56. 1991 Monaco Grand Prix; Monte Carlo
Gap: 0.465s
Senna’s fifth and final Monaco pole position, beating a surprising contender in the guise of Tyrrell Honda’s young rising star Stefano Modena. He went on to win the race after Nigel Mansell’s dominant Williams Renault had a puncture.
57. 1991 Hungarian Grand Prix; Hungaroring
Gap: 1.232s
After a lean mid-season, Senna returned to the top spot in style, with well over a second to the second quickest Williams of Riccardo Patrese. Only the other Williams of Nigel Mansell was within two seconds of the brillliant Brazilian.
58. 1991 Belgian Grand Prix; Spa-Francorchamps
Gap: 1.010s
Another pole-grabbing margin of over a second for Senna at a circuit he loved. Second spot went to old rival Alain Prost in a Ferrari with the Williams Renaults of Nigel Mansell and Riccardo Patrese well off the pace. Senna won the race from both.
59. 1991 Italian Grand Prix; Monza
Gap: 0.133s
There was only a narrow margin over the Williams of Nigel Mansell as the competition from the Renault engined team grew stronger and stronger. Senna was then in no doubt that he was in the second best car on the grid.
60. 1991 Australian Grand Prix; Adelaide
Gap: 0.344s
Senna’s 60th pole position, taken over his McLaren team-mate Gerhard Berger by only 0.344s at one of his most competitive circuits. After two years as team-mate Gerhard Berger had pushed Senna closer than Alain Prost.
61. 1991 Canadian Grand Prix; Montreal
Gap: 0.097s
Senna’s only pole of 1992. An inspired performance as he knocked Nigel Mansell off pole for the first time that year. The Williams Renaults were vastly superior to Senna’s Honda engined McLaren MP4/7. No other team took a pole.
62. 1993 Australian Grand Prix; Adelaide
Gap: 0.436s
Senna’s sixth pole at the Australian track, a tally beaten only by his eight at Imola. Yet again it was the only pole of the season not to go to the Williams Renaults of Alain Prost and Damon Hill. He broke a run of 24 consecutive top spots for that team.
63. 1994 Brazilian Grand Prix; Interlagos
Gap: 0.328s
A final home pole for Senna and his first for Williams Renault. The gap of three-10ths to Michael Schumacher in second was not as revealing about the quality of Senna’s performance as the gap of 1.423s back to Jean Alesi’s Ferrari in third.
64. 1994 Pacific Grand Prix; Aida
Gap: 0.222s
Senna took pole without much of a challenge when Michael Schumacher failed to emerge for the Saturday session in an effort to conserve his tyres. The Williams Renault FW16 was recognised as a difficult car saved by Senna’s brilliance.
65. 1994 San Marino Grand Prix; Imola
Gap: 0.337s
Senna’s final pole position at the circuit where he scored an amazing record of eight. Despite not running on Saturday due to Roland Ratzenberger’s fatal accident, his exceptional Friday time remained unbeaten to take pole for the very last time.
APPENDIX XII
Formula One Career Statistics
Ayrton Senna sits at the top of many of the tables of Formula One records although, as the years go by, Michael Schumacher is seizing many of the records he set. Had he lived and driven a normal career there is no doubt he would have broken every record that there is such was his dominance. Perhaps his greatest achievement was to lead no less than one third of all the laps he competed.
Grands Prix entered
162
Grand prix’s Started
161
Not Qualified
1
Wins
41
Pole Positions
65
Podiums
80
Fastest Laps
19
Points
614
Laps
8,219
Miles driven
23,575.18
Grand Prix’s led
86
Laps led
2,986
Miles led
8,395.48
APPENDIX XIII
Top 20 Pole Scorers of all Time
Ayrton Senna really excelled at winning pole position. As at the Japanese Grand Prix in 2003, Michael Schumacher still needed 11 poles to take his record. As he has managed to score an average of four a season he will probably just manage to beat Senna’s record in the years of driving in Formula One he has left.
1
Ayrton Senna
65
2
Michael Schumacher
55*
3
Jim Clark
33
4
Alain Prost
33
5
Nigel Mansell
32
6
Juan Manuel Fangio
29
7
Mika Häkkinen
26
8
Niki Lauda
24
=
Nelson Piquet
24
10
Damon Hill
20
11
Mario Andretti
18
=
Rene Arnoux
18
13
Jackie Stewart
17
14
Stirling Moss
16
15
Alberto Ascari
14
=
Ronnie Peterson
14
=
James Hunt
14
18
Jack Brabham
13
=
Graham Hill
13
=
Jacky Ickx
13
=
Jacques Villeneuve
13
* As of 2003 Japanese Grand Prix
APPENDIX XIV
Top 20 Race Winners of all Time
Ayrton Senna may have scored 65 poles but he only managed to convert them into 41 race wins a poor score by his achievements. Alain Prost, not a great qualifier was clearly his better at race craft. But if Senna had lived he would have made his score seem irrelevant and even Michael Schumacher would not have got near him.
1
Michael Schumacher
70*
2
Alain Prost
51
3
Ayrton Senna
41
4
Nigel Mansell
31
5
Jackie Stewart
27
6
Jim Clark
25
=
Niki Lauda
25
8
Juan Manuel Fangio
24
9
Nelson Piquet
23
10
Damon Hill
22
11
Mika Häkkinen
20
12
Stirling Moss
16
13
Jack Brabham
14
=
Graham Hill
14
=
Emerson Fittipaldi
14
16
Alberto Ascari
13
17
Mario Andretti
12
=
Carlos Reutemann
12
=
Alan Jones
12
20
David Coulthard
13*
=
Jacques Villeneuve
11*
* Up to and including the 2003 Japanese Grand Prix
APPENDIX XV
Top 20 Point Scorers of All Time
Ayrton Senna’s outright lack of r
ace wins against the performances of Michael Schumacher and Alain Prost reflect the fact that he only holds third place in the all time points scorers tables. And he was never a man who settled for second or third. It was always win or bust with him and this affected his final points tally.
1
Michael Schumacher
1,038*
2
Alain Prost
798.5
3
Ayrton Senna
614
4
Nelson Piquet
485.5
5
Nigel Mansell
482
6
David Coulthard
451*
7
Niki Lauda
420.5
8
Mika Häkkinen
420
9
Gerhard Berger
385
10
Jackie Stewart
360
=
Damon Hill
360
12
Carlos Reutemann
310
13
Graham Hill
289
14
Emerson Fittipaldi
281
=
Riccardo Patrese
281
16
Juan Manuel Fangio
277.64
17
Jim Clark
274
18
Jack Brabham
261
19
Jody Scheckter
255
20
Denny Hulme
248
* Up to an including the 2003 Japanese Grand Prix
APPENDIX XVI
Top 20 All Time Races Led
Ayrton Senna has only recently been taken over by Michael Schumacher in the all time races led table. But Senna’s astonishing record of leading a third of the laps he raced is an outstanding one. Had Senna lived, Michael Schumacher would never have got close.
1
Michael Schumacher
110*
2
Ayrton Senna
86
3
Alain Prost
84
4
David Coulthard
58*
=
Nelson Piquet
58
6
Nigel Mansell
55
7
Jackie Stewart
51
8
Damon Hill
45
=
Mika Häkkinen
45
10
Jim Clark
43
11
Niki Lauda
41
12
Juan Manuel Fangio
39
13
Stirling Moss
32
=
Graham Hill
32
=
Gerhard Berger
32
16
Riccardo Patrese
29
17
Jack Brabham
28
18
Ronnie Peterson
27
19
Rene Arnoux
25
20
Alan Jones
24
* Up to an including the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix
APPENDIX XVII
Senna’s Formula One Cars 1984 to 1994
Ayrton Senna drove 11 different types of car in his Formula One career stretching over 10 seasons. He also tested a Williams, a Brabham and McLaren in 1983. He only failed to win in a Toleman, a Brabham and a Williams.. His most success was in a McLaren with 35 win and six in a Lotus.
Toleman TG183B
Engine:
Hart 415T, 1.5 litre, 4 cylinder turbo
Tyres:
Pirelli
Principal designer:
Rory Byrne
Chassis:
Carbon-fibre monocoque
Gearbox:
Hewland FGB (5 speed)
Fuel:
Agip
Wheelbase:
2692mm
Track:
Front: 1848mm
Rear: 1683mm
Dry weight:
540kg
Raced:
1984 (4 races)
Toleman TG184
Engine:
Hart 415T, 1.5 litre, 4 cylinder turbo
Tyres:
Michelin
Principal designer:
Rory Byrne, John Gentry
Chassis:
Carbon-fibre monocoque
Gearbox:
Hewland (5 speed)
Fuel:
Agip
Wheelbase:
2800mm
Track:
Front: 1765mm
Rear: 1676mm
Dry weight:
540kg
Raced:
1984 (11 races)
Lotus 97T
Engine:
Renault EF4B (EF 15), 1.5 litre, V6 turbo
Tyres:
Goodyear
Principal designer:
Gerard Ducarouge
Chassis:
Kevlar carbon-fibre monocoque
Gearbox:
Lotus-Hewland (5 speed)
Fuel:
Elf
Wheelbase:
2720mm
Track:
Front: 1816mm
Rear: 1620mm
Dry weight:
540kg
Raced:
1985
Lotus 98T
Engine:
Renault EF4B (EF 15), 1.5 litre, V6 turbo
Tyres:
Goodyear
Principal designer:
Gerard Ducarouge
Chassis:
Kevlar carbon-fibre monocoque
Gearbox:
Lotus-Hewland (5 speed)
Fuel:
Elf
Wheelbase:
2600mm
Track:
Front: 1816mm
Rear: 1620mm
Dry weight:
540kg
Raced:
1986
Lotus 99T
Engine:
Honda RA167E, 1.5 litre, V6 turbo
Tyres:
Goodyear
Principal designer:
Gerard Ducarouge
Chassis:
Carbon-fibre monocoque
Gearbox:
Lotus (6 speed)
Fuel:
Elf
Wheelbase:
2720mm
Track:
Front: 1800mm
Rear: 1650mm
Dry weight:
540kg
Raced:
1987
McLaren MP4/4
Engine:
Honda RA168E, 1.5 litre, V6 turbo
Tyres:
Goodyear
Principal designer:
Gordon Murray, Steve Nichols
Chassis:
Carbon-fibre monocoque
Gearbox:
McLaren/Weismann (6 speed)
Fuel:
Shell
Wheelbase:
2875mm
Track:
Front: 1824mm
Rear: 1670mm
Dry weight:
540kg
Raced:
1988
McLaren MP4/5
Engine:
Honda RA109E, 3.5 litre, 72°V10
Tyres:
Goodyear
Principal designer:
Gordon Murray, Steve Nichols, Neil Oatley
Chassis:
Carbon-fibre monocoque
Gearbox:
McLaren (6 speed, transverse)
Fuel:
Shell
The Life of Senna Page 69
