The greatest driver of the modern era. (Ayrton Senna)

Member Name: MichaelR

Product:	Ayrton Senna
Date:	01/02/01 (84 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Majestic in the wet, a great natural talent, always gave 100%

Disadvantages: Strange "mix and match" religious beliefs

I have absolutely no hesitation whatsoever in proclaiming Ayrton Senna da Silva (to give him his full name) to be the greatest driver in modern Formula One history.

Many other drivers come close, Michael Schumacher, Alain Prost, but no one quite matches up to Ayrton.

Both Schumacher and Prost have done better statistically, with more wins, and, in Prost's case, more championships, but how do you judge a truly a great driver?

Well, I believe you must judge on how much natural ability a driver has, as well as his record of success, and I believe that Ayrton Senna was one of the most naturally gifted racing drivers who ever lived.

The most remarkable thing about Senna's career is his qualifying record - he took 65 pole positions - that is still a record today, and I very much doubt if it will ever be eclipsed. If one day someone does pass it, that day will surely be sometime way into the future.

Ayrton drove in 158 Grands Prix, and so the fact that he took 65 poles means he started at the front of the pack for an incredible 41% of the races that he contested.

The other thing that I always associate with Senna is the ability to blow everyone away in the wet. All the great Senna drives that stay fresh in the memory were in wet weather - I will never forget his performance at Donington in 1993 in the underpowered McLaren Ford - and I'll probably touch on that again later - but when you think Senna, you think "amazing in the wet".

Ayrton was always a cut above the rest, but in the wet, nobody could even come close. He was untouchable.

Senna was just one of those drivers - the type that when you watch them race, even in the junior formulae for the first time, you just look in awe and think, "Yeah, that guy’s something special".

He had that rare sixth sense that gives amazing car control, the ability to correct a slide before it even starts, the ability to b
ecome one with the car. Drivers like that come along perhaps only once every decade.

Ayrton Senna won three world championships, all for McLaren, in 1988, 1990, and 1991.

He started racing in Formula Ford in 1981, and was immediately dominant in the British FF series. He then moved on to FF2000, and was equally dominant. By this time, he had caught the eye of one Ron Dennis, of McLaren.

At the end of 1982, Ron offered Ayrton funding for a season of Formula 3 racing, in return for signing a contract giving McLaren a long-term option on his services. Ayrton declined, preferring to be master of his own destiny, and so he went off to find his own finance.

In '83, he won the British F3 championship ahead of Martin Brundle, and this proved enough to get a drive with Toleman in F1 (who would go on to become Benetton some years later) in 1984.

If anyone had any doubts about his ability prior to that season, then I think they were quickly dispelled.

Senna put in a fine performance in his rookie year, capturing second place behind Prost at a very wet Monte-Carlo in the 1984 Monaco Grand Prix, and he also took third in Britain and in Portugal.

This would have been very impressive anyway, but it was even more so for me because the Toleman really wasn't a very good car. It was not as bad as some people might have thought, but it was severely limited by the Hart engine that it had in the back.

Ayrton managed to get himself suspended from that year's Italian Grand Prix at Monza however; as he negotiated a new contract with Lotus before seeking a release from Toleman, but I think that it turned out to be a good choice.

He would go on to win his first Grand Prix with Lotus, in the pouring rain at Estoril, and he won six races with the team over three years.

Sadly by this time however, the Lotus team was starting it's period of decline, and it would, of course, go bankrupt by the
end of the 1994 season, the same year of Senna’s tragic accident, and sensing the decline of Lotus, Ayrton left the team at the end of 1987.

At the end of '87, Ayrton signed a three year contract with McLaren, who had the dominant Honda engine, which was surely the best engine of the late 80's / early 90's by quite some margin - just as the Renault would prove to be in the mid to late 90's.

With McLaren, he now had the equipment to really shine, and won his first World Championship in 1988.

His record with McLaren was sensational. In all, he would go on win three championships and 35 Grands Prix for the team.

The car was pretty dominant up until 1991, when Ayrton won his final championship, but it was somewhat off the pace of the Williams-Renault in 1992. (This would signal the start of Williams' period of domination within the sport, and it would also prove to be the year in which Nigel Mansell won his only championship)

However, despite the fact that the McLaren was slower than the Williams FW14, Ayrton never gave less than 100%, I don't think there was ever a point in his career when he did, and he was still winning races, and he was still constantly a threat.

At the start of 1993, which I consider to be Senna's finest season in Formula One, for reasons which I will come to later (Of course it would also prove to be his last full season) McLaren was dealt a major blow when Honda decided to withdraw from the sport. Aryton attempted to move to Williams for '93, but Alain Prost blocked this. (Prost would go on to win his fourth and final championship that year)

To say Senna was furious at the decision of Williams would be a huge understatement. He considered turning his back on Formula One, but eventually Ron persuaded him to stay with McLaren and drive on a race-by-race basis.

McLaren was forced to use the uncompetitive Ford Cosworth HB V8 that year, and i
t was no match at all for the Renault in the back of the Williams. Despite this, Senna took several wins and also took the car to second place in the championship, taking 73 points to Prost's championship winning 99.

'93 also saw what was, in my opinion, Senna's finest ever race, the rain-soaked 1993 European Grand Prix at Donington.

He lapped every single car in that race, every single one, including the much faster Williams of Prost (Oh how satisfying that must have been!)

Prost retired at the end of '93, and that left Senna free to sign for Williams alongside Damon Hill, who had driven his first full season in '93. (Hill had previously had a couple of outings with Brabham, I think it was, prior to '93, but '93 was his first full season)

Ayrton would never score a point for Williams leading up to the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola, and I'm sure you all know what happened there....

It was a tragedy. No one will ever know for sure, or be able to prove why the Williams speared off the circuit at Tamburello, killing Senna, but I will always believe that it was due to a steering column failure. For me, all the evidence points to it, but as I say, this could never be proven, and I am sure that Williams will never take responsibility.

I feel that at this point, I should also mention Roland Ratzenberger - who died in practice for the same race. Roland was driving the uncompetitive Simtek car (the team would go on to fold early in 1995) and never really had a chance to show what he could do.

He was certainly a good driver in Group C though, for Sauber amongst others, and I am sure that he could have gone on to enjoy some measure of success in F1.

I was pretty distraught after Senna's death I must say. I was in tears even, as I think a great many fans were. You may think that strange, that so many people would be that moved by the death of a man that many of them neve
r met, but it was an indication of the tremendous respect that Senna had for his fans.

He loved us, and we loved him.

The only thing that I would say is that it is sad that it took his death on the track for people to acknowledge his greatness. While he was driving, he was vilified in much the same way as Schumacher is today.

Ayrton was called arrogant, called a cheat, and made out to be "The Evil One" by the press, and this was believed by much of the UK population.

After he died however, everyone was quick to praise him, and hold him up as some sort of a saint, and at last they recognised his greatness. He seemed to gain many more fans overnight following his death. It's just sad that it took that....

He lives on today in our memories, as surely one of the greatest drivers ever to sit in an F1 car, and even now, nearly seven years after his death, he is still one of the most popular and most well-known drivers in the world.

One of the true greats...

Rest in peace Ayrton, and thanks for the memories.

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Ayrton Senna - Grand Prix Record

Grand Prix - 158
Wins - 41
Win Ratio - 25.9%
Poles - 65
Fastest Laps - 19
Points Scored - 614
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