This is the first film about Ayrton Senna that had the approval and support of his family and also the organization of Formula One Management, which gave unprecedented access to images of Senna.
Upon being hired, the director Asif Kapadia knew little about the life of Ayrton Senna and Formula 1. This was the intention of the producers, so he had a fair look at the film material.
The producer James Gay-Rees and writer Manish Pandey had a meeting with the family of Ayrton Senna in March 2006. They made a 40-minute presentation about what they would do in the documentary, which convinced them to authorize and support the project. The presentation was called "The Life and Death of Ayrton Senna".
At the end, a title card referring to Senna's fatal accident reads "There has not been a fatality in Formula One since." Since the release of Senna Jules Bianchi died from injuries sustained at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix. Also, two marshals have been killed during races in Italy and Australia. There is also the F1 test driver Maria de Villota, who died as a result of an accident during testing. In 2019, Anthoine Hubert also succumbed to injuries sustained in a Formula 2 accident in Belgium.
Despite a limited release, it set a UK box office record for a documentary of £375,000 on its opening weekend.