Ayrton Senna da Silva (; 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver and philanthropist who competed in Formula One from to . Senna won three Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles with McLaren, and—at the time of his death—held the record for most pole positions (65), among others; he won 41 Grands Prix across 11 seasons.
Born and raised in São Paulo, Senna began competitive kart racing aged 13; his first go-kart was built by his father using a lawnmower engine. After twice finishing runner-up at the Karting World Championship, Senna progressed to Formula Ford in 1981, dominating the British and European championships in his debut seasons. He then won the 1983 British Formula Three Championship amidst a close title battle with Martin Brundle, further winning the Macau Grand Prix that year. Senna signed for Toleman in , making his Formula One debut at the . After scoring several podium finishes in his rookie season, Senna moved to Lotus in to replace Nigel Mansell, taking his maiden pole position and victory at the rain-affected , a feat he repeated in Belgium. He remained at Lotus for his and campaigns, scoring multiple wins in each and finishing third in the latter World Drivers' Championship.
Senna signed for McLaren in to partner Alain Prost; together, they won 15 of 16 Grands Prix held that season—driving the Honda-powered MP4/4—with Senna taking his maiden championship by three points after winning a then-record eight Grands Prix. Their fierce rivalry culminated in title-deciding collisions at Suzuka in 1989 and 1990, despite Prost's move to Ferrari in the latter, with Prost winning the former title and Senna taking the following. Senna took seven victories, including his home Grand Prix in Brazil, as he secured his third title in . The dominant Williams–Renault combination prevailed throughout his remaining two seasons at McLaren, with Senna achieving several race wins in each, including his record-breaking sixth victory in on his way to again finishing runner-up to Prost in the championship. Senna negotiated a move to Williams for his campaign, replacing the retired Prost to partner Damon Hill.
During the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix at Imola, Senna was killed in a crash whilst leading the race, driving the Williams FW16. His state funeral was attended by about 3 million people. Following subsequent safety reforms, he was the last fatality in the Formula One World Championship until Jules Bianchi in 2014. Senna achieved 41 wins, 65 pole positions, 19 fastest laps and 80 podiums in Formula One; he remains a legendary figure within motorsport for his raw speed and uncompromising driving style, as well as his philanthropy, and is frequently cited as a national hero of Brazil. He was also widely acclaimed for his wet-weather performances, such as at the 1984 Monaco, 1985 Portuguese and 1993 European Grands Prix. Senna was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2000 and into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 2025.
Early life
Ayrton Senna was born at 2:35 BRT on 21 March 1960, in the Pro-Matre Maternity Hospital of Santana, a neighbourhood of São Paulo. The middle child of a wealthy Brazilian family, he was born to landowner and factory owner Milton Guirado da Silva and his wife Neide Joanna Senna da Silva; he had an older sister, Viviane, and a younger brother, Leonardo. Senna was of Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese descent: his mother was the granddaughter of Italian immigrants, and his father was the son of a Brazilian father of Portuguese Quatrocentão descent and a Spanish mother from Tíjola, Andalusia.
The house where Senna spent the first four years of his life belonged to his maternal grandfather, João Senna, located less than from Campo de Marte, where his family operated the Aeronautics Material park and an airport. Senna was highly athletic—excelling in gymnastics and other sports—and developed an interest in cars and motor racing by the age of four. He had poor motor coordination and had trouble climbing stairways by the age of three; an electroencephalogram showed no abnormalities. Senna's parents nicknamed him Beco. At the age of seven, Senna first learned to drive a Jeep around his family's farm and also how to change gears without using a clutch.
Senna attended the Colégio Rio Branco in the São Paulo neighbourhood of Higienópolis and graduated in 1977 with a grade 5 in physics, alongside other grades in mathematics, chemistry, and English. He later enrolled in a college that specialised in business administration, but dropped out after three months with an average grade of 68%.
Junior racing career Karting (1973–1980)
Senna's first go-kart was built by his father, who operated an automotive factory, using a small 1 hp lawnmower engine. Senna started racing at Interlagos and entered his first kart racing competition at the age of 13."Ayrton Senna – The Right to Win (2004) He started his debut race on pole position, against drivers who were several years older than him; he managed to lead most of the race before retiring after colliding with an opponent. His father supported him throughout his karting career, with Lucio Pascal Gascon becoming his manager.Ayrton Senna: Racing in My Blood, Official Video Biography (Kultur Video, 1991).
Senna won the South American Kart Championship in 1977. He contested the Karting World Championship five times from 1978 to 1982, finishing runner-up in 1979 and 1980. From 1978 to 1980, he was the teammate and rival of Terry Fullerton at DAP; their fierce rivalry saw several 1–2 finishes in major competitions. Senna later stated that Fullerton was the rival he got the most satisfaction racing against, owing to the lack of money and politics at that level, describing it as "pure racing".
Lower formulae (1981–1983)
In 1981, Senna moved to Eaton, a suburb of Norwich in England, to pursue an open-wheel racing career; he began his career in Formula Ford 1600, winning the British and Townsend Thoresen Championships that year with Van Diemen, amid a fractious rivalry with teammate Enrique Mansilla.
At the end of that season, under pressure from his parents to take up a role in the family business, Senna announced his retirement from Formula Ford and returned to Brazil. Before leaving England, Senna was offered a drive with a two-litre Formula Ford team—Rushen Green Racing—for . Back in Brazil, he decided to take this offer and returned to live in England. As da Silva is the most common Brazilian surname, he adopted his maternal surname, Senna. For 1982, Senna arrived with sponsorship from Banerj and Pool, dominating the British and European Championships, winning 15 of 17 races held at the former.
In 1983, Senna drove in the British Formula Three Championship for West Surrey Racing. He dominated the first half of the season until Martin Brundle, driving a similar car for Eddie Jordan Racing, closed the gap in the second part of the championship. Senna won the title at the final round after a closely fought and, at times, contentious battle with Brundle. In November that year, Senna also triumphed at the inaugural Macau Formula Three Grand Prix with the Toyota-powered Theodore Racing Team, owned by Teddy Yip.Greg Girard, Ian Lambot, and Philip Newsome, Macau Grand Prix: The Road To Success (Watermark Surrey, 1998). Senna was managed for most of his junior career by Armando Teixeira, who was assisted by Domingos Piedade.
Formula One career
Toleman (1984) Rookie testing Ahead of the 1984 season, Senna was linked to many Formula One teams but received very few offers he liked. He had previously declined a long-term contract from McLaren, and that door was formally closed when Alain Prost (unexpectedly fired by Renault after finishing runner-up in 1983) received the second McLaren seat. He was also linked to Lotus and Brabham, but both teams' title sponsors (Imperial Tobacco / John Player & Sons for Lotus and Parmalat for Brabham) wanted drivers from their respective home countries, so Lotus retained Nigel Mansell and Brabham signed brothers Teo and Corrado Fabi. In addition, Brabham's lead driver, Nelson Piquet, vetoed Senna from Brabham and arranged for the team to sign his friend Roberto Moreno as the test driver. Consequently, Senna joined Toleman, a relatively new team, using less competitive Pirelli tyres. He was paired with Venezuelan Johnny Cecotto, a former Grand Prix motorcycle racing world champion.
In 1983, Senna tested for McLaren, Brabham, Williams, and Toleman, although Williams also lacked a vacancy. Both Williams boss Frank Williams and McLaren boss Ron Dennis observed that Senna insisted on running their cars before anyone else, (other than their regular drivers such as Keke Rosberg) so that he would have the best chance of a good showing by having a fresh car. During his test for Williams at Donington Park, Senna completed 40 laps and was quicker than the other drivers, including Rosberg, Williams's reigning World Champion.
Debut season
Senna made his debut at the Brazilian Grand Prix in Rio de Janeiro, where he qualified 17th but retired when the Hart 415T turbocharger failed on lap 8. He scored his first World Championship point when he finished sixth in his second race at the South African Grand Prix at Kyalami with severe cramp in his neck and shoulders, and replicated that result two weeks later at the Belgian Grand Prix. A combination of tyre issues and a fuel-pressure problem resulted in his failure to qualify for the San Marino Grand Prix, the only time this happened during his career. Toleman decided not to run both cars during Friday qualifying at Imola due to a dispute with tyre supplier Pirelli (Toleman were in the process of switching from Pirelli to Michelin). Senna then suffered a fuel-pressure problem in the wet Saturday session at Tosa (the furthest point on the circuit from the pits) and did not have enough time for it to be fixed to allow him to make the grid.
Senna's best result of the season came at the Monaco Grand Prix, the first wet-weather race of the season. Qualifying 13th on the grid, he made steady progress in climbing through the field, passing Niki Lauda for second on lap 19. He quickly began to cut the gap to race leader Alain Prost. Before he could attack Prost, the race was stopped on lap 31 for safety reasons, as the rain had grown even heavier. At the time the race was stopped, Senna was catching Prost by about 4 seconds per lap (while the Tyrrell-Ford of Stefan Bellof was catching both at the same rate, although he was later disqualified due to weight restrictions broken by Tyrrell).