The Life of Senna

by Rubython, Tom

  A poor tyre choice resulted in a spin for Senna on lap 13 and he could finish only fifth as Mansell powered to victory and closed the championship gap to 16 points. Senna’s sullen mood of the latter part of the season worsened and he confronted Mansell after the race to complain about the overtaking move that everyone else had seen as a moment of genius. Mansell recalls: “Ayrton could intimidate anyone on the track. At Barcelona he came up to me and said ‘beep beep effing beep you’re mad’. He thought the move had been dangerous and he wanted to intimidate me. I think that weekend he finally got the message that he couldn’t intimidate or harass me like he wanted to. From then on it was a bit more pleasant and he was always fair.”

  Senna only had to finish second in the penultimate round to take the championship. But the race was at Suzuka, where the championship had been decided in the previous two years with collisions between Senna and Prost. With the Mansell situation the way it was, it seemed likely there might be more controversy there in 1991.

  Senna did little to quell the gossip when he remarked: “I have tried to avoid accidents, but sometimes that is a stupid way to go on and I may have to be a bit tougher in the last two races. There is always the chance of another accident. It is time for Mansell to think about the situation as well. We are both hard racers and I will make my contribution, but he has to make his too. Something would have happened in Portugal if I had taken a harder view. He would not have gone through the first corner. I will drive my own race in Suzuka and I will do what I want.”

  Mansell responded: “Senna has a 16-point advantage going into the last two races so I can’t understand his attitude. We have had some great, clean races and this should be no different.” Since Spain, Jean-Marie Balestre had been replaced as president of FISA by Max Mosley, a move that delighted Senna given his chequered past with the Frenchman. Mosley was inevitably drawn into the row but he insisted there would be no trouble. He said: “They are two of the finest drivers in the world and both about 30 years old or more. They are grown-ups and they know exactly what they are doing. It is not for me as an amateur, in the driving sense, to advise them or tell them about the consequences of their driving. They know that far better than me.”

  In Japan, Berger took pole with Senna and Mansell separated by just two-100ths of a second in second and third respectively. Mansell commented: “It will be tough – that goes without question. I’ll be really surprised if Ayrton does anything silly because all the world will be watching.”

  At the start, Berger pulled into the lead while Senna remained in second with Mansell – who needed to win – boxed in behind him. Mansell pursued the Brazilian until lap 10 when he pushed too hard and spun out of the race. At the age of 32, Senna became the youngest-ever triple world champion in the history of Formula One.

  When he saw Mansell’s championship challenge end in a cloud of dust, Senna’s immediate reaction was to drop the conservative drive-for-points approach and go racing to win again, even though Ron Dennis told him over the radio to take it easy and remember the constructors’ championship battle between Williams and McLaren. Senna explained afterwards: “Once Nigel was out I said OK, now we go for it. I want to drive hard. I want to give a show for all the fans. The atmosphere in Suzuka was unbelievable. Everyone had been waiting for this race all over the world.”

  Over the radio Dennis asked him to give the victory to Berger, who was second. He could hardly refuse but first decided to put on a show, leading Berger for the final laps before handing the win to his Austrian team-mate almost on the line. Throughout the season Berger had made many valuable contributions on Senna’s behalf, several times sacrificing his own performance in favour of Senna’s championship cause. Now Senna rewarded him, giving Berger his first win in a McLaren.

  Afterwards Senna admitted he found it difficult and, for a moment, almost decided against it (even though he had told Dennis by radio he would). “It meant I would have to back off for the first time in my career for a race that I had fought for so long. How can you have a better way to win the championship than by winning the race? So it was tough. But Gerhard and I work really well together, we have great respect for each other and he has helped me in the past on many occasions. It was my turn to help him. Sure, it was tough and it hurt in my heart. But that pain is nothing compared to the feeling I have with the third title. Now we’re going to go for it next year, and do it again!”

  Some people, although not Berger himself, thought that the unsubtle move was ungracious and disingenuous and compared it unfavourably to the 1955 British Grand Prix when even Stirling Moss was uncertain whether or not his team-mate Juan Manuel Fangio had allowed him to win. But this was a different era, and in a more ruthless and competitive age Senna had done the honourable thing.

  Senna’s celebration of his third world championship was, at first, a very private one. Although he was surrounded by well-wishers, no one saw the depth of emotion he was feeling behind the mask of his famous yellow helmet. As he climbed out of his McLaren Honda Berger hugged and congratulated him, happy for his good friend and thankful for the victory. Ron Dennis ran up to Senna and he, too, hugged him, shook his hand and yelled his congratulations. Akimasa Yasuoka, the Honda team leader, did likewise and all the McLaren personnel joined in. Even Mansell patted him on the back and raised the new world champion’s arm aloft in a fine gesture of sportsmanship.

  Still Senna kept his helmet on, not wishing the world to see the tears in his eyes and the conflicting emotions he felt. Certainly there was a feeling of supreme satisfaction at the success, which came despite more adversity and competition than he had previously encountered in his career. But he was also overcome with feelings of frustration and anger at what he felt were past injustices. In this regard he felt his third title was a kind of revenge and the pent-up resentments from seasons past were shortly to boil over.

  Senna went through the prize-giving formalities with dignity and aplomb. Close observers might have noticed an occasional glimmer of emotion as the Brazilian national anthem was played, but Senna was all smiles as he playfully engaged in the ritual champagne-spraying on the podium. And he was able to laugh heartily when Ron Dennis sneaked up from behind and poured a bucket of cold water over him.

  But when he entered the post-race press conference, Senna was ready to speak his mind. At first he spoke softly, reviewing the season and comparing his latest triumph to those in the past. “This year I had a lot of excitement, a lot of pressure, a lot of stress. It’s been the most competitive world championship I have ever been in because we fought with different cars, different engines, different drivers – not just inside the same team. Therefore it was really tough.

  “We started the year well, then we had a tough time from the fourth race onwards. Because we won those first four races it was difficult to convince the team, Honda and Shell that we needed to work harder to catch Williams. So we stopped progressing and I ran out of fuel on two occasions. Then everyone finally understood and bit by bit we slowly got closer to Williams Renault and put pressure on the team. We won a couple of races at the critical part of the championship, in Hungary and Belgium, scoring the right results even when we could not compete with Williams on an equal basis. It wasn’t until the last few races that we caught up to Williams and here we were able to do a one-two finish again, which is fantastic. So it has been a memorable championship – not only for me, but I think for Formula One over the past few years.

  “Fortunately we were able to have a clean championship, without politicians, without people playing games. It was a technical and a sporting championship this year, and I hope it will be an example not only for myself but for everyone competing in Formula One now and in the future.”

  Then Senna began to reveal his inner feelings about what had transpired at Suzuka in the past. He said it had also been a memorable occasion when he clinched the 1988 championship at the Japanese circuit. And the next year was memorable, too, but for all the wrong reasons. Senna lost the tit
le to Prost when he was disqualified for what was called an illegal re-entry to the circuit, following his controversial collision with Prost at the chicane.

  Of this decision Senna said: “I was robbed, badly, by the system – and that I will never forget.” On the occasion of the 1990 championship, also decided by a collision with Prost but this time in Senna’s favour, instead of elation he felt bitterness: “It was a sad championship, but this was a result of the 1989 championship, a result of the politics that we had in 1989 and 1990.”

  As he began to elaborate it became clear that the villain in Senna’s eyes was Balestre. He saw his departure as an opportunity to finally speak his mind. And he certainly did that, frequently lapsing into earthy English expletives as he gave vent to his anger. At one point during his vitriolic outburst Berger joked that ‘you should hope that Balestre doesn’t come back next year!’

  The last time Senna had been outspoken in his criticism of FISA, following his loss of the 1989 championship, Balestre demanded an apology or said he would take Senna’s racing licence away from him. Senna now said that his so-called apology to FISA was theatre perpetrated by Balestre, who faked an apology from Senna in a press release that was quoted around the world. “Now,” said Senna, “I think we must all say what we feel is right and what we feel is wrong. We are in a modern world and we are racing professionals. There is a lot of money and image involved here, yet we are not allowed to say what we feel. Because if you say what you feel you get penalised, disqualified, fined, banned or lose your licence. Is that a fair way of working? It is not.” In the tirade that followed, Senna indirectly blamed the ex-president for causing the first-corner accident with Prost. Before qualifying started, Senna said everyone agreed that pole position should be moved to the outside so as to give the pole-sitter the best line into the first corner. Senna then won pole position and hoped this advantage would enable him to get far enough ahead to prevent a replay of what had happened between him and Prost in 1989. “Remember, I won that race and it was taken away. I was prevented from going to the podium by Balestre. Then last year after qualifying, Balestre gave the order to not change pole position. And I found myself on the wrong side of the track.

  “I was so frustrated that I promised myself that if, after the start, I lost first place, I would go for it in the first corner. Regardless of the consequences, I would go for it, and Prost would not turn in the first corner ahead of me. That’s what happened. And it was a result of the politicians making stupid and bad decisions.

  “I was determined to get to the corner first and I was not prepared to let the guy turn in front of me – because if I was near enough to make that corner, he couldn’t turn in front of me. He just had to let me through. I didn’t care if we crashed. He took a chance, he turned, and we crashed. But what happened was a result of 1989. It was built up. It was unavoidable. It had to happen. I did contribute to it, yes. But it was not my responsibility.” Opinion was sharply divided as to whether or not this was a confession of guilt or an admission of absolute commitment.

  Balestre and FISA were understandably furious with the outburst that had tainted Senna’s victory and made it another controversial conclusion to the title battle. A few days later the governing body forced Senna to make an awkward apology to Balestre. He issued a statement which read: “I now feel that my remarks concerning the former FISA president were inappropriate and that the language used was not in good taste. What I said was that I had decided, in the event of both drivers going for the same piece of road, that I would not be the one who gave way. All racing drivers do this occasionally. At no time did I deliberately collide with Alain.” But the apology could not revoke what he had said and there were clear inconsistencies between his apology and his original outburst. Dennis insisted it had been Senna’s decision to apologise, but few believed him.

  The final race in Adelaide was a downpour and was halted after just 14 laps with Senna receiving half points for victory, enough to clinch the constructors’ title for McLaren. Mansell crashed heavily in the rain and suffered concussion. The final championship standing was 96 points to Senna and 72 to Mansell, which barely illustrated how close things had come in the middle of the season. Had Williams sorted out its reliability problems earlier in the season, it could well have been a very different story.

  When Senna attended FISA’s annual prize-giving in early December he publicly made his peace with Balestre. The pair embraced and Senna presented the outgoing president with one of his racing helmets, a gift which clearly moved Balestre, who congratulated Senna on his championship. Senna told the audience: “It is time to clear up any misunderstandings. We have had our differences at different times, in different places and it is difficult sometimes in these situations, but I want to put all that behind us. I sincerely hope all our problems are now in the past and I mean this in a very sincere and sporting way.”

  Despite the apology, Senna had done little to improve his reputation in the year since his second Suzuka crash with Prost. In some ways he had sullied it further with the admission that the collision had been deliberate and pre-meditated. With his third world title he had joined an exclusive group – only Juan Manuel Fangio, Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Nelson Piquet and Alain Prost had previously matched the feat – but controversies on and off the track had tainted the triumph. There were two Sennas: the introspective philosopher who valued his family and God above all else; and the ruthless champion who many thought had changed the face of Formula One for the worse. The truth was a complex amalgamation of the two.

  As he reflected at the end of the season, he knew that he, not McLaren, had won the world championship. But, as he enjoyed the Brazilian summer at Angra, he wasn’t at all confident about 1992.

  CHAPTER 19

  1992: Sensational in Monte Carlo

  But little other glory

  After Ayrton Senna’s third championship, with his annual sponsorship income starting to approach $40 million and the prospect of heavy licensing income opening up, he finally persuaded his manager Julian Jakobi to split with Mark McCormack’s IMG company, which also managed Alain Prost, and set up on his own as his own full-time manager.

  Jakobi set up a Senna licensing operation in London and his own company called FJ Associates, with offices just off London’s Baker Street. Senna and Jakobi started discussing ideas for after he retired. One was setting up their own Formula One team. But it was a decision for later. In 1992 he wasn’t about to make the same mistake as Emerson Fittipaldi had when he set up his own disastrous team with his brother at the peak of his powers.

  Meanwhile Senna was delighted he had separated his own commercial affairs and put some distance between him and Prost. Prost stayed at IMG and remained friendly with Jakobi.

  As the 1992 Formula One season approached, the world was expecting Senna, as the reigning world champion, to be the dominant force all over again. Williams Renault had been strong up to the middle of 1991, but towards the end of the season McLaren Honda had regained its form to give Senna the title.

  However, behind the scenes McLaren and Senna were struggling. Senna said to journalists in Brazil at the end of 1991: “I wouldn’t like to do it, the same job again, that I did this year. Last year, when it was also very tough, I said ‘no way can it be harder than that’. But this year it was even harder. And we did it – because once you are in it, there is no way out, if you are really committed. You have a commitment with everyone that is part of your team.” Unfortunately that commitment was not enough in 1992.

  The new MP4/7A had major problems with speed and reliability and the team had decided it would be best to leave it at home until the European season began. Williams, on the other hand, seemed to have solved all its reliability worries and would be running a revolutionary computer-controlled active suspension system in 1992, alongside the powerful Renault engine. The active suspension was rumoured to be capable of a second-a-lap advantage over its rivals, although some had questioned its relia
bility and Nigel Mansell remained cautious. He said: “I am looking forward to this season more than ever before. My commitment is stronger. If I didn’t believe I could win the title, I would not be around. I will go to the limit racing against Ayrton as I demonstrated in some of the races last year. As always, the favourites will be McLaren, Honda and Senna. It is astonishing they have not tested much this winter, which probably means they have something up their sleeves and are confident of coming straight out and doing the business.”

  But McLaren did not have something up its sleeve, and the lack of testing was symptomatic of the team’s technical struggles. The Honda V12 did not have the outright superiority of its predecessors, although it was still the best engine on the grid. But the McLaren car had fallen badly behind the Williams and it would be another year before it caught up again. Rumours had begun that the Japanese manufacturer would be pulling the plug on its Formula One programme at the end of the season.

  The rumours were true – early in 1992 the Honda board of directors decided to pull out of Formula One. When he knew the decision Soichiro Honda telephoned Senna straight away and told him. The relationship between the two men was immensely close. Senna knew McLaren would be stuffed without a works engine for 1993.

  McLaren team principal Ron Dennis was not told until later and Senna was certainly not about to tell him. But he did confide in his team-mate Gerhard Berger and told him to jump ship. Berger contacted his friends at Ferrari, as he knew a seat was available there for 1993. Senna began talking to Williams, which unbeknown to him was also talking seriously to Prost, who had no drive for 1992 after being sacked from Ferrari as a result of his politicking. The McLaren drivers both decided it was time they made their exits, as it was clear a down period would begin without the Honda engine. As Berger says: “Ayrton went to Williams in 1994, but in fact the move had started much earlier. When he found out that Honda was going to withdraw, he warned me things were about to change. He had much better information from Japan than Ron himself – Ayrton was always the first to know what Honda was doing.” Berger did the deal to move to Ferrari for a rumoured $12 million. Senna confided it was his ambition to drive for Ferrari one day but not yet. He asked Berger to let him know when he thought the time was right. Senna had already decided his next team was Williams.