16 years ago on this same weekend the darkest day fell upon the world of Formula One Grand Prix racing.
It was during this weekend at the 1994 San
Marino Grand
Prix that Three time World Champion
Ayrton Senna crashed whilst leading, and was killed. Senna has frequently been voted the World's best ever Formula One driver, something that must rankle with Herr M.
Schumacher, who has won 7 World titles, holds most records for the sport and until his recent return to F1 had finished on the podium an astonishing 65% of the time. It has not been lost on most however, that he did so without any of the competition facing Senna, and in fact
Schumi only won the 1994 title after taking out his main competitor - Damon Hill - in that
famous Australian Grand Prix incident.
Senna still holds the record for the most
fastest laps, held the record for the most Poles at 65 (1st place after qualifying) until surpassed by
Schumacher and did so in a shorter time and with several different makes of car, again something that cannot be said about
Schumacher, who built a dominant Ferrari race team around his demands. His drive, in a Toleman, (above left) up through the vastly more experienced field in what was more of a boat anchor than a racing car, saw him reach second before a controversial call by the race steward to end the race, run throughout in torrential rain, left him second and about to pass leader Alain Prost, a French driver in a French race!
Senna and I were born mere days apart, as a youngster I saw a photo of a Kart racer that remains in my memory to this day, it was of an equally young
Ayrton Senna
Da Silva (he later dropped the
Da Silva) on the front row of the grid. There was nothing noteworthy of that picture but for reasons I cannot fathom it struck a chord with me and I instantly remembered his name when he began to gain recognition in Britain racing in the British Formula Three championship. From that time I monitored his progress through the pages of various Motor racing journals and it came as no surprise to me when he entered Formula One, albeit in a rather cumbersome and slow
Toleman. Still, Senna managed to turn this mobile brick into something that made others shake their heads in disbelief with the result that he quickly moved into a competitive car with Colin Chapman's Lotus (above right) and gained the first of his 41 Grand
Prix wins.
From Lotus he signed for
McLaren (at left in the beautiful MP4/6), a perfect match and with a
McLaren powered by Honda engines he won his three driver's championships from some of the toughest competition before or since - multiple world champions on the grid - and in circumstances that, like
Schumi, he should not have won. My personal favourite McLaren F1 race car, the
MP4/6 is the very car that he secured the 1991 title - which was to be his third and last. Check the link here for his Pole winning lap for the
'91 Monaco Grand Prix - unbelievable.
Also, like
Schumi, Senna held a ruthless streak and was widely condemned for taking out his former team mate, Alain
Prost, in order to ensure he won the title at
Suzuka in 1990 by aiming his car at
Prost's and forgetting to brake. Although it should be remembered that Prost had driven him off the racetrack in a similar fashion the year before.
The death of Senna forced Formula 1 officials to immediately institute safety measures to increase driver safety. Brazil, his native country declared three days of national mourning, it took me a bit longer to get over it and I recall feeling total emotional depression on the day his death was confirmed. The night before I had watched the race live on TV, frustrated as the cars circulated slowly following an accident to allow clearance of the track. When this happens, tyre pressures drop and the cars take time to get back up to optimum race condition. With the race re-start Senna screamed away with Schumacher and the rest - as usual - in pursuit. From the perspective of Schumacher's car cam mounted on the airbox I saw Senna's Williams turn violently right at such speed many missed it. To casual observer's it was not immediately apparent that he had crashed as the tv coverage remained with the car cam and it appeared Schumacher may have passed Senna down the left hand side as they drove through a sweeping left hand bend in the track. As it happened I said to my friends watching with me that Senna had gone off which was almost immediately followed by a long head on shot of the cars and to the left of the screen you could just make out the debris of Senna's car flying through the air. The producers also saw this and zeroed in to begin recording the death of a legend.
Senna's reactions as he hurtled toward the wall that ultimately killed him were astonishing. Telemetry from the car showed he had slowed the car over 80 mph in a fraction of a second and managed to turn the car to avoid a head on, instead hitting the wall right front wheel first. The cockpit remained intact, and in fact Senna survived the impact. A suspension arm from the destroyed right front wheel however, pierced his helmet and from that moment, Formula One changed forever.
Senna is still a hero that inspires me, he is still my favourite driver - and is the one I use as a benchmark for all the drivers who followed, a champion of millions and remains the most charismatic of champions. It speaks volumes that Schumacher has never attained the level of reverence or loyalty that Senna gathered in his short life.
