The Life of Senna

by Rubython, Tom

  Italy 1989 remains to this day the only gap in the collection. Dennis is a very ordered man and Prost’s act struck right at his heart. From that day the relationship was over. The win left Senna trailing by 20 points in the championship. Prost simply kept on berating McLaren and Dennis, seemingly without limit. Discipline had broken down between employer and employee. Dennis decided to strike back and threatened to suspend Prost from the team for breach of contract. When it became clear that he faced the sack from the team, Prost backed down. Even Ferrari’s team manager Franco Lini was aghast at the situation. He said: “He should not say these things. He is a double world champion. He should be above it all. The Italians like to see a man proud and strong, not complaining and whining.”

  Lini saw a much-increased value from having the current world champion driving for the team the following year, and he had realised that Ron Dennis could simply resolve the championship in favour of Senna by sacking Prost. There was little doubt that Dennis could legitimately do this in the wake of Prost’s attacks and the breach of contract by giving the trophy away.

  FISA’s French president Jean-Marie Balestre, however, sided with Prost, telling French radio: “The proof is that Senna was gaining more than a second each lap. I was furious. Until recent months, we have had a fantastic battle between Prost and Senna. It’s clear that if Senna’s car shows its superiority in the next four Grands Prix, considerable damage would be done to the value of the world championship.”

  By Portugal there had been a showdown between Dennis and Prost, and by all accounts the French driver had come close to being fired. He suddenly realised that he was in a dangerous position and reached a compromise with Dennis. McLaren issued a statement: “As a result of the consequences of the press statements at the Italian Grand Prix, Alain Prost, Honda and McLaren have had extensive discussions and wish to put on record their intentions of creating the best possible working environment for the driver and the team for the remainder of the season. Honda and McLaren have again reassured Alain, to his satisfaction, of their commitment to equality and will continue their policy regardless of Alain’s move to another team for the 1990 season.

  “Alain deeply regrets the adverse publicity and the resulting embarrassment that has been caused by his actions. Honda and McLaren have accepted that these resulted from Alain’s perception of his treatment by the team and were not made with malicious intent. He has agreed that in future any doubts that he might have had about the parity of performance of his car will be discussed with the relevant engineers prior to comments being made to the press. The team also expresses its disdain and dissatisfaction over the inaccurate, unqualified and damaging statements made by third parties subsequent to Monza.”

  The statement marked the end of an extraordinary situation and it was a massive climbdown by Alain Prost, who had clearly had to make concessions simply to keep his drive for the remainder of the season.

  Dennis breathed a sigh of relief at the Portuguese Grand Prix in Estoril, as the focus switched to a conflict between Senna and Ferrari’s Nigel Mansell.

  A collision with Mansell in rather unusual circumstances put Senna out of the race, handing victory to Gerhard Berger’s Ferrari and second place to Prost, and putting the world championship almost beyond Senna’s reach. Mansell’s Ferrari had been black-flagged for a pitlane infringement, but the Englishman stayed out on the track, later saying that he could not see the flags. Senna was closing on race leader Berger when Mansell flew past him into a corner. In response, to hold his position, Senna perhaps unwisely steered across the Ferrari: the pair collided and ended up in the gravel. Mansell was subsequently handed a $50,000 fine and a one-race ban.

  Senna fumed: “Why did Nigel stay out after he was disqualified? Everyone could see from the television transmission what happened. I really don’t want to comment. You can’t get far like that, it’s a kind of suicide. Mansell risked someone else’s life. If there had been a barrier I could have ended up dead. That’s why I say this is serious. Mansell’s ban from one race, seen from this point of view, is very far from being the just punishment.”

  Mansell retorted: “Senna cut me. He saw perfectly well I was starting to overtake, he even turned his head slightly towards me.” Mansell was furious and threatened to quit the sport if his punishment was not revoked. Suddenly the championship seemed over. The clash with Mansell meant that Senna needed at least two wins and a second place from the three remaining races to take the championship, but he had not given in: “I can still win the championship and I believe I still will.” In Spain it looked as if he still might. He won the race while Prost finished third, but now needed to win both the remaining races to take the crown, a difficult but not impossible task.

  With the championship as good as sewn up and the prospect of being sacked by McLaren having receded, Alain Prost returned to the attack and threw caution to the wind. Before the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka, Prost openly attacked Senna in the French press. “He’s a man who just lives for and thinks about competition,” he said. “He has abandoned everything else, every human relationship. He feels sustained by God and he is capable of taking every risk because he thinks he is immortal. In the Formula One world he lives completely apart, he is not at all appreciated, except by our team for the risks he takes. With his way of approaching competition, I don’t think he can continue for a long time, which is a pity because he’s an exceptional driver.”

  At Suzuka, Senna replied by blitzing Prost for pole by 1.730 seconds, over two seconds ahead of his next nearest rival Gerhard Berger. It was unheard of. But to Senna’s fury he found that pole position would still not be moved away from the dirty side of the track. There was a huge row which concluded with the status quo, which was no good to Senna. He could not believe it and began to wonder why he had bothered to make such an effort. It was one of the tracks in the world where pole didn’t mean pole. But he was still fired up for the race: “Tomorrow I will drive as fast as I can to win the race, whatever it takes. I have nothing to lose. Therefore I have to go for the maximum, I have to win. It’s the best way, it’s the way I like to race: I never liked to race for points, or having to sit there for second or third place, even if that was enough to win a championship. I always loved the challenge of having to win. Although the pressure is high and stressing, it’s a kind of challenge that stimulates me and gives me something extra.”

  Consequently Prost got the jump at the start and, for most of the race, Senna could not catch him. But in the closing stages, desperate for victory, he began to close. On lap 46, he was close enough to have a go at the final chicane, but as he dived down the inside, Prost planted himself firmly on the line. The pair of McLarens sidled down the escape road locked together and came to a halt.

  Prost got out immediately and began to survey the damage. But Senna was not finished yet and with a push from the marshals he managed to get the car going and steered it out of the escape road, minus a front wing. He came into the pits a lap later, passing Prost on foot, and regained the track behind the Benetton Ford of Alessandro Nannini, which had taken the lead since the collision. With just two laps to go, Senna repeated the move on Nannini that he had tried on Prost, only this time it was successful. Senna took the chequered flag, believing he had won the race.

  Senna explained what had happened in some detail: “My car was damaged. When I saw the nose damaged, I thought it was finished. Like I said, I disconnected my radio, but we had to push the car out of the way. My car was in a dangerous place, and it is the duty of the driver to put the car in a safe place. That is one of the rules: you can have assistance from the marshals, under your direction, to move the car to a safe place. That is what I did. If in the process of doing that, according to the rules, if you are able to restart you are able to do so without any infringement of the rules.

  “Then suddenly, when I was going down the escape road, I have enough momentum to try to restart. So I put the ignition on and I bump-start, and the engine restart
ed. So when the engine re-started I was already down the escape road. It was only after they pushed me a lot that I had that situation; I am almost between the tyres when the engine starts. So I go down the escape road and rejoin the circuit, after the gravel, because here it is all gravel or sand, and I cannot go here. So I have to just go around the sand and rejoin the circuit at the safest place.

  “I saw the wing under the car, and suddenly halfway round the lap the wing comes off. I am coming to the pits and I know that for sure my mechanics are waiting there to try to fix it, if they can. And they were able to fix it, so I was able to go back.”

  But the race win didn’t stand. He was immediately disqualified and not allowed to go on the podium. Dangerous driving for cutting out the chicane was cited as the reason. The disqualification meant Prost was champion. Senna saw the hand of Jean-Marie Balestre behind the disqualification.

  Senna was understandably livid and completely astonished at the turn of events that had handed Prost the title. The team declared it would immediately appeal. He said: “The results as they stand provisionally do not reflect the truth of the race in either the sporting sense or in the sense of the regulations. I see this result as temporary. It’s a pity that we had to appeal in abnormal situations like this, it’s absurd but it is the only way when we have a problem like this. We must fight with all our available resources. Now the matter is out of my hands. What I have done is done and is correct. From now this matter will be in the hands of lawyers, people who understand the theoretical side. But as for the practical side it was obvious that I won the race on the track. The taste of victory was taken away, I couldn’t go onto the podium and celebrate with the crowd in the grandstands, probably my biggest fan club outside Brazil, and with my mechanics. I would say that it is a shame for the sport. As to our defence, I do not want to comment as it will be prepared very carefully on the basis of the regulations and on fact. I do not want to say any more on the matter. As to the incident, that was the only place where I could overtake, and somebody who should not have been there just closed the door and that was that.”

  McLaren Team Principal, Ron Dennis called a press conference and showed reruns of helicopter videos overhead which showed the opposite to what Balestre said he had seen. Because McLaren immediately filed its appeal, Prost’s championship was not confirmed. The celebrating had to stop.

  Prost had been celebrating in the McLaren pit garage when he heard that his championship had become provisional as the team had appealed against the result. He was cynical about it as he said: “You know Ayrton’s problem?” he scoffed. “He can’t accept not winning and because of that he can’t accept someone resisting his overtaking manoeuvres. Too many times he tries to intimidate someone out of his way.”

  Ron Dennis left it to McLaren director Creighton Brown to comment: “It is our duty to try and win every race. Both drivers understand this, and understand why we are appealing. It is purely to do with the race result and has nothing to do with the world championship.”

  Prost sounded a little smug when he said: “It was my corner. I wanted to win the race and prove myself a winner and it is sad that I could not do that. I felt very comfortable in the race and I was in control. I was allowing him to close up on me when I wanted to, to further wear his tyres at the front. I said this morning that I would not open the door for him any more and he should accept that. He has no right to think he can pass me because he wanted to. I’m upset at winning after this sort of altercation again. He has had a lot of bad luck this year. But winning my third title is not going to change my life.”

  At the track on Sunday evening, Balestre told reporters he had seen a video of the accident and was convinced Senna was in the wrong.

  Just over a week after the race, Prost was confirmed as world champion at a meeting of the world council in Paris. The disqualification would stand, and Senna was accused of endangering other drivers. He was fined $100,000 and given a six-month ban, suspended for six-months. Balestre complained: “You don’t have the right when you are a great driver to have a stupid accident which destroys the sporting spectacle. It is very clear – and the film of the race proves it – that it was excessive speed which caused the accident. I do not accept drivers who try to win at any price. That’s what I have against Senna. I feel responsible for the safety of the drivers – in a way, they are my children. We have made great strides in security standards in the last five years. The courses are much safer but the international federation does not want our improved image tarnished by inconsiderate or unsafe driving, even if I know there are many admirers of Senna and the acrobats, those tight-rope walkers of the track who are above the norm.”

  It was a cruel blow to Senna. He had gone to the meeting to explain why it had been necessary for him to cut the chicane and had been punished for another matter entirely. When Ron Dennis objected to Senna’s treatment and hinted at further procedures to upturn the appeal decision, Balestre threatened to exclude him from the following year’s championship if there was any hint of legal action from the team. Prost said: “This title has been the most difficult to win psychologically, since I was in a position of inferiority at McLaren. It is a personal victory but it is also a victory over my team.” The Brazilian public was furious. Senna sensed a conspiracy and said later: “They wanted to disqualify me for whatever reason they could, for whatever argument they could say.” He had a point.

  After all the drama, the final race at Adelaide was inevitably a letdown. In a rain-affected race, Senna tangled with Brundle and appeared to drive straight into the back of his car while he was lapping him, putting himself out of the race and ending an explosive year.

  Before the race, Senna gave a long, often rambling and emotional press conference He said: “I have had difficult times the last few days but I believe through hard times a person’s real personality comes out and your strengths become stronger than ever. I thought about stopping, going home and not coming to Australia. What happened in Suzuka was unfair, unrealistic and took place because the people who had the power decided to do so.

  “Afterwards you wonder why you should do this on and on when you’re not being fairly treated. But racing is in my blood and I know that the situation we face only motivates me deep inside to fight against it and to prove what I’m doing has values. I’ll do here exactly the same I’ve done all my life and drive the way I feel is right. If I have my licence taken away then probably the values that keep me going in Formula One will go with it, and I will not be in Formula One any more.

  “But I refuse to walk away from a fight. That is my nature. I will fight to the end whatever happens, whatever the cost so that for once we can bring justice to our sport.” He added for good measure: “I am a professional, but I am also a human being, and the values I have in my life are stronger than many other peoples desires to influence, or destroy those values.”

  His year also ended dramatically, emotionally. After almost a year together, he and Xuxa realised their lives made a relationship impossible. There was just one problem: both were deeply in love. Senna’s family also loved Xuxa and urged him to marry her. There were rumours that he did propose. But Xuxa was not sure that Senna was being faithful to her.

  Tensions reached a height over New Year and, deciding she wanted to be alone, she fled to New York. Senna tried to convince her to stay in São Paulo with him for the holidays. She was unmoved, but when she arrived in New York, and opened her bags, her apartment was full of little notes from him. She later recalled it was ‘very beautiful’. When she arrived at the place she was going to stay, there nothing there and it was practically unfurnished. There was no television, no sofa, nothing in the kitchen.

  Someone went to buy her the basics, including a TV. Well after his death, Xuxa recalled that she expected them to be delivered three hours later. But one hours 40 minutes later she heard a knock on the door, and thought something was wrong. “When I opened the door, I found it was Ayrton and had a large TV with him and
a message in his hand. It read: ‘I’m in New York, because there is someone who I love there, and who loves me.’

  It was a great start to their 1990, but it was not destined to endure.

  CHAPTER 15

  1990: Senna vs Prost

  The Confrontation Year

  Ayrton Senna’s dreamy start of the year with Xuxa Meneghel in New York was not a reflection of the turmoil in the rest of his life. When he returned to São Paulo from New York a serious row was brewing in Europe, which would put his career in jeopardy.

  It all stemmed from the events at the Japanese Grand Prix in 1989, though trivial in themselves, and centred around how he had rejoined the race after colliding with Prost. Senna felt strongly that FISA president Jean-Marie Balestre had disqualified him from the race unjustly, finagling the situation to give Prost the championship.

  As if the disqualification and lost championship were not enough punishment, at the appeal in Paris Balestre had also fined Senna an additional $100,000 and handed him a six-month suspended ban.

  In those days the governing body had the right, if an appeal was made against a stewards’ decision, to impose further penalties. It was legally barmy of course, but the FISA under Balestre’s leadership was run under wild west rules. That he was partisan to Prost, a Frenchman, seemed obvious to Senna.

  At the beginning of 1990, then, it looked uncertain that Senna would be racing at all in 1990. It was a game of brinkmanship between him and Balestre, which neither side could be certain of winning. It was all about who needed who the most.