Legend” the word itself means actions or happenings associated wit an individual that defy all possibilities of real world. Some individuals are born Legends, while some transform their lives to turn it into a legend. Only a few however, are able to redefine the term Legend itself. Ayrton Senna da Silva is one of those individuals.
Very recently world’s biggest automobile TV show “Top gear” presented its tribute to Ayrton Senna on the occasion of his 50th birthday if he were able to survive to this present day. This tribute inspired me to write this article. Mentioning about myself I’ve been a Formula 1 fan for the past seven years. With the passage of time I have been collecting technical information about the ultimate car technologies used in the world of F1 as well as gathering information about the drivers & their driving styles. Since the very beginning I’ve always appreciated Michael Schumacher’s ability just like millions globally, but the recent tribute on Top gear changed my perceptions.
Ayrton Senna was introduced to F1 in the year 1984 when he joined Toleman F1 team. He was gaining popularity due to his car control alongwith the aggressive driving style he possessed. One year later he left Toleman & joined Lotus F1 team in which he continued to race for the upcoming 3 years, polishing his skills & marking his authority firmly on F1 teams & drivers as a fierce competitor. He left Lotus F1 in 1987 & joined “McLaren” that led him to his 3 world championship titles. He left McLaren after 1993 season & joined Williams for the 1994 season, which proved unlucky for him & resulted in his death.
The era in which he was driving was the era of champion drivers. Unforgettable names like Nelson Piqet Snr.(3 times champion), Alain Prost(4 times champion), Niki Lauda (3 times champion), Nigel Mansell( 1 time champion) & Michel Schumacher who went on & became 7 time world champion. Also its worth mentioning that the cars used at that time had more power than the F1 cars of today, very less safety parameters, very few or none electronic aid to facilitate safe driving & generated very less downforce as compared to the cars of today.
After considering all these facts & figures it is hard to distinguish between him & the greats of his time & this is where his driving style stepped in to take him ahead of his rivals of that era. It is very much visible in his driving that he was a master when it came to “throttle control”, no matter what the conditions were; no matter it rained or not he made his moves stick while driving. He made even the most difficult to drive F1 cars to behave well under his driving style. This was the fact of his success & this was the reason why drivers intending to overtake him had to take risks while trying to get his position.
His greatness is accepted by all. The drivers of today, the drivers before him & the drivers who drove with him. Rubens Barrichello & Felipe Massa the two of modern Brazilian F1 drivers accept his greatness along with Fernando Alonso, Robert Kubica, Jackie Stewart & the great Michael Schumacher himself. Once I remember a comment of Jackie Stewart saying “Michael Schumacher isn’t the greatest F1 driver ever, he wins more championships today because he does not receive that big competition in modern F1, Senna is way better than him.” Back then, I had no idea of the fact this comment actually represented. Lewis Hamilton the 2008 F1 champion when asked whether he would have liked it to be in the era of all those great drivers? he was speechless for a second & then in reply just said “Crazy”. That says it all.
Bruno “Senna”, Jacques “Villeneuve” & “Nelson Piquet” jnr, are some names of today’s racing world. The legacy of the names they carry along with their names does not reflect in their driving abilities. Nelson Piquet jnr. Son of the great nelson Piquet snr, made it into & out of F1 due to his bad performance, Jacques Villeneuve the son of Gilles Villeneuve never was able to establish his authority in F1 due to his driving abilities, instead depended heavily on the abilities of his team. Bruno Senna the nephew of the great Ayrton Senna is racing these days in F1 but without demonstrating the legacy associated with his name.
The cars of today’s formula 1 grid are much safer than that which caused Ayrton Senna his death, but we don’t find anyone today who comes close to match the talent he possessed. To his nation he was known as a person who spent millions in charity & as a sporting legend, but we will remember him as the greatest driver of all times. Long live the memories of the legend Senna.
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