Question to Longtime F1 fans about Senna?

A broken steering shaft coupling caused the accident.

The unlucky trajectory of a suspension spar, thru his helmet, caused the fatality.

As I understand the investigation and the facts.

Far more eerie was his conversation that morning, with Dr. Sid Watkins, as recounted in his book.
He should have retired at 10AM.

He would be alive today.

 

Senna was one of the greats but dying young and things like the Senna movie have elevated him to mythical status. Personally I believe there were several drivers better, including Schumacher and Prost and several older ones like Clark and Fangio.

 

I don't want to derail the discussion but I want to add something.

Per the original video, Senna's complaints were 100% valid. I also would be livid. I have been in a similar situation in my professional cycling career in 2009 where someone 11 laps down on me in the US national championship Madison final contested a points sprint at the very end of the race and I ended up with 3 points in the final sprint whereas he got 5. He was 11 laps down so it was meaningless to him but I ended up losing the national championship by 1 point to the only other person on the lead lap with me. As tired as I was, I had to be restrained from beating the crap out of the other guy and I was ready to take whatever fine and suspension that USA Cycling threw my way. He had no business contesting the final sprint and should have been pulled from the race long before but still should have had the etiquette to let the leaders fight for the final, and deciding points of the race. It's no different in auto racing. A back marker should not determine the outcome of the race due to not letting the leaders contest properly.

Something like that video only reinforces my appreciation for the man, not the other way around.

I will stop there but there's lot's more if we get into the opinion of guys who worked with him while I was racing.

 

I meant "the opinion of guys who works with him while *he* was racing." This 10 minute edit limit on the new Fchat is really annoying.

 

Senna was really magic - a truly impressive driver; maybe he would not have had a so impressive career had he lived because he seemed to lack the "coldness" that makes greater results.

 

Incorrect. See Big Tex's post........

That depends. If my car is much like the Mercedes today, I would go with Prost. If it was more like the Red Bull of today, I would go with Senna.

That's exactly what I recall as well.

 

Agree, Senna's accident was something out of his control, he had 0% fault in that, just a passenger, as for Gilles, he was a victim of several circunstances, Being betrayed by Didier, stupid qualifying tires, wing cars, mass going too slowly and some reckleness on his part...it all played against him that day. Gilles took more risks than any other driver in the history of f.1, he did it because that was the way he was, and because he was the most talentd diver ever, so he could do things and take risks no one else could, that day, not even he could pull it off.

 

I believe there is also strong support from Marlboro to keep the Senna myth alive for obvious reasons

 

I think the best, mostly unbiased way to answer your question is to peruse racing articles from around the time Senna was racing. I can definitely say that some people thought he was magical while others thought he was reckless and arrogant. I don't know if the racing community was as polarized as it is with Hamilton now, but you certainly had strong emotions on either side of the table. His tragic death probably did make him somewhat of a cult hero, but if you read articles from around the time he was active in F1, you will find that he was certainly a revelation and raised the bar for what a great driver can be. He definitely did things in a car that you don't see today (though, admittedly, part of that is due to the way the cars have evolved)

For me, Prost was great but similar to Lauda (both great drivers) but I felt that Senna had an extra special something about him. It's like comparing Magic Johnson to Michael Jordan. Both were great, but Jordan has just a little something extra that elevates him.

 

So was Babe Ruth. It doesn't diminish his immense impact on Baseball.

 

Yes, very well stated. I was/am a HUGE Senna fan, because I like that extra "magic" that you rarely see from someone in any sport. I can't remember the title of the F1 article in Sports Illustrated when he died, but clearly it was a game-changing loss to F1 and he was a once-in-a-lifetime talent. I still think that MSC sobbing on the podium when he passed Senna's pole record tells you the ongoing impact Senna's loss had on F1

 

D

I am not sure what conspiracy you are talking about? My understanding is that the steering shaft broke (not sure before impact and causing loss of control of the car or after impact) and a piece of suspension is what caused the fatality. My personal belief is that it was a mechanical failure in that Tamburello was not a difficult corner, but I do not know any more than anyone else. I just know that a big part of F1 left for me on May 1, 1994.

 

I think he's referring to whether Williams cut and welded his steering shaft to make it more comfortable for driving and that the failure was due to that. Doesn't sound like a conspiracy to me as much as a great misfortune.

 

"Was Ayrton Senna as popular back when he raced as he is today"?

Yes.
He was hated, loved, and very, very, fast. I didn't care for his personality (as not Schumi's) but respected his talent (again, as Michael's). Taking the question literally, for the above reasons, he certainly was. I'd even say much more so...

btw:

If Jimmy had driven the P68 at Brands as scheduled his fateful day, instead of the F2 race, so might he.....
Hindsight's 20/20.

 

I'm sure Prost thinks Senna had a real "impact" too. Especially at the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix!

 

Prost was no saint himself....

 

Well, prost took out Senna in suzuka the year before...

 

No time for either of them ......... God pulled Senna's license and Prost just played the percentage game

 

not true, he defended himself as he was entitle to, Senna did as always, put his nose and expected the others to pull aside or have an accident...that day he messed with the wrong Prost.

 

After reviewing the moment... yes, I admit there is a lot of doubt of who to blame in the manouver.
Senna gambled, putting the car in there, but Prost was ahead, so... Quite similar to Schumi x Villeneuve,, except Villeneuve completed the overtake before the apex, as he outbraked Schumacher.

 

WEll, in Michael's case, there are no doubts, he simply tried to ramm Villeneuve , so no defense there, very diferent situation.

 

Not unlike Max today.

 

Max is very similar to me, and it's easier for him to it because he's not fighting for a championship, so he doen't have to think about the consequences, wich to me is not being fair to those who are in such a fight....if one day someone puts him out abd cost him a shot at the title i want to see him scream and cry!