Historical Figure
Ayrton Senna
1960–1994
Brazilian racing driver (1960–1994)
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Biography
Ayrton Senna da Silva was a Brazilian racing driver who competed in Formula One from 1984 to 1994. Senna won three Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles with McLaren, and—at the time of his death—held the record for most pole positions (65), among others; he won 41 Grands Prix across 11 seasons.
Timeline
The story of Ayrton Senna, told in moments.
Born Ayrton Senna da Silva in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Wealthy family. His father builds him a go-kart with a lawnmower engine when he's four. He starts competitive karting at 13.
Monaco Grand Prix. His second Formula One race. Torrential rain. He's driving a Toleman, a backmarker car with no business being near the front. He carves through the field from 13th to 2nd before the race is red-flagged. Every team principal in the paddock watches.
Joins McLaren alongside Alain Prost. They win 15 of 16 races that season, the most dominant season in F1 history. Senna takes his first championship by three points. The rivalry between them will poison the sport and electrify it.
Wins the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos, Sao Paulo. His home race. His gearbox fails, locking him in sixth gear for the final laps. He drives the last seven laps one-handed because his left arm has cramped from wrestling the car. Third championship.
Wins his sixth Monaco Grand Prix. No one has won six before or since. The circuit is too narrow, too walled-in, too punishing for anyone else to do it. He says driving in Monaco is like riding a bicycle in your living room.
Imola. San Marino Grand Prix. Lap seven of the race, Tamburello corner. His Williams FW16 leaves the track at 190 mph and hits the concrete wall. A piece of suspension pierces his helmet. He is 34. Over a million people attend his state funeral in Sao Paulo.
After his death, investigators find an Austrian flag in his cockpit. He'd planned to unfurl it on the podium for Roland Ratzenberger, killed in qualifying the day before. His Instituto Ayrton Senna has since provided education to over 25 million Brazilian children.
In Their Own Words (13)
Basically our championship starts here. Fourteen races, not sixteen. It's not a comfortable position to be in, but that's the reality. The team is conscious about the challenge we have to make to recover the ground over Benetton.
Interview by Murray Walker, April 28, 1994, 1994
If I ever happen to have an accident that eventually costs me my life, I hope it is in one go. I would not like to be in a wheelchair. I would not like to be in a hospital suffering from whatever injury it was. If I’m going to live, I want to live fully, very intensely, because I am an intense person. It would ruin my life if I had to live partially.
Interview, January 1994, 1994
There are no small accidents here.
Interview after Friday qualifying, April 29, 1994, 1994
If you take away Eau Rouge, you take away the reason why I do this.
Interview, 1993, 1993
Whoever you are, no matter what social position you have, rich or poor, always show great strength and determination, and always do everything with much love and deep faith in God. One day you will reach your goal.
Interview, 1991, 1991
Artifacts (15)
Sound of Honda/Ayrton Senna 1989
Nadya Kirillova, Daito Manabe, Yu Orai, Taeji Sawai, Kosai Sekine, Kaoru Sugano, Sotaro Yasumochi, Kyoko Yonezawa
In the land of the lion and sun; (IA inlandoflionsun00willrich)
Wills, C. J. (Charles James), 1842-1912
Journal (IA journals34soci)
Society of Chemical Industry (Great Britain) Society of Chemical Industry (Great Britain). Abstracts Society of Chemical Industry (Great Britain). Review Society of Chemical Industry (Great Britain).
The pharmaceutical journal. Volume 5 (Fourth Series), July - December 1897. (IA s1317id1378083)
The pharmaceutical journal.
but I don't believe it to the point that I'm going to pack up.
danger of a major volcanic eruption was exaggerated. "I don't have any idea whether it will blow," he said, "but I don't believe it to the point that I'm going to pack up." Truman displayed little...
I don't have any idea whether it will blow,
l reporters and expressed his opinion that the danger of a major volcanic eruption was exaggerated. "I don't have any idea whether it will blow," he said, "but I don't believe it to the point that I'm...
A arte de pilotar: os segredos da direção revelados pelo maior piloto de todos os tempos
Obra ilustrada com fotografias, diagramas e gráficos, este livro ensina com clareza e exatidão todo o conhecimento acumulado nos anos intensamente vividos por Senna nas pistas de automobilismo.
his fiery attitude, brash speech, love of the outdoors, and fierce independence…...
profiles, including Time, Life, Newsweek, Field & Stream, and Reader's Digest. Historian Richard W. Slatta wrote that "his fiery attitude, brash speech, love of the outdoors, and fierce independence…...
With his 10-dollar name and hell-no-I-won't-go attitude, Truman was a made-for-p...
80. == Legacy == Truman emerged as a folk hero for his resistance to the evacuation efforts. The Columbian wrote: "With his 10-dollar name and hell-no-I-won't-go attitude, Truman was a...
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