Ayrton Senna: 20 Years After F1 Lost A Legend

Image source: Williams Martini Racing

On this day two decades ago, arguably the greatest driver to ever compete in Formula 1 tragically lost his life.

Events at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix shocked the world. The sport’s brightest star and Brazil’s national treasure was suddenly gone. That same weekend, a promising young hopeful who had only just made it onto the grid also lost his life.

Ayrton Senna had burst onto the F1 scene as a determined, confident youngster back in 1984. Driving for the lowly Toleman team, he made an immediate impact and scored several podium finishes in a car that had no right to be challenging at the front.

He then made the move to Lotus, where he registered six race victories between 1985 and 1987 before switching to McLaren to join Alain Prost, kicking off the best rivalry in F1’s history.

Image source: Getty Images

He won world championships in 1988, 1990 and 1991 and remained with the team until 1994, when he moved to Williams. ‘Beco’, as he was nicknamed by his parents, was on the hunt for his fourth title but headed to Imola for the third round of the season without any points.

On that terrible race weekend, he took his third consecutive pole position and led the first six laps. As he rounded the flat-out Tamburello corner for the seventh time, his Williams FW16 left the track. The accident tragically killed the Brazilian and changed the sport forever.

Image source: Williams Martini Racing

Sadly, he wasn’t the only driver to lose his life over that weekend. Roland Ratzenberger had only just joined F1, driving for the new Simtek outfit, when he died during qualifying after a front wing failure at the 200mph Villeneuve corner. It was Formula 1’s first death at a Grand Prix since 1982.

Senna was a complicated character who was known to be rather quiet and introverted away from the track, but was incredibly serious and a ruthless driver when he was at the wheel of a race car. He was always pushing both himself and the car to the limits, sometimes exceeding them.

Image source: Getty Images

He was also a sensitive personality who cared immensely about the safety of the other drivers. For example, Senna was deeply affected by the death of Ratzenberger. Marshals found an Austrian flag in his car that he had planned to wave for the Austrian on the slowing down lap after the race. In 1992, he also helped to save the life of Erik Comas after he crashed during practice for the Belgian Grand Prix.

The three-time champion also had a lighter side, which was brought out when he was team-mates with Gerhard Berger between 1990 and 1992. They would often prank each other and the jokes included filling hotel rooms with frogs, putting strong smelling cheeses in air conditioning units and dropping suitcases from helicopters.

He is regarded by many as the greatest Formula 1 driver of all time and was taken away far, far too soon. Who knows how many more championships he could have won? However, his legacy continues and that awful weekend in Italy has helped to save the lives of many through the drastic safety improvements that have shaped the sport that we see today.

He would have turned 54 years old a few weeks ago and to honour his birthday and incredible career, we took a look at 10 of his best moments in F1.

Rest in peace Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger. Gone but never forgotten.

What are your favourite memories of Ayrton Senna? Let us know in the comments.