Ayrton Senna

Ayrton Senna da Silva, in 1992.Ayrton Senna da Silva was born in March 21st, 1960, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, off a rich industrialist family. At an early age, he was already a skilled conductor, and when he turned nine, his father, Milton Silva, signed Ayrton as a kart driver, the first racing league Senna participated and the start of a career that would leave marks seen til this day in the sport world.

His career in the Formula One:

He had his start in the Formula One league under the Toleman team in 1984, where in the Monico GP, he got the 13th place in the starting grid, threatening Niki Lauda's lead in the race throughout it, until the grand prix had to be called early due to safety issues. In 1985, Senna moved to the Lotus team, where he started earning the attention of the racing world when he won the Portugal GP, the second GP that year, in his first F1 victory of his career. He went on to become the "king of pole positions" due to Lotus' excellent pit work and motor technology, even though he was hardly able to finish a race that year. 1988 proved to be a great year for Ayrton - not only was he already an established driver for McLaren, but it was the year he won his first  F1 Championship. He went on to conquer the 1990 and 1991 Championships as well, with a controversial 2nd place win in the 1989 championship.

In 1994, Senna moved on to the Williams-Renault team, where he had even more control of his car's tuning. The year began with two opposing races that didn't end so well, without Senna finishing them - one at the Brazilian Grand Prix, in Interlagos, and  the other, at the Pacific Grand Prix, in Aida. It was in the third race, at Imola, San Marino, on March 1st, that Senna started having a weird unnatural feeling after a freak accident in the Friday training session in which fellow Brazilian racer Rubens Barrichello suffered a serious accident with his Jordan, in which he lost control and literally flew across the track onto a barrier of tires. The next day, Austrian driver Roland Ratzenberger, from Simtek, lost control of his car after a touch up with another car in one of the track's many dangerous turns, and crashed into a concrete wall, dying shortly after reaching the hospital. Even with those events in mind, but still feeling uneasy, as documented in many interviews by his relatives, Senna went on to compete in Sunday's race day. At the race's 7th lap, after several accidents that rendered some yellow caution flags, Senna lost control of his own car, and crashed. Upon arrival in the track hospital, Ayrton had already lost consciousness due to a massive brain injury, and later on, his death was announced to the racing world. Amongst his possessions inside the remains of the car, an Austrian flag was found, which Senna planned to use at the end of the race in order to honor fellow driver Roland Ratzenberger.

Senna's death went on to move the F1 authorities into making serious security measures in future years - not only in track security measures, but with car engineering that safe guarded the racer's head and neck area, along with changes to the tire and axe design that would hold the tire in place in case the car crashed.

Ayrton Senna's list of victories in Formula One:

1985 - Lotus Team:

    * 21/04 - Portugal Grand Prix, at Estoril
    * 15/09 - Belgium Grand Prix, at Spa-Francorchamps

1986 -  Lotus Team:

    * 13/04 - Spain Grand Prix, at Jerez de la Frontera
    * 22/06 - United States Grand Prix, at Detroit

1987 - Lotus Team:

    * 31/05 - Monaco Grand Prix, at Monte Carlo
    * 21/06 - United States Grand Prix, at Detroit

1988 - McLaren Team:

    * 01/05 - San Marino Grand Prix, at Ímola
    * 12/06 - Canada Grand Prix, at Gilles Villeneuve
    * 19/06 - United States Grand Prix, at Detroit
    * 10/07 - England Grand Prix, at Silverstone
    * 24/07 - Germany Grand Prix, at Hockenheim
    * 07/08 - Hungary Grand Prix, at Hungaroring
    * 28/08 - Belgium Grand Prix, at Spa-Francorchamps
    * 30/10 - Japan Grand Prix, at Suzuka

1989 - McLaren Team:

    * 23/04 - San Marino Grand Prix, at Imola
    * 07/05 - Monaco Grand Prix, at Monte Carlo
    * 28/05 - Mexico Grand Prix, at Hermanos Rodriguez
    * 30/07 - Germany Grand Prix, at Hockenheim
    * 27/08 - Blegium Grand Prix, at Spa-Francorchamps
    * 01/10 - Spain Grand Prix, at Jerez de la Frontera

1990 - McLaren Team:

    * 11/03 - United States Grand Prix, at Phoenix
    * 27/05 - Monaco Grand Prix, at Monte Carlo
    * 10/06 - Canada Grand Prix, at Gilles Villeneuve
    * 27/07 - Germany Grand Prix, at Hockenheim
    * 26/08 - Belgium Grand Prix, at Spa-Francorchamps
    * 09/09 – Italy Grand Prix, at Monza

1991 - McLaren Team:

    * 10/03 – United States Grand Prix, at Phoenix
    * 24/03 – Brazil Grand Prix, at Interlagos
    * 28/04 – San Marino Grand Prix, at Ímola
    * 12/05 – Mônaco Grand Prix, at Monte Carlo
    * 11/08 – Hungary Grand Prix, at Hungaroring
    * 25/08 – Belgium Grand Prix, at Spa-Francorchamps
    * 03/11 – Austrália Grand Prix, at Adelaide

1992 - McLaren Team:

    * 31/05 – Monaco Grand Prix, at Monte Carlo
    * 16/08 – Hungary Grand Prix, at Hungaroring
    * 13/09 – Italy Grand Prix, at circuito de Monza

1993 - McLaren Team:

    * 28/03 – Brazil Grand Prix, at Interlagos
    * 11/04 – European Grand Prix, at Donington Park
    * 23/05 – Monaco Grand Prix, at Monte Carlo
    * 25/10 – Japan Grand Prix, at Suzuka
    * 08/11 – Austrália Grand Prix, at Adelaide

Obs: The author of this article would like to thank to the official Ayrton Senna fan site for the information on this list.