Well that was damn good.

I’ve been meaning to see Senna for ages but exams work stupid stuff took up time, finally got to see it this afternoon.

Oh my god.

I’ll forgive non-F1 fans for not reading any further, but let me tell you something, you are missing out on something so utterly brilliant. Go and see Senna anyway.

I’ve always known about him, ofc, even before I got into F1 I knew his name. I’ve never particularly been that interested in him, although I knew what great a driver he was, and how he died. I remember every year on that weekend for about five years now, how sad it was every time.

Ayrton Senna was a damn good driver. Even someone who doesn’t follow F1, doesn’t know what the racing line is or what an apex is, can tell he is good. The way he kept that car on the road- he was always talking about ‘the limit, go beyond the limit’ and that was exactly what he did. It was just superhuman. Almost completely unnatural. His passion and drive and desire to win was what as much kept his podiums going as much as his skill and the car he drove.

He brought a new element into F1 that I don’t think had been fully recognised before then- personality. His fights with Prost and all that drama, as the film points out, kept people interested and made F1 the most popular it had been for a while, maybe ever before. Maybe it wasn’t good that they had a rivalry, as obviously it led to accidents, anger and lost titles, but it certainly helped the sport.

He was also, from what I saw and what I’ve read, a good man. Maybe not the cleanest of drivers and certainly wasn’t afraid to play dirty when it came to getting the championship, but, perhaps more after his later wins, he was modest, sweet, kind, caring and had the utmost respect and love for Brazil. I think that was, at least back then, rare for a racing driver. I think it must be difficult, when you’ve won so much and proved yourself over and over again, to not show off and think you can’t be touched. He certainly didn’t think he was immortal.

I’ve read people say that his death was ‘inevitable’ and that ‘it was just lucky he didn’t kill anyone else’. From what I saw, that’s incredibly unfair. I’m not blaming that accident on the car he was driving, not totally, because we’ll never know and there’s no point. But if they’re referring to the times he bumped Prost off, I don’t think he would ever have done it if he thought there was a serious chance of either of them being killed. I know, I know, every touch in F1 could kill, but I don’t think he wasn’t suicidal or wanted anyone else to be in severe danger.

Obviously I’ve never met him so I have no idea.

I think I’m in love with him though. <3

he was super super super good looking too

Back to the film- it was excellently put together and didn’t seem like a documentary at all. Exhilarating, exciting and utterly nerve wrenching, it was everything a Formula 1 movie should be, especially with Senna. The soundtrack was superb. I think it was Eddie Jordan who said at Canada last weekend that you can’t replicate F1 on the big screen, movies like that don’t work. Wrong.

In today’s terms, people could compare Senna to Seb. Seb is a fantastic driver, as obvious from this season so far and last, and I have no doubt that he’ll win the title this year, maybe even next. He also certainly seems like a good man, modest like Ayrton became.

But I’m not sure he’s a better driver. I’m not some top F1 analyst and if you gave me footage of two white F1 cars being driven by Seb and Webber I probably wouldn’t be able to tell the difference, so I can’t really say. Maybe Senna was just ahead of his time, talent wise, and more drivers are just better these days.

I agree with what a lot of people are saying in that Hamilton can learn from this movie.

Like Senna, he certainly doesn’t want to put anyone in serious danger, but he might end up doing so. Like I said before, when Senna tried to overtake Prost, costing Prost the championship, he did it at low speed, at a not too difficult corner.

Unlike Hamilton somtimes, who just seems a bit reckless and makes mistakes overtaking. Like the Webber incident at the start.

And I so so so badly want to work in F1. I know I’ve rabbitted on about this for the past few weeks but god I want to go. ._.

Conclusion: go and see Senna.