On March 21st, 1960, a legend was born in São Paulo, Brazil: Ayrton Senna. The man who changed forever the motosport’s history and left, until nowadays, thousands of fans with what brazilians call saudade.
The Formula One driver was the middle child of a wealthy family. Senna never needed to race for money, he did it for love. Devoting his whole life to racing, over the course of his career he won three World Championships and 65 pole positions.
Ayrton was also a religious person. Always talking about his god and his beliefs, the driver was catholic and used to read the Bible during his travels between São Paulo and Europe. He was always true to himself, fighting for what he believed and living always trying to be better.
The Brazilian isn’t a legend just because of his driving talent, his presence and passion for life, as well as for the races, was beyond the normal. People say that watching him racing was always epic. He had a magnetic force, everyone used to be mesmerized by his presence, even the other teams. Ayrton was the one everyone used to look up to. Unfortunately, life took the driver away too soon, on May 1st, 1994. The legend suffered a fatal accident in the San Marino Grand Prix, in Imola, Italy.
Ayrton Senna’s impact
The biggest impact Ayrton had on Formula One is related to the athletes’ security. His death rocked the drivers and the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA). After his loss, the sport went through changes with an immediate programme of circuit alteration.
FIA identified a range of dangerous corners that needed to be made safer, the barriers became mandatory and they also had to be secured by rubber belts. The speed limit on the pit lane was reduced to 80 km/h at the practices and to 120 km/h at the races. The helmets were also changed when FIA introduced stricter standards for their designs. In 2018, the halo – a protective barrier that helps to prevent large objects and debris from entering the cockpit of a single-seat racing car – was introduced, probably one of the biggest changes in the sport.
Through the years, those changes have saved many drivers’ lives, all of that because the sport has lost a legend and many other athletes before him. But Ayrton’s impact is regardless of his afterdeath. Nowadays, he is the goal for the majority of the grid. He was able to maintain himself as the example not only in the races, but also in the newer generation’s lives. Ayrton Senna was way more than just a brilliant driver, he was a brilliant soul.
His biggest fans: the drivers
Most of the drivers of the current grid were born after the driver’s death. Even so, Ayrton is constantly cited as an inspiration and on important dates, such as his birth and death anniversary, when tributes are made all over the internet, from drivers to team leaders.
Currently, Lewis Hamilton is the driver with the most poles, wins and titles in F1’s history. A worldwide idol whose fame transcends sport. All of this was started because who dominated the races when the young British boy dreamed about driving was the legendary Brazilian driver, Ayrton Senna.
“My inspiration has always been Ayrton (Senna) and, with a documentary along with Apple TV, I hope to really do what Senna’s documentary did for me as a child,” stated Hamilton in an interview for Forbes Brasil in 2023.
Hamilton isn’t the only one who admires the Brazilian. Pierre Gasly, for example, raced with a special helmet in 2020 at the Emilia-Romagna GP, a helmet with the classic Senna painting. Charles Leclerc, the Ferrari driver, is also an example of a real Senna fan. On his way to Brasil for the 2022 São Paulo GP, the driver met the Brazilian driver’s family., At a conference hosted in Interlagos, the Monegasque talked about the meeting and declared the legend as his only idol in the sport.
A forever-part of Formula One
Ayrton Senna has achieved the dream of every driver: to be remembered. He is, even nowadays, seen as one of the greatest. The list is short, and he shares it with Michael Schumacher and Niki Lauda, also legends in Formula One’s history. It doesn’t matter how long it has passed since we lost him, Senna will always be remembered fondly. Especially by Brazilians, as he was – and still is – one of the country’s true idols.
A reason why Brazil is so fond of Senna is because he was always proud of his roots. During his career he helped many people with social actions. After his death, his family even created the Instituto Ayrton Senna, which has an outstanding performance in the development of children and young people. Millions of children have had access to better opportunities because of Senna’s legacy.
When the motorsports’ athlete won the Brazilian Grand Prix, on March 24, 1991, with extreme difficulty caused by technical car problems, he took the Brazilian flag and raised it with great pride while still inside the car. That was one of THE moments of his career, not only because he won, but because he won at home. Hamilton even recreated that scene in 2021, an attitude that had a huge impact on Brazilian Formula One fans.
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The article above was edited by Clara Rocha.
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