Senna - good or bad?

[bernhund]

I've just read a book on the death of Ayrton Senna and am left indecisive whether he was great or not. My early conclusion was that he was a dangerous ahole who was likely to kill someone else before himself, but now I'm not sure. He certainly changed the rules of motor racing in that he completely killed chivalry and once he'd done that, everyone else also had to play by his rules to stand a chance of winning themselves.
He no doubt knew how to handle a car, but was he actually reckless? Was he really great then? Or just lucky when he wasn't crashing? Was Prost really the better driver? Or was Schumacher greater, albeit not exciting to watch?
I don't know the answers, and maybe that's what makes the whole motorsport thing exciting! What do you guys think of him and his style?

[superkartracer]

Bad, in-fact utter wk ( apart from all racing drivers/people that know thinking he was the best ever next to Clarke etc ) but yep really poor.

[RDMcG]

He was both I think. The film concentrated on limited aspects of his career. He certainly was at the pivot of when F1 became big business and the days of amateurs and chivalry were long gone. At his best he was magnificent to watch. At his worst he would do anything to win. Huge talent.

[RDMcG]

He was both I think. The film concentrated on limited aspects of his career. He certainly was at the pivot of when F1 became big business and the days of amateurs and chivalry were long gone. At his best he was magnificent to watch. At his worst he would do anything to win. Huge talent.

[MartynVRS]

I was only 4 when he died so never saw him race live. Would like to know more from back in the day about him

[superkartracer]

http://f1greatestdrivers.autosport.com/?driver=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYxWMWm7A-g

^^ missing gears in the final laps as well

[myles1972]

MartynVRS said:

I was only 4 when he died so never saw him race live. Would like to know more from back in the day about him

Thank you for making me feel ancient!

[RichB]

I was 38 so saw all of his career in F1 and yes he could be mesmerising on occasions but I didn't like his ruthless streak and when he collided with Prost intentionally I lost a lot of respect for him.

[P-Jay]

My opinion:

As a Man he was very good and genuinely cared a lot about others and especially Brazil.

As a Driver, one of the best that ever was.

As a Sportsman at best he was ruthless, sometimes reckless and at worse bullying and left often left competitors with the option of finishing behind him, or not finishing at all.

Doesn't make him a bad person though, when he wasn't racing he seemed a genuinely lovely caring man and as a driver he didn't bully himself past faster drivers, he was faster, they were in his way.

[Eric Mc]

Yet another Senna thread - good or bad?

[charliemorgan]

I think he matched his amazing driving skill with ambition and passion to win. Obviously, his style didn't always work and he did crash 'alot'. I personlly think he was unlucky most of the time for his F1 career.

[bernhund]

I hadn't realised that the forums were for discussing topics once only Eric? I hadn't read any before and as I was interested in other peoples opinions, having just read a book on Senna, I didn't see an issue in asking others of their opinions.
Maybe next time I'm curious about something I'll trawl through thousands of threads on PH just in case someone mentioned it before.
If you're bored with the subject, just ignore it. Come to think of it..what a waste of time the film about him was as it's all been discussed on PH before!

[RichB]

bernhund said:

Maybe next time I'm curious about something I'll trawl through thousands of threads on PH just in case someone mentioned it before.

You'll struggle, the search facility on Pistonheads is crap. I'm sure there's a thread about it somewhere, I just can't find it at the moment...

[Mark A S]

I have been watching F1 since the 70’s, and IMO there have been 3 drivers who i thought could always pull something extraordinary out of a GP car, they were Gilles Villeneuve, Keke Rosberg and Ayrton Senna.
Senna was without doubt the most successful, and therefore probably the best I have ever seen, if in doubt just go to you tube and type in Donnington GP 1993.
He always made me feel like he could perform the impossible, I loved him for that. Sure, he was pretty tough to race, went a bit too far at times, but nobody not even Senna is/was perfect.

[bernhund]

RichB said:

bernhund said:

Maybe next time I'm curious about something I'll trawl through thousands of threads on PH just in case someone mentioned it before.

You'll struggle, the search facility on Pistonheads is crap. I'm sure there's a thread about it somewhere, I just can't find it at the moment...

It's not just me then who can never find anything through PH search!

[hairyben]

when he was alive, he got as much stick hate and abuse as anyone to sit in an f1 car.

[trashbat]

bernhund said:

He certainly changed the rules of motor racing in that he completely killed chivalry

I'm not necessarily disputing the trend, but Erik Comas for one would probably disagree.

[phatgixer]

Flawed genius. He created an aura around his car that just made people move over. When his candle was lit he could produce performances no one else could, especially in qually

But two things do detract. His driving style looks very ragged and I'm sure Hamilton et al are better because of this ( watch this horrible display! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMPR66BnH_c).

But the worst thing was his insistence that God was sitting next him when he went onto another mental plane. He produced a miraculous lap in qually at Monaco 88, 1.3 seconds faster than ponce Prost and astonished everyone. His explanation? God was with him. Bloody hell, would you share a track with someone who thinks they are that protected? I hope it was a bullst tactic.

[phatgixer]

Eric Mc said:

Yet another Senna thread - good or bad?

So?

Have you tried searching on here?

[bernhund]

trashbat said:

bernhund said:

He certainly changed the rules of motor racing in that he completely killed chivalry

I'm not necessarily disputing the trend, but Erik Comas for one would probably disagree.

It's just this kind of thing that leaves me totally confused. He, on so many occasions, could have been responsible for putting other drivers into that position, then, when it's nothing to do with him, he jumps out of his car & saves Comas's life! He describes in the book, that when he's racing he sometimes finds himself in a 'tunnel' with nothing else around him, almost dream like then wakes up at the end. He's like 'on' or 'off' and when the switch turns to 'off', it goes wrong for him.

As for Donnington 93'...awesome.