In '78, I came to Europe for the first time to compete outside Brazil in the World Championship
It was pure driving, pure racing.
There wasn't any politics.
No money involved either. It was real racing.
We did not think that karting could become a career.
AYRTON'S FATHER MILTON DA SILVA
But it has become a big part of our lives
and we are a bit worried because then along came Formula One.
May God protect him forever.
AYRTON'S MOTHER NEYDE SENNA
All the dangers are my biggest fear.
I would like to thank him because he is a good son
and this year he has worked very hard and honestly.
For me, it is more important than any title.
Few really do know myself
They just don't understand what it takes to be a racing driver.
Somebody that has, left behind,
thousands and thousands of miles away, family and friends
to live in Europe.
Being so young. I have always been fighting.
Nothing ever has come easy.
The time has come.
Ayrton is ready to ride for the first time a Formula One car.
I believe it was God to give me this opportunity,
I've been waiting a long time.
And now it is also helping to remain calm, tranquil, relaxed.
Well I always liked the combination of the man and the machine
I think that's the real special quality that motor racing in general
and, particular, particularly Formula One has
And you know people say: "Oh, It's all about the car, isn't it?"
Well, actually it's not. But the car is certainly, 50%, maybe even a little bit more
Even if it's 75% or 80%,
The other 20%, which is represented by the driver
is absolutely crucial. That can make the difference.
But the cars themselves - you either believe this or you don't -
The cars themselves are beautiful things.
They are a little less beautiful when they are painted like cigarette packets
or whatever they paint them as now, perhaps,
but there's a beauty to the sense of form following function,
that the form of the car expresses in some way
the speed that they are going to go at when they start moving
And the details of the engineering,
even if you are not technically literate, are very beautiful.
They are beautiful bits of sculptures, if you like.
And that combination of the beautiful, inanimate machines
and the hero figures of the drivers
the sense of courage and romance, and that sort of thing
is what attracted me, I think, when I was a small boy.
I think Formula One in the 80s was
one of the most glorious times in Formula One
The cars were almost simple, compared to what they are now.
The steering wheel only turned the car. The gear lever, shifted the gears.
It was a time when drivers still made the difference
and all the engineering expertise and all the eletronics
still left a great deal for the driver to do.
You had Alain Prost, known as "The Professor"
A very smooth, calculating driver
You had Nelson Piquet, who was Brazilian,
very emotional, very clever, cunning driver.
You had Nigel Mansell, who was sort of a British lion
who was very exciting to watch, very spectacular driver.
And then you had Senna, the virtuoso.
And to see these drivers competing with each other
At more or less the same stage in their careers,
overlapping slightly, in a way,
but really at their peak together, was phenomenal.
1984
Ayrton, this is a beautiful city,
with wonderful streets to walk, but unsuitable to host a race, no?
REGINALDO LEME
Indeed. I arrived at the last minute
and I was surprised. I've never been to Monaco.
I did some testing
and fortunately, I managed to adapt to the track.
There is no margin for error, any error would result in an accident.
But for now, I'm satisfied.
I was travelling a lot, as a Formula One journalist
when Ayrton began to be noticed driving a Toleman.
VOICE OF REGINALDO LEME GLOBO TV COMMENTATOR
Toleman was not a winning team.
The car was bad and never won a race.
That's why what Ayrton did in Monaco was true genius.
Now, lots of drivers do that. Join a small team,
and disappear without a trace. They perform to the level of the team.
But there is sort of a rare breed of drivers, of which Senna was absolutely one,
who can go into a small team
and perform so far above the perceived level of the car
That everybody turns around and thinks: "How did he do that?"
What he had done was to make everybody, *everybody* in the paddock,
aware of what he could do, who he was and what his potential was.
That he could take this car which had nothing,
and deliver a result like that,
in the worst possible conditions for a racing driveer.
It is impossible to overestimate how frightening it is
to race in the rain, how difficult it is.
Racing drivers can't see anything if it rains,
especially if they are behind another car.
The big tires they have now throw up so much spray
that it's like driving in thick, thick, thick fog.
You know, like tring to drive on a motorway in a thick fog,
with 20 yards of visibility, at racing speeds.
And to be able to do that, you know, really sorts out
the great racing drivers from the pretty good ones.
Alain Prost, now after a superb start, has got away in the lead.
Monaco Grand Prix 3 June 1984 Eighth race Senna in Formula One
Nigel Mansell second, the two Ferraris third and fourth.
Niki Lauda is in fifth position.
Sixth is Rosberg.
Seventh is Manfred Winkelhock. Eighth is Ayrton Senna.
But Senna has come up through the field
He started in thirteenth place and is now seventh.
Off goes Nigel Mansell!
Ayrton Senna has now passed Keke Rosberg and is in third place
VOICE OF GALVÃO BUENO GLOBO TV COMMENTATOR
And overtakes Niki Lauda!
Ayrton Senna takes second place!
At the most dangerous part of the track!
VOICE OF JAMES HUNT 1976 FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPION
Well I think we are watching the arrival of Ayrton Senna,
a truly outstanding talent.
He is catching Alain Prost something like three seconds a lap
And that is pretty staggering performance.
Prost is waving his hand to the officals. He wants to stop the race.
But who can blame him?
There is in fact, from a purist and dispassionate point of view
that there is no reason to stop the race.
There is an official infront of me with a red flag.
They want to stop running.
And the checkered flag is going out
Incredible!
And Prost is stopping! and Senna crosses the line before he gets there!
Ayrton raises his arms and gesturing with enthusiasm!
Celebrating as if he won the race!
If we had continued for a few more laps,
I am sure Ayrton would have passed him.
I had a serious chance of winning.
But until you cross the finishing line in first position,
it is impossible to make a prediction.
Formula One is politics, money
and while you are making your way through it, you must deal with such things.
You have Alain Prost, a world champion,
out there, leading the Monaco Grand Prix,
survivng all those wet corners, going by many wrecks,
driving his heart out for a victory at Monaco
And here comes, first year Formula One driver
from some place in Brazil, Ayrton Senna.
Now, this was one of the wettest races I've ever been in
and it needed to be stopped.
But what Senna could not get, was that,
It was in a French area, considered a French event
with the FIA being housed in Paris
and run by Frenchmen.
To him, there had to be some reason beside the rain,
that was no problem to him,
to where they took this victory away from him.
He knew that in another three or four laps
he would catch Prost, find a way around him
and he would be in the number one position.
A tragic result for Senna. However,
if he is not the World Champion this year,
He will undoubtedly be World Champion in the future, if his career continues.
Ayrton Senna the new star of Formula One!
Appearing for the first time on the Formula One podium
after a fantastic performance.
What about next year?
Are you going to stay with the Toleman team?
-What are your plans now? -I don't know.
JOHN BISIGNANO
I don't know. At the moment it's still no decisions. And nothing clear.
We have to wait more time to see what happens.
You are not going to be satisfied until you are in a winning position though are you?
I belive if you are doing something, like competing, like motor racing
you have either do well, or forget it.
I remember in Detroit, a couple of weeks later,
it was already a buzz between the media
managers and sponsors, looking after him
I remember Philip Morris making a deal,
a personal contract with him after that.
And we knew he would not stay at the Toleman for the three years
for the supposed length of his contract,
because the Toleman team was not really improving
and the potential of the team was not big enough for a talent.
1985
LOTUS
Lotus was the perfect place for Ayrton to move to.
VOICE OF JOHN BISIGNAGNO ESPN COMMENTATOR
It was a team that had won Championships, and had won many Grand Prix
and they worked very very hard around Ayrton, to give his talent
all the facilities that he needed to win.
When I first come to Formula One in '84,
I was starting.
I had so much to learn and to achieve.
Anything, any good result was a progress
was a motivation.
Then I changed to a bigger team, to Lotus,
and still went up, and up and up.
I'm still doing it.
So even when I have some problems, I look always to the next race.
Because maybe one race I have no chance, but the next one or the next five, will be good
against one bad one.
So you got to try and make the numbers bigger and bigger.
Even as a child, he always knew what he wanted
and he always got it.
AYRTON'S MOTHER NEYDA SENNA
For example, he always paid attention in the classroom at school,
so he didn't have to study at home
and so he had more time to play on his go-kart.
There is no doubt, that Senna came from a background of privilege.
VOICE OF RICHARD WILLIAMS SPORTS JOURNALIST, THE GUARDIAN
His family was very comfortably off.
Once they recognized that his ambition was to be a racing driver,
they had no problem backing his early efforts in go-karts.
But it would be a great mistake to think that he was able to buy his way into Formula One.
Senna himself realized
that to make a serious, lasting impact on Formula One
he had to fight his way into it by virtue of his talent.
PORTUGUESE GRAND PRIX - APRIL 21st 1985 AYRTON'S SECOND RACE WITH LOTUS
Ayrton was exceptional when it rained.
REGINALDO LEME GLOBO TV COMMENTATOR
When the conditions were bad and the track became slippery
he had a higher gear.
The Estoril race was incredible.
He lapped all his opponents except one.
It is wonderful! An extraordinary feeling.
I am very happy because, in my second year in Formula One,
I managed to fulfill my first dream, which was to win my first Grand Prix.
It is a unique thing.
It's like a drug.
This is something so strong and intense.
Once you experience it, you keep searching for it all the time.
It was raining really hard. There was no competition, really.
He would have won that race if it was run 100 times.
It was an important race for Brazil for many reasons,
including the fact that on that day,
the first elected Brazilian President, Tancredo Neves, died.
It was a very important political moment for Brazil,
because he was the first elected president
after the end of the dictatorship.
He was ill for a long time and died.
There was a risk that Brazil would suffer another blow
or something like that, which nobody wanted.
Senna's win was very important in that sense,
for the public and the Brazilian people and for us there,
and I'm sure he also realized this later in the evening
when we were at dinner. We went to dinner,
but later that night after leaving the restaurant he caught a plane to return to Brazil.
I'm Mili Okada from Japan TV
Fuji TV. I am just a TV personality, not a news reporter, so,
I see! Let's make a picture together.
MILI OKADA FUJI TV
I think many Japanese girls are fans of Mr. Senna.
Now I am close to him and I'm so nervous ...
Come and see Japan. and see you in Japan.
-Thank you! A little kiss. -Thanks.
Bye bye! Another kiss.
He was very complete.
From tires to the engine, to every single component of the car,
He wanted to know everything.
He wasa pushing ever mechanic and every engineer to the very limit,
to understand, first of all and to improve the overall package
And it took a lot of his energy,
but he was concentrating as much on that aspect of the job as driving itself.
He was the first one maybe, to stay at the circuit
Until nine, ten o' clock with the engineers and mechanics.
Didn't want to go back to the hotel or go play golf like Alain Prost and a few others.
There's only one word to describe Ayrton's style:
and that is, "Fast".
He would take the car beyond its designed capabilities.
He would brake later, fly into these corners where the car was just, over the edge.
And somehow, he could dance a dance with that car
to where it stayed on the track.
As I watched Ayrton's early career,
Voice of Ron Dennis Team manager McLaren
what was very apparent was his pace and his dedication
But, in the end, what you're looking for is an intellect
And I thought, "This guy's got what it takes."
But it pretty soon became apparent that
Lotus wasn't going to be big enough for him
Lotus was actually a team just beginning its decline.
I think when he was there, really,
there was nothing he could do to stop it.
Y'know, the driver doesn't design the car.
And so he did what he had done before, and what great drivers do,
which was to move again, to an even more competitive team.
Such an important instinct for a driver, that.
To know where to be.
To know not who is competitive, this season.
But who is going to be competitive next.
At that time the strongest teams were Williams and McLaren.
McLaren was,
I would say, a constructor which had always reflected
the same values as Ayrton.
In that sense Ayrton and Ron Dennis have much in common.
They are both perfectionists...
Let's put it like this. Both have
the idea that nothing will go wrong if something is well planned and executed
and have always fought by the same ideals.
Ron comes from a background of hard work.
He has struggled to get where he is now
and has been successful in life. They are both very close.
At that time the trilogy "The best team, best driver, best car"
was led by Ron Dennis at McLaren.
In the mid-80s, McLaren was the team to beat.
Ron Dennis was the best manager Alain Prost was the best driver.
ALAIN PROST WORLD CHAMPION 1985, 1986
We all called Prost "The Professor" because he would do
methodically whatever it took to be ahead on points.
If it meant coming fifth,
He would hold the fifth place and collect those points,
rather than fighting for second, third or first place finish.
And, he certainly understood the politics of the sport
and he played that game smarter than anyone.
You're known as "The Professor" of motor racing
SELINA SCOTT WOGAN TALK SHOW, BBC
because you plan everything out and you know where you're going
Is that actually true?
I'm very realistic. So I think when I'm competitive,
I know I'm competitive When I'm not, I know that I'm not.
Why are there no women racing drivers?
I do not know exactly why women are not very competitive
in motor racing, especially in Formula One.
But you know you're a beautiful woman. and I know somebody at McLaren
who likes you very much. And I can arrange it.
Alain, you know, if someone teaches me how to drive
a car, a racing car I may be able to give up this job
There is nothing important I could not teach you.
Does your wife drive you home?
The first time I really met him and tried to talk to him
was in '84, when we had,
in Germany, we had a Mercedes appearance
and we had a small race in Nurburgring, with the new Mercedes 190, I think
We had the old, not old but some Formula One drivers, old Formula One drivers
And I remember Dennis Hulme and some other driver.
And we had this competition
and some people from Mercedes
asked me, if I could wait Ayrton at the airport.
We were having a 10, 15 minute time difference.
and I had a car, so I was waiting for him to bring him there.
It was the first time that we talked together,
and we had a long drive, something like two or three hours
So we had time to talk. We didn't talk very much
but he was... he looked impressed. He looked impressed
because I was driving very fast on the motorway in Germany.
He said, "You're driving faster"
It was nice, and we were quite close,
because he did not know anybody.
So he was always close to me during the first day.
And it was funny, because
he looked very open, very nice
and then we were starting the practice
and then we were fighting together for the pole position.
And I saw him, very, you know, very competitive.
I'm at the pole, he was second and then at the start
He went before the flag and I said to myself: "Shit."
"I have to take care of this guy"
That was in '84.
I didn't know we'll be teammates or whatever.
In Formula One your teammate is your biggest rival,
the first person to beat
because he is the only one who has a car equal to your own.
I can have the excuse that I run in the McLaren and the Ferrari is better
or I can be in the Ferrari when the McLaren is better, but I can't say
that my Ferrari is different from that of my teammate.
Usually early in his career
when a driver arrives in a team
his main rival is his teammate.
If he goes fatster than his teammate has a chance to move on.
If he doesn't accomplish this, it's the end of his career.
Prost had already won two world championships there.
He'd been there for several seasons,
he was extremely well-established in the team.
He thought of himself and he thought he got the team to think of him
as the number one driver in the team
the team leader.
The guy to whom most of their efforts were devoted.
But then Senna joined
and Senna was not going to accept a number two status that's for sure
He hadn't joined the team to be the supporting cast.
ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE MCLAREN DRIVERS
We are very confident that we have the best two drivers in the world
RON DENNIS MCLAREN TEAM MANAGER
And the two most professional drivers as well.
And if we're not consistently in the winning circle next year,
Then we certainly won't be able to put the blame on the drivers.
It is a great opportunity for me, professional,
And on a personal point of view I feel very happy to work together with Alain.
The first year at McLaren was a very decisive year in the life of Ayrton.
VIVIANE SENNA AYRTON'S SISTER
He was very nervous.
It was as if he bore the weight of the world on his shoulders
because they now had the responsibility
to demonstrate he was a first rate driver.
Before Senna arrived at McLaren
Alain Prost was considered the destroyer of team-mates.
I remember Jo Ramirez said to me:
"Reginald, I am very concerned
"What will happen with Ayrton Senna at McLaren.
"I know he has talent, but Prost is a fighter,
"He creates an atmosphere of war
"Which helps him to destroy his opponents,
"As he did with Keke Rosberg."
Using the word "destroy" in the technical sense.
Destroyed on the track, beating his opponent mentally.
I said to Jo Ramirez:
"Jo, with Senna it will be different.
"Because he has more talent than the other drivers
"Prost will look to divide the team."
And that's what happened.
Alain Prost was scared..
Despite all that Prost had in terms of talent,
understanding of race, intelligence
and cold blood, he was surprised
when he began racing with Ayrton. He would never have thought
a driver could be as good as Ayrton was.
1988
Ayrton, for the first time in his career has a car able of to be world champion
and does not want to let this chance going away.
-This is normal and this will push on. -What about you?
-For me it's a little bit different.
You mean you'll let it go?
I have a little more pressure... you put me more pressure.
I think you could see
VOICE OF RON DENNIS MCLAREN TEAM MANAGER
smiles, but at the same time, some slightly strange body language
as they realized just where they were and what was going to unfold.
Alain, who obviously, felt he was well nested down at McLaren,
And the young pretender coming in and clearly threatening that position.
Both had great intellect and both were very good racing drivers.
Beating each other, became far more challenging
than beating the rest of the field.
He had a target. That is obvious that when he arrived in Formula One he had a target.
And it was myself.
When I arrived in Formula One, I was happy to be there.
We had different top drivers. I've never had any target.
Anybody driver that I "I want to beat him!"
I had huge respect for the old drivers.
For Ayrton it was different. He really wanted to beat me.
He really wanted to be World Champion and beating me
That was really his strength,
that was a plus in his approach
because when you are a racing driver You want to have motivation.
MONACO GRAND PRIX 14 May 1988
1. A. SENNA 2. A. PROST DIFFERENCE: 55.114 secs
That day, I suddenly realized I was no longer driving conscious.
And I was in a different dimension for me.
The circuit for me was a tunnel Which I was just going. Going going
And I realize I was way beyond my conscious understanding.
Ayrton was multiple seconds into the lead. He had the race in hand.
67/78 LAPS
With only a handful of laps to go And he received a radio message that said
"You are so far in the lead." "Slow down."
Ayrton Senna has hit the wall.
Senna is in the barrier! He's out of the car ...
Ayrton Senna is out of his car and out of this race.
Ayrton Senna goes out of the lead of the Monaco Grand Prix.
Absolutely incredible!
A. PROST WINNER MONACO GP 1988
He never wanted beat me. He wanted to humiliate me.
VOICE OF ALAIN PROST
He wanted to show the people that he was much stronger
And much better. And that was his weakness.
His post-accident emotion was pure anger with himself.
And he couldn't cope with it. At all
He actually walked back to his apartment
and it was two or three hours before he surfaced.
I just came so close to perfection that weekend that I relaxed
I opened windows for mistakes And I learned that there
Since then, I progressively come back because I lost some confidence.
Progressively I fight back
and I got much stronger, after that incident.
Somehow, I got closer to God and that was very important for me as a man.
Monaco was the turning point in the '88 season
Ayrton went on an amazing run,
winning six of the next eight races
Putting him just ahead of Prost in the Championship
What happens now, you two?
Good fun, we will have good fun from now on.
Fighting. Maybe we will fight outside the car.
I think it's going to get more and more exciting, the Championship.
Is it possible to be equal in the Championship?
-No. -Shit.
There can be only one winner.
JAPANESE GRAND PRIX 30th OCTOBER 1988
It is the fifteenth Grand Prix of the season.
As the sun rises, Brazil will await the chequered flag
and for Ayrton Senna to win his first world title in Formula One,
realising a dream he had since he was a child.
The pressure was a matter.
VOICE OF PIERRE VAN VILET TF1 COMMENTATOR
He was in pole. He was going be world champion,
if he won the race. The pressure was huge.
We are about to start. Green light.
Senna does not start!
Senna remains on the grid!
Prost came out ahead while Ayrton Senna was left behind.
Ayrton Senna is in 14th place.
I thought, "So long title. It's over".
REGINALDO LEME GLOBO TV COMMENTATOR
"It's over."
He takes eighth place. An amazing comeback from Senna.
Then his favourite thing happened,
it began to rain.
Senna is now in fourth position.
Senna goes, goes, goes!
Senna is getting close. Senna is going to challenge for the lead.
Ayrton Senna overtakes Prost and onwards!
Ayrton Senna has got the lead.
I started giving thanks during the last lap.
I thanked God
It was incredible. I could not believe I was going to win the championship,
Despite all the anxiety and tension.
I felt God's presence.
I have seen God
It was a very special moment for me.
An indescribable feeling.
It remains engraved in my memory and as a part of me.
Ayrton Senna of Brazil!
World Champion 1988!
SAO PAULO
What an incredible race!
A great victory. He had to come from 16th place.
AYRTON SENNA WORLD CHAMPION 1988
Ayrton, how do you feel as World Champion?
I feel so much peace.
It is as if someone had removed a huge weight
from my shoulders and head.
It is difficult to understand what it means be a world champion.
What do you say about a man who says he has seen God in any circumstances
never mind on the last lap of a Grand Prix,
a few yards away from winning the World Championship.
Most people would be skeptical.
And I think most people would be right.
Senna did seem to be absolutely convinced
That he'd seen God. He didn't say what God was,
how God appeared to him in that moment,
but it's his right to say that.
He must have known that he would risk
looking...well not looking a fool but attracting skepticism.
And who are we to
challenge that really.. When anybody makes such a claim?
But certainly this is unique in the history of Grand Prix.
When we are talking about God,
First of all I believe in God too,
but would never use the same words Ayrton did.
If you are in the same team, doing the same business
and taking risks with the other drivers and team members,
this kind of thing does not make you very comfortable.
because it is not only believing in God,
but using that as a strength
having always, the right.
That is, he was thinking he was always right
and in this case, it could be dangerous, on the track
and i sometimes felt, not very comfortable.
Yes, there were many cynics
in Formula One
who challenged whether this was
and authentic and real
account of what he felt and what his values were.
But y'know, I was there to witness it very often
in private environments, and he was most defintely sincere.
This is how he felt.
He felt he was supported by
the God that he believed in
and why on earth would I
or should anybody, dissuade him from that belief?
Because he
was special, he was committed,
and his strong belief, for me, is a good thing, as long as they are positive ones.
SAO PAULO 15th NOVEMBER 1988
He is an amazing person, wonderful.
He is very humble and improves the image of Brazil abroad.
He shares his victory with us.
I admire him very much.
He is very brave man.
I just know this.
We are proud of him.
It is one of the few things that we can still be proud of.
Once, I asked Ayrton "When will you think about quitting?"
He said, "Mum, the day I am the champion I will stop."
In my heart, I knew that was not true.
We all know that.
SENNA FAMILY HOME VIDEO
SENNA'S FAMILY AND THE FAMILY OF TAMIN ANGRA
VIVIANE SENNA AYRTON'S SISTER
After the 1988 Championship, after he won the title,
We noticed that he had changed between the beginning and the end of the year.
Because he had found himself.
He had discovered who he was.
It was a process that reached its conclusion after his championship victory.
At Christmas, many things happen.
New friends are made,
like the person I'm about to introduce.
XUXA MENEGHEL BRAZILIAN TV STAR
He was part of my 1988.
Ayrton Senna.
Isn't he cute?
I have a few question for you.
I think everybody is excited, but none more than me,
It is not easy to talk. Ayrton is now my friend.
Ayrton, what do you want for Christmas?
As a Christmas present?
What I really want, I cannot say here!
Why not?
It should be censored. Let's say I just want to be happy.
Whisper it to me.
Happy New Year.
Happy 1990.
Happy '91.
Happy '92.
Happy '93.
1989
VOICE OF RON DENNIS MCLAREN TEAM MANAGER
1989 season was somewhat less harmonious than the year before
Both drivers took on different levels of aggression.
1 Ayrton Senna 2 Alain Prost
especially when racing each other.
It is curious
that the English term "teammate" is translated into the Portuguese "companheiros de equipe".
I've often used the term "Enemies of the team".
Because if you have two drivers, as in the case Prost and Ayrton,
as teammates, inevitably internal strife will arise.
As a journalist and as someone who was in
a TV production meeting, every weekend
talking about what's the story,
We loved the rivalry.
We loved it on the track, in the garage and in the motorhome afterwards
Ron was really behind Ayrton.
But I understood that very quickly
It's business. For him it's business, and I always understood.
When I was with Niki,
It was, I would say half and half at the beginning
and then he went, obviously, behind me,
because I was the new generation and Ayrton was,
when I was with him, the new generation.
Throughout their period in McLaren, they always had equality.
We would go at some points, to quite extreme lengths
Engine choice for example. Once we have determined
which two engines were going to be used in the race,
then it would be, literally, sort of a number out of the hat routine.
We put the two engine numbers in some sort of container,
then the drivers would alternate.
This was, probably
to eliminate the view
that Honda was selecting which engines went to whom.
But it was,
a degree of paranoia, because it didn't needed much.
A slightly better engine or slightly better set-up
that would determine who won the race.
and who became World Champion.
When it was Prost versus Senna in the same team,
you know, the romantics would certainly go with Senna.
and the pragmatists would go with Prost.
And Senna could be a bit cruel about it,
but there was some truth that
Prost was one of those that made excuses quite a lot,
which he never liked to hear from racing drivers.
He'd rather they just fessed up, y'know.
"The car wasn't good enough," "I wasn't quick enough on the day"
or "That's the way things goes sometimes,"
Prost would tend to go into the minutiae
why the car wasn't good enough or things had worked against him or..
You know,
even though every element of the explanation might have truth in it somehow,
It's unattractive. You don't want to hear it, actually.
That's when the gloves come off in the team.
VOICE OF JOHN BISIGNANO ESPN COMMENTATOR
That's when engineers stopped sharing information.
That's when drivers start looking over their shoulders to see
who's getting what from whom.
And Ayrton, with his love of truth,
wasn't as in tune as Alain Prost
with adding another dimension: the politics of sport.
Senna and Prost. Prost and Senna.
The order of the grid is always one or the other.
It is a war between them.
For the French driver Alain Prost,
he believes his teammate is unfair to him.
and these disagreements could affect the rest of the season.
Grand Prix after Grand Prix they were more and more distant from each other.
REGINALDO LEME GLOBO TV COMMENTATOR
Ayrton said: "This Frenchman is tough.
"He wants war."
After a little more time,
they became completely isolated and they didn't speak anymore.
JEAN-MARIE BALESTRE FIA PRESIDENT
Of course having French FIA president Jean-Marie Balestre
VOICE OF PIERRE VAN VILET TF1 COMMENTATOR
at that time was all for Alain because they were close
I remember Jean-Marie Balestre was the man in charge
when Senna was denied the chance to win the Monaco Grand Prix
in the Toleman, when he was a novice in Formula One.
Balestre was a very divisive figure. Very confrontational.
Argumentative and autocratic. Very autocratic.
And Balestre was still in charge in the late 80s
and right through to the beginning of the '90s,
when Prost and Senna had their famous collisions at Suzuka.
And Balestre was the man who attempted to sanction
and suspend, or whatever, Senna,
who felt that he was being discriminated against
there probably was some justification.
Mr. Balestre had the room beside me, on the other side,
I entered into the room and Balestre was there
and he came in to my room and we had a talk.
Don't forget that I
I had a very intense collaboration with
President Balestre for the safety.
But Ayrton was convinced
that it was a conspiration and the story starts like this.
and I am very sorry about that.
I would like to give a warm welcome to the President of FISA, Mr. Balestre.
Please, gentlemen.
JAPANESE GRAND PRIX PRE-RACE DRIVERS MEETING
All drivers in the world are looking at you in the TV
because they think, stupidly, that you are an example.
It is a big mistake, but they think like that.
I repeat.
No danger for the end of the World Championship.
Very clear.
Now depend you.
For me, the rest was very simple.
It was very, very clear that I was quicker.
And believe me or not, but I was playing with him, during this race
I was very fast. I knew that normally he could not overtake.
But I said to Ron and Ayrton, two or three races before Suzuka
because every time Ayrton, tried, especially at the start, to overtake me,
I open the door, because I do not want to have a crash.
I said to them:
"From now on, no way I will open the door, anymore
"We are fighting as ourselves, I don't care of the team spirit.
"I will fight for myself."
The Championship is neck to neck.
VOICE OF JOHN BISIGNANO ESPN COMMENTATOR
Senna has to win the Japanese Grand Prix
to keep the points battle going on till the last race.
Prost knows, that if Senna does not finish, he will be the Formula One champion.
JAPANESE GRAND PRIX 22nd OCTOBER 1989
On-board Camera of Ayrton Senna
Prost is first. Senna, second.
Prost jumped into the lead.
His start was better.
LAP 45 OF 53, CASIO CHICANE
LAP 46 OF 53, CASIO CHICANE
Here is an opportunity that Senna is looking for! And he's going through!
Oh my goodness! This is fantastic!
Finally they clash! It goes in the favour of Prost.
If the race ends like this, Prost wins the title.
But, for Ayrton Senna it is a win-win situation.
It is difficult to make people, when you are pro-Senna that
when you say "I did not do it on purpose."
To be honest I don't care so much, because
I promise you I did not do it on purpose. But I did not open the door
which is very different, especially in this corner.
But if you're not racing driver knowing the corner, knowing the track
and knowing the chicane, you cannot judge.
It's a waste of time to try to explain the situation.
It is my opinion. It was a race incident,
especially when you're fighting for the championship.
Knowing that if I wanted to open the door,
I could not make the chicane myself.
It was a little bit less than not yielding. The level of aggression
that caused the cars to collide.
Which was, let's say, motor racing.
But really it was what unfolded that was so wrong.
Nannini passes.
Nannini is now in the lead.
Senna is still in the pits.
Senna is back on track, but he is far behind Nannini.
Catching up is almost impossible.
It's all or nothing, five laps to go.
It will be a suicidal race for Senna, if he decides to try anything.
Then Prost saw Ayrton return to the race
REGINALDO LEME GLOBO TV COMMENTATOR
and immediately went to the stewards' office.
Nannini, first. Senna, second.
Senna tries to pass Nannini!
Senna is in the lead.
LAP 51 OF 53, CASIO CHICANE.
Waving Brazilian flags.
All stand up!
Ayrton Senna.
The checkered flag!
Senna celebrates in the cockpit.
AYRTON SENNA WINNER - JAPANESE GRAND PRIX
He hits his helmet. The Brazilian Ayrton Senna.
Visibly moved,
He raises his visor and wipes away a tear.
It is a fantastic victory.
I have never seen anything like it.
I went back to the pits,
and I saw Ayrton, pushed by the marshals and start again.
Obviously I was not happy,
and that's it I went into the garage, I had a very strong argument with Ron
and that's it.
Yes No, not ...
You have not gone before the control tower?
Garage. Or not.
According to me you went first to the tower.
Maybe to the tower.
Hello, you discussed with Ron at the tower.
The tower, yes, because Ron was already in the tower
and we had a strong argument there. But never,
at no situation I was, for example, in the tower
with Mr. Balestre alone.
That did not happen. But I read that many many times.
We had the argument,
I did not even enter the race control.
Maybe in 20 minutes.
Fuckin' hell.
A cup of tea?
There was no podium celebration immediately after the race.
REGINALDO LEME GLOBO TV COMMENTATOR
Nigel, Nigel, he missed the chicane.
He went through the slip road.
STEWARDS OFFICE
As the wait was prolonged, the more people feared that the decision was becoming political.
The decision taken by the team of FIA Commissioners
at the Grand Prix of Japan
is to exclude the number one car and its driver, Ayrton Senna,
from the final outcome of the race.
After the race, a giant screen has repeatedly shown the incident
and everything that happened to enable Senna's return to the track.
After reviewing these images, race officials have concluded
that Senna failed to use the chicane to resume racing
Senna has infringed Article 56 of the FIA regulations.
You are the world champion, Alain?
Apparently, yes.
I was not 100% sure. I know the regulation
but you never know how it's going to be interpreted.
But to be very honest, I am quite happy to leave,
Because I think it's become absolutely impossible to work with Ayrton.
And that's a good end for the Championship.
What I'd like to do now
is show you some footage which I think is quite relevant
because we're told you can't use escape roads to rejoin the race.
REPLAY AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX 1981
Escape roads are not for escaping through. They're in fact for stopping in,
turning round and going out of.
Very important to remember that there were no exclusions
No penalties. No disqualifications.
And for that, he's excluded from the Japanese Grand Prix?
Where is the consistency? It can't be right.
That was the first time that a team has done an appeal
and request against its own driver.
I was in this kind of mood where, honestly
I wanted to be world champion, but you know that anything was possible
and looking at your own team going so far,
I did not know what could happen.
Prost was very very political.
I think it's probably fair to say
that he was with several teams during his career.
and, I don't think his relationship with any of them ended happily.
Alain, you say that you took a normal racing line
But, I'd like to put it to you that from the aerial pictures,
you looked as if you turned in quite early.
It wasn't a normal line at all.
I won 39 races and now three championships
Do you think I would do something like this on purpose?
I had already turned from the corner
maybe a little earlier, if you want, but that was my corner.
FIA HEADQUARTERS - PARIS The Court of Appeals declares
a six-month license suspension for Senna.
A warning not only to Ayrton Senna but for all the drivers,
And a fine of $100,000.
While he is one of the best drivers in the world,
you have no right to cause stupid accidents.
The whole affair has been treated
is like I have total responsibility for everything that took place there
I was blamed for everything and I was penalized for everything.
I was treated like a criminal.
And this is totally unacceptable.
They took the Championship away from him
and they suspended his license, for a period.
To me it was the worst use of power, political power
in my fifteen years on the Formula One circuit.
And Ayrton would never forget it.
Alain Prost, somewhere, I know, deep down inside, was ashamed of it.
And the rule was actually changed later,
to allow what Ayrton did, to become legal, because of it.
That was quite a profound moment for Ayrton
because Balestre had behaved even worse than Prost.
VIVIANE SENNA
He even thought about giving up Formula One racing.
I left him alone for awhile, y'know.
VOICE OF RON DENNIS MCLAREN TEAM MANAGER
Then, gently persuaded him that if you are true to your values
if you believe that your values are, correct values,
then walking away from the dark forces
you'll face in life just doesn't become an option.
1990
In the 1990 season he came back wiser, the team is harmonious,
Prost has gone out of McLaren to Ferrari
and Senna is in a perfect position to compete for the title.
All drivers aspire towards their limits.
My limit is different from that of Prost. This is the reality.
Instead of trying to improve his own capacity,
he found it easier to attack me.
Ayrton has a small problem. He believes that he can't kill himself,
because he believes in God and things like this.
I think it is very dangerous for the other drivers.
The fact that I believe in God, the fact that I have faith in God,
is not to say that I am immortal,
It does not mean that I am immune from danger, as has been said.
I'm afraid of hurting me just like everyone else,
especially driving in Formula One, where the threat is constant.
SPANISH GRAND PRIX 30th SEPTEMBER 1990
MARTIN DONNELLY LOTUS
Is that him?
Who is it?
Martin Donnelly.
I was in the pits. The practice was stopped.
I hear from different people there was an accident. It was Donnelly.
It was bad. It was too bad. It was a disaster.
And I decided to go to the place to see myself.
A million things went through my mind. In the end,
I realized I was not going to give up my passion.
Having just seen what I had seen
And I had to put myself together
And walk up, go to the racing car and do it again
and do it again, and do it even better than before.
Because that was the way to kind of cover that impact it had on me.
I was just not ready to give up. As much as I was scared to continue
I was not ready to give up my aim, my target, my objective,
my passion, my dream, my life. This is my life.
AYRTON SENNA 1:19.844 POLE POSITION
As far as I hear he is out of danger, life danger
which is a lot, considering the accident.
And as it happened to him, it can happen to any of us.
There are somethings that you can calculate
but there are things that are unexpected.
And those unexpected things are the most dangerous ones
like it happened to him today.
I hope we don't see those things in the future
JAPANESE GRAND PRIX 21st OCTOBER 1990
Amazingly, for the third time in a row
the championship hinged on the race in Japan.
But this time, if Prost didn't finish, Ayrton would be champion.
Gentlemen, good morning.
The number of laps from green light to checkered flag will be 53 laps
PRE-RACE MEETING FOR DRIVERS
Dangerous behavior and / or dangerous maneuvers
will be investigated immediately
and may lead to the suspension of your license
for one or more Formula One World Championship events
Any questions?
There was a big fuck up last year with Ayrton.
NELSON PIQUET WORLD CHAMPION 1981, 1983, 1987
Why have to repeat the same thing?
The safe thing,
is if you take the chicane, is the stewards stop you.
When no traffic, let you go.
If you have to turn around and go back toward
against another car that's dangerous!
Okay.
Does everybody feel that way?
Yes. Yes.
-Thank you. -Thank you very much.
I can't stand it. I can't stand it. This is a joke.
After what happened last year, it's a joke, this situation
You just proved here, I said nothing, and you see somebody raising point.
and you see everybody agrees. Last year was really bad for me.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry, but I can not stay.
The story down in the pit lane and on the grid is one of tension
With the world championship up for grabs, everyone is extremely tense.
Ayrton Senna actually walked out of the drivers meeting today
He thinks that the pole position should be
on the left-hand side of the grid, not on the right.
If the inside was clean, inside for sure is better
But it is dirty. The outside is better Like Hungary, or like uhh..
The racing line is the line where the cars most normally drive
VOICE OF JOHN BISIGNANO ESPN COMMENTATOR
It is the fastest line around the track
It's really important to have pole position on the racing line
If you are on the opposite side you are on a part of the track that is rarely used,
and has half the grip.
If you are second, you would get away better
not on the inside
because inside there is no grip.
We will have a look.
Yes, please.
But would the Chief Steward, would the FIA, would Balestre, agree?
Ayrton Senna will be in pole position for tomorrow's Japanese Grand Prix.
Prost was second fastest.
VOICE OF RON DENNIS MCLAREN TEAM MANAGER
Pole position was his
and then suddenly, pole position was mysteriously
moved to the dirty side of the circuit which he felt was unjust.
VOICE OF AYRTON SENNA
That decision, influenced by Balestre.
I know that. We know that.
I was fucked, many times by the system.
I told myself: Today, there is no way.
"Today has to be my way.
"I don't care what happens, it has to be my way."
GREEN LIGHT
And Senna sprints away
but Alain Prost takes the lead! Exactly!
Senna is trying to go through on the inside
And a collision!
Clashed.
Senna has been hit.
Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna have come together again
and they are both off the race track! This is unbelievable!
If the race continues, the title would have been decided
I wonder if we'll see the red flag.
We haven't seen any yet
So it looks as if the race will continue.
The Championship is over.
Ayrton Senna is the world champion of 1990.
That's a very sad way for this year's world championship to finish.
I circled around the back of the tower
and I was standing right in an illegal place
at the pit entrance.
And as soon as Ayrton crossed the line into the pits,
I came over the wall
and in my ear,
All the way back in Bristol, Connecticut they were saying:
"Ask him about the incident" "Ask him about the crash"
"Ask him about who did what to whom."
Can you tell us what happened on the first lap, Ayrton?
Well, unfortunately we touched in the first corner,
AYRTON SENNA BRA F1 WORLD CHAMPION 1990
when we were fighting for the lead, and we both went off
You think that's because the pole position
was on the wrong side of the track? You wanted it changed.
Absolutely! You break your *** to be on pole
and then they put you on the wrong side of the circuit
How do you feel about being world champion?
It's not a bad feeling at all is it?
Congratulations.
VOICE OF RON DENNIS MCLAREN TEAM MANAGER
What was very clear was, Ayrton when he got back,
his body language, his mannerisms, showed that he was in massive conflict
He was certainly not proud of himself.
Certainly not revelling in the fact that
this had determined the World Championship.
Formula One World Championship for Drivers, Ayrton Senna
FIA AWARDS PARIS 1990
Welcome the world champion, Ayrton Senna.
He knew I was right with him,
He moved to the inside line, going towards the first corner.
I was chasing him then, and he opened a gap.
And knowing me, like he does know,
he must realize that if there was a gap, I will try to overtake him.
Okay. Let me ask you another difficult question.
If I were to count back all the world champions,
JACKIE STEWART FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPION 1969, 1971, 1973
the number of times they had made contact with other drivers
that you, in the last 36, 48 months,
have been in contact with more other cars and drivers
than they might have done in total.
I find amazing for you to make such a question, Stewart.
because you are very experienced and you know a lot about racing.
And you should know that by being a racing driver
you are under risk, all the time.
By being a racing driver means you are racing with other people.
And if you no longer go for a gap that exists,
you are no longer a racing driver.
Because we are competing. We are competing to win.
And the main motivation to all of us, is to compete for victory
It's not to come third, fourth, fifth or sixth.
But hasn't that always been the case?
But I think it's all irrelevant. All you are saying Jackie,
is irrelevant.
Because I am a driver that won more races than anybody in the past three years.
I'm a driver that has been on pole position more than anybody in history.
And I'm a driver that won two titles in the last three years.
I don't think ... How... I cannot comprehend how
how you can try to turn things around
To say that I've been involved in more accidents than anybody
Because that is not true as well!
The rivalry between Ayrton and Prost
is the biggest rivalry I've ever seen in sports
throughout my career. That was over 38 years in Formula One,
I was involved in football, World Championships, Olympic Games
and worked in many other areas,
but I've never seen a rivalry similar to that between Prost and Ayrton.
It was a rivalry involving everything.
There were criticisms, especially by Prost,
in relation to the behavior of Ayrton as a person.
But he really was a pure product of kart racing.
He brought to Formula One a way of racing that,
until that time, was particular to karts,
Which was a very no compromise kind of approach to racing.
Head to head against your rivals
and physical contact between the machines was okay, was fine in karts
It was safe enough.
But to bring that into cars was something quite different.
And I think that was one of the things that shocked his slightly older rivals.
There weren't used to that.
The kind of etiqutte they had grown up with was different.
It was rooted in the belief that you didn't make contact,
with another rival's car,
because if you did that you're likely to die.
Two of the greatest champions in the history of Formula One
ended up in the sand. Championship ruined.
They accuse each other, but Prost was the hardest.
His reaction was violent.
I wanted to punch him in the face, but I was so disgusted
that I did not succeed.
It makes me feel sick.
Senna versus Prost which went on for a couple of seasons more
was just absolutely wonderful for Formula One.
The television ratings improved. Everything went up.
People talked about it.
It was controversial, shocking and fascinating.
The success of the sport also grew y'know.
Even commercially. Bernie Ecclestone was very clever
the way he distributed television.
But, keep an audience you need personalities
and of course the Prost-Senna story was a big hit.
And Ayrton became very famous outside the sport
through the impact of Formula One on TV.
I feel sorry for the people because ...
Sent her away.
They are nice people and it is not nice to see them being pushed away.
I feel so sorry.
In Brazil, it was very different.
The People were unhappy under their regime ruling them.
Poverty was just, desperate.
So his appeal there at a hard time was extraordinary.
The situation in Brazil was very negative and depressing.
VIVIANE SENNA AYRTON'S SISTER
But many times, when Ayrton won,
instead of trying to hide his Brazilian origins, as others did,
he did the opposite, waving the flag of his country.
He took it inside the car every Sunday.
He was an inspiration to people. That's why they loved him so much.
Attending a Brazillian Grand Prix
There's nothing like it.
And when Ayrton Senna is on top
it is just an out-of-body experience to be involved
to be in the paddock, to be on the grid.
People ask me:
"What was your greatest experience in your fifteen years on the Formula One circuit? "
And they're amazed that I say:
"The first time that the race went back to Sao Paulo,
'To Interlagos. "
Senna is on pole position
The start of the race
and there's 300,000 Brazilian fans, at that circuit,
singing "Olé, olé, olé! Senna, Senna!"
When the engines started, you could not hear the engines, right next to you
for the sound of the fans, singing his praise.
Singing with love, for his accomplishments
and for their love of the person.
He wanted to win the Brazilian Grand Prix.
He wanted to win his own Grand Prix
and here it is, seven years into his career
and he has not won the most meaningful race
1991
Ayrton had never won the Grand Prix of Brazil.
REGINALDO LEME GLOBO TV COMMENTATOR
Since he entered Formula One he always dreamed of winning in his home country.
BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX 21st MARCH 1991
The Brazilian Grand Prix has begun.
Red light. Green light.
A good start.
Come on, Senna!
Senna is in command.
Lap 54/67
Ayrton pulled out a lead.
He was then really faced with a easy race win.
VOICE OF RON DENNIS MCLAREN TEAM MANAGER
Here's Senna. It's starting to rain.
It's raining. It must stop.
And then the gearbox jammed
and he was faced with several laps to go
only having a sixth gear.
7 LAPS REMAINING
It seems impossible to drive a Formula One car stuck in sixth gear.
REGINALDO LEME GLOBO TV COMMENTATOR
Ayrton wanted to stop. He could no longer drive it.
But he had already tried many times to win the Brazilian Grand Prix
and found a special force within himself.
The last corner. And Senna crosses the line.
Go for the win!
Ayrton, Ayrton ... The Brazilian Ayrton Senna!
In the lead from start to finish, he wins at lnterlagos!
A wonderful victory for Senna.
A. SENNA - Winner GP BRASIL 1991
VOICE OF AYRTON SENNA
No way!
God damn it, I won!
"Prost, son of a bitch"
He won and then fainted.
REGINALDO LEME GLOBO TV COMMENTATOR
It was his most heroic moment.
Because of the tremendous physical effort,
I had muscle spasms of my shoulder and neck.
The pain was tremendous.
The physical and mental stress this weekend was unheard of.
But could there be only one result.
I finished the race with no more energy.
What's wrong?
The shoulders, the shoulders.
It's just my shoulders.
Come here, Dad. Come on.
Come here.
Touch floor.
Do not touch me.
Quiet, Ayrton.
Don't touch me.
Need help?
Bring the flag for me
Today, I fought hard.
I wanted to finish the race and finish in first position,
because He is the greatest
and He will give me this race after all.
That's what happened.
It is God who gave me this race and I'm happy.
It was thrilling.
All hail the Brazilian Senna for his victory. Congratulations.
I thank all of Brazil. I thank all the fans.
This weekend I felt so much warmth around me
that we could not do anything but win.
It could not have been any other way.
And we did.
SENNA FAMILY HOUSE, SAO PAULO
Life can be very difficult in Brazil. You have...
In Brazil you have all the extremes. You have the fantastic nature.
You can have all the good material things that money can buy.
But at the same time, You have lots of problems.
Social problems, poverty. Some violence, as a consequence.
I try to help
a little bit, for children
Ayrton was so well known in Brazil
VIVIANE SENNA AYRTON'S SISTER
there were a lot of people asking for help
for personal problems. Sometimes hospitals
and charities sought his support and donations.
Ayrton gave donations and tried to work things out.
But did not want to make random donations.
He wanted to develop a whole thing, something organized and structured
to help Brazil, especially the children.
Ayrton in '91 was in great form.
VOICE OF JOHN BISIGNANO ESPN COMMENTATOR
I think it was his strongest year.
He won seven races, Constantly on pole position.
His intensity was every bit as high as ever.
But there just seemed to be a further...wisdom.
Further bit of growth.
MEXICAN GRAND PRIX 14th JUNE 1991
But then the car bit him hard.
For the first time, he really thought he could be hurt in a Formula One car.
A neurological examination
VOICE OF PROFESSOR SID WATKINS F1 DOCTOR
detected the chest, and the blood pressure, and the abdomen
and the limbs.
-How do you feel about this..? -He's fine.
-No problems to worry about? -No. That's all. No.
VOICE OF PROFESSOR SID WATKINS F1 DOCTOR
It's the deepest personal relationship I've ever had with any driver
Whenever I got to the circuit and ran into Senna
he was usually being interviewed or surrounded by people.
As soon as he saw me his face would always light up, in a beautiful grin.
It had wonderful humility,
which is not common among racing drivers
-Okay. -It was a pleasure.
Be careful.
You still have so much to do.
Yes, important.
Questions? Yes
GERMAN GRAND PRIX 28th JULY 1991
We talked about the chicanes and the barriers
that we have there with the tyres.
You happen to hit those tyres
it is very likely the tyres throw you up in the air
and you end up rolling
That's what happened with me in Mexico
and that can happen here with other people.
I agree that for the moment
is not the ideal thing to have done.
ROLAND BRUYNSERAEDE RACE DIRECTOR
The President has told yesterday with Mr. Mosley.
No, no, no. Forget Mr. Mosley.
And he has...
Forget it.
Okay. The president of the FISA...
No, forget the president.
We speak of the issue raised by Mr. Senna,
what we do today For the race.
For the race, we cannot do anything
I think it's better to not have those tyres there
I happened to lose the braking point in the first chicane yesterday
Let me finish. Let me finish.
As I went straight. It was blocked you know
and I couldn't turn back.
If we remove the tires, we must place the cones.
Yeah, okay. In that way, there is a run-off there
Yes
No, you must restart with the same point.
Because you must respect the distance of the race
We cannot come back.
I'm sorry, but this regulation.
It is written in the regulation. We got the letter yesterday.
Page three.
Here. The last two paragraphs.
Very good, penalty for her.
Jean-Marie, is the same thing.
No problem, Ayrton. No problem.
Whatever is the decision, it is the right decision to make
You must understand.
The best decision is my decision.
I have a feeling for that.
No, because you don't know my decision.
It's the best, everytime, my decision.
And my decision is
Democratic vote. Only the drivers.
By hand.
Who are in favor we replace the tyre by the cones?
Raise your hand.
Stop.
Against?
Abstain? Everybody agree, okay.
Immediately, the wall will replace the tyre by the cone, okay.
3 HOURS LATER
Alain, what happened going into that chicane?
I tried to overtake Senna. It was ...
Blocked me during the whole race, not very correct.
I think everyone knows Prost by now.
He always complain either by the car, or the tyres,
the team, or the mechanics, or the fuel, or the other drivers or the circuit.
There's always somebody else blame, it's never his fault.
Yes, no problem.
So I have nothing to lose. I can't win the championship,
but if I find him again, the same way, I push him out.
Prost was sacked from Ferrari because he had criticized the car.
VOICE OF RICHARD WILLIAMS SPORTS JOURNALIST, THE GUARDIAN
The only thing he could do, really, was take a year off
telling everybody he was on a sabbatical.
My favorite part of a Grand Prix was the starting grid
and used to do the pit walk and walk down the center of the grid
and give an update on every team that was on the grid.
Now, I don't know if it was because
I was getting closer to the front of the grid
or close to the start of the race
but I swear to you, as a fact,
when I stood next to Ayrton Senna's car
at certain times, the hair would stand up...on my arms.
There was an energy, there was a force,
There was a spirit in that cockpit
that you could not find around any other car on that grid.
It was absolutely electrifying.
JAPANESE GRAND PRIX 19th OCTOBER 1991
If I finish second place, The championship will be over.
If Mansell does not win,
then, it's almost certain that the championship will be over as well.
LAP 9 OF 53
Mansell tries to overtake, but he goes straight on.
Mansell goes straight on!
The Championship is over. Mansell cannot get out of the gravel trap.
AYRTON SENNA THREE-TIME WORLD CHAMPION
Ayrton Senna of Brazil, three-time Formula One World Champion!
A lifetime dedicated to this moment
by a genius of international sport.
Three-time world champion and many other titles ahead of him.
And only 31 years of age.
33 wins, three world titles.
Breaking record after record. He celebrates as only Senna can do.
The third world title puts Senna among the greatest of all time.
It is very special for me.
Thank you so much.
SAO PAULO 5th NOVEMBER 1991
I followed Senna, walked with him
on the streets of many countries around the world,
especially to get to the circuits, such as in Japan,
where there is a one kilometer walk to reach the hotel
and to reach the circuit you must cross an amusement park
And I thought: "How can a person be worshipped in this way?"
It was a worship without limits.
I kissed the hands of Senna, the left hand of Senna, three-times world champion.
I want to Senna. I want to hug him and kiss him.
I have got a box with photos and newspaper articles.
Everything you can imagine.
He is the only good thing in Brazil, right?
After that third world championship I saw another Senna.
He was very satisfied, very confident. He knew the sport better than ever.
He had saw with real eyes for the good and the bad
and he still loved it, as much as anyone in the paddock.
It is a wonderful party.
Anything goes. What matters is happiness.
Have you spoken about Formula One today?
Formula One is too rigid. Today is Carnival.
Have any of your girls ever told you: "Faster, Ayrton?
Yes
Ayrton acheiving the third world title
was the culmination of a script he had written for himself
well before entering Formula One,
because he knew he could do it and could do even more.
The great idol of sport in Brazil.
With the third title, he became the world's great sporting idol.
There is a great desire in me on improving.
Getting better. Better makes me happy.
In retirement I feel I am slowing down my learning process
my learning curve is getting flatter, whatever
Then, it doesn't make me very happy.
And that applies not only as a professional, as a racing driver but as a man.
Of course,
I shall have a lot more to learn as a man than as a racing driver,
because my career could last not many years
My life, hopefully, would still go for a long time.
Maybe I'm only at the half of my life right now, so...
There is a lot to go, a lot to learn, a lot to do still, in life.
And happiness will come when I feel complete, as a whole.
which definitely I don't feel today.
But I have plenty of time to fulfil that too.
1992
For the next season, the level of competition was distorted
by what was going on, technically, with Williams' car.
The car balanced itself. Each corner was controlled by computer.
All the driver had to do was put his right foot down and go as fast as possible.
So in a car without that you were at a serious disadvantage.
McLaren still well off the Williams-Renault pace.
with that result the three times world champion Ayrton Senna
has no chance of retaining his title.
When you go into this sort
electronic war
you can find yourself completely stuck.
The eletronics do a given situation.
And no matter who you put in the car,
NIGEL MANSELL WORLD CHAMPION 1992
the eletronics will do the work and not the driver.
I do not think that is really what you want
to have a truly World Championship
of drivers.
The negotiations were lengthy
and we still do not know who will be Prost's teammate.
The three-time world champion has signed
a two-year contract with Williams
and during the week will begin testing the car.
The only thing I asked in the contract was that
I did not want to be a teammate with Ayrton.
VOICE OF ALAIN PROST
It has to be clear.
And they have accepted that, very quickly
saying no, it was not our intention.
This was the only thing I asked in the contract
because I wanted to be world champion
and do not want to lose the opportunity.
I that when I drove the car in September, in Estoril
and the first few laps, it was wet
and the car was absolutely unbelievable.
I have never driven a car like this in my whole career.
But, yeah.
that car at that time was a good second, minimum a good second quicker.
It is no secret that I'd been
trying very hard to get some...
some deal with Williams.
The situation is very complex.
It is...
It's not nice, it's not clear either.
I'm pretty sure of one thing:
I'm the one that has more to lose
Because I'm at an age near the peak of my career
and the number of years in the career of a Formula One driver is limited.
So if I stop, I'd lose out more than anyone else,
at both professionally and personally.
ADRIANE GALISTEU
1993
In 1993, Ayrton drove his car so brilliantly.
For me, it was his best season.
BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX 1993
EUROPEAN GRAND PRIX 1993
He did accomplish, some of his greatest drives.
MONACO GRAND PRIX 1993
even though he spent most of his time looking at the back of that Williams,
which was much faster than his.
French racing driver Alain Prost
has won the Formula One World Drivers Championship for the fourth time ...
Prost won the championship and duly retired,
Thus getting out of the way.
It seems like a little goodbye from you to McLaren.
Do you think it was the last season for McLaren?
I think so. I think it will be my last season.
Now, I have a three-year contract
And then I had a moment in July
I have a phonecall from Frank and said:
"I need to talk to you. I have a big pressure from Renault
"And I need to talk to you about something."
I said, 'Okay, Frank. I think I know what you want to talk about.
"But I'm on holiday." And four or five days holiday.
"If the Renault people want to talk to me,
"They come see me."
And in fact he come himself, with his plan
came to see me and trying to explain to me that
Renault they are thinking of having Ayrton in the team with me there,
after.
I said, 'Okay. That is not fair. We have a contract.
"Just thinking of that is not fair, in the middle of the season.
"Let's be fair. Lets wait a little bit"
"A few races, and we'll see what happens. "
And in fact I'm going to tell you something that
nobody knows, or very few people know,
but it is good to talk about this.
I did not want to be a teammate with Ayrton's again.
I did not want to continue with the perception of people saying:
"Ayrton is the poor guy with the small car,
"When Alain he wins it's normal, because he has the best car. "
Then I said: "Well, you want Ayrton and I understand very well.
"But you pay me for the contract for the next year, and I stop."
I did not want to stop.
I really did not want to stop. But to see a situation going again,
especially in your own country,
going in this direction again,
I took my decision myself, very quickly.
But I wanted to tell them just one month or two month later
Because I wanted to be world champion.
I did not want to lose the opportunity.
When I saw that I was going to be world champion,
I said, "Okay. You pay the contract and I stop. I've had enough. Okay? "
That's what I had done. I did not want to stop.
I stopped Formula One, only because of that.
Otherwise I wanted to continue.
Ayrton fought so hard to win at Monaco, but did not make it,
fought to win at Suzuka, but did not make it,
and when he was struggling to get into Williams
he thought it was the end of his career.
Sometimes it makes no sense ... We always say
that we must fight for our ideals, for what we want out of life.
But sometimes the battles do not bring the desired results.
AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX FINAL RACE OF 1993
We try to do the best we can
Of course.
We put behind us, what had happened.
Sure.
Good.
Even without you saying anything, that was my goal.
Yeah, okay.
Even if we didn't talk at all
I wouldn't change ... I do exactly as I've always tried.
VOICE OF MARK FOGARTY F1 JOURNALIST
Ayrton, what did Ron Dennis say to you when you first stepped down from the car?
It's never too late to change your mind.
But anyway he said he was happy for me and...
It's funny. That's what he told me as well.
That's Ron.
And I said you know, we must keep the good times, the good moments,
and lets finish that way. Finish with the good things.
It was Senna's last race for McLaren
Prost's last race with Williams.
And although nobody knew at that time,
it was the last time either of them were on the podium.
AYRTON SENNA WINNER AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX
But from this moment, where I am on the podium,
close to him, on the same level,
he has changed completely.
He was really another person,
You have before this podium, and then you have after this podium.
It was absolutely unbelievable.
It was a different person,
different driver, in my opinion,
and different personality.
He just behaved completely different.
At the press conference,
It was lucky that we had all the TVs waiting for us
but he was talking and speaking, asking question to me all the time
talking as he had never talked before.
It was certainly right to go to McLaren after Lotus.
That was absolutely the right choice.
And to pit himself against Alain Prost
was a very brave and very shrewd thing to do.
Shrewd because he knew, or he believed,
that he was better than Prost
and, by measuring himself against the man who was,
accepted as the yardstick of Formula One at the time,
he could prove for good and all, his own qualities.
So, he could see that there was
another team that had a better car than McLaren,
and the best car by a mile in the early '90s.
In '92 they walked the World Championship with Nigel Mansell
and in '93 they walked it with Prost.
So he wanted to be in that car in '94.
And that was where his instinct let him down.
Probably, given the known factors, given the parameters,
it was the right decision.
And you would go back and look at the conditions
and you make exactly the right decision.
Exactly that decision. It happened to be the wrong one.
But there was no way he could have known that,
until he actually stepped into the Williams car for the first time in '94.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna.
ANNOUNCEMENT OF WILLIAMS DRIVERS
Ayrton is arguably the best driver available, the best driver currently racing.
FRANK WILLIAMS
The team is geared to being successful.
All our partners, investors and sponsors expect that of us.
Ayrton is therefore, the best piece of equipment, if you like,
that we can put into the machine to deliver, to our requirements.
The lnternational Motorsports Federation
has banned some of the controversial computer devices
which help drivers in Formula One motor racing.
The ban is designed to stop the domination of the richest Formula One teams like
1994
Williams-Renault, the World Champions.
For Ayrton Senna, it is a race against time.
He has to attune himself to be an integral part of the team and adapt to the new car.
He says he is not yet comfortable.
The car no longer has the electronic components used last year.
He is without traction control, special brakes and active suspension.
The cars are much less stable
without the electronically controlled suspension.
As a result, they are more difficult to drive
and it is very likely that more cars will leave the track.
So we might see more cars crashing, giving more excitement to the audience.
Also for us, as long as nothing happens to the drivers.
Otherwise, it is not a good situation.
Senna in second place.
BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX 27th MARCH 1994
Almost 8 seconds between them now.
LAP 56 OF 71
We are certainly not happy with the way,
PATRICK HEAD CHIEF ENGINEER WILLIAMS
things are with the car, right as they are at this moment.
The handling isn't particularly good.
PACIFIC GRAND PRIX 17th APRIL 1994
The cars weren't supposed to have any of the electronic aids
that they had the previous year.
But Senna became convinced
that the Benetton being driven by Michael Schumacher
MICHAEL SCHUMACHER BENNETTON FORD - WINNER
who had won the first two races of the season, had retained some of those,
FLAVIO BRIATORE BENETTON TEAM MANAGER
particularly, the traction control, the thing that eliminates the wheelspin.
It didn't stack up that he was being blown away by the Benetton.
He wanted us to protest,
VOICE OF FRANK WILLIAMS TEAM MANAGER WILLIAMS
but we didn't do it.
SAN MARINO GRAND PRIX, IMOLA APRIL 1994
If he carried with him any emotion, going into that race,
that was different from previous races,
it would probably had been the frustration
of knowing that his principal rival was driving a car
with an illegal system on it.
That would always incense his sense of fair play.
I would put anything that was
abnormal about his behavior,
down to that knowledge and belief.
I must say that what he said, because I cannot judge myself.
but was convinced the Benetton was cheating.
He was very upset and he was in big trouble because of that
Again, not very happy with the car...The performance of the car
So he was obviously not very happy,
saying that he could not find the motivation
Many times he told me: "I can not be motivated against Michael,
"Against other drivers."
It really like
if he had lost his passion,
he had problems with the car, problems with the team, safety.
maybe some small personal problems, possible.
But he had lost his skilling.
And that was very surprising.
It was very apparent to me, and to several other people aro und Ayrton.
Josef, his trainer and probably one of his closest friends,
Sid Watkins, all three of us
for different reasons, very quickly formed the opinion
that Ayrton quickly regretted leaving the team.
Not specifically because of competitiveness or uncompetitiveness,
but more because he didn't expect to find himself in such a different culture,
and one which was quite alien to the way he was.
We are here starting from zero. So basically, the championship starts here.
It's not a comfortable position to be in, but that's the reality.
You've won here three times already. You really do need to make it four.
I would love to.
FRIDAY 29th APRIL 1994
Senna was so nervous that weekend. I had never seen him so tense.
REGINALDO LEME GLOBO TV COMMENTATOR
I never saw him smile even for a moment.
He maintained a bemused, bored, even a sad demeanour.
It is the balance.
It is unstable.
The car has worsened.
Is it generally one more balanced than the other?
or is it constantly changing?
There's abit more understeer.
In the first round, tended to understeer.
Then, in the second, has changed abruptly.
Oversteer and understeer?
Yes
Instead of mid-corner,
it breakaways at the entrance
When it's supposed to breakaway, it breaks more.
He was getting into a car, that was like kind of a unbroken code if you like.
It had a lot of problems, a lot of vices.
that needed to be worked on and ironed out.
some of them seemed pretty fundamental.
One of the thing that a driver hates, above all else
is a car that changes its behavior in the middle of a corner.
There are two things, oversteer and understeer.
Oversteer is what we used to call the four-wheel drift, y'know.
When you steer the car with the throttle and then
and you turn the steering wheel to balance it.
in such a way that you appear to be going in the opposite direction
from where you want to go, but actually the car drifts
slides around the corner.
Understeer is when you have to put more steer in on than you expect.
to get round a corner.
The worse thing... Most of the cars
has the characteristic of one or the other,
but really bad cars had both.
And they change from one to the other in the blink of an eye
in the middle of a corner, when you least want it to happen.
And that's very very disturbing for a driver, because it destroys his faith
in the integrity of the car.
And that's absolutely crucial, to particularly Formula One,
to developing,
for the driver to develop, that complete trust
in the car's temperament and behaviour.
And it was very clear in the beginning of the '94 season
that Williams absolutely did not have that.
It had the really unpleasant characteristic of changing its balance.
And that takes a lot of sorting out.
We say by the end of the season that Williams had sorted it out.
Damon Hill was winning races, challenging for the title.
And for the next season and the two seasons after that.
in '96 and '97, Williams won the title again
because they had gone through that bad period.
But Senna's arrival coincided with that period
and I think that was very... that was very disturbing to him
because he had gone there expecting something else.
He had gone there expecting to walk into a championship winning car
Instead of which he found himself with the serious job of
helping the engineers
purge the car of its vices and make it competitive again.
RUBENS BARRICHELLO JORDAN
Do you know Ayrton or should I introduce you?
We met four years earlier. I already met him.
Knew him by name, or in person?
I know him because I follow Formula One and then we met in person.
Why are you so nervous, then?
When we stand next to a person like him we always become emotional.
Good luck to the champion and the future champion.
RUBENS BARRICHELLO QUALIFYING
Fuck.
REPLAY
You'd seen Rubens?
He's alright, he's alright He is shocked, of course, but he's alright.
You talk to him?
Yes
Get well, Rubens.
SATURDAY 30th APRIL 1994
When I arrived at Imola
And the first thing I see when the screen
where he has recorded the... "Alain, we miss you."
Or maybe: "We miss you, Alain."
"To my friend, Alain. We miss you." Or: "I miss you."
I'm very happy.
Honestly, it's maybe the best thing he has done, to me.
Because this message is very important.
Because..not only because it happened, unfortunately,
the day before he died.
When you are ...
Try to put yourself in the driver's head and the driver's position.
When you do that, why, would Ayrton think about myself
at that this time of the day?
I always thought about that, and it is unbelievable to me.
This message is very strong.
And it has been something really important to me.
Ayrton was still uncomfortable in the new relationship.
VOICE OF JOHN BISIGNANO ESPN COMMENTATOR
and he was very uncomfortable with the car.
But he struggled and put it on pole position.
Damn.
I must regain control of myself.
ROLAND RATZENBERGER SIMTEK DRIVER
I do things with the car that no one ...
Throwing it around about..
ROLAND RATZENBERGER SIMTEK
320 km/h?
Ladies and gentlemen, the San Marino Grand Prix organizers
IMOLA NEWSROOM
has received a report from the Maggiore Hospital in Bologna
that the driver of car number 32, MTV Simtek Ford, Roland Ratzenberger
succumbed to injuries sustained in the accident
which took place at Imola circuit
during Saturday qualifying pracitce, April the 30th.
It was the first time that we had to face a death from our own driver for our generation.
VOICE OF PIERRE VAN VILET TF1 COMMENTATOR
The atmosphere was very heavy that afternoon,
Everyone was thinking: "But what are we doing here?"
Or: "What's the point?"
VOICE OF PROFESSOR SID WATKINS F1 DOCTOR
Ayrton got very very upset and cried.
And that's when I said to him:
"You know, Ayrton, you've been three-time world champion
"You're the fastest man in the world."
And he liked fishing, "Why don't you quit?
"And I'll quit and we'll just go fishing."
He said, "Sid, I can't quit."
REGINALDO LEME GLOBE F1 COMMENTATOR
That Saturday, at dinner, Frank Williams was not at all sure
that Senna would be present on the grid.
I was sure that he did not want to compete.
The last time I saw Ayrton was that Sunday.
He was very agitated.
Some friends went to talk to him.
He was very agitated, was going from the Williams motor home to the pits.
Back and forth. Before I take my position in the commentary box,
I always ask questions about strategy to
Brazilian drivers and others who are near.
Some respond, others do not
but they reveal some information
I can report to the public during the race.
I expected to be able to ask Ayrton some questions, but could not.
I realized that this was not the time for such an interview.
SUNDAY 1st MAY 1994
That morning when I awoke,
VIVIANE SENNA AYRTON'S SISTER
God asked me to speak to him.
He opened the Bible and read a passage that said
God would give him the greatest gift of all,
that of God himself.
A collision.
Everyone swerves around. Look.
REPLAY
Lamy arrives at full speed.
Lehto is stopped.
JJ LEHTO BENETTON
A nasty collision. Lamy and Lehto have had no luck.
PEDRO LAMY LOTUS
The safety car goes on track.
SAFETY CAR
They told me that Ayrton had confessed to someone before the race
that he would carry an Austrian flag in his overalls.
In victory, or if he was on the podium, which was very likely,
he wanted to show the flag as a tribute to Roland Ratzenberger.
Lights out on the safety car.
It means that the safety car is about to come into the pits.
Starting again. Senna is in the lead.
Schumacher is second.
On the sixth lap, Michael Schumacher is trying to put pressure on Senna.
IN CAR CAMERA AYRTON SENNA LAP 6 OF 58
Bad impact for Senna.
At the Tamburello curve.
A very serious accident.
I got him out of the cockpit,
took his helmet off and got an airway into him,
VOICE OF PROFESSOR SID WATKINS F1 DOCTOR
and I saw, from his neurological signs,
that it was going to be a fatal head injury.
Then he sighed, and his body relaxed.
And that was the moment, I am not religious,
that I thought that his spirit had departed.
Seeing the helicopter going to the hospital,
I was still hoping.
I did not realize.
During the live commentary I did not realize.
Okay, he was going to be injured,
he was going to be in bad shape
but I did not realize he was dead.
I did not want to realize, probably.
It was unreal.
Ayrton's accident was caused
by problems with his own car.
And, certainly were,
no way connected to the competitiveness
of any of the cars around him.
Again, there are people who claim
that his pursuit Michael and the Benetton was
overly aggressively, because of his necessity to compensate
for the inadequacies of his car.
But again, for me that is nonsense.
Again, it's just people trying to rewrite the script.
Simple fact is,
Ayrton, almost certainly suffered a car failure,
which caused the accident,
and it was one of those things. These things happen.
For sure it was mechanical problem.
I'm very careful about what I say,
because they made the steering column different.
It could be a possibility.
I have really no idea, precisely.
But sure it was mechanical failure.
The gift that he has had to be used.
He had an obligation to whatever force or power gave him that gift.
ge had an obligation to pursue career, pursue passion.
And of course that... those thoughts...
They were very much with me,
when he lost his life,
because even in the...even in the moments of realization,
because at that time no one really knew, even in the moment of realization
that he'd lost his life
I found myself...
strangely uncomfortable with the fact
that wouldn't have done anything different.
It was what he wanted to do.
And if that was the outcome...
linked to his career,
I do not think he would change it, even if he had the knowledge.
We find out that it was serious just at the end of the race.
But even...you always have some different messages.
I remember that we had some people coming into the commentary saying:
"Oh, he had a broken arm" and that's it.
Five minutes later we had very bad news.
I even said, I remember: "There's no point to say"
"Unless we know exactly what he had"
And we did not know during the commentary.
Then we had big rumours as always.
And during the trip going from track to the airport,
then we understood that it was really, really bad.
Did you go to see Frank after the race?
No. Yes, sorry.
I saw...I went to see Frank, in the garage, just after the race.
After the commentary, that was the first thing I've done.
Frank and Patrick they were together, but they did not know at the time.
That was just after the race, they did not know exactly what...
They were really shocked,
but again, they did not want to make any speculation and waiting for that.
We only knew from the track to the airport, more and more that it was
quite serious.
You reflect on the difficult things in your life and the extreme emotions
and inevitably things don't get better and in that regard,
with the process of thought,
the pain only increases, and you know for me, the...
My emotions then were a small fraction of the emotions, that I had when..
I went to Brazil for his funeral.
All those people in Brazil,
for all his fans around the world,
He will always be young.
Ayrton Senna will always be fast.
He will never be old.
He will always be
the champion.
of Brazil and of the world.
The grief, even today,
may be the greatest statement I can make about what he did.
When I meet a Brazilian
Soon after that I have to say,
I knew Ayrton Senna and I interviewed him over a 100 times.
I was on a cruise in the Nile River
and there were 33 Brazilians on this cruise with my wife and I,
and I told one of them that I had interviewed Ayrton Senna a 100 times.
Some time during the next week,
every one of those Brazilians had to come to me
They had to talk to someone who had talked to Ayrton Senna.
They even had to touch someone who had touched...
who had shaken hands with Ayrton Senna.
It was like I had known, and talked to
and touched and shaken hands with God
And they had to do the same, through me,
These were people who were 8 and 10 years old
when Ayrton won his championships.
And as children they were taught
that this was one of the greatest men that lived,
who had a Brazilian passport.
When you dedicate fifteen years to a sport,
you're wondering... Did you spend those years wisely.
And I think I did, And I know Ayrton Senna ...
And I know that Ayrton Senna know that he had.
Can you imagine? I mean in, I would have loved to see
Ayrton with children and grandchildren out on that beach.
But can you imagine hearing that a news report:
"Ayrton Senna dies of cancer after a long battle at the age of 50"?
I do not know. In some poetic...
unjust way, it was almost fitting
that he died in a race car.
Even at racing speed Tamburello is not a corner
you make a mistake on.
Something on the car would have to go wrong.
Maybe the power steering failed.
Maybe it was the tyre temperatures that
made the car skate off the road.
It will always remain a mystery.
There was a lawsuit?
In my opinion, the steering column broke
and the car became uncontrollable.
But above all, it was inevitable
because the car crashed at such an angle. The suspension arm
went into his helmet.
Ayrton ran out of luck.
He did not have a broken bone in his body. He did not have any bruising.
If that piece of assembly
would have gone 6 inches higher, or 6 inches lower,
he would have walked back to the paddock.
BOLOGNA, ITALY
I was lucky to arrive
at airport half an hour before his plane arrived.
And I saw the coffin put on to a fire engine,
and taken on the road into the city, from the airport.
on a six-or eight-lane highway
where all the traffic was going in one direction
following the fire engine.
Vehicles of every kind you can possibly imagine.
It was just extraordinary.
We all followed him, many with flags, banners
portraits of him taped to the side of cars, and lorries
every kind of vehicle that you can imagine.
on this high speed run into the city,
past houses and windows filled with people,
apartment blocks, flags, banners,
over bridges crowded with people,
all come out to salute him.
And then people queuing when the body was lying in state,
people queuing for seven or eight hours.
Children, old people, every kind of person,
with a predominance of young people
because Brazil, was a young country, demographically
And young people seemed to have a special relationship with him.
But old people as well... All kinds of people.
Queuing for hours, hours and hours just to go past the body
and leave a little keepsakes by the coffin.
An amazing sight.
And then another motorcade up to the cemetery for the funeral.
Again with people hanging off every wall and tree and
every conceivable surface.
The sky filled with helicopters, news helicopters those kinds of things
And then the jets, from the Brazilian Air Force
their equivalent to the Red Arrows,
Drawing a kind of Senna "S" in the sky with smoke
Amazing.
I went to the funeral of Bob Marley,
which was very very similar like an entire nation coming out
to acknowledge someone who
represented them to the world.
SAO PAULO 4th MAY 1994
He was my idol. He represented the best of Brazil.
I miss you, Senna.
I will never forget you.
Brazilians need food, education, health
and a little joy.
The joy has been removed.
AYRTON SENNA DA SILVA 21/03/1960 - 01/05/1994
Nothing can separate me from the love of God.
Who is or has been
the greatest driver that you have ever raced against
Past or present.
I would have to go back
to '78 and '79
and 1980, when I was go-kart driving.
I came to Europe, for the first time to compete outside Brazil.
as a teammate of Fullerton,
Name Fullerton. He was very experienced.
I enjoyed very much driving with him
because he was fast, he was consistent.
He was for me a very complete driver.
And it was pure driving, pure racing.
There wasn't any politics then, right?
And no money involved either.
So it was real racing
And I have that as a very good memory.
Ayrton Senna died at the age of 34.
As a result of his death,
the FIA appointed Professor Sid Watkins
to improve safety in Formula One.
No fatalities have occurred in Formula One since.
The Ayrton Senna Foundation, founded in 1995 by his sister Viviane,
has helped to educate more than 1.2 million needy children in Brazil.
Alain Prost is a member of the advisory board of the foundation.
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