“I was only 7 years old when the accident happened. Through my father, I learned what a great driver Ayrton Senna was. He was a big fan of Ayrton and gave me a ‘Senna’ doll and a small Senna toy car,” wrote Sebastian Vettel talking about how he was introduced to the great Ayton Senna. 30 years after the Brazilian drivers’ demise it seems like a full circle moment for the Vettels and Papa Vettel’s eyes didn’t lie.

Seb drove Ayrton Senna’s 1993 McLaren around the Imola circuit as a tribute to Senna, as well as Austrian Formula 1 driver Roland Ratzenberger. In the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix at Imola., both Senna and Ratzenberger died in separate accidents across two days. The 2024 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix saw tributes being paid to the late drivers throughout the weekend mostly led by retired F1 driver Sebastian Vettel. From the track run to him driving Senna’s McLaren MP4/8 ahead of Sunday’s race.

While the 4x champion was himself fighting tears post the show run, one unexpected occurrence was his father Norbert Vettel unable to contain his emotions. A video circulating on X showed Norbert wiping his tears in the Senna Forever T-shirt that his son distributed throughout the paddock. Seb wrote in his Instagram caption that his father is a big fan of Ayrton, and seeing it all play out where his son gave the most beautiful tribute to the late Brazilian Papa Vettel couldn’t hold his tears back.

Arton Senna is considered one of the greatest drivers of all time, especially because of the magnitude of greatness he could achieve in such a short time. However, Sebastian described him as someone who cared about social issues off-track as well. Even in his post, Vettel highlighted what a compassionate person Senna was and also revealed the moment he got closest to watching Ayrton in action.

Sebastian Vettel remembers watching Ayrton Senna on the race track

He wrote, “However, the closest I got to Ayrton was watching a Friday practice session from the grandstands at Hockenheim during the German Grand Prix. Sadly, I never had the chance to meet him in person.” He also added how and when he got acquainted with Ayrton Senna’s real personality.

He wrote, “Later in my racing career, I learned a lot about him from people in and around the Paddock, their stories about him as a person and a driver. What I particularly valued about him, much later on, was that he was not only one of the best racing drivers ever but that he also showed compassion and support for the often difficult social problems and poverty that affected his home country, Brazil. This support continues today, 30 years on, thanks to the Senna Foundation. That’s the legacy of a truly great driver and that’s why I would like to remember Ayrton Senna with all his fans today and forever.”

Ayrton Senna’s legacy truly lives on and he will stay in our hearts forever. What is your favorite Ayrton Senna moment?