Remembering 10 Fascinating Facts About Legendary F1 Champion Ayrton Senna

F1 had many world champions but there are few whose names get engraved in gold in history like Michael Schumacher, Niki Lauda, Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, and the Brazilian legend Ayrton Senna. In every sport, there are personalities who become larger than the sport and their names become synonyms for their sport. Senna is one of those drivers whose name means Formula One.

The Brazilian was the best of his time and still is considered as one of the best ever. He became famous for his many podiums, wins, and records. Senna is no longer among us but his name still lives on. There are still many records that remain unbroken under his name. Let’s find out some fascinating facts about the Brazilian maestro Ayrton Senna.

Senna was a late bloomer

Ayrton Senna was born on March 21, 1960, to a wealthy Brazilian family. Senna was the middle child in the family. He had an elder sister and a younger brother. Unlike most F1 drivers, Senna got into motorsports at the late age of around 13, but the Brazilian had a natural talent for driving.

In his first go-karting race, Senna started the race at the pole and lead the race for the most part against the older and more experienced drivers. But Senna had to eventually retire from his first race after crashing into a rival. But after that, there was no turning back for the Brazilian.

The Original ‘Mr. Saturday’

The present Mercedes driver George Russell is famous among fans as Mr. Saturday. Because of his skills to set a fantastic qualifying lap even with a slow-paced car. Many speculate that this is something unimaginable to do, but there was someone even before Russell.

Ayrton Senna qualified on pole seven times during his second year in F1 and that too with a then low-tier team Lotus. The unreliability of Lotus’s performance was the only thing that didn’t allow Senna to convert those poles into wins.

Most consecutive top 10 qualifications

The Brazilian legend still holds the record of most consecutive top 10 qualifyings. Senna qualified in the top 10 137 times throughout his epic career. This is still an unbroken record that any other driver couldn’t match, even today.

After Senna, there is rival Alain Prost with 109 consecutive qualifications and for present times, it’s the Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas with 102 Q3 finishes. Also, many of those top 10 qualifications were earned with an unreliable Lotus car.

Suspension from Italian GP

No matter how good of a driver you are, you can’t escape punishment for breaking rules and so did Senna. Senna wasn’t able to race in the 1984 Italian Grand Prix because of breaching his contract with Toleman F1.

The Brazilian signed a new contract with Lotus for the next season and didn’t notify his present team about him joining another team for the next season. Therefore, the team excluded him from the Italian race as a penalty.

Ayrton Senna was not always ‘The King of Rain’

Racing in rain isn’t an easy job. Even today, most drivers suffer to control their F1 car in the rain. But the F1 legend Senna was phenomenal in rain. His excellent control and driving on the wet track earned him the nickname ‘The King of Rain’.

However, the Brazilian was not always this good at it. During his early days, he used to suffer a lot during rainy days. But Senna mastered the art of racing in rain with practice and effort.

Three Time World Champion

Every F1 driver has only one dream, and that is to win the world championship. Ayrton Senna also had a similar dream. Therefore, the Brazilian joined McLaren from Lotus in hopes of winning a championship.

Eventually, Senna did win and not just one time, but three times. He even became the youngest F1 driver in history to win three world championships.

Sixth Gear Is Enough To Win

Usually, a driver needs all gears available in the car to bring the maximum potential of the car. Because each straight and curve requires a different pace from the car. However, the Brazilian legend Senna could make do with the highest sixth gear during that time.

During the 1991 Brazilian Grand Prix, Senna lost most of his gears and had to stick with the sixth gear which was stalling him at low pace corners. Even after such problems, the Brazilian won the Grand Prix in his country.

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Ayrton Senna and Monaco

Monaco Grand Prix is the most prestigious race in a Formula One calendar, being the part of the Triple Crown of Motorsports along with the Indianapolis 500 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Every F1 driver dreams of winning on this prestigious circuit. But winning on the tricky street circuit of Monaco isn’t that simple.

It is also one of the hardest circuits. The tracks are really narrow and a small error can crash the driver to the wall. But then there was Ayrton Senna who has a historic relationship with the circuit, winning the Monaco Grand Prix six times, a record which still remains unbroken.

Ayrton Senna vs. Alain Prost

Like every sport in the world, F1 also has some great rivalries throughout its history. But the Ayrton Senna closing against the four-time champion Alain Prost is one of the greatest F1 rivalries. These two legends dominated the sport when both were on the circuit. It was a constant clash between these legends for the championship title.

The rivalry got even heated in the 1988 and 89 seasons when both were together in McLaren. Prost took the 1989 championship from the hands of Senna because of the Brazilian breaking rules but he retaliated back in 1990 and won the championship.

Last Breath On The F1 Circuit

The F1 driver was one of the greatest in the sport, and it seemed like Senna didn’t know about anything other than driving. He always gave it his all when on the track and driving felt like it meant everything to him. However, tragedy struck one day, and that too when he was on the track.

Senna joined Williams in 1994 after some poor seasons with McLaren. In the 1994 Imola race, Senna started the race from the pole for the last time. He was leading the race till Lap 7. But then his car left the track and hit the wall at a speed of 145 mph. The Brazilian suffered a severe head injury which lead to his death at age 34.