Ayrton Senna
Ayrton Senna da Silva won three Formula One World Championships. He was a Brazilian racing driver, who at the time was just 34 when he died in an accident while leading the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. He remains the most recent fatality in Formula One.
- Born: March 21, 1960, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
- Died: May 1, 1994, Imola, Italy
- You can read more about Ayrton Senna on our Ayrton Senna pages.
He is considered as one of the greatest drivers in the history of Formula 1, he is definitely among the most dominant and successful Formula 1 drivers of all time. 20 Years after his death Google honours his achievements with a Google Doodle on what would be his 54th Birthday!
Like many F1 drivers, Ayrton Senna began his motor sport career in carting, moving up to open-wheel racing in 1981, and winning the British Formula 3 championship in 1983.
In 1984, he made his Formula One debut before moving to Lotus-Renault the following year and winning six Grand Prix’s over the next three seasons. He would join Frenchman Alain Prost at McLaren-Honda in 1988 and between them, they won 15 of 16 Grand Prix’s that year, Included Senna claimed his first World Championship. The following year would be Prost but in 1990 and 1991.
Senna has often been voted as one of the greatest Formula One drivers of all time in various motor sport polls.
In the year he died, Ayrton Senna said about his own future:
“I want to live fully, very intensely. I would never want to live partially, suffering from illness or injury. If I ever happen to have an accident that eventually costs my life, I hope it happens in one instant”, Ayrton Senna.
Who knows what he might have achieved if his life was not so tragically cut short!
Happy Birthday, Ayrton Senna he will always be remembered as a Legend in Formula 1.
