Ayrton Senna – One of the Greatest F1 Drivers!
Ayrton Senna
To be honest, I am a fan of Michael Schumacher, but I have a lot of respect for Ayrton Senna. It was, in fact, one of Michael’s interview where he mentioned about the Brazilian great, Senna, which got me interested to know more.
So, who’s Senna?
Well, after going through hours and hours of YouTube videos of Senna battling the geniuses of his time, which also includes a rookie Schumacher, I have got to admit that Senna is one of a kind. My reading of his era was that it was a time that he had to stand up to a lot of politics because of the FIA boss of that time favoring a specific French driver. On a side note, the French driver was no pushover either, but Senna was at a different level.
So that makes Senna not only the greatest but the ‘greatest’ in trying times!!
Take a look at this video where Senna is a rookie and almost finishes first in a lesser Lotus car. He starts thirteenth on the grid and goes on to almost take Alain Prost, the leader.
Not only does Senna catch up with the leaders, but the entire episode happened in a cruel rain-soaked race. He was called the rain master after this race.
Those watching F1 races would appreciate the difficulty of racing in such conditions and even more, considering the Monaco circuit where there are hardly any overtaking points.
But that was only the Beginning 😊
Ayrton went on to win like crazy and was three times F1 world champion by 1994. He even raced against Schumacher between 1991 and 1994. Schumacher debuted in 1991 and won his first race in 1992. Fans could already see a tiny rivalry building up between Schumacher and Senna and what a rivalry that would have been!
Anyway, the question that is often asked is what makes Ayrton the greatest. You have to see this video to believe it. Again, a rain-soaked circuit.
This is one of a kind performance from Ayrton Senna. No driver had done this until then, and no one has done it since then. Ayrton starts in the fourth position, falls to fifth but within the same lap overtakes everyone to come first. This is the only time that a race driver has passed four lead cars within the first lap itself; and not to mention, Senna wasn’t even driving a superior car.
Note: Senna even overtakes Michael Schumacher who is in the third place. Years later, Michael becomes the rain master of the F1 circuit, but in this particular race, Ayrton had the upper hand.
Senna the Greatest!
We lost Senna in 1994 to an unfortunate crash and the followers of F1, including myself, were left wondering how the F1 world would have been if he had been around. Nonetheless, that was a long time back, though memories of him are fresh as ever.
There was even a movie made on the life of Senna, which I had watched and would recommend it to all those who love F1. I would also recommend to those who would like to know more about Senna. I promise you wouldn’t be disappointed.
So, watch the film to know why Senna was one of the greatest!!
Video Disclaimer: All videos posted in this article are from YouTube and belongs to appropriate copyright owners on YouTube.