to the team in the final years of his career. In the week leading up to his death at the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994, Senna paid a visit to the home of Ferrari president Luca Di Montezemolo. The two are alleged to have discussed Senna's unhappiness at his new Williams team and made plans for the Brazilian to make the switch to the Italian giants for 1996. This was a position which was ultimately taken by Michael Schumacher, a driver who is widely regarded as being the Brazilian's natural successor as the sports main figurehead.

There is little doubt that Ayrton Senna was the fastest driver of his era and possibly also the most naturally gifted driver of all time. He had an otherworldly ability to gauge grip levels into corners, something which contributed towards his reputation as the sports greatest wet weather driver. This incredible speed is also showcased by his qualifying record, having taken 65 pole positions from 161 races; a 40% strike rate! While his speed is unquestioned, there were areas where he lacked compared to some of his contemporaries. Senna's tendency to be robust in battle and take risks throughout the race occasionally cost him race wins, while his main rival Alain Prost was viewed as being slightly more considered, taking care of his equipment at a time when reliability was poor and capitalising whenever the Brazilian made a mistake. Naturally, drivers tend to get better with each passing era. Michael Schumacher moved the goal posts when it came to driver fitness levels in the 1990s and Max Verstappen has now redefined the levels of commitment required with his use of driving simulators and equipment which simply wasn't available during Senna's time in the sport.

Senna's ability in the wet was astonishing, with his feel for grip levels allowing him to exploit potential that other drivers would never dare approach. These abilities were perhaps best showcased in Portugal 1985 when he took his first Grand Prix win for the Lotus team on a day where he finished over a minute ahead of his nearest competitor Michele Alboreto, who was the only other driver to finish on the lead lap. Another Ayrton Senna wet weather masterclass came in Donnington 1993. The Brazilian was crowded out at the start, dropping from 3rd to 5th place. However, over the next few corners he made his rivals look like they were taking part in a different formula, driving around the outside of the likes of Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill before diving up the inside of his great rival Alain Prost who was driving a far superior Williams Renault. That would be the last his rivals would see of him before the checkered flag, with Senna finishing one minute 23 seconds ahead of Damon Hill and a full lap ahead of the embarrassed Alain Prost.

Ayrton Senna won three drivers championships during his 10 year F1 career, all achieved whilst driving for the McLaren Honda team in 1988, 1990 and 1991.

Ayrton Senna joined McLaren in 1988 alongside Alain Prost who had largely been considered to be the best driver in the sport having won two championships in 1985 and 1986. Senna went in with the intention of changing that perception, with his incredible speed and charisma winning over McLaren and Honda team personnel. This created a rift between the two, with Prost feeling that Senna was receiving better engines from Honda and aggrieved that the Brazilian broke a pre-race agreement to overtake the Frenchman on the first lap of the 1989 San Marino Grand Prix. Things continued to spiral throughout 1989 until the penultimate race of the season when Prost turned in on Senna at the final chicane on lap 46 of the Japanese Grand Prix. At this point, Prost had already decided that the pair could no longer work in the same team and left to join Ferrari for 1990. Luckily for the Frenchman, Ferrari had built a good car which allowed him to continue his battle for supremacy with Senna. The Brazilian had vowed revenge for the events of the previous season and once the Ferrari jumped ahead of him off the line at the start of the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix, Senna decided to simply drive into the side of the Ferrari at high speed. It was perhaps one of the most shocking incidents in the history of the sport, with Senna putting the lives of both drivers at huge risk. Prost would later accuse Senna of not fearing death due to his strong religion, adding to the hostility between the two.

Naturally, Alain Prost is perhaps the driver with which Senna is most associated when it comes to his team-mates, with the pair having driven together at McLaren in 1988 and 1989. Ultimately this battle ended with both claiming a drivers championship but it was Senna who won the most races (14 vs 11) and was by far the faster driver in qualifying (26 pole positions vs 4). These stats underline that Prost had conceded that Senna was the faster driver, adapting his tactics to achieve stronger race results. This divergent approach means that Prost was not the fastest team-mate Ayrton Senna ever had. Crunching these numbers shows that Mika Hakkinen was actually Senna's fastest ever team-mate. In the three races where they were team-mates at McLaren in 1993, Hakkinen qualified on average just 0.240 seconds adrift of the Brazilian compared to the average deficit of Prost which was 0.647 seconds. Also finishing ahead of Prost in this list is Gerhard Berger, who replaced Prost at McLaren, racing with the team between 1990 and 1992. His average qualifying deficit to Senna was 0.606 seconds but his race results paled in comparison. Berger recognised early on that he would be unable to challenge Senna consistently, creating what was perhaps Senna's most harmonious team-mate pairing. Berger's tendency to play practical jokes brought out a lighter side to Senna's character, which forced many to re-assess their views on the Brazilian.

If you are a new F1 fan, they will no doubt have heard the phrase "If you no longer go for a gap that exists, you're no longer a racing driver". This is unquestionably the most famous quote associated with Senna and was uttered in his response to criticism from Jackie Stewart when discussing his collision with Prost in Suzuka 1990. This has gone on to be used countless times by modern day drivers whenever they are involved in a collision. The Brazilian also famously provided insights into his remarkable qualifying lap in Monaco 1988. At the most challenging circuit on the calendar, Senna qualified a full 1.4 seconds faster than his team-mate and 2nd place Prost. To put this into context, the gap between 1st and last (20th) in Qualifying 1 for the 2025 Monaco Qualifying session was just 1.3 seconds. Senna went on to describe the concentration levels he achieved while completing this lap, claiming that he had an out of body experience being able to view the car from above. The size of the gap to his rivals certainly adds credence to such a claim.

Apart from his victories, Ayrton Senna is sadly most commonly associated with his untimely passing. The Brazilian had moved to the Williams team for 1994 who had dominated the previous two seasons. New technical rules eradicated this gap and left Senna battling an unruly car which had no business being near the front of the grid. This didn't stop the Brazilian taking three poles from the opening three races, including pole position for the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. A crash at the start of that race left debris all over the circuit, prompting the deployment of a safety car. This was rare in F1 at this time and the underpowered Opel Vectra was too slow, resulting in the tyre temperatures of the following F1 cars dropping dangerously low. Once the race got back underway, Senna shot off at an incredible pace as he sought to put a gap between himself and Michael Schumacher. On the next lap, sparks flew from the bottom of the Williams as it took the flat out Tamburello corner. Moments later Senna appeared to lose the ability to turn the car, resulting in him going head on into the concrete wall at the side of the circuit. He had managed to reduce his speed from 190mph to 130mph by the time of impact, but the unfortunate angle and speed of the impact resulted in the Brazilian suffering severe head injuries. He died hours later in Bologna hospital.

The cause of Ayrton Senna's crash is still unknown to this day. Plenty of theories have been circulated, with drivers such as Michele Alboreto claiming that there was no way that the crash could have been driver error given that Tamburello was one of the easier corners on the Imola circuit. The sparks that flew from the bottom of the Williams suggest that it was low to the ground. This wasn't overly unusual at the time but the Williams was sparking far more than Schumacher's Benetton behind. Some have suggested that the Brazilian may have had a slow puncture caused by debris from the start line crash, while Damon Hill has suggested that Senna may have had low tyre pressures caused by the pedestrian speed of the safety car over the previous laps. Either of these scenarios could have caused the car to bottom out (hit the ground) over a bump on the tamburello corner, which in theory could have caused Senna to lose control. Inspections of Senna's car after the accident also showed that the steering column had snapped. However, this is believed to have happened on impact with telemetry still suggesting steering inputs up until the time of impact.

Ayrton Senna was buried at the Cemiterio do Morumbi in his home town of Sao Paulo after one of the largest state funerals the country has ever seen. If you are looking for a short haul destination to pay homage to the great Brazilian, then you may instead want to holiday in Bologna. Here you can head to the Imola circuit and take in the magnificent Ayrton Senna statue which stands next to the corner where he lost his life.

Ayrton Senna was not married at the time of his death, but he was in a long-term relationship with Brazilian model Adriane Galisteu. He had previously dated major Brazilian TV personality Xuxa Meneghel and was once married prior to entering F1 between the years of 1981 and 1982. This marriage was believed to have ended on account of his transatlantic career path.

No, Ayrton Senna did not have any children. However, his nephew Bruno Senna was touted by the Brazilian as a future star prior to his death. At this time Bruno was just starting out in go-karting, with Ayrton proudly claiming "if you think I'm quick, you should see my nephew". Bruno's mum decided to withdraw him from racing following Ayrton's death. He did decide to get back involved in the sport in his 20s and despite lacking masses of experience compared to his rivals, he did manage to make his way to Formula 1 in 2010. Driving for Hispania, Renault and Williams over the next three seasons, Bruno Senna scored 33 points with a best finish of 6th at the 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix. Bruno's story is very much a case of what might have been had he been able to follow a conventional career path towards F1.