Tom Rubython - The Life of Senna: The Biography of Ayrton Senna

The biography of Ayrton Senna

A yrton Senna was in many peoples opinion the most brilliant Formula One driver who ever raced. His death on Sunday 1st May 1994 was as shocking as it was public. Over 200 million people watched him perish on television, and the knowing realised he was dead as soon as his car came to rest. In this first full account of the life of Ayrton Senna, the author and his collaborators examine each detail of the driving maestros life from his earliest days to his first race, his pole positions and his world championships, and finally his death and its aftermath. It is a story that has never been fully or properly told, and it is a story that needed to be told.

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also by Tom Rubython in hardback Life of OReilly
the biography of Tony OReilly

and in hardback and paperback The Rich 500
the 500 richest people in Britain

also by Keith Sutton in hardback Nigel Mansell
The Complete Pictorial Record

and in hardback Ayrton Senna A personal tribute

and in hardback Everlasting Hero Ayrton Senna

and in hardback F1 through the eyes of Damon Hill

The Life of Senna is published by:
BusinessF1 Books

A biography of Ayrton Senna written by Tom Rubython and
photographed by Keith Sutton.

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the Publisher, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Nor may this book be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise disposed of by way of trade in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published without prior consent of the Publisher. Enquiries outside these terms should be sent to the Publisher at the address below.

Proof Edition first published on 1st January 2004
Hardback First Edition published on 1st May 2004
This Softback edition published on 14th October 2006

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 0-9546857-0-9
Epub ISBN 978-0-95698-934-5
Kindle ISBN 978-0-95698-935-2
Copyright 2006 Tom Rubython and Keith Sutton
First edition in softback
The text of this book is set in Bembo 11/14

Printed and bound in England by Butler and Tanner, Somerset
Additional Research by Caroline Reid and Ania Grzesik
Copy-editing by Paul Jones and Shelley White
Book design by Jo Maxwell

BusinessF1 Books

a division of BusinessF1 Magazine Limited
7 Mallow Street London England EC1Y 8RQ

Tom Rubython

Gerhard Berger

Keith Sutton

Tom Rubython

Thursday 7am to Sunday 2.17pm

Against all the odds

An overnight success in Formula Ford

Indecision as the best-laid plans go wrong

Formula Three on Ayrton Sennas terms

When careers collided and divided

Sennas first test in a Formula One car

The rookie learns the ropes

The day Senna scalped the greats

The search for perfection

So near and yet so far with Lotus

Giving up on Lotus

Instant glory and personal happiness

Winning Xuxa but not the Championship

The Confrontation Year

Witnessing tragedy for the first time

Six years of continual conflict

A World Championship to forget

But little other glory

Three golden seasons with Gerhard

A year of pleasure and complication

Sennas finest two minutes

Senna Sizzles in the desert

A colossus in qualifying

The groundwork of victory

So close to happiness

The bodywork was his second skin

One mans beliefs and motivations

A brief shining moment

The final accounting

The ingredients of tragedy

The long goodbye

The worst country to die in a race car

The consequences of Sunday 1st May 1994

More consequences of Sunday 1st May 1994

How Sennas death changed the sport

Appendices

If I ever happen to have an accident that eventually costs me my life, I hope it is in one go. I would not like to be in a wheelchair. I would not like to be in a hospital suffering from whatever injury it was. If I am going to live, I want to live fully. Very intensely, because I am an intense person. It would ruin my life if I had to live partially.

Ayrton Senna

Estoril, Portugal

January, 1994

Acknowledgements

M any individuals in London, Australia, Portugal and Brazil helped to research and write this book, and many asked for anonymity. In three cases, individuals agreed to provide answers through intermediaries. The Senna family had asked many individuals who were involved on the day he died not to comment about the experience and in all cases we respected this wish. Many working journalists gave us access to taped interviews recorded over the years. And we examined almost everything ever written about Ayrton Senna in press archives in London, So Paulo and Lisbon.

Insiders will know that The Life of Senna was planned as a book of some 400 pages and ended up being 600 pages, after we uncovered new material and spoke to more and more people. We felt obliged to include everything relevant about his life. By necessity the book is also nearly two years late, three times being postponed and finally fatefully ready on the 10th anniversary of Ayrton Sennas death.

The book started life when I edited Formula 1 Magazine after we all realised a short series of articles we had published justified something much worthier of the man who, in my opinion, was clearly the greatest Formula One driver who ever performed on the circuits. I am indebted to current and former colleagues who have helped in this production.

I would especially like to thank my close collaborators, Gerald Donaldson, David Tremayne, Caroline Reid, Peter Collins and Ania Grzesik for their help in researching the nuts and bolts of Ayrton Sennas remarkable life. Also the others whose help in individual chapters was invaluable and include: Josef Leberer, Ralph Firman, Dennis Rushen, Dick Bennetts, Martin Brundle, Peter Goodman, Alan Challis, Peter Warr, Gerhard Berger, the late Tony Rudd, Professor Sid Watkins, Jo Ramirez, Martin Donnelly, Nigel Mansell, Murray Walker, Eddie Baker and Andrew James. I thank Julian Jakobi for casting his eye over crucial chapters and Andrew Frankl for making sure everything was shipshape. The book would not have been possible without Keith Sutton throwing open his vast library of Senna images, especially from the early days. Also his staff for scrutinising proofs.

Rowena Cremer-Price and Jo Maxwell did a remarkable job in organising the production process. And Paul Jones and Shelley White were amazing as they edited every word and read it all again, twice. Luckily they were fans.

The efforts of all were unstinting, although the words that follow and any errors or omissions are naturally my responsibility alone.

FOREWORD

My Friend and Team-mate
by Gerhard Berger

A yrton Senna had a concentration level different from all of us. He could find in himself such a high concentration mode and nobody understood how he could do it.

During my three years with Ayrton at McLaren, I was thinking at night how was I going to beat this guy. Usually you always find a weakness in a team-mate and then I would work on this weakness, increase this weakness. But not with him. Ayrton Senna, my friend, was strong in qualifying, unbelievably quick in the racing consistently quick in lapping, quick in the rain, quick on the quick circuits and quick on the street circuits. Every day I was racing I was thinking, Shit, how am I going to beat this guy.