"If death comes, let it be sudden, irresistible, and utter, and I don't want to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair." —Elton Senna
In an era when an average of two F1 drivers died every year, Senna's words seemed to indicate that he had long put life and death aside in racing, and that heaven seemed to have given the legendary driver the "best arrangement". At 14:18 on May 1, 1994, with a loud bang on the IMOLA circuit, 34-year-old Elton Senna ended his legendary and short life, leaving the world with infinite regrets.
Some say that death makes a legend, but for Senna, death is fate, and a decade in F1 has shaped his legend. And the reason he is called the god of the car is not only because of the three F1 championship trophies and countless glory garlands, his pure love of racing and his loyalty to giving everything may be the reason why people still remember him 25 years later.
● Talent combined with the selfless support of his father, he began his career as a driver
Elton Senna was born on March 21, 1960 in São Paulo, Brazil. Like most successful drivers, he was born into a financially wealthy family. His father, a successful businessman, ran an auto parts factory and was an avid motorsport enthusiast. So at the age of 4, Senna began to be exposed to the expensive sport of go-karting and showed amazing talent, winning the junior division of the São Paulo Karting Race at the age of 14.
But Senna's racing path has not been smooth, and after winning the Formula Ford championship at the age of 21, his father's business went wrong, which also blocked Senna's racing path. Without financial support, trying to continue racing became a pipe dream, and Senna was forced to choose to retire. But just four months later, the father realized that racing might be his son's lifelong passion, and he chose to continue to fund Senna's racing career at all costs. Senna returned to England to continue his Formula Ford career, and in 1982, at the British Championships and European Championships, he won pole position 16 times, the fastest lap times 23 times and the championship 22 times.
Senna then received an offer from the F1 team to test drive, but he did not accept it, choosing instead to continue to hone himself in F3. In 1983, Senna competed in the British F3 Championship. He won 15 pole positions and 13 races throughout the year, winning the championship of the year with outstanding performances. This also gave Senna enough confidence to officially join the F1 World Championship the following year.
● Young riders feel the contempt from big teams
With the aura of an F3 championship, Senna was offered a test run by The Williams team. While Senna, who is driving an F1 car for the first time, tied the team's record at Donington Park in just 10 laps, the big team had no intention of giving the youngster the chance to become an official driver. Subsequently, at the Paul Richard Circuit, Senna took part in a test run for Brabham. With old tyres, Senna was just 1 second slower than F1 world champion Nelson Piquet. Perhaps it was the world champion who realized his position was not secure and made it clear that he did not want to become a teammate with Senna, and Brabham team did not risk choosing Senna in the end.
In order to be able to drive an F1 car, Senna had to sign a three-year participation agreement with the weaker Tolman (now Renault Team) team, but on the condition that if the car was not good enough, Senna was free to choose to leave the team. If the Tolman team does not release anyone, Senna has the right to stop racing immediately. In March 1984, at Tolman, Senna officially launched his F1 legendary career.
● The rain war first appeared, and the following year he moved to the Lotus team
In his debut season at Senna, he eventually earned 13 driver's points, ranking ninth in the drivers' list. And what really made the world know About Sena this season was the rain station in Monaco. Senna, who started in 13th place, had already rushed to the 2nd position on lap 31 and was about to approach Prost in 1st place. However, due to the increased rain on the spot, Prost kept waving his hand to signal that he could not continue the game, and the tournament officer finally accepted the advice and suspended the game, at which point Senna was only 5 seconds behind in 1st place. In the end, Senna finished second, reaching the podium of Formula 1 for the first time and attracting the attention of the big teams.
The Lotus team eventually threw an olive branch to Senna, who in his second F1 season will represent Lotus. On 22 April 1985, during a rain battle at the Estoril Circuit in Portugal, Senna once again demonstrated his excellent rain driving skills. He won the first race of his F1 career by 1 minute and 30 seconds ahead of the second place, and when he drove the classic black and gold chariot across the finish line, the title of "Senna in the Rain" was born.
In the year of Lotus Racing, Senna won a total of 7 pole positions, as well as a single station championship in Portugal and Belgium. The following year he won eight pole positions against Spain and the United States. In 1987, Senna had become the third place in F1 that year. But Lotus's car could not provide a stronger competitiveness, and Senna, aiming for the F1 world championship, replaced the team again – the McLaren team that achieved the triple crown.
● 5 years and 3 crowns eventually become a legend
In his first year of transferring to McLaren, Senna won 8 of the 16 races, becoming the driver's championship of the year without suspense, fulfilling the dream of world championship in F1. In 1989, Senna won six races, but was too many retirements due to the unreliability of the engine, and missed the championship. In 1990, Senna won his second drivers' championship with 78 drivers' points and successfully defended his title in 1991.
In the following two years, the McLaren team gradually declined in competitiveness due to problems such as Honda engines, and Senna also lost the opportunity to compete for the championship, with Senna finishing 4th and 2nd in the 1992 and 1993 seasons, respectively. In 1994, williams, which was now more performing, issued an invitation to Senna, and Senna, who did not accept defeat, decided to sign a contract with Williams and bid farewell to McLaren.
● The car god fell, maybe this is fate
The Tamburello curve at imola on May 1, 1994, became an eternal pain in the hearts of fans. "The track is slippery and doesn't have enough heat dissipation", "This car is difficult to drive and extremely unstable", he mentioned his concerns more than once before the race to his family, the team and the media. The previous day's race, there had been an accident there, and Senna had expressed concern about that corner, "It's so dangerous there, the cement wall is so thick that whoever hits it will die...".
The 300km/h Williams race car rushed out of the track and crashed into the cement parapet, where the yellow-and-green helmet hung down. Four hours after being taken to the hospital, Elton Senna was officially pronounced dead, severe head trauma and an artery burst that left doctors unable to return to the sky, and a generation of car gods fell. Elton Sena has competed in 161 races, 41 titles, 65 pole positions and 3 world titles in his ten-year F1 career. After his death, the President of Brazil gave him a state funeral, and more than 1 million people sent him off.
● Do whatever it takes to race the car The god of the car does not only rely on driving skills
The reason why Senna was named a car god by posterity is not only based on his driving skills, but more from his pure love of racing, Senna has never shyly admitted that he will do whatever it takes to win, such as constantly seeking a better team, faster cars, such as only opponents, no teammates.
"When racing in the car, like all normal people, I don't want to hurt myself. As an F1 driver, you may disappear from this world forever in a moment. Life may end at any time, and you will find yourself as insignificant as the dust in the universe. Ask yourself: Is it all worth it? Should it continue? What year and when? Maybe similar doubts will make you go down the same path more firmly, maybe you will give up completely. I have asked myself this more than once. But every time I thought about it a little, the answer was very clear to me: I knew all this when I took the first step; and today, as always, I have unconsciously accepted this arrangement and become the master. In my opinion, the difference between people is reflected in the attitude of facing danger. ”
This passage is his understanding of motorsport.
● The legendary name continues today
Senna is known to have been involved in the testing and development of the Honda NSX, and he is inextricably linked to the Japanese supercar known as the "Toei Ferrari". In 1989, after driving the NSX prototype for the first time, Elton Senna gave feedback that the vehicle was not rigid enough. Engineers eventually heeded Senna's advice and increased the rigidity of the NSX chassis by 50 percent. Later, Senna made many suggestions on suspension, balance and other adjustments, and he himself owned 3 NSXs.
Senna personally commented on it: "The NSX is a race car, but everyone can ride it". The NSX has now launched its second-generation model, but Senna's contributions still have a profound impact on this model. In the minds of many fans, there is an equal sign between NSX and Senna.
Elton Senna's McLaren team, which he played for when he won three F1 World Championship trophies, commemorated and commemorated the legendary driver in many ways – McLaren's new flagship model is directly named after Senna, intended to pay tribute to and perpetuate the legend. Last year, to mark the 30th anniversary of Elton Senna winning its first Formula One title in 1988 with a McLaren MP4/4 car, a big Fan of Senna also commissioned McLaren to customize a special model, the P1 GTR Senna.
● Full text summary
Time makes heroes, and only that crazy racing era can make legendary drivers like Elton Senna. Today, the safety of motorsport has been greatly improved, and the sport has learned from the sacrifices of its predecessors and is constantly improving. While we don't want to see motorsport lose the adventurous spirit that Elton Senna exhibits, it's good that racing has become safer. As car fans, we don't want to see the lives of drivers threatened. There are no new legends, let those legends that were once shining in the memory!