Ayrton Senna! the one and the only...

[R_Barrichello]

do you think there will ever be a driver like Ayrton? i think Michael is very close to Ayrton but not as good as him! I still can't get used to his death...i sometimes cry when i see some of the tributes made for him...the f1 isn't the same without Ayrton...he was, he is, and he will be the greatest hero and the greatest driver the world of the f1 has ever met! death to the williams "team"! they are murderers! that's all, i can't write anything else...I'll never forget u Ayrton!!!

[Roy2]

Well his name will live forever, if that's any consolation. Try not to blame Williams this way. Ayrton campaigned "like a terrorist" to get into the team and Williams modified the steering column at his request.

It shouldn't have cost him his life, of course, but no one is to blame. Take that conspiracy stuff with a grain of salt, for your own sake.

[TeddyG]

I have only been watching F1 for three years so I never got to witness Senna race and I am mad for not getting into F1 sooner. I have heard so much about him, was he really more talented than Schumacher? Too many drivers have gone way before their time.

[Guinness]

Barrichello,
There will never be another driver like him. And that is how it should be. Senna was a very special driver and a very special person. I hold him very dear to my heart and his death shocked me and later angered me. However, as cold and unhuman Frank Williams may seem he too held Senna close to his heart. Ayrton's death disturbed Frank greatly and I am sure still does. I am sure that Aryton holds no grudge against the Williams team and nor should we. The modification to the steering was made at Aryton's request and soemthing happened that resulted in his untimely death.
The day of his accident it is well documented that he did not seem like himself. Could he have made a mistake? Did the steering column break before impact? Who knows? What we do know is that the wall at Tamburello should have been moved back long before Ayrton's accident...
One thing you have in common with Ayrton is a passion. I noticed this right off from your post. Try to turn that passion for him into a positive passion. Ayrton was the most passionate driver ever. Sometimes it caused him to react in a negative way, more often than not it caused him to bring a smile to our faces every saturday and sunday. (65 poles!!!)
It is hard to be positive about someone dying, although when someone dies doing what he/she loves - well that is alright in my book. I would love to see him again or even just hear his voice again but I can rest knowing that he died after putting that Wiliiams on pole and leading Schumacher. Ayrton liked us to believe he was a man of God. Matbe he was... In anycase he died doing what he love and is with his God whom he said he loved.

"ADEUS AYRTON - TRICAMPEAO" - " FAREWELL, AYRTON - TRIPLE WORLD CHAMPION.

TeddyG, If there is one race you need to see to prove Aryton's talent as the best, get your hands on Donnington '93. If you can not get a copy of the tape let me know and we will work something out. Just the thought of that race brings a smile to my face!!!!!

[TimD]

Donington 1993. Now that's a happy thought.

Yes, Guinness, there's a smile on my face too.


There is a lot of emotion over the loss of Ayrton Senna, partly because he was so good, and partly because the worst outcome of an accident is so very rare nowadays.

But to say that Williams were "murderers" is just plain wrong. It is also deeply unfair, not to say cruel. Just as Ayrton had fought long and hard to get behind the wheel of a Williams, so Sir Frank and Patrick Head had fought and planned to get him aboard to drive for them.

As for the accident? Well, no one ever figured for sure just when the steering column broke. Just as no one could tell what pressures the tyres were at during the accident, or whether the fragment of the wrecked Benetton pierced the front right, or whether the scrapes on the floorpan were from the kerb or from bottoming out unpredictably on the track.

We'll never know.

We have to accept that.

Put yourself for a moment in the era I grew up in. I was watching F1 from 1971-ish, and either on television or in the press, I had, as a child, to come to understand the loss of Roger Williamson, Francois Cevert, Peter Revson, Tony Brise, Graham Hill, Ronnie Peterson, Mark Donohue, Helmuth Koinigg, Tom Pryce. Heaven only knows how my father and grandfather explained the meaning of it all to me, but they managed somehow.

Each name brings back a memory of childhood. A good memory and a bad one. I will never, ever forget a warm, sunny September evening in a local park, being urged to concentrate on a game of schools football, when all I wanted to do was pray for Ronnie Peterson, and hope that he would be alright.

And the day I woke up and heard LBC radio announcing Graham Hill's plane crash will stay with me absolutely forever.

Guinness is right. It's tough to be positive. But thank heaven that the worst accidents are getting rarer and rarer. Time was when the Melbourne accident would have had us mourning not just a selfless and devoted marshal, but also a former world champion, and the brother of another.

[Murph]

Interestingly...Ayrton doesn't agree with those who say Donington was his greatest race.....

This is from the April 2000 issue of MOTOR SPORT. Nigel Roebuck was the author (his Legends column) and he wrote about Estoril, 1985. I quote....

"As he talked about the race later, though, Ayrton's exuberance had given way entirely to sober reflection. "The big danger," he thought, "was that the conditions changed all the time. Sometimes the rain was very heavy, sometimes not. I couldn't see anything at all behind me. Once I nearly spun in front of the pits, like Prost, and I was lucky to stay on the road."

"Maybe people think I made no mistakes, but that's not true- I've no idea how many times I went off! On one occasion I had all four wheels on the grass, totally out of control....but the car came back on the circuit. Everyone said, "Fantastic car control!" It was just luck....."

Eight years later, in similar conditions, Senna would win for McLaren at Donington, and many suggested it was his greatest drive. Ayrton snorted at that: "No way! I had traction control! OK, I didn't make any mistakes, but the car was much easier to drive. It was a good win but compared with Estoril '85, it was nothing, really......"

I was fortunate to see Ayrton in the flesh at Montreal and Detroit during the GP circus's North American tours ....I particularly enjoyed Senna's win at Detroit in '86. I was never a big fan of Ayrton but to me he more then proved his greatness as a driver with his wins in the McLaren-Ford of 1993. Anyways....TeddyG.. get hold of the Estoril '85 tape to witness what Ayrton believed was his greatest drive...

take care, all

Murph

[Jay]

I found an interest in F1 racing shortly after his death, so I can't say that he meant much to me. However, his records speaks for themselves. He was arguably the best driver ever, with the likes of Fangio, Clarke, Stewart, etc. He will live on forever...

[Orange]

Being a "young 'un" (relatively speaking) and relatively new to F1, I have never seen Senna drive, but his name does "live forever" as Jay says, but my question is, will people remember TGF with great emotion as a "great human being"???? Its interesting to think about... No one can deny that he is a great driver, but charismatic?? Will people cry at his tributes?? (Maybe Liz shouldn't answer this one) ;-) ;-)

[Jay]

Orange, I think we'll have to wait a year or so after his retirement to know how TGF will be remembered. But, my guess is that he will be regarded as one of, if not the best driver that ever lived.

[kuchi]

I might be kind of new in the F1 bussiness, but that name always comes out. Ayrton the best ever, he was a great driver and a great man, sometimes this kind of people have to die to show us all what we are doing wrong, sice his crash no major accidents have ocurred in F1 races. He was such an outstanding race guy, he totally dominated the sport, he had mistakes but, hey, that´s human. A big loos to all the fans.

[carbonfibre]

Tomorrow is Ayrton's birthday - he would have been 41 years old. Who knows where his accomplishments would have ended had he not been take on that black day in May?

Donington '93 may have been diminished in Ayrton's mind because of the electronic goodies on the car, but he still had to get the job done there, and he did. It will always be a treat to pop that tape in the vcr and watch that race. The Estoril '85 race was major in his career, of course. His first pole and first win, in his second race for Lotus. No wonder he cherished that memory, especially considering the conditions.

Yes, Senna campaigned "like a terrorist" to get the Williams seat in 1994. He offered to drive for Frank in 1993 for free, but Alain Prost campaigned like a terrorist to keep Senna out of the team then, as Prost had approval rights for his subserviant driver, er, co-driver.

Ayrton Senna will forever be remembered by me for the excitement he brought to F1. I am very grateful I was able to be a witness to that era in F1, and that I was able to see him race in person several times before he left us.

While remembering Ayrton Senna, let us also remember Roland Ratzenberger lost the same weekend at Imola.

[TeddyG]

Thanks Guinness and Murph for the tips on what races to watch, do you know where I could find the tapes of those races? I would imagine that the 85' Estoril tape that you mention Murph would be pretty tough to find. Does anyone know of a website or anything where I could order Estoril 85' or Donnington 93'? I would really like to see how talented Senna was. Hope you can help.

[R]

No, there will never be another driver like Ayrton Senna. I remember May 1st 1994 like it was yesterday, and I also remember my utter disbelief and disgust when the best driver in the world was taken from us in such an unfair manner. His name will surely live forever, and he will always live in our hearts.

According to reports, Senna had allegedly said before the race: "I fear that there will be an accident. Let's hope it won't be too serious." Whether that statement was down to having a sixth sense about what was going to happen, or just a natural reaction after what had happened to Roland Ratzenberger the day before, I don't know. That will only be speculation.

Regarding the Williams team, I have never blamed them for what happened. The modification to the steering was done at Senna's request, as stated above, and why would the Williams team want to knowingly do anything that they had the slightest idea could possibly take the life of the driver they had hired to win the championship for them? I've just never bought those "conspiracy" theories surrounding this.

Regarding Frank Williams' feelings concerning Senna, all you've got to do is think of these words he said (I heard him say it in an interview) when Damon and Jacques had wrapped up the 1996 constructors title, and the interviewer asked Frank if he wanted to dedicate this title to anyone in particular (remember this was 2 1/2 years after Senna died):

"You've got to think of Ayrton Senna at all times like these, haven't you."

[duckers]

I think Senna is probably the greatest driver there ever will be because even though he won 3 world championships, I think he had the potential to win another 3 or 4. This is because if he hadn't of had that accident then he would of been in line to win the 1994 world champ, cos Damon almost did in the same car. He might of just pipped Schuey to it in 1995 if the car was capable of it. Definitely the 1996 championship cos Williams wos very dominant, as well as the 1997 championship. Then he probably would of retired or end those last few seasons with McLaren, being loyal to a team he respected very much.
But I suppose we can all dream about what could have been.- A case of if only.

[Jeanburrasca81]

Thinking of HIM still makes me cry...
You all know it's some kind of a taboo to show his deadly crash...but last year some idiots in a really incompetent german tv_show showed it...I was so shocked they did it...I wasn#t prepared to live through it another time...I still had the movie burned in my mind and will always stay that way...but to really see the crash again..oh my god...it frightened me.
I liked it the way they handled it on the Ayrton Senna-foundations tribute videofilm..."A Star Whose name was Ayrton Senna"...I translated the italian title, sorry if the title is different in english. I'm sure you know what video I meant.

[Roy2]

Yes, we were lucky to see his great career. It occurs to me that I've seen every every one of Senna's GP races except one. I used to let my wife (foist it off on her really) record all the F1 races for me. We were out of town for a weekend, and she programmed in the wrong day. I missed the 1988 German GP because of it.

He won it in the rain, and to this day I have never seen even an inch of film of this race. It was quite a long time before I ever asked her to record a race for me again. I don't think she minded too much

Imagine Gerard. He can watch Senna's entire oeuvre again if he wants to.

[Wrex]

Roy2, as my ex-wife used to say, 'if you don't like the way I do it, do it yourself'.

[R]

Jeanburrasca

That video you mentioned, it's called "A Star Named Ayrton Senna" in English. I have it right here on my bookshelf. It's a beautiful documentary, made with thought and insight, and I can strongly recommend it to anyone who may not have seen it.

The last time (hopefully ever) I saw his fatal crash was when the case against the Williams team had finally been dismissed. I feel sick just thinking of that crash, let alone seeing it.

[Roy2]

Wrex,
Let's see if I've got this straight. You started doing it yourself and now she's your ex-wife? No wonder mate.

[Guinness]

TeddyG, I see you are in Halifax? I can send you the tape of Donnington '93 if you wish, as I am located in Toronto.
If you are interested let me know by way of email: via the email icon connected to this post.
I would be more than happy to send it to you. Let me know and we will work it out.

[Run Free]

Originally posted by R_Barrichello
do you think there will ever be a driver like Ayrton? i think Michael is very close to Ayrton but not as good as him!
I'll never forget u Ayrton!!!

IMO there NEVER will be another Champion (in the true sense of this word) like Ayrton.
TGF simply CAN'T BE EVEN COMPARED with him!!! He is not the best driver of this era, and he's NOT a Champion. Ayrton was one of the best Champion, if not the best, ever!

I'll never forget you, Ayrton...:-((((((((((((((((((

[Airhead]

Back in 1987, yep I was there. A bloke I worked with said he worried about Prost. This was after I had told him I thought Prost was the master of the known universe.

He believed that Prost had stated that he would die behind the wheel of a F1 car. Last time I looked - Alain was fine.

Fast forward to 1994.

I watched from the Waiting Room of an Emergency Department where I was on duty, hiding to watch the GP among the people waiting to be seen, it was after all 4 am in the morning. After the inpact and the commercial break there was Murray saying that Senna was dead!

And now, they name a Ducati after him. Tell me what it all means?

[Guy Goddard]

I hated Senna until he died and then it all fell into place, however there was only one other driver who could could match Senna on a good day..our Nigel, there were times you had to wonder if Senna could have pulled off some of the moves Mansell made, Senna was very good at being in the right car at the right time where as Mansell was not or other factors prevented him of the championship.
Senna was a racer but so was Mansell, to put the two together is no disrespect to Senna as they have both thrilled us all unlike the drivers of today.