Ayrton Senna facts for kids

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Ayrton Senna
Formula One World Championship career

Nationality	Brazilian
Active years	1984 - 1994
Teams	Toleman Hart, Lotus, McLaren Honda, Williams
Entries	162
Championships	3 (1988, 1990, 1991)
Wins	41
Podiums	80
Pole positions	65
Fastest laps	19
First entry	1984 Brazilian Grand Prix
First win	1985 Portuguese Grand Prix
Last win	1993 Australian Grand Prix
Last entry	1994 San Marino Grand Prix

Ayrton Senna da Silva (March 21, 1960 – May 1, 1994), better known as Ayrton Senna, was a Brazilian Formula 1 driver who won the championship three times, in 1988, 1990 and in 1991. He died in an accident that took place on the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, better known as Imola, in the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. He is considered by many people to be the most skilled driver in the history of motor racing.

Life before Formula 1 Racing
Into Formula One
Ayrton's Years With Lotus
Complete Formula One results
Images for kids
See also

Life before Formula 1 Racing

Senna was born in São Paulo, a city in Brazil. When he was four years old, he first got into a kart. When he was 13, he entered a karting competition for the first time. A fun fact is that he started his first kart race on pole position. The start places were written on pieces of paper and put in a driver's helmet, and he drew number one. Because he was a lot lighter than the other racers, he was much faster than all of them. He won the South American Kart Championships in 1977 and was runner-up in the World Championship, but he never won it.

In 1981 he raced in the British Formula Ford 1600 championship, and won it as well. He also changed his name to Senna, since da Silva is used a lot in Brazil.

In 1982 Senna won two European championships; the European and the British Formula Ford 2000. After testing with Williams, McLaren, Brabham and Toleman, he got a place within the Toleman team for the 1984 Formula One season.

Into Formula One

The Toleman team was a very small team compared to other famous teams like Williams, McLaren and Brabham. Even though, the team built a car good enough to let Senna impress with his talents. Ayrton Senna scored his first championship point on April 7, 1984 at the South African Grand Prix. Three races later, Senna impressed at the Monaco Grand Prix, where it was raining. Senna started on the 13th position, but right after the race started, he soon was gaining position after position on the track that is known for its small roads. On the 19th lap, he took second place from Niki Lauda and was making up a lot of time to the race leader, Alain Prost. It started to rain harder and the race was stopped on the 31st lap. Even though almost everyone agrees Senna should have won the race, Senna had a result to be proud of. In the rest of the season he would finish third place in two races, the Britisch and the Portuguese Grand Prix. He finished his first year in Formula One racing on a shared 9th position and 13 points, sharing his 9th position with Nigel Mansell.

Senna did not just race in Formula One that year. He also co-drove a Porsche 956 with Henri Pescarolo and Stefan Johansson in the 1000km Nürburgring race. He also raced in a race to celebrate the opening of the new Nürburgring. He won this race.

Ayrton's Years With Lotus

The following year, joined the Lotus team, and many thought he would be able to meet his potential. The other driver for Lotus was Elio De Angelis. Ayrton scored his first of 65 pole positions in his career during the Brazilian Grand Prix, but was not able to win the race. He retired with an electrical problem after 48 laps. He did not had to wait a long time for his first ever victory in Formula 1, however, because he won the next race, the Portuguese Grand Prix starting off from pole position again. He showed his true talent driving in such bad weather which even later champion Alain Prost could not race in (he spun into a wall). The rest of the season was not too good for Senna though. He scored a lot of points but often retired because of mechanical problems. He won the Belgian Grand Prix in another wet race and finished 4th at the end of the season, scoring 38 points total. He also took two first places, two second places, two third places and seven pole positions.

His second season with Lotus, in 1986, was better than his first. The Lotus Car was a lot more reliable. He finished second in the Brazilian Grand Prix, with only Nelson Piquet being faster than Ayrton. He even took the lead in the World Championship standings during the Spanish Grand Prix after managing to keep Nigel Mansell away from stealing the victory. The gap between both drivers was only 14 thousand of a second. He did not have a lot of time to enjoy his lead, however, because his Lotus did not have the reliability Ayrton needed to chase after the title.

Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	WDC	Points
1984	Toleman Group Motorsport	Toleman TG183B	Hart 1.5 L S4 T	BRA Ret	RSA 6	BEL 6	SMR DNQ													9th	13
1984	Toleman Group Motorsport	Toleman TG184	Hart 1.5 L S4 T					FRA Ret	MON 2	CAN 7	DET Ret	DAL Ret	GBR 3	GER Ret	AUT Ret	NED Ret	ITA	EUR Ret	POR 3	9th	13
1985	John Player Special Team Lotus	Lotus 97T	Renault EF15 1.5 L V6 T	BRA Ret	POR 1	SMR 7	MON Ret	CAN 16	DET Ret	FRA Ret	GBR 10	GER Ret	AUT 2	NED 3	ITA 3	BEL 1	EUR 2	RSA Ret	AUS Ret	4th	38
1986	John Player Special Team Lotus	Lotus 98T	Renault EF15 1.5 L V6 T	BRA 2	ESP 1	SMR Ret	MON 3	BEL 2	CAN 5	DET 1	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER 2	HUN 2	AUT Ret	ITA Ret	POR 4	MEX 3	AUS Ret	4th	55
1987	Camel Team Lotus Honda	Lotus 99T	Honda EF15B 1.5 L V6 T	BRA Ret	SMR 2	BEL Ret	MON 1	DET 1	FRA 4	GBR 3	GER 3	HUN 2	AUT 5	ITA 2	POR 7	ESP 5	MEX Ret	JPN 2	AUS DSQ	3rd	57
1988	Honda Marlboro McLaren	McLaren MP4/4	Honda RA168E 1.5 L V6 T	BRA DSQ	SMR 1	MON Ret	MEX 2	CAN 1	DET 1	FRA 2	GBR 1	GER 1	HUN 1	BEL 1	ITA 10	POR 6	ESP 4	JPN 1	AUS 2	1st	90 (94)
1989	Honda Marlboro McLaren	McLaren MP4/5	Honda RA109E 3.5 L V10	BRA 11	SMR 1	MON 1	MEX 1	USA Ret	CAN 7	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER 1	HUN 2	BEL 1	ITA Ret	POR Ret	ESP 1	JPN DSQ	AUS Ret	2nd	60
1990	Honda Marlboro McLaren	McLaren MP4/5B	Honda RA100E 3.5 L V10	USA 1	BRA 3	SMR Ret	MON 1	CAN 1	MEX 20	FRA 3	GBR 3	GER 1	HUN 2	BEL 1	ITA 1	POR 2	ESP Ret	JPN Ret	AUS Ret	1st	78
1991	Honda Marlboro McLaren	McLaren MP4/6	Honda RA121E 3.5 L V12	USA 1	BRA 1	SMR 1	MON 1	CAN Ret	MEX 3	FRA 3	GBR 4	GER 7	HUN 1	BEL 1	ITA 2	POR 2	ESP 5	JPN 2	AUS 1	1st	96
1992	Honda Marlboro McLaren	McLaren MP4/6B	Honda RA122E 3.5 L V12	RSA 3	MEX Ret															4th	50
1992	Honda Marlboro McLaren	McLaren MP4/7A	Honda RA122E 3.5 L V12			BRA Ret	ESP 9	SMR 3	MON 1	CAN Ret	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER 2	HUN 1	BEL 5	ITA 1	POR 3	JPN Ret	AUS Ret	4th	50
1993	Marlboro McLaren	McLaren MP4/8	Ford HBE7 3.5 L V8	RSA 2	BRA 1	EUR 1	SMR Ret	ESP 2	MON 1	CAN 18	FRA 4	GBR 5	GER 4	HUN Ret	BEL 4	ITA Ret	POR Ret	JPN 1	AUS 1	2nd	73
1994	Rothmans Williams Renault	Williams FW16	Renault RS6 3.5 L V10	BRA Ret	PAC Ret	SMR Ret	MON	ESP	CAN	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	POR	EUR	JPN	AUS	NC	0

Images for kids

Senna at the age of 3
Senna began racing go-karts in Brazil at the age of 13.
21-year-old Senna in his British Formula Ford 1600 single seater
Senna's Toleman TG184 from 1984 on display in the Donington Grand Prix Collection
Senna won the saloon exhibition race to celebrate the opening of the new Nürburgring in 1984.
Senna driving the Team Lotus 97T at the 1985 European Grand Prix
Senna driving the Lotus 98T at the 1986 British Grand Prix
The Lotus 99T raced by Senna in 1987
Senna won his first world title in 1988 driving that season's dominant McLaren MP4/4.
The Honda RA168E engine, which powered Senna to his first world championship
Alain Prost and victor Ayrton Senna at Grand Prix Molson du Canada at Montreal, Canada, in 1988
Senna driving the McLaren MP4/5 in 1989
The McLaren MP4/5B raced by Senna in 1990
Senna won the season-opening United States GP with the new Honda V12-powered MP4/6.
Senna won the 1992 Monaco Grand Prix in his McLaren MP4/7A.
Senna won the 1993 European Grand Prix in changing conditions, in what many considered one of the best drives of his career.
Senna came from the back of the field to finish fourth at the 1993 German Grand Prix at Hockenheim in his McLaren MP4/8.
The Williams FW16 was the last F1 car raced by Senna.
Senna at home in his native Brazil
One of Senna's NSXs on display at the Goodwood Festival of Speed
A statue of Ayrton Senna at the Parco delle Acque Minerali by the Tamburello corner of the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Italy
Senninha
A monument dedicated to Senna's Formula 1 racing, located at the entrance of the tunnel under Ibirapuera Park in São Paulo, Brazil
The "Senna Chicane" at the Adelaide Street Circuit, South Australia
Ayrton Senna's statue in Wałbrzych, Poland
Senna's helmet bearing the colours of the Brazilian national flag
Bruno Senna's helmet design is an adaptation of his uncle's (seen here parading the 1985 Lotus 97T at the 2010 Japanese Grand Prix).