Ayrton Senna – Not to be Forgotten
Not many people can say they wish they were older. I’m one of the few, but only by ten years or so. Formula 1 has been part of my life forever. The first sport I remember watching was F1 and thinking back on it the only reason my Dad watched was because his five year old son would sit glued to the television with him for the entire race.
Admittedly in the beginning it was to watch the crashes and back then with little electronic aids or down force and cars pushing out more horsepower than they are today they were certainly frequent. So who stood out for me in those initiation years of F1, who do I remember?
Well Ferrari and Schumacher of course. Race after race I’d want to know where the red cars were and where Schumacher had come. You see I missed the Senna era, where he was man of the moment, taking everything in his stride and more besides.
So that explains my wish to be older, but why this man, what makes him so special to warrant such a ludicrous desire? Schumacher of course has won more. So has Ferrari, whom he never raced for. There are drivers who have won more world championships in what can be regarded as more dangerous times, see here Juan Manuel Fangio.
In my mind he’s not made the greatest comment by a race driver either, “Brakes are no good, they only make you go slower”, a quote of course from the great Tazio Nuvolari. Not sure who he is? Well look it up then! Either way what Senna did better than them all was race and race brilliantly.
Ayrton Senna was not an easy man to quantify. He was a mystery to all as one minute he’d be stopping his car out on track to help a stricken driver out the mangled wreckage that used to be a Formula 1 car and the next he’d be running Alain Prost into the dust to take the world championship.
One thing you could bet your bottom dollar on however was that no matter the situation he’d be giving it his all, be he first, last or anywhere in between. His car control was and is in my opinion unsurpassed, evident in both wet and dry races thanks to the very limited grip available and speeds boggling belief, especially in qualifying where he was the master.
Many people have written, talked, admired and revered this man. What Pele is to football, Senna is to Formula 1 and this year would have been his 50th birthday. He is a man worth remembering, not forgetting. Every time I want to see someone do something amazing in a Formula one car, there is only one name written down into the search engine. It’s Ayrton Senna.
In closing, let’s consider some of Senna’s very last words to the world, someone who is not to be forgotten for a very long time.
“I want to live fully, very intensely. I would never want to live partially, suffering from illness or injury. If I ever happen to have an accident that eventually costs my life, I hope it happens in one instant.”
Nick Hodgson
Photo Credit: Motorpics