Ayrton Senna da Silva (San Paolo, 21 March 1960 – Bologna, 1 May 1994): we remember the great Formula 1 driver on the anniversary of his death, a man who in the last years of his life was obsessed with the idea of death until his his tragic death on the Imola circuit in the terrible accident on the Tamburello curve also told in Senna's biography.
Ayrton Senna history and interviews
“On this earth we begin by being born and we end by dying: these are the two poles of our parable” said Ayrton Senna at dinner with Carlo Grandini on the same weekend as that terrible day in which he spoke to him obsessively about death.
Ayrton Senna Tribute
“A spring evening in 1991, the epilogue of a day of intense technical tests that Ayrton Senna had undergone in Imola. We had dinner together. We could speak to the precise condition he posed: no interviews, if anything 'an exchange of thoughts'. But about what?” writes Carlo Grandini in the 'Corriere della Sera' of 3 May 1994.
Ayrton Senna, the film interviewed
“About anything. For example, about life and death” was Senna's response because that's what he wanted to talk about, about life and death, not about Formula 1.
Ayrton Senna in the foreground
Idea of death for Senna
The idea of death proposed by the greatest of Senna's drivers: “our normal sense of modesty collapsed when faced with the offer we didn't expect. His chin supported by one hand, his eyes fixed on the infinite, as always happened to him in moments of meditation, he thus read, chanting in his Brazilian Italian, the traumatic page of the novel that he had to keep written in his brain and heart.”
Ayrton Senna's eyes in the cockpit of his F1
Ayrton Senna,
“I don't see why we should always discuss anything except death. On this earth we begin by being born and end by dying: these are the two poles of our parable. The important thing for me is not knowing where and when I will die, the important thing for her is not knowing where and when she will die.
Ayrton Senna documentary
But, you see, I think I have an advantage over you: due to the profession I do, I have a familiarity with death that you don't have. For years it seems like I've met her every day, because every day I take her into account and therefore have a kind of confidence. Don't be surprised: she almost seems like a friend to me.
Ayrton Senna Tribute
It doesn't scare me. But every time I talk to God, who one day will officially present it to me, I just ask him about this: do it immediately and well. One hypothesis terrifies me: that I will get hurt, that I will end up stuck in bed or in a wheelchair. Regazzoni and Williams are two heroes. I'm not a hero…
Ayrton Senna often thought about the idea of death in his last years
The video of the accident on the Tamburello curve on the Imola circuit in which Ayrton Senna lost his life. It was May 1, 1994.
video of the accident on the Tamburello curve on the Imola circuit in which Ayrton Senna lost his life. It was May 1, 1994
Photo by Ayrton Senna
Read also:
→ Ayrton Senna the story of the great Champion
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