Ayrton Senna, born in 1960, was a Brazilian
Formula 1 driver. An idol of motor racing, he
won the world championship three times, in
1988, 1990 and 1991. He died in 1994 at the
height of his career, driving at the Imola circuit
in Italy.
Ayrton Senna da Silva was born in São Paulo
on March 21, 1960. The son of a businessman in
the metalworking industry, he won his first kart
at the age of four. At the age of seven, he began
training at the Interlagos kart track in São Paulo.
Ayrton began his racing career with his
father's sponsorship and won several titles
racing karts: he was São Paulo champion in the
junior category, Brazilian champion and South
American champion, as well as world runner-up
in 1979 and 1980. In 1981, Senna entered
Formula Ford. In the first year, he competed in
20 races in three competitions, winning 12. In
1982, in Ford 2000, he competed in the British
and European championships, breaking all
records.
1
In the first six races of the year, he took pole
position with victories from start to finish and
achieved the fastest lap of the circuits. The final
figures were impressive: 22 victories, 18 pole
positions, the 22 fastest laps and 516 points
scored in 28 races. In 1983, Senna signed with
the British F-3 having achieved nine consecutive
victories, a world record.
Formula 1
In 1984, Ayrton Senna entered Formula 1 with
the Toleman team, and in the second
competition he already scored his first point. At
the end of the season, in addition to 13 points,
he also stood on the podium three times.
Ayrton Senna's first podium in F1 was achieved
at the Monaco racetrack, when he came in 2nd
place after starting in 14th place, on a very rainy
day.
Senna's second podium in F1 was at the Brands
Hatch circuit in England, when he came in 3rd
place.
Senna's third and final podium with Toleman
came in Portugal, when he came in third place.
The victory went to Niki Lauda and the second
was achieved by Prost.
2
In 1985, Senna signed with the Lotus team.
Between 1985 and 1987 he took part in 48 grand
prix races and won six.
Three-time world champion
In 1987, Ayrton Senna signed with
McLaren�Honda. In 1988, he stood on the
podium for the first time as Formula 1 world
champion, at the Suzuka GP in Japan, after a
fierce battle against teammate Alain Prost. That
year, Senna took 13 pole positions and won 8 of
the 16 races in
the
championship.
His second
world
championship
came in 1990,
also at Suzuka,
in the
penultimate GP
of the season,
when he got his
revenge on his rival Alain Prost, who had won
the championship the previous year in an
unethical manner, when in the final laps, Senna
tried to overtake him, but they collided and both
went off the track. In 1991, again in Suzuka,
3
Ayrton Senna won his third world championship,
competing for the season title with Englishman
Nigel Mansell, from Williams, who retired from
the circuit on the 10th lap with brake problems.
Williams Team
In 1994, Ayrton Senna was hired by the
Williams team. On January 20, he did his first
test with the English team's car. The first race of
the 1994 season was in Interlagos, in Brazil,
where he took pole position, but spun while
trying to chase Schumacher and retired from the
race. The second race was at the Pacific GP in
Japan and lasted only a few seconds for Senna,
when his car was hit by Mika Hakkinen, from
McLaren, spun and was also hit by Nicola Larini
from Ferrari.
Ayrton Senna's Girlfriends
Ayrton Senna's first relationship that became
public was with Lílian de Vasconcelos
Souza, whom he married in 1981. They lived
together in London, but eight months later they
were already
separated.
Senna's second girlfriend was Adriane
Yamim, a 15-year-old girl.
4
The relationship lasted
from 1984 to 1988.
In December 1988,
Senna began dating
TV presenter Xuxa
Meneghel. The
relationship lasted until 1990.
After ending his relationship with Xuxa, Senna
dated Cristine Ferraccin from Rio de Janeiro.
They lived together from January 1990 to
December 1991.
In 1993, Ayrton Senna met Adriane
Galisteu, who was twenty years old at the time.
They began a relationship that lasted a little over
a year, until the day the driver suffered the
accident that took his life.
Death of Ayrton Senna
On May 1, 1994, on the seventh lap of the Imola
circuit in Italy, during the San Marino Grand Prix,
Senna's car, flying at 300 km/h, crashed into the
protective wall at the Tamburello curve, causing
the driver's death. Ayrton Senna's death
shocked the entire country. On May 4, the coffin
with his body was removed from the plane and
covered with a Brazilian flag. Transported in a
5
Fire Department vehicle, he was taken from the
airport to the Legislative Assembly, escorted by
fifteen escorts
and
accompanied
by thousands
of people, who
paid their last
respects to
their idol.
Ayrton Senna
was buried in the Morumby Cemetery in São
Paulo on May 5, 1994. In 10 years in Formula 1,
Senna competed in 116 races, achieved 65 pole
positions and won 41 competitions. He won the
Monaco GP six times, and was called "The King
of Monaco".
