Couldn't disagree more. Flawed character? In what sense? What about Prost, crashing on purpose at Suzuka and then playing politics with Balestre, isn't that a sign of a flawed character?
What is regretable to me, is that the public expects drivers to be ruthless and judges them by their level of aggression.
Again there was no conspiracy between Prost and Balestre. Balestre wanted to run the sport in a dictatorial way and neither Prost nor Senna was ready to let him.
I found Senna to be a fascinating person with a deep intellect. This great brain of his seemed to be at odds with a primal aggression and need to win. Those opposing interests allied to a great natural talent created perhaps the most interesting character there has ever been in F1. While I idolized Senna in my younger years, with the passage of time I came to learn that his win at all costs mentality went against my thoughts and ideals as they pertain to motor racing. As a young racer I wanted to be like Senna but discovered that my approach to racing and driving style was much more like Prost and Stewart which, now later in life, pleases me much more.
In a few years, the importance of Prost will be fully recognized. Let’s hope we don’t have to wait until he disappears before that happens.
Here is a wonderful article on Alain Prost. Lots of great and little known information: http://www.grandprixhistory.org/ramble5.htm
In an interview, Senna mentioned that he had a mystical destiny. He declared that when he was racing, he was like in a transe. He thought he was protected by his beliefs, and that God gave him the right to win [his words] I thought it was very troubling to hear that, in view of the many incidents he had created. He was maybe attempting to exonerate his aggression. That's why I said "flawed character".
Prost said the turning point for him was the Pironi accident in 1982 ( early in his career). This day he decided to win without driving 100%. Racing intelligence had therefore to compensate for the risk. Cohabitation with Lauda came to refine this natural tendency.
Then you misunderstood me. I didnt talk results i said speed, raw speed and talent. Modern F1 has yet to see someone close to what Ayrton did. Respect to Jim Clark and Jackie but cant compare their eras. It took bravery to be in their cars.
The article reflects totally my opinion of Prost, for me the best driver of modern time. I was conquered by his methodical approach to racing. He was really a thinking driver.
U are aware hi steering column broke right? U can put many thing on his win at all costs mentality but certainly not his death. The blood is on The Williams team and we all know sir Frank Williams felt horrible about them failure that cost ayrton his life. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The Senna Movie was bad. I felt it was seriously one sided. The book, Senna versus Prost painted a much better picture, with fair inputs given by Prost as well.
I do not like to open a can of worms, but that theory doesn't proof it caused the crash. There's no evidence there's a failure before the crash.
Another useless American hack knows nothing about F1 spouting rubbish ,was probably a toddler when Senna passed. Pass.....
Holy sweet Jesus... u are so right. Personally senna was my idol, even though I’m French didn’t like Prost that much but those 2 had great talents. As imperfect as Ayrton to think that it was his fault is crazy. Plenty of proof and judgements , trial that proved that the culprit was the steering column(bad design). There were even onboard videos showing him steering left and no response of the car as it headed into the wall. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Everything that happened at the moment of impact, in my opinion, is just bad luck. But running flat out on tires not up to temperature was bad judgement.
The race had already been restarted for more than a lap. The tyres were close to their optimal temperature. The only doubt is that Senna was a near-debutant?
I understand what you guys are saying, but to me this image is a bit exagerated and perpetuated by the media, particularly after the movie. First of all, Senna didn't cause as many accidents as other world champions, on the contrary, for instance Suzuka 1990 was just a pay back (not that I approve it). Schumacher, on the other hand... To me Senna was not very much aggressive than Max Verstappen today, for example. Second, even though he might be one of the few driver that would mentions "god" in his interviews, he was not very religious as the British media like to portray him, he was just a normal catholic. This "mystical destiny" stuff is so exagerated. A few phrases from a few interviews are not enough to describe a personality. Ouch! With all due respect, that's not a smart comment. Do you really believe that a triple world champion, probably the GOAT until then, didn't know how to judge that???
It is widely accepted that the accident that killed Senna was caused due to a mechanical failure on the car. The crash was totally survivable and it was only bad luck that a errant piece of debris punctured his helmet and killed him. To place blame on Senna’s aggressive nature and history as a cause of the crash is very far fetched and ignores lots of really significant data to the contrary. I remember when the crash happened all kinds of wild theories arose as to the cause. The craziest one I heard is that Senna passed out while driving because he was holding his breath to heighten his senses. Total nonsense yet it does not prevent everyone with a soap box to hail their expert opinion. Thank goodness the internet was young and there was no social media back then.
