Ayrton Senna was
born on 21 March 1960, the second child of Milton da Silva, a successful businessman
and landowner. The family lived in Santana, a well-to-do neighborhood of Sao Paulo,
Brazil. 
Growing up Ayrton was an awkward child and was later
diagnosed as having a motor coordination problem. His doting father, who was a
motor racing enthusiast, noticed how his serious little son was also attracted
to cars. The senior da Silva had amongst his many holdings a car components company
and believed that cars would be the key to reach his son’s potential. At the age
of four Ayrton was presented with a 1-hp kart and getting behind the steering
wheel he was a different boy, no longer awkward but focused and confident. The
key had been found and every weekend the family would go to local parks where
Ayrton could drive his kart. He was an indifferent student but facing the loss
of his "driving" privileges he would apply himself as best he could while his
heart was obviously elsewhere. At the age of eight he was driving the family car
and looked to Europe and the exploits of Jim Clark and Jackie Stewart as his inspiration.
During this time the first great Brazilian driver Emerson Fittipaldi was beginning
to make a name for himself driving for Colin Chapman’s Lotus. On his tenth birthday
his father gave him new full-size 100cc kart. Since the minimum age for racing
karts in Brazil was thirteen, Ayrton had to settle for practicing at Parque Anhembi,
the local kart circuit. In 1972 Brazil had its first World Champion in Fittipaldi
and the following year it’s first Grand Prix at Interlagos, just outside of Sao
Paulo. The race was won by the reigning World Champion and all of Brazil celebrated.
In the midst of this excitement was a young boy who dreamed of being not the next
Fittipaldi or Jackie Stewart but the best ever.
He was finally thirteen and could race legally. His first race was that same year and held at the karting track, which was part of the Interlagos complex. Arrayed against him were all of the local hot shots including Mauizio Sala. Ayrton displaying all of the pent up energy he had built up to this seminal moment won the race. The adult Senna would later relate that karting was the perfect breeding ground for future racecar drivers. In 1977 Ayrton won the South American Kart Championship and repeated the following year. The goal for any aspiring karting driver was Europe and the World Championships at Le Mans. Against much stronger competition Ayrton managed to finish sixth overall which was considered sensational for a driver with his experience, but he came away disappointed in not winning any of the three races which constituted the final. In 1979 he returned to Europe for further seasoning and finishes second in the World Championships at Estoril. Nivelles in Belgium the following year saw another second.
He came to England in 1981 to race Formula Ford 1600
for Ralph Firman and his Van Diemen team. Now married to Liliane Vasconcelos
and living in a rented bungalow near Snetterton he quickly adapted to the 1600
cc cars. Races were held almost every weekend and at Brands Hatch, Ayrton debuted
in eighth place. A week later at Thruxton he was third. That year there were
three series running concurrently, two of which he contested, and he soon found
himself back at Brands Hatch. Van Diemen seeing the potential in their young
driver assigned him their newest car, which he promptly put on the pole. The
race was run under wet conditions and few could match his skill under these
conditions. That first year in England saw him win both of the series that he
contested. Ayrton was now at a crossroad in his life and to continue his racing
career he would need sponsorship. With several other Brazilian drivers ahead
of him in higher formulas the sponsorship money required was not available.
Frustrated, Ayrton announced his retirement stating that a bad driver with money
could always get the best car but a good driver without the same was left out.
He returned to Brazil and worked in his father’s building supplies business.
After four months the fire that had not been extinguished continued to burn
inside him and he made the decision to return to motor racing, his wife would
not. Having grown up in a life of luxury Liliane knew that life with Ayrton
would be difficult and that many sacrifices would be necessary as he struggled
to move up the ranks. They mutually decided to separate and his father would
provide partial sponsorship in addition to a Brazilian bank for another year
of racing. In 1982 he won 22 races and the championship for that year.
The next stop would be Formula Three, which was the last step before Formula
1. 
The British Formula Three Championship was made up
of 20 odd races and proved the perfect test of man and machine. Two drivers
entered 1983 as pre-season favorites, Ayrton Senna, as he was now known and
the great British hope Martin Brundle. Senna promptly ran up nine straight victories
before crashing out in practice for the next race which was won by Brundle.
The series now became a contest between the two pre-season favorites with neither
driver backing down. The Championship would be decided in the final race at
Thruxton. Senna, showing the determination and attention to details that would
be his hallmark, had his engine re-built and tuned by the master tuners Novamotor
of Italy. Senna took pole and won the race and the title going away. The end
of the year for Formula Three was celebrated in the Portuguese enclave of Macau
at the Macau Grand Prix with drivers from all of the national series. Senna
won and negotiations between him and a number of Formula One teams became serious.
This also became a time where Senna was introduced to the politics of the senior
Formula. After wanting to go to Brabham but being vetoed by Piquet, Toleman
became his only option. Strictly a second-tier team, Toleman was able to sign
the most promising driver in a generation to a three-year contract.
Senna made his Formula One debut in front of his home
country in 1984 driving for the Toleman team but things were different then
Formula Three. Here even the best driver without the right car and engine would
not be able to make much of an impression on the leader board. The team would
eventually form the basis for the Benetyon team but at that time was strictly
a back marker and the best that he could do was qualify eighth. The next race
at San Marino was a new experience for Ayrton; he failed to qualify. After the
initial series of races in his inaugural season the results were slow in coming.
For the French Grand Prix he was given a new car but the results were the same
when he suffered turbo problems and had to retire. The next race was at Monaco
and Senna qualified well back in thirteenth place. The weather was run under
threat of rain and Senna began to feel that he might have his first real opportunity.
Wet weather, as it always was in racing is the great leveler and by the seventh
lap Senna was in sixth place. On lap eleven he almost crashed when he jumped
a curb and the Toleman became airborne. Prost who was in the lead came upon
Teo Fabi who had spun and stalled in the middle of the track. Just narrowly
missing Fabi’s car he struck one of the track marshals. Not knowing weather
he had killed the poor man, he hadn’t, Prost was shaken by the incident. Mansell,
a much harder fellow saw the opening and assumed the lead. Once ahead he began
to stretch his lead quickly, a little to quickly and spun into the Armco barrier.
Lauda who was in second place made a small error and also spun out. On lap 20
Prost led the oncoming Senna by 33.8 seconds. On lap 31 the gap was reduced
to 7.4 seconds. The weather conditions continued to be treacherous and every
time that Prost crossed the finish line he would signal for the race to stop.
On lap 31 the race was stopped and Senna was denied his first victory but the
legend was born. Monaco would prove the highlight of the season but for Senna
it wasn’t enough. It was plain to him that he would need a stronger supporting
cast if he wanted to challenge for the Championship.
Senna had been secretly negotiating with Lotus for the following season and
even though he had a three-year contract with Toleman he did have a buy-out
clause. 
Lotus represented to the young Senna the pinnacle,
the team of Clark and Fittipaldi, but Lotus had been on the downward slope after
the death of their founder Colin Chapman. To his new team Senna was the man
to return them to the top. After showing the racing world a glimpse of the future
at Monaco, Senna was more determined than ever to break through. Driving in
treacherously wet conditions he would win his first race at Estoril. This was
followed by another win at Spa, Belgium. But even Senna could not return Lotus
to their prior glory and in 1988 he moved to McLaren. Ironically instead of
vetoing Senna as his teammate, Prost initially welcomed the Brazilian. At last
all of the pieces were in place and that year saw him win 8 races and his first
World Championship. In 1989 he came in second to his teammate Alain Prost despite
having more wins. The relationship between the two had deteriorated to the point
where Prost left McLaren to join Ferrari. In 1990 and 1991 Senna, now joined
at McLaren by Gerhard Berger, won back to back titles while being involved in
fierce battles with Prost and Nigel Mansell. Eventually the loss of Honda power
and the rise of Renault would bring about the decline of McLaren.
Only Senna’s brilliance remained and in 1994 that too left. Joining
Williams was a goal that he had long sought, even offering to drive the Williams
for free at one point. 
The new season, which began with so much promise for
Senna, ended almost before it began when he crashed fatally at Imola. The Grand
Prix world was already reeling from the death of the young Austrian Roland Ratzeberger
and the serious practice crash of Rubens Barrichello. This final tragedy will
haunt Formula 1 for many years. Ayrton Senna brought with him seemingly limitless
talent and indomitable will to win. On the track he could be almost belligerent
yet off the track he was just beginning to show a more generous and thoughtful
demeanor to the outside world that those who knew him best had always known
was there. Those brief shining years when Ayrton Senna, Mansell, Prost and Piquet
would fight tooth and nail for the slightest advantage both on and off the track
seem like so long ago.
ALL THE VICTORIES
| 1985 | Belgio Portogallo |
| 1986 | Spagna USA |
| 1987 | Monaco USA |
| 1988 | Belgio Canada Gran Bretagna Germania Ungheria Giappone San Marino USA |
| 1989 | Belgio Spagna Germania Messico Monaco San Marino |
| 1990 | Belgio Canada Germania Italia Monaco USA Australia |
| 1991 | Belgio Brasile Ungheria Monaco San Marino USA |
| 1992 | Ungheria Italia Monaco |
| 1993 | Australia Brasile Europa Giappone Monaco |
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