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Sun 08 May 2022 | 4:30

Top facts about Ayrton Senna, Magic Senna

Ayrton Senna is the driver most often mentioned when people discuss about the best of all time in Formula 1 history. Read on to find out more facts about Ayrton Senna, the Brazilian maestro.

Ayrton Senna da Silva was a Brazilian racing driver who won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 1988, 1990, and 1991.

Ayrton Senna’s age

was 34 at the time of his death. Here o can find the most important facts about Ayrton Senna, the legendary F1 champion.

An important fact about Ayrton Senna is that he was one of three Brazilian Formula One drivers to win the World Championship, winning 41 races and 65 pole positions, the latter of which was a record until 2006. He died in a car accident while driving for the Williams team in the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.

Senna started his career in karting before progressing to open-wheel racing in 1981 and winning the British Formula Three Championship in 1983.

In 1984, he made his Formula One debut with Toleman-Hart, then moved to Lotus-Renault the following year, winning six Grands Prix in three seasons. In 1988, he joined McLaren-Honda with Frenchman Alain Prost.

They won all but one of the 16 Grands Prix that year, and Senna was crowned World Champion for the first time.

In 1989, Prost won the championship, and in 1990 and 1991, Senna won his second and third titles. The Williams-Renault team started to dominate Formula One in 1992. Despite this, Senna finished second in the 1993 season, winning five races and negotiating a switch to Williams in 1994.

Senna was known for his one-lap qualifying pace, and he held the record for most pole positions from 1989 until 2006. In rainy weather races such as the 1984 Monaco Grand Prix, the 1985 Portuguese Grand Prix, and the 1993 European Grand Prix, he was praised.

Top facts about Ayrton Senna:

An important fact about Ayrton Senna is that he has a record six wins in the Monaco Grand Prix, is the sixth most successful driver in terms of race wins, and has won more races for McLaren than any other driver.

Throughout his career, Senna courted controversy, notably during his tumultuous rivalry with Prost. Collisions between Senna and Prost determined the ultimate winner in the Japanese Grands Prix of 1989 and 1990, each of which decided the title for that year.

Ayrton Senna early life

Ayrton Senna was born in the Santana neighborhood of So Paulo's Pro-Matre Maternity Hospital. He was born to landowner and factory owner Milton Guirado da Silva and his wife Neide Senna da Silva as the middle child of a rich Brazilian family; he had an elder sister, Viviane, and a younger brother, Leonardo.

He was a left-handed individual. Regarding

Ayrton Senna’s parents

, it should be mentioned that his mother was an Italian immigrant's granddaughter, while his father was born to a Spanish mother (from Tjola, Almera Province) and a Brazilian father (from S Paulo).

Speaking about

Ayrton Senna’s childhood

, it is worth mentioning that he spent his first four years of life at the home that belonged to Neide's father, Joo Senna.

It was on the junction of Avenida Aviador Guilherme and Avenida Gil Santos Dumont, fewer than 100 meters from Campo de Marte, a big region where they ran an airport and an aeronautics material park.

Senna was a gifted athlete who excelled in gymnastics and other sports, and from the age of four, he acquired an interest in automobiles and motor racing. He had poor motor coordination as a child, and by the age of three, he was having problems ascending stairwells.

Senna's electroencephalogram (EEG) revealed that he was free of any issues. Senna was given the nickname "Beco" by his parents. Senna learnt to drive a Jeep around his family's farm at the age of seven, as well as how to shift gears without needing a clutch.

Senna graduated in 1977 from Colegio Rio Branco in the Higienópolis neighborhood of So Paulo with a grade 5 in physics and additional grades in mathematics, chemistry, and English.

He eventually enrolled at a business administration-focused institution, but dropped out after three months. His overall grade point average was 68 percent.

Senna's first kart was manufactured by his father from a lawnmower engine with a 1-hp engine. Senna began racing at the age of 13 when he joined a karting competition at Interlagos.

Ayrton Senna personal life

Senna, who was a fervent Catholic at the time, allegedly said: "Just because I believe in God and have confidence in Him does not make me immune to harm. This does not imply that I am invincible " (1989).

On lengthy trips from So Paulo to Europe, he would often read the Bible. Senna drew courage from the Bible on the morning of his death, according to his sister Viviane, "On that last morning, he awoke and opened his Bible and read a passage that he would get the greatest gift of all, which was God himself."

An important

fact about Ayrton Senna

is that he exhibited concern for the impoverished in Brazil as his fame grew. He was found to have covertly contributed an estimated $400 million of his own wealth to support needy children after his death.

He established the structure for an organization devoted to Brazilian children shortly before his death, which subsequently became the Instituto Ayrton Senna (IAS).

In 1988, 1991, and 1993, Senna was named the No. 1 driver of the year by the editor of the AUTOCOURSE annual, as well as runner-up in 1985, 1989, 1990, and 1992.

Senna was famous for interpreting racing as a metaphor for life and driving as a way of self-discovery: "The more I push, the more I learn about myself. I'm constantly seeking for the next step, a new world to explore, and somewhere I've never gone before.

Driving a Grand Prix vehicle is both lonely and engrossing. I've had new feelings, and I'm hungry for more. That is the source of my enthusiasm and energy."

Senna got more worried with the perils of his vocation as his career progressed. On the morning of his death, he started the process of reforming the GPDA safety organization, which he planned to use to enhance the safety of his sport.

Senna had a number of properties, including an organic farm in Tatu, Brazil (where he constructed a go-kart track in 1991), a beach home in Angra dos Reis, Brazil, an apartment in So Paulo, Brazil, an apartment in Monaco, an estate in Sintra, Portugal, and a property in the Algarve, Portugal.

Senna allowed his final lover, Adriane Galisteu, stay at the latter property for the start of the European leg of the F1 season in 1994. The two had met the year before at a hospitality event hosted by McLaren sponsor Shell as part of the Brazilian Grand Prix, for which Galisteu had to apply as a hostess via a modelling agency.

Senna participated in a variety of sports, including jogging, waterskiing, jet skiing, and paddleboarding. He had a variety of interests, including flying actual and model aircraft and helicopters, sailing, fishing, and riding his favourite Ducati motorcycles.

His own plane was a British Aerospace 125, and he also flew his own helicopter between his Brazilian houses and to races.

Senna was given a fly aboard one of the Brazilian Air Force's jet fighters (a Dassault Mirage III) for his 29th birthday in 1989, which is currently on display at the Aerospace Museum of Rio de Janeiro.

Ayrton Senna professional career

Ayrton Senna held the record of most consecutive top 10 qualifiers. Senna qualified in the top 10, 137 times throughout his epic career. This is still an unbroken record!

Ayrton Senna early career

A notable fact about Ayrton Senna is that he started his first race on pole and was up against competitors who were several years his senior; despite this, he managed to lead for the majority of the race before retiring after colliding with another competitor. Lucio Pascal Gascon, his father's supporter, quickly took charge of his son's blossoming skill.

In 1977, Senna won the South American Karting Championship. From 1978 through 1982, he competed in the Karting World Championship every year, placing second in 1979 and 1980.

In 1978, he was a teammate of Terry Fullerton, whom Senna subsequently believed was the adversary with whom he had the most pleasure racing, because to the absence of money and politics at the time.

Senna relocated to Eaton near Norwich in England in 1981 to start single-seater racing, and with the Van Diemen team won the RAC and Townsend Thoresen Formula Ford 1600 Championships that year.

Despite this, Senna first doubted his ability to continue racing. Senna declared his resignation from Formula Ford and returned to Brazil at the conclusion of that season, under pressure from his parents to join the family company.

An important

fact about Ayrton Senna

is that he was offered a $10,000 drive with a Formula Ford 2000 team before departing England. He accepted the offer and returned to live in England after returning to Brazil. He took his mother's maiden name, Senna, since da Silva is the most prevalent Brazilian surname.

Senna won the British and European Formula Ford 2000 titles in 1982. Senna had received support from Banerj and Pool during that season.

Senna raced for the West Surrey Racing team in the British Formula Three Championship in 1983. He dominated the first half of the season until Eddie Jordan Racing's Martin Brundle, running an identical vehicle, narrowed the gap in the second half of the season.

After a hard-fought and, at times, contentious fight with the Briton, Senna won the championship in the last round.

Senna also won the first Macau Formula 3 Grand Prix with Teddy Yip's Toyota-powered Theodore Racing Team in November of that year.

Ayrton Senna Formula One career

Three world championship championships and 41 grand prix wins were among Ayrton Senna's many achievements behind the wheel of a racing vehicle. With 65 pole positions in 162 races, he was undoubtedly the biggest proponent of the flat-out qualifying lap in the sport's history.

These accomplishments alone insured that his name would be etched in stone in the history books long before his terrible demise in the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.

In 1983, while on his way to winning the British Formula Three championship, Senna caught the attention of Formula One teams. Williams were the first to put the 23-year-old through his paces, followed by McLaren and Brabham.

Nelson Piquet was irritated by the possibility of being partnered with another promising Brazilian player, and he sought to prevent Senna from arriving. Senna secured a drive with the tiny Toleman outfit, who were entering their fourth season and had yet to finish a race higher than fourth.

Neither Williams nor McLaren were willing to offer him a race seat for the coming season, so Senna secured a drive with the tiny Toleman outfit, who were entering their fourth season and had yet to finish a race higher than fourth.

Senna's entrance altered all of it. He manoeuvred his TG184 through the barriers on a near-flooded circuit entire seconds quicker than the top runners in horrible circumstances at Monaco. When the race was controversially red-flagged, he was gaining on race leader – and future arch-rival – Alain Prost.

Before the conclusion of the season, he added two more podium finishes to his second place. Senna, on the other hand, attracted the fury of Toleman president Alex Hawkridge, who prevented him from competing at Monza after his driver breached their contract to strike a deal with Lotus.

The findings came very promptly once again. Senna won his first race with Lotus after just two races. He won in difficult circumstances once again, this time at Estoril, Portugal, finishing a minute ahead of his competitors. That year, he won seven pole positions, confirming his title as the sport's best qualifier.

On race days, however, the Lotus's dependability and the Renault engine's fuel consumption were often found lacking. Despite this, he dominated the 1986 championship from the start and was in contention until the end of the year.

Lotus went to great lengths to retain him in the squad in 1987, obtaining a supply of Honda's class-leading engines as well as a lucrative new sponsorship contract with RHR cigarettes. They also agreed to race their new active suspension vehicle, as per Senna's request.

A notable fact about Ayrton Senna is that he won as he pleased over the bumps and twists of Monaco and Detroit, but the Honda engine's strength was depleted, leaving the Lotus out-gunned on power courses like Silverstone, where he was lapped.

McLaren made their effort to take both Senna and Honda's engines well before the season ended. The squad was almost unbeatable, thanks to Prost, a two-time world champion, and a powerful design staff led by Gordon Murray and Steve Nichols.

The 1988 world championship race between Senna and Prost was a thrilling spectacle. The two were seldom disturbed by their opponents, winning 15 of their 16 games.

Senna's season got off to a shaky start when he was disqualified on a technicality at home in Brazil. And, after winning his second race at Imola, he crashed into the barriers when leading in Monaco.

He had, however, set a precedent in qualifying for F1's most famous race, surprising Prost with a lap time 1.4 seconds faster than his teammate. They finished one-two in the following four races, with the order changing each time, until Senna took the lead after the British Grand Prix.

Senna's wet weather flair saw him win at Silverstone in dreadful circumstances. Prost, on the other hand, withdrew because the circumstances were too risky. This was Senna's first of four consecutive victories.

Despite Senna pressing him to the pit wall as the two were battling for the lead, Prost came back to win in Portugal. It was the first outward symptom of the couple's relationship breaking down.

When Senna stopped on the grid at Suzuka and was swallowed by the pack, the championship looked to be slipping away from him. But the MP4-4 breezed through the traffic, and as the rain started to pour, he overtook and passed Prost to win the race and the world title with it.

Senna's championship defense in 1989 got off to a good start as he won three races in a row early in the season. However, the enmity between him and Prost grew in Imola, when the latter accused Senna of breaking a pre-race agreement.

The MP4-5 was not as indestructible as its predecessor, and Senna was forced to retire in three of the following four races due to mechanical issues.

It occurred again at Monza, giving Prost a crucial victory after he had already stated his intention to join Ferrari. Senna was desperate to win at Suzuka, and as he attempted to overtake Prost at the chicane, the two McLarens collided.

Prost had surely calculated that if both vehicles failed to complete the race, he would be crowned world champion.

Senna, on the other hand, was furious that he was disqualified after he had disentangled his vehicle from Prost's, rejoined the circuit, changed his front wing, and won the race. He suspected that FIA president Jean-Marie Balestre was involved in Prost's victory.

The 1990 world championship was a re-enactment, although this time Prost was driving a Ferrari and Senna was leading the points standings when he arrived at Suzuka.

Senna's rage was stoked once further when he was denied the opportunity to start from the cleaner left-hand side of the circuit as pole sitter. Prost gained the lead early in the race, and Senna lost no time in slamming the Ferrari out of the race at 160 mph.

A notable

fact about Ayrton Senna

is that he was chastised for his methods, but the governing body was helpless to intervene – even when, a year later, at the same track, he acknowledged his actions were purposeful and blamed the incident on Balestre, who had subsequently lost the FIA presidency to Max Mosley.

Senna had already won his third world title, fending off a late-season charge from Nigel Mansell in the Williams FW14. However, Williams had the upper hand, as Senna was quickly overtaken on the track and outmaneuvered off it.

In 1992, Mansell had the same type of performance edge as Senna had four years before, and he won the race at a canter. Senna won a few races, notably the Monaco Grand Prix for the sixth time in a row courtesy to late drama for his challenger. The season ended in acrimony, though, when Senna collided with his opponent in Adelaide.

It was unknown at the moment if Senna would race again in 1993. McLaren had lost its Honda engine agreement, and Prost's presence at Williams effectively slammed the door on his joining the team with the fastest cars.

He ultimately consented to drive McLaren's Cosworth-powered cars on a race-by-race basis. Senna, against all odds, equaled Prost win-for-win in the first six races and took the lead in the drivers' standings.

One of his sweetest wins was a stunning effort in slick circumstances at Donington Park, when he almost lapped the competition.

The class of the Williams vehicles, on the other hand, was evident throughout the season. Senna wasted no time in returning to the team that had given him his first taste of Formula One equipment after Prost won his fourth world championship and retired.

Senna's early troubles with the FW16 seemed to be a one-time setback as the season progressed. All season, Williams were much too powerful and Senna far too swift to be overshadowed by Michael Schumacher's Benetton.

Then the unimaginable occurred. Senna's Williams speared off the track at Tamburello on the sixth lap of the third race of the season at Imola, gouging the concrete retaining wall. His helmet was penetrated by a suspension piece, causing fatal injuries.

Following the death of one of the sport's finest drivers, the sport was stunned. Senna's death happened barely 24 hours after Roland Ratzenberger, another driver, died at the same track — the first deaths during an F1 race weekend in 12 years.

When his remains was returned to Brazil and interred at the Morumbi cemetery in Sao Paulo, a short distance from Senna's neighborhood and the Interlagos circuit where his wins gave joy to a nation, the country came to a halt.

Ayrton Senna crash and death

The 1994 San Marino Grand Prix took place between April 28 and May 1 at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari racetrack in Imola, Italy.

The European leg of the Formula One season, which begins in Imola, has long been regarded as the commencement of the annual competition.

Senna, having failed to complete the first two races of the season, stated that here was where his season would begin, with 14 races instead of 16 to win the championship. In a bid to enhance the car's handling, Williams brought modified FW16s to Imola.

Rubens Barrichello, Senna's compatriot and protégé, was involved in a major accident during the afternoon qualifying session when his vehicle flew airborne at the Variante Bassa chicane and collided with the tyre-wall and barrier.

Barrichello had a fractured nose and arm and had to withdraw from the competition. Senna was the first person Barrichello saw after regaining consciousness, according to him.

The front wing of Austrian rookie Roland Ratzenberger's Simtek-Ford snapped at the 310 km/h (190 mph) Villeneuve circuit on Saturday, driving the vehicle into the concrete retaining wall at high speed. Senna went to the accident site and the hospital center right away.

There, he was approached by FIA Medical Chief Professor Sid Watkins, who urged to a heartbroken Senna that he quit racing and take up fishing (a passion they both enjoyed), to which Senna answered that he couldn't stop racing.

Senna was then summoned in front of the stewards for stealing an official vehicle and scaling the medical center fence, resulting in a squabble, however Senna was not penalized.

A notable fact about Ayrton Senna is that he spent his last morning in Formula One talking to Alain Prost, a former colleague and adversary, about the re-establishment of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association, a driver's organization, with the goal of increasing safety in the sport.

Prost had left the sport at the conclusion of the 1993 season and was now working as a media host. Senna, being the most experienced driver in the field, volunteered to take over as leader beginning with the following race in Monaco.

Concerns were expressed at the drivers' briefing over the mostly promotional usage of a Porsche 911 lead car during the warm-up lap, and organizers agreed to stop doing so.

Senna maintained his lead over Michael Schumacher at the start of the Grand Prix, but the race was immediately stopped by a startline collision. JJ Lehto's Benetton-Ford stopped and was struck by Pedro Lamy's Lotus-Mugen Honda.

Eight people and a police officer were injured when a wheel and debris fell in the main grandstand. For numerous laps, the safety car, a sportier version of the Opel Vectra midsize family vehicle, was used.

The Vectra's lack of speed, on the other hand, was to the racers' disadvantage, since the slower speed enabled the Formula One cars' tyres to cool, lowering their pressure.

A notable fact about Ayrton Senna is that he approached the Vectra and motioned to the driver, Max Angelelli, to accelerate. The race restarted on lap 6, and Senna quickly established a fast pace, completing the event's third-fastest lap, followed by Schumacher.

On lap 7, Senna's vehicle rounded the high-speed Tamburello curve at roughly 307 km/h (191 mph), went in a straight line off the track, and slammed the concrete retaining wall at around 233 km/h (145 mph), following what telemetry indicated to be a two-second application of the brakes.

As a result of the mishap, the red flag was shown. Senna was taken from his racing vehicle by Watkins and his medical team, which included acute care anaesthetist Giovanni Gordini, only two minutes after colliding.

A notable fact about Ayrton Senna is that he had a weak heartbeat and severe blood loss due to a torn temporal artery, therefore the first treatment took place by the side of the road. Senna had already lost 4.5 litres of blood, or 90 percent of his total blood volume, at this time.

Watkins conducted an on-site tracheotomy and asked that Senna be airlifted to Bologna's Maggiore Hospital under Gordini's supervision due to Senna's serious neurological state.

Maria Teresa Fiandri, the director of the hospital's emergency department, announced Senna's death at 18:40, but noted the formal time of death under Italian law was 14:17, when he struck the wall and his brain ceased working.

Watkins subsequently said that he knew Senna's brainstem was dormant and that he would not live as soon as he observed his pupils completely dilated.

Senna's head was forced back into the headrest when the right-front wheel and suspension were propelled back into the cockpit, smacking him on the right side of his helmet.

A piece of wheel upright had partly entered his helmet, leaving a significant imprint on his forehead. Furthermore, a jagged fragment of the upright assembly appears to have pierced the helmet visor directly above his right eye.

Senna died as a result of catastrophic skull fractures, brain damage, and a burst temporal artery, which supplies the face and scalp with blood. Any one of these three injuries, according to Fiandri, would have killed him.

When the medical team checked Senna's car, they found a furled Austrian flag, which he had meant to fly in honour of Ratzenberger after the race.

Angelo Orsi, Senna's buddy and Autosprint's image editor, took photographs of Senna being treated on the track by emergency medical staff. Those images have never been made publicly available out of respect.

Ayrton Senna social media

Regarding

Ayrton Senna social media

, it should be mentioned that he did not have any pages on any social media platforms.

Ayrton Senna body measurements

Speaking about

Ayrton Senna body measurements

, it should be mentioned that the former driver was 171cm and 65kg.

Ayrton Senna net worth and salary

Ayrton Senna's net worth

was estimated to be around $150 million at the time of his death, according to Wikipedia, Forbes, and Business Insider.

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