Ayrton Senna
- In full:
- Ayrton Senna da Silva
- Also Known As:
- Ayrton Senna da Silva
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Ayrton Senna (born March 21, 1960, São Paulo, Brazil—died May 1, 1994, Bologna, Italy) was a Brazilian race-car driver who gained fame for being a fierce competitor renowned for his ruthless and risky maneuvers on the Grand Prix circuit. He rose quickly through the ranks of professional racing, capturing 41 Grand Prix titles and three circuit world championships (1988, 1990, and 1991). His career ended tragically when he died in a crash during the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.
The son of a wealthy businessman and factory owner, Senna discovered his love of racing at the age of 4 when his father introduced him to the world of go-karting. At the age of 10, he received his first full-size go-kart and began racing as soon as he was legally allowed, at age 13. Senna won the South American Kart Championship in 1977 and 1978.
In 1981 Senna moved to England to race at the Formula Ford 1600 level for the Van Diemen team. He won several races but left briefly at the end of the season to join the family business. However, he returned to England a short time later to drive Formula Ford 2000 there the next season. In 1983 he moved to Formula Three racing, the second tier of professional Grand Prix racing. Driving for the West Surrey Racing Team, he won the national championship and the Macau Grand Prix. In 1984 he began driving Formula One (F1) for Toleman. In his first year he placed second at the Monaco Grand Prix (although he had taken the lead after 31 laps, the race had been stopped because of bad weather, and a scoring technicality placed him in second).
Looking for a better car, Senna moved to Lotus in 1985. That year he won the Portuguese Grand Prix and the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium and finished fourth in the season. In 1988 he joined McLaren. In his first season with his new team, Senna won a then record eight races and captured his first Formula One championship. He finished second to teammate Alain Prost in 1989, and tensions between the two led Prost to join Ferrari after the season, establishing a notable rivalry between the two drivers for the next four years. Senna won six and seven races, respectively, in 1990 and 1991, capturing F1 titles in each season. He placed fourth in 1992 and finished second to Prost in 1993, but he ended that season on a high note, winning the final race of the year. It would prove to be the last race victory of his life.
During the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, Senna crashed into a concrete barrier and died of massive head injuries. His F1 career was the subject of the award-winning documentary Senna (2010).