"On a given day, a given circumstance, you think you have a limit. And you then go for this limit and you touch this limit, and you think, 'Okay, this is the limit'. And so you touch this limit, something happens and you suddenly can go a little bit further. With your mind power, your determination, your instinct, and the experience as well, you can fly very high." - Senna
He’s considered a demi god, nay… a GOD among F-1 racers. Statistical anomalies that bely the presence of great drivers abound in his story. The kind of presence that creates a following of mesmerized and fanatic supporters who know only to prostrate before their god. That is the racer we know as Senna!
The fastest racer, the man who claimed to see God when in top speed, the guy who regularly set poles and even won races with a car that was at best a mid-field runner. Aside from his disastrous weekend that cost him his life the man was truly perfect as a racer!
The Senna Records
"Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose." - Senna
Ayrton Senna had 65 poles and at the time he died the next guy had poles in the 30s and that is the defining record which showed the incredible prowess of the man. It took almost twice as many races for Michael Schumacher to qualify first! The hero for many many racers including Michael Schumacher Senna had 41 wins which was about 8 race wins behind the career leader for wins at that time. At that point of time Prost who held the record was 6 years Senna’s senior and acknowledged his younger rival would have waltzed past it anyway if only he lived.
In terms of championships he had 3 which was just two behind the all time leader Fangio (Schumacher overtook the record later). Given that he’d have raced till 36 – 37 there was every possibility of the man winning another 2 championships at the least.
The Competition
"Racing, competing, it's in my blood. It's part of me, it's part of my life; I have been doing it all my life and it stands out before everything else." - Senna
Those stats were impressive weren’t they? Well consider this, those impressive stats happened despite racing during perhaps the most competitive field of racers in the history of F-1 he won a ton of races and beat them all to pole most often. The list of competitors is awesome, Lauda, Prost, Mansell and together with Senna they become the fab four! All great racers but not with too much love for the Senna man, wonder why?
None had more hatred for Senna than his greatest competitor and one time team mate Alain Prost. The rift so severe that they regularly took took digs at each other both on and off the track and many times even rammed cars!
The Senna Incidents
"Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose." - Senna
Senna was a man who grew up on the streets of Brazil and he did his bit by taking care of poor brazilian kids with his money. But that benevolence did not make him a better man on the race track, check his track record. He’s punched his fellow driver for not showing him respect (eddie Irvine the sad recipient), broken truces and happily rammed racers to put them out of the championship hunt.
An incident recounted by Alain Prost illustrates Senna’s unscrupulous nature. Prior to the last race of the championship the two rivals were separated by a few points with Senna being ahead. Just ahead of the race Senna makes a pact with Prost which guarantees the person who turns the corner first will be allowed to keep ahead to avoid any untoward incident. The race begins but is restarted due to an on track incident and in the ensuing restart Prost takes the position in front at the corner only to have Senna ram him. This effectively put Prost out of the race and the championship giving Senna the trophy. The furious Frenchman walks up to Senna and reminds him that they had a pact only to get the reply that the since the race was restarted the pact no longer held!
Bad Karma
F-1 was a always a cutthroat sport but it reached notoriety during the times of Senna and Prost largely due to the radical difference in their attitudes. The intensity of Mansell and Piquet the other main competitors of the time could’ve also been factors responsible for ushering in the dark ages of F1. Although Senna was a man of his era he was certainly the more aggressive of the bunch a fact not lost on Prost who tried to explain that there was more to life than racing seemed as wise and pertinent as it gets at the time of the Senna’s death. At the end if it all maybe it was bad karma catching up with the speed demon from hell.
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