On May 1st 1994, the world lost one of the greatest racing drivers who ever sat on the cockpit of an F1 car.
Ayrton Senna, the then-three-time Formula One world champion died from a fatal crash while leading at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.
I wasnât born until two months after Sennaâs death.
I grew up in a time where the old-timers were still bragging about their beloved Fangio.
And by the time I was 16, most of my fellow teenagers had already replaced the word âSpeedâ with âSchumacherâ in their vocabulary.
Yet, 24 years after his death, I remember Senna as one of the few individuals whose life inspired me, shaped my character, gave me new values in life and the strength to hold on to those values.
I am pretty sure I am not the only one his life touched and left a mark on (Check out what Lewis Hamilton has to say about Senna)
Why Ayrton Senna?
Because his rather short life was one very well lived.
His persona is out of the scope of this article but still, any mention of Ayrton Senna wouldnât be complete without saying a thing or two about what set him apart.
âBeing second is to be the first of the ones who lose.â
He continued â âWhen you are fitted in a racing car and you race to win, second or third place is not enough.â
Senna would go for a gap that no one else would., and in the process, he pulled off some great stunts like winning a race and championship after dropping to 16th place in the grid (Japanese Grand Prix 1988).
And oh yes, it was all deliberate when he took Alain Prost into the gravels to win the 1990 championship at Japan.
What else can you expect from Ayrton when his pole position was stripped off the racing line and the championship is up for grabs!!
âAnd suddenly I realized that I was no longer driving the car consciously. I was driving it by a kind of instinct, only I was in a different dimension.â
For Senna, winning was not just enough.
For him, Formula One was all about pushing his own limits both as a racing driver and as a human being.
Monaco GP 1988: Senna was 55 seconds ahead in the race with only a handful of laps to go.
Senna received regular messages in his radio to slow down (With 55 seconds lead in Monaco, the only sensible thing to do is slow down and finish the race without ramming into the wall) but he ignored them all and simply put his foot on the gas.
He eventually hit the wall and lost the race.
McLaren chief Ron Dennis was furious., and so was many others.
Senna had a simple answer for all the fuzz â âI was so close to perfectionâ
The Rainman
Senna was so good in the rain that he seemed to be from another planet altogether, with extraordinary control and perception.
When it rained and the track was slippery., when the conditions were most difficult, Senna always had something more.
And for that, Senna was called â The Rainman by fans and fellow drivers alike.
Here is three races of Senna which I believe cemented his position as one of the all time greatest among the modern race car drivers
1. 1984 Monaco GP
Monaco is probably the most dangerous and demanding of all F1 circuits.
With many elevation changes, tight corners , a tunnel and the infamous Casino square, mastering the Monaco circuit requires great skill and composure.
Senna, after 24 years of his death still holds the record for most number of wins(6) at Monaco.
Senna didnât win the 1984 Monaco race though.
It was his arch-rival Alain Prost who came out triumphant at the rain soaked race.
But Sennaâs hard fought second place in a much inferior Toleman against the likes of Nigel Mansell(Lotus-Renault) and Niki Lauda(McLaren) goes down in the history of motorsport as one of the best performances ever.
The way Senna drove past Niki Lauda in the most dangerous part of the circuit gave goosebumps to everyone watching.
Senna was gaining time fast on Alain Prost. On lap 32 Jacques Ickx, clerk of the course, made the decision to stop the race due to heavy rain that enabled Prost to win and robbed Senna of a possible victory.
Toleman was not a winning team and their car had never won a race before. Thatâs why what Senna did that day on Monaco was pure genius.
It was the triumph of the man inside the cockpit, not the machine under the hood
2. 1993 Donington
99.9% F1 fans would agree that the opening lap of 1993 Donington was the greatest lap in the history of Formula one.
But I dare take a step further and say it was one of the greatest pieces of pure driving in Formula One ever.
It would be a bad idea to put what happened at Donington on 11 April 1993 into words, because words simply wontât do justice to Sennaâs performance.
You gotta see it yourself
Yes, thatâs correct!! From fifth in line to race lead in just one lap.
Senna didnât have the best engine in the race, nor the chassis.
He didnât have all the electronic âgizmosâ, such as traction control and âdrive by wireâ, since banned from Grand Prix racing.
Yet that race at Donington Park was won on the first lap by a manâs sheer nerve and extraordinary intuition in wet weather conditions.
3. 1991 Brazil GP
Senna had never won a Grand Prix of his country Brazil till 1991 and with a jammed gearbox and seven laps to go, nobody expected Senna to win the race of 1991 either.
Sennaâs comfortable lead didnât count because he had seven laps to go with only 6th gear at his disposal and It seemed quite impossible to drive a Formula One car stuck on 6th gear.
Anyone in their right frame of mind would quit the race.
But not senna, he found something in himself and clung to the lead, dancing his car right above the racing line.
And when he came out of the last corner nobody believed he pulled it off.
I never saw Ron Dennis that happy ever on TV.
The effort was so tiring and exhausting on Senna that he couldnât stand on his feet., He was crying like a boy
Sometimes a helmet hides feelings that cannot be understood.
There are many drivers who stay in the sport way too longer than they should and tarnish their reputation.
Maybe part of the Sennaâs greatness attributes to the fact that he died early and we didnât see his decline.
But for me and millions of others, Ayrton Senna was the greatest racing driver who ever lived.
