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Ayrton Senna da Silva (March 21, 1960 - May 1, 1994),
better known as Ayrton Senna, was a Brazilian racing driver who won the Formula One world championship three times. His death in 1994 is still mourned by Brazilians and he remains one of the most beloved Formula One personalities, although during his career he was a rather more controversial figure than subsequent accounts have tended to portray.
Early life
Senna was born in Sao Paulo. As the son of a wealthy Brazilian landowner, he quickly developed an interest in motor racing. Encouraged by his father, a racing enthusiast, Senna got behind the wheel of his first kart at the age of four. He entered karting competition at the legal age of 13. In 1977, he won the South American Kart Championship, and was runner up several times in the World Championship but never won.
Heading for Europe in 1981, he entered the British Formula Ford 1600 competition, which he won. He also adopted his mother's maiden name, Senna, as da Silva is a very common name in Brazil. In 1982 Senna combined the British and European Formula Ford 2000 Championships, winning both. In addition to winning the prestigious and high-profile Macau Grand Prix, Ayrton saw off the challenges of Martin Brundle in the 1983 British F3 championship and secured a seat with the Toleman-Hart F1 team in 1984. His talents did not go unnoticed, especially after he impressed at the Monaco GP under wet and difficult conditions. The next year, Senna joined the Lotus team and won the Portuguese Grand Prix, his first Grand Prix victory, on April 21, 1985 at Estoril, Portugal under treacherous conditions.
McLaren career
In 1988 Senna joined the McLaren team with Alain Prost as his team mate. The foundation for a fierce competition between Senna and Prost was laid, culminating in a number of dramatic race incidents between the two. The pair won 15 of 16 races in 1988 with Senna coming out on top, achieving his first World Drivers Championship. The following year, their rivalry intensified into a physical war on the track and a psychological war off it, with Prost taking the championship in 1989 after the infamous Suzuka chicane incident. The following year 1990 Prost moved to Ferrari, but it was more of the same, culminating in the notorious 'professional foul' committed at the beginning of the title-deciding Japanese Grand Prix in 1990.
Pole position had incorrectly been designated on the 'dirty' side of the track. Senna made a request to officials before qualifying but after achieving pole position, found the placement unchanged. At the start Prost indeed pulled ahead but when attempting to take the 1st right-hander, found Senna plowing into him. Telemetry showed Senna never even lifted. Both were removed from the race and Senna took the championship for 1990. Senna later hinted that it was payback for Prost taking them both out the year before in the 1989 Suzuka chicane incident. For many, it was an act of breathtaking cynicism and one for which Senna received much criticism. He was accused of introducing a "video game" mentality of "win at all costs" into the sport, a legacy that was sometimes repeated in the career of his natural successor, Michael Schumacher.
On the track, Senna could be ruthless, showing extreme determination and precision, especially in qualifying, a discipline he had mastered like no one before (resulting in a record 65 poles). In the wet, Senna was unchallenged, and in 1993 at the European GP at Donington Park, Senna demonstrated his exceptional wet driving skills by humiliating his opponents at the wheel of an inferior car. Starting from 5th position, Senna was in 1st place before the end of the first lap, and went on to victory. Senna also won the Monaco GP six times, a record in itself, and a tribute to his skills earning him the title, "Master of Monaco".
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