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The 1st May 2024 will mark the 30th anniversary of the death of Formula 1 legend Ayrton Senna who sadly lost his life whilst leading the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix in Imola at the age of just 34.
Born in São Paulo in 1960, Senna is generally considered to be the greatest F1 drivers of all time. At the time of his death, he had achieved more pole positions than anyone else in the history of the sport and was second in the list of all time winners behind his great rival Alain Prost. There’s no question that had his career had continued, Senna would have won many more races and championships.
To celebrate the great Brazilian’s life, we’ve put together what we considered to be Ayrton Senna’s greatest moments. Although it’s a subjective list, we feel that these five moments highlight what made Ayrton Senna so good behind the wheel of an F1 car.
Donington Park in the UK has only hosted one F1 race in its history and it will be forever associated with Ayrton Senna on account of his remarkable performance on that damp Sunday afternoon in April 1993.
In normal circumstances, the McLaren MP4/8 was some way behind the winning pace which was being set by the dominant Williams Renault team in 1993. However, the wet weather conditions proved to be an equaliser, allowing Senna to utilise his otherworldly skills to remarkably jump from 5th place, heading into turn one to be leading come the end of the short 2.5-mile first lap.
This is still considered to be one of the greatest racing laps by any driver in the history of the sport, as he showed his skills his way past the likes of Michael Schumacher, Damon Hill and Alain Prost.
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Ayrton Senna made his F1 debut in 1984 for the Toleman team, who had been a relative backmarker since entering the series in 1981. Senna had managed a pair of very impressive 6th places over the first five races of the season, but what happened at round six of the Monaco Grand Prix changed everything.
The race was held in very heavy rain, playing to Senna’s strengths. He quickly rose from his 13th place starting position to be in second place by lap 23, having overtaken more accomplished drivers including eventual 1984 world champion Niki Lauda in the dominant McLaren. Senna was closing in on the second McLaren of Alain Prost in the lead when the red flag was put out to end the race on account of the conditions. Despite taking the team’s first ever podium finish, Senna was dismayed that the race had been stopped, having been certain that he would have taken the lead from Prost with a few extra laps. It was a remarkable performance which made him hot property in the driver market for 1985.
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Senna moved to join former champions Lotus in 1985; a team that had been on a downward spiral since the death of their founder Colin Chapman in 1982. The Brazilian retired from the opening race of the season due to electrical issues, but round two in Portugal was held in extremely wet conditions.
By now, you’ll likely have figured out that Ayton Senna is considered to be the best F1 driver in the rain and the Portuguese Grand Prix provided further evidence of this. He led from pole position and never looked like losing, eventually lapping every other driver on the grid save for the Ferrari of Michele Alboreto which finished over a minute behind.
Only nine of the 26 drivers managed to finish the race in treacherous conditions, further underlining the brilliance of Senna’s display.
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Monaco is the ultimate challenge for F1 drivers and was once described by Nelson Piquet as being the equivalent of “riding a bicycle around your living room”. The barriers are close, and drivers are never more than a few millimetres from disaster throughout each and every lap.
Senna ultimately went on to prove this point on race day; making a small error which put him in the barriers and denied him an almost certain victory. However, it was during the qualifying for the event that Senna made his mark, producing a lap which was a barely believable 1.2 seconds faster than his teammate Alain Prost in 2nd place.
Prost himself is considered one of the sport's greatest racing drivers, winning an eventual four drivers titles and narrowly missing out on a further 4. The fact that Senna could produce a lap so much faster than the Frenchman at the ultimate driver’s circuit is truly mind blowing.
Senna would later claim that his concentration during the lap was such that he had an ‘out of body experience’, viewing the car from above rather than seeing the lap in person. Regardless of whether or not you take this description as gospel, there can be no question that this was one of the greatest qualifying laps in the history of motor racing.
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Moving onto another of the circuits which is the ultimate test of driver skill, Ayrton Senna arrived at the penultimate round of the 1988 season in Suzuka with a shot of winning the drivers’ championship for the first time. All he had to do was beat his team-mate Prost which was no mean feat.
Senna started the weekend in the best possible way by claiming pole position, but came very close to stalling at the start of the race. This resulted in him dropping down to 14th place, making his job of sealing the title almost impossible.
However, what followed was one of the sport's greatest fight backs. By the end of that first lap Senna had already made up six positions, and by the end of lap four he was back up to an unbelievable second place. Rain began to fall on lap 14 once again playing to Senna’s strength, making his pursuit of Prost almost an inevitability. The Brazilian took the lead on lap 27 and he would never look back, taking the win and the championship in style.
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The Emilia Romagna region will be marking the anniversary of Senna’s death throughout 2024 with a series of initiatives and events designed to celebrate the memory of this quite remarkable driver. This will of course include the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix weekend which will be held at the very same Imola circuit where Senna lost his life 30 years earlier.
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You too can play your part in these celebrations when you treat yourself to one of our Emilia Romagna Grand Prix holiday packages which includes your flights, accommodation and Grand Prix tickets. All you need to think about is enjoying the spectacle.
We would advise any fans of the great Brazilian who attend the event to make their way to the Acque Minerali Park on the outskirts of the Imola circuit where you will find the Ayrton Senna Monument. This moving tribute was erected in 1997 right next to the Tamburello corner where Senna’s accident occurred.