Senna - the Movie

The other day my brother, while on a transatlantic flight, saw the movie about Ayrton Senna. Whilst I have yet to see it myself I thought it a good idea to do some research and share my findings with you.

Senna is the critically acclaimed documentary from director Asif Kapadia that follows the famous F1 driver on his inspirational journey from humble go-kart racer to much-loved global superstar, detailing every high and low of the tumultuous, dramatic and awesome racing career of a legendary sportsman who was in turn spiritual, fiercely patriotic, gentle in private and intensely competitive on the race track. Featuring never-seen-before home videos and archive footage of Senna in his younger years, the film gives viewers a greater understanding into this fascinating man behind the wheel and provides a moving and exclusive behind-the-scenes insight into a Brazilian man credited with raising the spirits of his entire home nation at the time it needed it most.

I have a lot of thoughts about the driving style of Ayrton and I must admit I preferred Alain's style, for he only took calculated risks. On the other hand, Ayrton was so exciting to watch! But I will get back to this driving style conundrum in a future blog. In the meantime, just enjoy the 28 minutes of combined video clips below:


Did you know that in 1979 fellow Dutchman Peter Koene beat a young Ayrton da Silva (later used Senna) to become World Karting Champion at Estoril?

All of the following videos tell an important tale about Ayrton. This one focuses on Alain Prost, who was Ayrton's motivating factor, his rival. I believe rivalries allow one to push one's own limit and achieve what was believed to be unattainable without the rival. Although partly shot in Portuguese it reveals a side that few insiders knew about.

The next video by Top Gear is well-balanced with lots of racing footage and interviews by fellow drivers, detailing Ayrton's driving style. "I race to win. I am not designed to come in second, third or fifth!" In rain, Senna was God-like, where as one of the better "regenmeisters" Schumi, was no comparison. Like narator said, "I was never a Senna fan..... but  I did respect him."



The following video may request you to watch it directly from YouTube. It is a compilation of Ayrton's last moments to the music of Moby. I find it to be a nice tribute to Ayrton. It only runs to minute 3.22.

Senna was driven to win, at all cost, admirable in today's world.

Ayrton, you are sorely missed.



Ayrton Senna, Memories and Mementos, by C. Hilton, in English (contains many new unpublished photos from the Senna family's archivces) and Dutch. www.asnbooks.nl

Some information courtesy of RTL GP, 2, 2009.