MS and his swerves ... ?

Okay if you are a Senna fan you should probably not read this thread.

I am 100% a Senna fan and may he RIP but I also have my eyes open, and there were a few things that I did not like about his on the track actions. One was the using of his car like a weapon.

I just read an article in the English Motorsport magazine discussing the Portugal GP where Senna put Prost within 6 inches of the pit wall in a bid to stop him passing. I think this was in '92. This article continued saying this is where it all started and F1 changed that day ... as nothing was done against Senna regarding this behaviour.

Interestingly the driver who complained about Sennas move the most was MS, not Prost. MS was then just a young F1 rookie learning the art of F1 and IMO (and the authors opinion also) this is where he learnt the winning at ALL costs attitude from. He watched this and thought, man Senna is serious about winning ... and the rest is history.

Interestingly also for all you who go on about how this never happened in the old days (well I just talked about Senna doing it) but also Farina back in the 50's used to too ...

Senna and MS were/are both great drivers and what does very much stand them above the others is their passion for winning. Nothing else matters. One of the things I used to hate MS for was the NOT slowing down and conserving the car to get the win, he had to (just like Senna) destroy the opposition. That has changed now as he has learnt how to make a Ferrari win ... but in doing so he has become a more complete F1 champion.

Pete

 

I'm with you Pete. While most admire a do-anything-to-win attitude because it normally conveys a passion beyond the competition, I found some of Senna's moves absolutely embarassing and tasteless.

I cringe when thinking of Senna crashing Prost to clinch the 1990 championship. After Prost switched to Ferrari because he could no longer stand Senna, they end up neck and neck in the driver's championship. At the start of the final race in Suzuka, Senna is up on Prost in points. Senna then proceeds to intentionally crash Prost out on the first corner of the race to ensure his championship. People in the stands say they never heard Senna get off the gas...anyone here agree with these tactics?

Sometimes sportsmanship is better than cheap victory. Sad to say, but I'm not a HUGE fan.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Senna admitted in 1991 that he crashed Prost deliberately the year before. FIA never made anything to punish this kind of attitude, I can´t understand that.

Senna was a great driver, of course, but not my favourite one just for things like that of Suzuka'90. Winning is not everything: if winning was everything, Keke Rosberg would be a bigger legend than Gilles Villeneuve just because Rosberg was world champion and Villeneuve wasn´t.

I´m not a Schumacher fan, but maybe winning is not everything for him: he could stay at Benetton in 1996 and win another one or two championships more easily. But I suppose that winning with a Ferrari was better for him than winning with a Benetton; and it was a challenge because Ferrari wasn´t at its best then. The cash was also important, of couse.

 

psk, you make a good point. i bring this up whenever somebody tries to argue that ms drives dirty but senna didn't. nowadays using the car as a weapon goes all the way down the grid. you see/hear of wheel bumping between back markers fighting over 13th place! the only reason they all get away with it is that the cars are so safe. nobody would be doing this too often or too actively in the 60's or 70's; they would either have been run out of the game by the other players, or they would be dead.

 

That incident posted above is the basis for my comment in the memorial thread.

What kind of a racer is THAT??? Jus' human, I guess!!!

Read on SPEED Where Ralf straightened JPM out, on this swerving thing...... LOL!