Ayrton Senna, The Legend

Ayrton Senna, the legend in F-1 racing. He was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil on March 21st of 1960. He was a three-time F3 World Champion. He began racing go- karts when he was only 13. He then made his way up and soon winning British F3 Championship. With this achievement he drew attention of many F1 teams, eventually joining Toleman in 1984. But he only stayed with them for a year until switching to Lotus where he stayed for 2 years. Then from 1988 to 1993 he was in the McLaren Team. Then after that he joined the Williams team where he stayed until his horrible accident.

At the time of his accident I was still in Brazil. I was very young so all I remember is watching the race and suddenly it happened. He was leading the race and at the most dangerous curve of the entire course he totally lost traction of the car and rammed into the wall while still going 135mph. He died soon after crashing on May 1st of 1994. I remember how the entire country was upset and people even crying. To us he was a is still our biggest idol.
He was best known for his skills in driving in the rain. When it rained nobody could ever beat him in a race. One of his strategies was to wait while everyone else was in the pit-stops and gain a couple seconds ahead of them. But at this time he had to drive with his slick tire in the rain, which is extremely hard! Ayrton would then change into rain-tires only after all of his competitors had done so. If he can drive in the rain with slicks and gain more advantage from his competition, just imagine what he can do with the rain-tires. Ayrton Senna is also known for his great personality. He was a very passionate person and was said to use driving as a way to find himself.

"The harder I push, the more I find within myself. I am always looking for the next step, a different world to go into, areas where I have not been before. It’s lonely driving a Grand Prix car, but very absorbing. I have experienced new sensations and I want more. That is my excitement, my motivation"

- Ayrton Senna

Overall he is still greatly missed by all race fan especially all of Brazil. Ayrton made the sport a gentleman’s game. It is true that these days there are some amazing drivers like Fernando Alonso, Michael Schumacher, and Felipe Massa. But imagine if Ayrton Senna was still around…