'Senna' on Netflix: Who was the Formula One race car driver?
The biggest names in Formula One auto racing claim celebrity status. For example, Mercedes and soon-to-be Ferrari team driver Lewis Hamilton is part owner of the Denver Broncos and a producer on the upcoming movie "F1," starring Brad Pitt. But long before stars like Hamilton, one name was hallowed: Ayrton Senna.
Who? Well, first off, that's Ah-EAR-ton, the Brazilian ace and former world champion who died in 1994 at age 34 when his car slammed into a wall at Italy's Imola racetrack. Netflix aims to tap the growing F1 fan base with "Senna" (streaming Friday), a six-part docudrama directed by Vicente Amorim that stars Brazilian actor Gabriel Leone (who played dashing race car driver Alfonso de Portago in Michael Mann's "Ferrari").
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"Brazilian fans are waiting for the next Senna to appear, but those are tough shoes to fill. It's like saying who's the next Pelé, the next Elvis, the next John Lennon?" Amorim says. "Those kinds of guys don't come around that often. There are many legendary drivers in Formula One racing, but only one hero: Senna."
With F1 gaining more fans in the U.S. now, thanks to both the Netflix docuseries "Drive to Survive" and the arrival of F1 races stateside, we take a look at who this sporting legend was, with Amorim as our guide.
Who was Ayrton Senna?
Ayrton Senna da Silva was born in 1960 in São Paolo, Brazil, to a factory owner and his wife. He developed an early fascination with driving and took the traditional route of racing go-karts, which led to his earliest national and international victories as a teen.
"We later all came to see how amazing he was as a driver and also as someone who could just hear an engine and tell the mechanics what was wrong with it," Amorim says. "But what I learned making this series was how emotions drove Senna. Personally, but also professionally. He wasn't some cold, calculating guy; he literally wore his heart on his racing gloves, to change the metaphor. That's what endeared him to so many fans."
How successful was Formula One racing driver Ayrton Senna?
After racing up the ranks for karting, then Formula Ford and Formula Three, Senna made the big jump to the top racing format in the world in 1984 with Toleman, the British team. He would quickly become dominant and went on to win the prestigious F1 Drivers' Championship three times, in 1988, 1990 and 1991.
"His relationship with time was different from ours," Amorim says, referring to Senna's ability to seemingly slow time while driving at upward of 180 mph. "It's something that he developed as a young driver, and mastered to perfection in those winning F1 years. He had a hyperfocus that drivers marveled at."
Are the racing scenes in the Netflix series 'Senna' real?
"Senna" tracks the racing driver's short but winning life from his early days as a karting champion through his final years dominating Formula One. Amorim and his team built replicas of Senna's cars from throughout his career, as well as dozens of other vintage-style vehicles, to mimic real races using professional drivers.
"About 90% of the racing you're watching in 'Senna' was actual racing that we filmed on location. And not just guys driving around fast, but re-creations of important episodes in Senna's racing career," he says. "There was also some set extension using computer graphics, and whenever you see someone in the series watching Senna's race on TV, that's actual footage of Senna back in the day. We thought it was important to show the real man as well."
Was the family of Ayrton Senna involved in the making of 'Senna'?
"Senna" is thrilling for those curious about how the Brazilian ace became dominant in the sport, particularly how he came to master the art of racing in the rain in a way that few drivers before or since have. But a lot of the series is focused on Senna's emotional state, whether it's his relationships with women or missing his family during the years he was in Europe. The Senna family was integral to making that possible, Amorim says.
"They literally opened the vault for me, not only of their own memories of him, but sharing with me hours of taped (phone) conversations they had with him over the years he was away," he says, adding that Leone listened to those tapes to get into character. "Those very human talks helped me build out" the portrayal.
How did Brazilian race car driver Ayrton Senna die?
Senna died on what still is one of the darkest days in racing history. The late April racing weekend started inauspiciously as fellow Brazilian driver Rubens Barrichello crashed during a qualifying session, breaking his nose and arm. The next day, rookie Roland Ratzenberger crashed and died in qualifying. Then on race day Sunday, a crash sent debris into the stands, injuring eight fans. On lap 7, Senna hit the wall at 191 mph and was killed instantly.
"His legacy is not only being a great driver and great man, but also that after his death, changes were made to F1 to such a degree that but for one accident no drivers have died since, which is remarkable given how many died in the decades before Senna," Amorim says. "Ayrton had a huge impact on the sport, in life and in death."