The Life of Senna

by Rubython, Tom

  This was far from Senna’s most exciting victory – certainly not compared to his other win at Jerez in 1986 – but it was a useful and important triumph because it kept his championship challenge alive. The Brazilian was in dominant form – he started from pole, led every lap and clocked the fastest lap by 0.432 seconds along the way.

  21. 1990 US Grand Prix: Phoenix, 72 laps in 1h52m32.829s

  Second: Jean Alesi, Tyrrell Ford, +8.685s

  Third: Thierry Boutsen, Williams Renault, +54.080s

  Unusually Senna was outshone. A young Jean Alesi took the lead at the start and continued until lap 33, when inevitably Senna caught and passed him. But Alesi was having none of it. The Tyrrell driver overtook him again immediately and managed to hold the lead for another two laps. It was the sort of battle Senna enjoyed.

  22. 1990 Monaco Grand Prix: Monte Carlo, 78 laps in 1h52m46.982s

  Second: Jean Alesi, Tyrrell Ford, +1.087s

  Third: Gerhard Berger, McLaren Honda, +2.073s

  By 1990 Senna had started to prove himself invincible at Monte Carlo. Taking pole, the win and the fastest lap he was dominant throughout the weekend. In the race he led every one of the 78 laps. His only loss all weekend was when he took second in the first timed practice session to Alesi, who was once again making his mark.

  23. 1990 Canadian Grand Prix: Montreal, 70 laps in 1h42m56.400

  Second: Nelson Piquet, Benetton Ford, +10.497s

  Third: Nigel Mansell, Ferrari, +13.385s

  The track started off damp, but rather than the rain it was more a series of bizarre incidents that helped Senna to race victory, including a minute’s penalty for Gerhard Berger, a groundhog that was run over by Alessandro Nannini’s Benetton Ford and a series of collisions. Senna rose above it all to retain a healthy championship lead.

  24. 1990 German Grand Prix: Hockenheim, 45 laps in 1h20m47.164s

  Second: Alessandro Nannini, Benetton +6.520s

  Third: Gerhard Berger, McLaren Honda, +8.553s

  Senna took the lead at the start, but dropped back through the field during pitstops. When the race order settled down, only Nannini’s Benetton lay ahead of the Brazilian, struggling on worn tyres after taking the gamble not to pit. Senna caught and passed the Italian with 12 laps to go and powered on to victory.

  25. 1990 Belgian Grand Prix: Spa-Francorchamps, 44 laps in 1h26m31.997s

  Second: Alain Prost, Ferrari, +3.550s

  Third: Gerhard Berger, McLaren Honda, +28.462s

  The 1990 Belgian Grand Prix was another classic performance from Ayrton Senna in which he took pole position, clocked the fastest lap and led every lap on the way to a totally commanding victory. The win significantly increased his championship chances. This was the 25th race victory of his career and took him above Jackie Stewart’s tally.

  26. 1990 Italian Grand Prix: Monza, 53 laps in 1h17m57. 878s

  Second: Alain Prost, Ferrari, +6.054s

  Third: Gerhard Berger, McLaren Honda, +7.404s

  Monza produced yet another race where Senna led every single lap, took pole position and recorded the fastest lap in the race. It had to be started twice as Derek Warwick’s Lotus Lamborghini ended up upside down at the Parabolica first time around. But Senna was unperturbed and easily kept his lead on both occasions.

  27. 1991 US Grand Prix: Phoenix, 81 laps in 2h00m47.828s

  Second: Alain Prost, Ferrari, +16.322s

  Third: Nelson Piquet, Benetton Ford, +17.376s

  Senna began his third championship-winning season in style with victory at another American street circuit. He started from pole and led every lap of the race. In winning he became the first driver ever to score 10 points for a victory and made it to the magical tidemark of 27 wins, a total only ever exceeded by five other drivers.

  28. 1991 Brazilian Grand Prix: Interlagos, 71 laps in 1h38m28.128s

  Second: Riccardo Patrese, Williams +2.991s

  Third: Gerhard Berger, McLaren Honda, +5.416s

  After years of trying, Senna finally took his first win at home. He led every lap, despite a number of problems. Towards the end of the race his gearbox started to play up and he had to drive the final laps in sixth gear. Then it began to rain and the conditions were treacherous. He took the flag so exhausted that he had to be helped from the car.

  29. 1991 San Marino Grand Prix: Imola, 61 laps in 1h35m14.750s

  Second: Gerhard Berger, McLaren +1.675s

  Third: JJ Lehto, Dallara Judd, +1 lap

  When the rain poured down shortly before the start at Imola, it seemed inevitable that Senna would emerge the victor. He did not have it all his own way, however. Although the Brazilian started from pole, Riccardo Patrese had the better start and led the first nine laps for Williams Renault before a misfire put paid to his chances.

  30. 1991 Monaco Grand Prix: Monte Carlo, 78 laps in 1h53m02.234s

  Second: Nigel Mansell, Williams +18.348s

  Third: Jean Alesi, Ferrari, +47.455s

  Senna was back at his best track to make it four wins from the first four races of the 1991 season. He put in another seemingly effortless performance: grabbing pole position, taking the lead at the start and building up the gap to the rest of the field to take the race. It was his 30th overall career victory and his fourth in Monte Carlo.

  31. 1991 Hungarian Grand Prix: Hungaroring, 77 laps in 1h49m12.796s

  Second: Nigel Mansell, Williams Renault, +4.599s

  Third: Riccardo Patrese, Williams, +15.594s

  After his early dominance, Senna was back on form at the Hungarian Grand Prix. The records state that he led all 77 laps, but this does not show how tough a battle he faced against the Williams Renaults. Patrese harried him early on and in the closing stages let Mansell through, who hassled him all the way to the end.

  32. 1991 Belgian Grand Prix: Spa-Francorchamps, 44 laps in 1h27m17.669s

  Second: Gerhard Berger, McLaren +1.901s

  Third: Nelson Piquet, Benetton Ford, +32.176s

  It was a magnificent fifth victory for Senna in Spa-Francorchamps, although it was far from easy. He led until the first round of pitstops, when Nigel Mansell and Jean Alesi got ahead of him. Both their cars suffered later and Senna went back into the lead. Despite problems with his gearbox, he found some gears and kept going.

  33. 1991 Australian Grand Prix: Adelaide, 14 laps in 24m34.899s

  Second: Nigel Mansell, Williams Renault, +1.259s

  Third: Gerhard Berger, McLaren Honda, +5.120s

  It began to rain before the race and the start was delayed. When the cars eventually did get off it was predictably chaotic and six cars had crashed by lap eight. Two marshals were injured and following gestures from Senna and other drivers concerned for safety, the race was stopped after only 14 laps and half points were awarded.

  34. 1992 Monaco Grand Prix: Monte Carlo, 78 laps in 1h50m59.372s

  Second: Nigel Mansell, Williams Renault, +0.215s

  Third: Riccardo Patrese, Williams +31.843s

  Nigel Mansell, in the all-conquering Adrian Newey-designed FW14B, had won the first five races of the season. It seemed as if Monaco would be his, then with eight laps to go he was forced to pit with a loose wheelnut. He emerged behind Senna, and despite running close the Brazilian somehow held him off to the end of the race.

  35. 1992 Hungarian Grand Prix: Hungaroring, 77 laps in 1h46m19.216s

  Second: Nigel Mansell, Williams +40.139s

  Third: Gerhard Berger, McLaren Honda +50.782s

  The Hungaroring produced a chaotic race that saw the placings chop and change right until the final stages. Senna leapt into second at the start but found himself harried by Mansell. Mansell dropped away and when Riccardo Patrese in the other Williams spun off, Senna inherited the lead and collected yet another victory.

  36. 1992 Italian Grand Prix: Monza, 53 laps in 1h18m15.349s

  Second: Martin Brundle, Benetton Ford +17.050s

  Third: Michael Schumacher, Benetton +24.373s

  A surprise 1992 win
for Senna at one of the faster circuits on the calendar. He led just six of the laps and was never a match for the Williams Renaults of Nigel Mansell and Riccardo Patrese in terms of speed. However, a double hydraulic failure for the Williams pairing meant he snatched the lead in the closing stages and went on to victory.

  37. 1993 Brazilian Grand Prix: Interlagos, 71 laps in 1h51m15.485s

  Second: Damon Hill, Williams Renault +16.625s

  Third: Michael Schumacher, Benetton +45.436s

  This race did not start well. He got off in second, was overtaken by Damon Hill and then received a 10-second penalty for overtaking under a yellow flag. He emerged from the pits in fourth just as a storm brewed up. Senna took the lead in the confusion that ensued as the cars switched to wets and then back to slicks again as the track dried.

  38. 1993 European Grand Prix: Donington Park, 76 laps in 1h50m46.570s

  Second: Damon Hill, Williams +1m23.199s

  Third: Alain Prost, Williams Renault +1 lap

  Senna’s greatest victory. He suffered a poor start and was in fifth as the cars moved off the sodden grid, struggling to hold on to even that place. But by the end of the first lap he had overtaken the four cars in front, no lesser drivers than Michael Schumacher, Karl Wendlinger, Alain Prost and Damon Hill. The rest of the race was irrelevant.

  39. 1993 Monaco Grand Prix: Monte Carlo, 78 laps in 1h52m10.947

  Second: Damon Hill, Williams Renault +52.118s

  Third: Jean Alesi, Ferrari, +1m03.362s

  Senna had crashed heavily in Thursday qualifying and was suffering from a sore thumb. He managed to race and gained places not from star driving but from Alain Prost stalling during a penalty stop and Michael Schumacher suffering hydraulic failure. It was his record sixth Monaco crown and his fifth in a row.

  40. 1993 Japanese Grand Prix: Suzuka; 53 laps in 1h40m27.912s

  Second: Alain Prost, Williams Renault, +11.435s

  Third: Mika Häkkinen, McLaren Ford, +26.129s

  Suzuka saw a race-long challenge between Senna and Prost, first one and then the other taking the upper hand. However, the occasion was more famous for the Brazilian punching Eddie Irvine for getting in his way than the victory. It was the 103rd win for his McLaren team, which took it equal with Ferrari at the top of the all-time tally.

  41. 1993 Australian Grand Prix: Adelaide; 79 laps in 1h43m27.476s

  Second: Alain Prost, Williams Renault, +9.259s

  Third: Damon Hill, Williams Renault, +33.902s

  Senna led for the full distance, barring pitstops, on what was an emotional occasion. It was old rival Alain Prost’s last race before retirement and it was a touching moment when they met on the podium for the last time. Few would have guessed that the race would also mark Senna’s final victory and that he would be dead three races later.

  Ayrton Senna’s nearly wins

  As memorable as some of the victories are the races that Ayrton Senna should have won. He could have taken his first ever Formula One victory for Toleman Hart at Monte Carlo back in 1984. He was catching race leader Alain Prost at an unbelievable speed but the race was stopped on lap 31 due to heavy rain. In 1988 two silly accidents lost him races in McLaren’s best ever year. After receiving a pit signal to slow down, he crashed into the barriers at Monte Carlo from a huge lead in the later stages of the race. Then at Monza he collided with backmarker Jean Louis Schlesser’s Williams with just two laps to go. At Suzuka, in 1989, he fought hard to take back the lead from Alessandro Nannini after controversially crashing with Alain Prost at the chicane but was excluded after the chequered flag for ‘dangerous driving’. On that occasion the loss of the race cost him his championship chances.

  APPENDIX X

  1985 to 1994 Formula One

  Pole Positions by Season

  Ayrton Senna scored 65 pole positions from 162 attempts to start a race.(He failed to qualify once in 1984). No one has ever come close to exceeding this record and it reflected his ability to drive race cars fast on the limit continualy. Michael Schumacher is the nearest with 37 poles and there is some doubt whether he will ever beat Senna’s record.

  1985 Lotus Renault 7 poles

  At the first Grand Prix of the season, Ayrton Senna’s home race in Brazil, his talented team-mate Elio de Angelis out-qualified him by 0.308secs. Senna put his Lotus on pole in the next three races. His seven-pole tally was remarkable, the stuff usually expected from serious championship challengers rather than drivers in a good car in only their second year. His top spots at Monte Carlo and Detroit illustrated his street circuit mastery.

  1986 Lotus Renault 8 poles

  Johnny Dumfries was never intended to be in the same class as Senna, but ended up a huge average of 11.5 grid positions behind him throughout the season, his best attempt a 10th place to Senna’s third at his home race at Brands Hatch. The same circuits brought success, Imola and Detroit in particular.

  1987 Lotus Honda 1 pole

  Only one pole for Senna in a lean year for Lotus that saw the Brazilian win only two races. Against his Japanese team-mate Satoru Nakajima he was on a different level. His single pole was his worst tally for the next four seasons.

  1988 McLaren Honda 13 poles

  The year of the McLaren MP4/4 that took 15 wins out of a total of 16 – and 15 poles, Senna taking a record 13 of them. Even Alain Prost could not fare much better in qualifying than the Brazilian’s other team-mates, out-qualifying him twice only, once at his home Grand Prix in France. He was an average of 0.583secs behind across the season.

  1989 McLaren Honda 13 poles

  The 1989 season was almost a complete re-run of 1988 for Senna in qualifying terms. He took 13 poles, usually from team-mate Prost, who again only out-qualified him twice. In conjunction with his 1988 pole tally he notched up a record of eight poles in a row that still stands today.

  1990 McLaren Honda 10 poles

  Senna had performed so well in the previous two years that his 10 poles in this season must have seemed almost disappointing. Gerhard Berger became Senna’s new teammate at McLaren and managed a better job than Prost had in qualifying, although not in the actual race. However, he still only outpaced the Brazilian four times.

  1991 McLaren Honda 8 poles

  Taking half the season’s poles was below par for Senna in the year that saw him take his third world championship title. Despite taking the first four poles of the season to give him seven in succession, the growing speed of the Williams Renault unsettled his mid-season charge. Three margins back to second of over a second was an impressive tally.

  1992 McLaren Honda 1 pole

  Only a single pole for Senna in a year that saw even him struggle against the mighty Williams Renault FW14Bs. His record against team-mate Berger improved to the stage where the Austrian could only manage to out-qualify the Brazilian once, surprisingly in the second race of the season in Mexico, a track where Senna had always been on form.

  1993 McLaren Ford 1 pole

  Once again faced with a magnificent display by Williams, Senna had very little chance to shine. His sole pole came right at the end of the season. After Michael Andretti was dropped from McLaren, having been further off Senna’s pace than his other team-mates had been, he was replaced by the young Mika Häkkinen, who promptly out-qualified Senna in their first race together at Estoril. Senna was rattled and maybe this new challenge was what drove him to pole two races later.

  1994 Williams Renault 3 poles

  Ayrton Senna only competed in three races in his final year, but he scored pole in each comfortably from Michael Schumacher in a Benetton Ford. Had he lived he may have been able to draw near his previous best total of 13, as his trouncing of the other major pole contenders, Schumacher and Senna’s team-mate Damon Hill, indicates.

  APPENDIX XI

  1985 to 1994

  65 Formula One Pole Positions

  Ayrton Senna is the all times master of the pole position and his record of 65 poles will probably never be beaten. He had that unique a
bility that no diver had or had since to drive the one of perfect lap. Often he was on pole by huge margins.

  1. 1985 Portuguese Grand Prix; Estoril

  Gap: 0.413s

  In the wet Friday session Senna was fastest with 1m 21.708s, almost matching Nelson Piquet’s 1984 record. In the dry on Saturday he clocked a time of 1m 21.007s. His Friday time was beaten on Saturday only by the McLaren of Prost.

  2. 1985 San Marino Grand Prix; Imola

  Gap: 0.027s

  Senna’s first pole at a circuit where he would clock up a record eight was taken by the narrowest of all his margins from the Williams Honda of Keke Rosberg. He was to make Imola his own over the next 10 years.

  3. 1985 Monaco Grand Prix; Monte Carlo

  Gap: 0.086s

  Senna’s first pole of five at the street circuit that he would become synonymous with. He qualified over a second ahead of his illustrious team-mate Elio de Angelis in ninth, in only his second season of racing.

  4. 1985 USA Detroit Grand Prix; Detroit

  Gap: 1.198s

  Senna took pole by over a second from Nigel Mansell’s Williams, which was impressive in itself, but the gap back to Michele Alboreto’s Ferrari in third was 1.697s and to Alain Prost’s McLaren in fourth a stunning 2.037s.

  5. 1985 Italian Grand Prix; Monza

  Gap: 0.146s

  A big disappointment for the tifosi as Senna was 1.384s and 2.389s faster than the Ferraris of Michele Alboreto and Stefan Johansson respectively. Senna specialised in rubbing Ferrari’s nose in it in Italy particularly.