TCC Educação Superior Harmonia

Maria Leonor Freitas

Ayrton Senna

The biography of

Table of contents

Index

1.

Summary

2.

Ayrton Senna

3.

Start of career

4.

His F1 performances

5.

His first win of the world championship

8.

The helmet of Ayrton Senna

9.

His personality on and off the track

10.

The accident

11.

Life lessons from Ayrton Senna

12.

Attachments

Ayrton Senna

Ayrton Senna da Silva was born on March 21st, 1960, in São Paulo to a wealthy family of Brazilian Industrialists. As the youngest with an elder brother and sister, he enjoyed a most privileged childhood.

He never had to race for money, but his deep need for racing started with an infatuation for a miniature go-kart his father gave him when four years old. The highlights of Ayrton's life as a boy were Grand Prix mornings when he would wake up trembling with anticipation at the prospect of watching his Formula 1 heroes in action on television.

Ayrton Senna

Ayrton Senna da Silva was born on March 21st, 1960, in São Paulo to a wealthy family of Brazilian Industrialists. As the youngest with an elder brother and sister, he enjoyed a most privileged childhood.

He never had to race for money, but his deep need for racing started with an infatuation for a miniature go-kart his father gave him when he was four years old. The highlights of Ayrton's life as a boy were Grand Prix mornings when he would wake up trembling with anticipation at the prospect of watching his Formula 1 heroes in action on television.

Feeling that Toleman's limited resources were inadequate for his towering ambition, Senna bought out his contract and in 1985 moved to Lotus, where in three seasons he started from pole 16 times - he eventually won a record 65 - and won six races. Having reached the limits of Lotus he decided the fastest way forward would be with McLaren, where he went in 1988 and stayed for six seasons, winning 35 races and three world championships.

Start of his career

At 13 he raced a kart for the first time and immediately won. It wasn't until eight years later that he went single-seater racing in Britain, winning five championships in three years and by that time divorcing his young wife and leaving a future in his father's businesses in favour of hunting success in Formula 1 racing, where he made his debut in 1984 with Toleman.

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His F1 performances

One of the most remembered F1 performances from Senna came early on in the 1993 season when he claimed victory in the rain-hit European Grand Prix at Donington Park with an amazing start-the so-called 'Lap of the Gods'. Running fifth at the exit of Turn 1, Senna dragged his MP4/8 through the spray and past the four cars ahead by the end of the first lap, before romping into the distance and recording an absolutely dominant victory that saw him lap all bar one driver in the field.

When Ayrton Senna saved a life

During Friday practice, Erik Comas crashed heavily at the high-speed Blanchimont corner and was knocked unconscious – his engine still running and his foot pressing on the accelerator, pumping fuel into the system. Senna was right behind him on track. He immediately stopped and, risking his own life, ran to help his injured colleague. Seeing that he was in danger of an explosion, he had turned the engine off and kept Comas' head in a stable position until the paramedics arrived. Later, Comas would explain that Ayrton had saved his life.

However, he came unstuck at the start of the race by slowing on the grid. He hurriedly bump-started the car on Suzuka's downhill start-finish straight, but eventually, dropped to 14th. And so began the most spectacular comeback drives that ended in taking the lead from Alain on lap 27, to Ayrton winning his first world championship in dramatic fashion.

His first win of the world championship

In the Japanese Grand Prix, Ayrton and Alain dominated the racing in 1988, the pair winning all but one of the races heading into the title decider. Either could win the championship and Ayrton drew first blood by taking pole position.

Unless you were called Alain Prost, in other words, an overtake was inevitable, like pit stops and podium ceremonies, F1's other great certainties. His helmet warned of what was to come, forerunner the inescapable outcome. Inspired by the Brazilian's homeland, the yellow, green and blue design was perceptible. You couldn't miss it.

The helmet of Ayrton Senna

The sight of Ayrton Senna's bright yellow helmet suddenly appearing large in their wing mirrors often told drivers all they needed to know: their time in front was drawing to a close.

The helmet of Ayrton Senna

Sid Mosca’s initial design for Senna wasn’t actually yellow, it was white, with a serrated blue stripe on the top. The yellow, blue, and green design that became synonymous with Senna only came about after Ayrton was called up to represent Brazil at the World Go-Kart Championship in Estoril, Portugal, nearly four years later in 1979.

6. Methodology

His personality during the race

Beyond his driving genius, Senna was one of the most compelling personalities the sport has ever seen. Though slight in stature, he had an exceptionally powerful physical presence. When he spoked with his warm brown eyes sparkling and his voice echoing with intensity the results were spellblinding. Everyone was shocked at how much of himself, of his very soul, he put into everything, not just his driving but into life itself. He drove as if possessed-some would have said- by demons.

He said he was sharply aware of his own mortality and used fear to control the extent of the boundaries he felt compelled to explore. In fact, he thought of races to be a metaphor for life and he used driving as a means of self-discovery. "Every time I push, I find something more and again and again. Yet, there's a contrast. The same moment you become the fastest, you're enormously fragile. 'Cause in the blink of an eye, it can be gone. All of it. These two poles contribute to knowing yourself deeper and deeper ."

What was Ayrton Senna really like away from the track?

But as a man, Senna was a totally different character. He was smiley and charming to anyone if even an young fan wanted his attention. He also was a quite different person with his family in Brazil, who were the two most important elements in his life.

He was never entirely happy when he had to be away from either of the two cornerstones of his existence, and it went without saying that whenever his brother, sister, or parents attended a race track, it raised his mood at any time. In return, it's fair to say his family adored him. When playing card and board games with his family, he'd often get away with cheating. Like the rest of the world, they simply loved to see him smile, and Ayrton was at his happiest when winning.

The accident

The 34-year-old Brazilian was piloting a Williams FW16 vehicle at the San Marino Grand Prix in Imola, Italy, when he failed to round a corner and crashed into a concrete barrier. On impact, the front right of the car was smashed, spraying lethal projectiles to his head and killing him. In a follow-up trial, Italian prosecutors blamed a defective steering column, which broke and made the car un-steerable, just seconds before impact, on the Williams group. Williams countered that the steering column snapped after the crash and the accident was caused by other forces. Michael Schumacher, running a close second behind Senna at Imola, said that he seemed nervous from the first lap and his car jumped and jiggled on a bump leading to the fateful curve.

Life lessons from Ayrton Senna

"Many times through a mistake due to your own personality or your own character or interference that you get along the way then you learn, and the main thing is to make sure you learn from your mistakes and get better."

Life lessons from Ayrton Senna

"The main thing is to be yourself and not allow people to disturb you to be different because they want you to be different. You gotta be yourself."

8. Development

"As soon as 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."

" I have no idols. I admire work, dedication and competence." Ayrton Senna

Thank you for your attention!

The "Lap of the Gods"

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" He was walking on water," summed up Karl Wendlinger, who shared the track with Senna that day and was one of his first-lap targets, as the Sao Paulo man underlined his credentials as one of the sport's best wet-weather racers.

He was very attached to Christianity and for this reason he chose the number twelve to represent the twelve disciples of Jesus. He said it was a way of bringing him luck in racing.

Number choise and why?

Ayrton Senna never settled with one racing number during his career. His first was 19, before switching to 12 during his time with Lotus and during his first season at McLaren.