Ayrton Senna

Ayrton Senna is widely regarded as one of the greatest Formula 1 drivers of all time, celebrated for his raw speed, relentless drive, and spiritual connection to racing. A three-time Formula 1 World Champion (1988, 1990, and 1991) with McLaren, Senna earned a reputation for his unmatched skill in wet conditions, his qualifying dominance, and his fearless, often controversial on-track battles, especially his fierce rivalry with Alain Prost.

Senna won 41 Grands Prix and secured 65 pole positions during his career, many of which are considered masterclasses in precision and courage. His deep sense of purpose and emotional intensity set him apart from his peers, turning him into a national hero in Brazil and a global motorsport icon. Tragically, Senna’s life was cut short during the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, sparking a wave of reform in F1 safety standards.

Decades after his death, Senna’s legacy lives on through his foundation, which supports education for underprivileged youth in Brazil, and through the continued reverence he holds within the motorsport community. His impact on Formula 1 transcends statistics—he remains a symbol of passion, perfectionism, and pure racing spirit.

Ayrton Senna’s early life laid the foundation for his successful career as a motorsports racing driver.

• Ayrton Senna was born on March 21, 1960, in the Pro-Matre Maternity Hospital of Santana, a neighbourhood of São Paulo.
• His first go-kart was built by his father using a lawnmower engine.
• The house where Senna spent the first four years of his life belonged to his maternal grandfather, João Senna, located less than 100 metres (330 ft) from Campo de Marte.
• At the age of 4, he developed an interest in cars and motor racing. This was the same age when he first raced a go-kart.
• 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.
• At the age of 13, Senna began competitive kart racing.
• At 17, he won the South American Kart Championship.
• Senna attended Colégio Rio Branco in the Higienópolis neighborhood of São Paulo, graduating in 1977 with a grade of 5 in physics, along with grades in mathematics, chemistry, and English.
• He later enrolled in a college specializing in business administration but left after three months with an average grade of 68%.
• In the early '80s, he moved to England to further his motor racing career.
• In 1981, he won the British Formula Ford 1600 championship.
• In 1982, Senna made further progress by winning both the European and British Formula Ford 2000 championships.

Ayrton Senna comes from a wealthy family.

• He was born to landowner and factory owner Milton Guirado da Silva and his wife Neide Joanna Senna da Silva.
• Senna's parents nicknamed him Beco.
• He had an older sister, Viviane, and a younger brother, Leonardo.
• Senna was born of both Italian and Spanish heritage: his mother was the granddaughter of Italian immigrants, and his father was born to a Spanish mother from Tíjola, Andalusia.
• His family operated the Aeronautics Materials Park and an airport.
• Senna was a devout Catholic, once saying: "Just because I believe in God, just because I have faith in God, it doesn't mean that I'm immune. It doesn't mean that I'm immortal.”
• According to his sister, Senna had sought strength from the Bible on the morning of his death: "On that final morning, he woke and opened his Bible and read a text that he would receive the greatest gift of all, which was God himself.”
• Senna often read the Bible on long flights from São Paulo to Europe.
• At the time of his passing, Ayrton Senna was in a relationship with model and actress Adriane Galisteu.
• He was previously married to Lilian de Vasconcelos Souza, a childhood friend, for a year between 1981 and 1982.
• Lilian de Vasconcelos Souza had difficulty adapting to her husband's racing life in England, and they divorced in 1982.
• Throughout his life, Senna was romantically linked to several models and celebrities, including Elle Macpherson, Marjorie Andrade, Carol Alt, and Brazilian star Xuxa.