Ayrton Senna: Rise to the Top Trivia Quiz

Answer: Da Silva

Ayrton Senna da Silva was born in São Paulo on March 21, 1960. His mother Neyde Senna was a housewife, his father Milton da Silva owned a metalworking company and a store that sold car accessories. He had an elder sister, Viviane, and later younger brother Leonardo was born. Because was born into a wealthy family he enjoyed a good education and had the liberty to pursue the career he wanted, unlike many of his Brazilian countrymen.

Somewhere during his career he chose to race under the name Senna. Da Silva is a very common name in Brazil, and being known as Senna made him stand out more, what was interesting to attract sponsorship.

Another Brazilian world champion, Nelson Piquet, had done the same thing. His full name is Nelson Piquet Souto Maior. For the same reason he had chosen to race only under his mother's name. Ayrton's nephew Bruno (Viviane's son), who also drove in F1 for a couple of years, also chose to race under the name Senna. His father's name is Lalli. Edson Arantes do Nascimento is the real name of Brazilian soccer star Pele.

Answer: Pole position

The race was organised among friends out of normal competition. Ayrton got lucky and drew first place. He was only eight, and raced against 15 to 20 year olds. For most of the race he was able to keep the lead, mainly because he was lighter than the others and was therefore able to pull away on the straights. Near the end of the race, when he was in third position, he was hit by another driver who tried to overtake him. He didn't finish but after this first race experience he knew he wanted more.

In formula 1 Senna would be on pole 65 times from 161 starts, a record until Michael Schumacher broke it. Schumacher was on pole 68 times, but he needed 307 starts to achieve this.

Ayrton drove his first real race when he was 13. The event took place at Interlagos, where he met Emerson Fittipaldi who would become a friend for the rest of his life. From 1973 till 1977 Ayrton drove in Brazilian kart championships. He became South American kart champion in 1977. From 1978 till 1982 he participated in several world championship kart races in Europe. During his karting years he learned the racing and technical skills that he would later need as a professional racing driver.

There's an anecdote from his karting days typical of Senna's exceptional ability to feel how a car could be improved. During a test session for Angelo Parilla's team (DAP) Senna complained that one tyre was bigger than the other. Parilla said this was impossible but checked anyway. To his amazement he found out that one tyre was bigger indeed, by one millimetre.

Answer: Mauricio Gugelmin

In 1981 Ayrton moved to Europe to compete in Formula Ford 1600 championships, the first steps on the way to Formula 1. Already after a couple of test laps it was clear he would be fast and consistent in cars that are very different from karts. In his first year in England he lived with his wife Lilian whom he had married just before leaving Brazil. The marriage didn't last. Lilian couldn't adapt to life in Europe, and the couple divorced after less than a year. It is a safe bet to assume Ayrton spent more time with his car than with his wife. He won two of the three championships he entered.

In 1981 he returned to England, this time to compete in Formula Ford 2000, the next step. To save money he lived in the same place as fellow Brazilian Mauricio Gugelmin, who then was competing in FF1600. Senna dominated again by winning 21 races from 27 starts. He showed an amazing ability to be fast immediately in cars he had never raced before.

A couple of years after Senna, Gugelmin would also make it into Formula 1. He competed for five seasons, from 1988 till 1992, and then moved to IndyCar. His best result was a third place in the 1989 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Answer: Martin Brundle

Senna had joined West Surrey Racing, the strongest team in the field. A great car combined with Senna's obsession with perfection made them almost invincible. Senna won the first nine races of the season. Then things went a bit downhill. A couple of collisions and a number of technical failures allowed Martin Brundle (Eddie Jordan Racing) to reduce his points deficit. The championship was decided in the last race, held at Thruxton. Senna returned to his winning ways by claiming pole, race and championship. He later also won the unofficial F3 world championship race at Macau.

It was clear Senna was ready to graduate into Formula one. Despite tests with Williams, McLaren and Brabham the bigger teams were reluctant to sign a rookie driver. Senna eventually ended up with Toleman, a backmarker team. It wouldn't stop him from making his name.

Answer: Senna finished first when the race was stopped because of rain, but was demoted to second place

Ayrton was racing for Toleman-Hart in his first Formula 1 season. His debut race, before his home crowd, was short-lived as the car broke down after eight laps. In his second race he already scored his first point, followed by another point in the third race. Tyre problems meant he couldn't qualify for the San Marino Grand Prix. It was the first and only time he wouldn't qualify for an F1 race. After another retirement came the Monaco Grand Prix.

It was raining on race day, and Ayrton was starting from 13th position. After a couple of laps he was already in fourth position. Nigel Mansell crashed when leading, and Senna overtook Lauda to take second place. Prost was leading with a 30 seconds advantage, but Senna was catching him by three seconds a lap. When Senna was getting closer Prost started waving his arms when he passed the start-finish straight, indicating he wanted the race to be stopped. Prost slowed down and Senna overtook him on lap 32, just when the red flag to stop the race was shown. Regulations stipulate that in case of an aborted race the last lap that was finished by ever driver counts as the end result. In this case that was lap 31, when Prost was still leading and Senna was second. Senna thought he had won but it was Prost who was announced the winner of the Monaco Grand Prix. As the race was stopped before 75% of the race distance was completed only half points were awarded. Prost got 4,5 points for the win, Senna three for second place.

Of course there were conspiracy theories about the incident. There was Prost's gesture to the race director. That race director was Jacky Ickx, who was also an endurance racer for Porsche. He took the decision to stop the race. His decision awarded the victory to Porsche who was the engine supplier for Prost's McLaren. Maybe this is a bit far-fetched, and Ickx made a fair assessment that circumstances were too dangerous to continue racing.

After Monaco Senna finished on the podium again in the British Grand Prix and in the Portuguese Grand Prix. He scored 13 points and finished ninth in the overall standings. Niki Lauda won his third title that year with only half a point over Alain Prost. Had the Monaco Grand Prix not been stopped, and had Prost finished second after a full race distance he would have been awarded six points. In that case he would have won the world championship.

Answer: Portugal

Ayrton left Toleman at the end of the 1984 season and joined Lotus. The team had enjoyed great success in the 60s and 70s but since the death of founder Colin Chapman they had difficulties to stay at the top. Gradually the team would go downhill. Senna's passage at Lotus gave the team their last successes.

The Portuguese Grand Prix was the second race of the 1985 season. Senna started on pole position for the first time in his F1 career. There was a torrential downpour during the race. Senna pulled away from his competitors from the first lap and already had a 17 second advantage by lap four. Cars were crashing left, right and centre but the terrible weather seemed to have no effect on Senna. He eventually won the race with a lead of more than a minute over Michele Alboreto, who finished second. The other seven finishers were a lap or more down.

The 1985 Lotus was fast but very unreliable. After Portugal Senna only won one more race, the Belgian Grand Prix. He finished fourth in the world championship, won by Alain Prost.

Senna's unique ability to race in rainy conditions gave him the nickname 'rainmaster'. He later said that he had learned to race on a wet track in his karting days. In his first wet race he couldn't cope with the situation, and everybody was passing him. This had motivated him to practice whenever it rained until he had fully mastered the art of driving in the wet.

Answer: 0.014 seconds

Ayrton stayed at Lotus for the 1986 season. In the Spanish Grand Prix Nigel Mansell was leading the race until he came in the pits for new tyres. When he left the pits Senna had taken the lead, 19 seconds in front. With fresher tyres Mansell could rapidly reduced this lead but Senna somehow managed to stay in front. Senna won the race with a 0.014 seconds advantage over Mansell, one of the closest finishes ever in Formula 1.

Senna's 1986 season was almost a copy of the previous one. After the initial success he won only one more Grand Prix (Detroit), and finished fourth in the championship. The Williams cars were the strongest in 1986 but the rivalry between their drivers, Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet, gave Prost the opportunity to win his second title.

Answer: Honda

Despite the defeat of Williams-Honda in the 1986 season it was clear that the Honda power train had been the strongest. For the 1987 season Lotus had switched from Renault to Honda. They also had developed an active suspension what would become an indispensable tool for the leading teams in the years to come. Despite all this Lotus was again no match for Williams. Williams driver Nelson Piquet would win the world championship, with teammate Nigel Mansell finishing second. Senna again won two races in 1987 (Monaco and Detroit), and finished third in the championship. This was his best result so far but it wasn't enough.

Senna had enjoyed the co-operation with the ultra professional Japanese manufacturer. He wanted to leave Lotus, but only for a team that was also equipped with Honda engines. That team would be McLaren since Williams would no longer race with Honda engines in the 1988 season. At McLaren he would become the new teammate of Alain Prost.

Answer: He crashed and had to retire

Alain Prost was driving for McLaren since 1984 and together they had won the drivers championship twice. Prost was the undisputed leader of the team which was built around him. Senna didn't care about all that and immediately started asserting his authority on the team. After an unlucky Brazilian Grand Prix he won the second race of the season (San Marino). Monaco was the third race on the 1988 calendar.

Senna had always excelled on streets circuits, and now he had a superior car at his disposal he wanted to show his skills. Senna had taken pole position and pulled away from the start. He kept on setting fastest lap after fastest lap, even when it wasn't needed any more. On lap 67 he made a terrible mistake and crashed into the barriers at Portier. It was said that team boss Ron Dennis had ordered him to slow down, and he had then lost concentration. Whatever the cause, Prost had the race thrown into his lap. Senna was so disappointed he went straight home and wasn't seen for hours. In retrospect this was Senna's most important defeat, and a turning point in his career. It took him a while to get over it and compelled him to make a full analyses of what had happened to make sure there would never be such a silly mistake again.

After Monaco Senna had a lacklustre race in Mexico where he finished second behind Prost. Prost now had a significant advantage in the world championship. Senna responded with a brilliant string of victories. He won six out of the eight next Grand Prix (Canada, Detroit, Britain, Germany, Hungary and Belgium). He had now taken the lead in the championship and could clinch the title with a victory in the penultimate race of the season, The Japanese Grand Prix.

Answer: He had a bad start and was only 14th after turn one

The weekend started perfectly for Senna when he claimed pole position. However, he nearly stalled his car on the start and had dropped back to 14th place after turn one. He then started a remarkable comeback. By the end of lap one he was already in eighth position, by lap four he was in fourth position, and by lap 19 he was in second position.

The only one he still had to overtake was teammate Prost, what would be no easy matter. Then luck intervened on Senna's behalf. It started to drizzle, and Prost lost time when lapping a couple of backmarkers. On lap 27 Senna overtook Prost to take the lead. He would stay in the lead for the remainder of the race. When he crossed the finish line in first position he had won the race and the world championship. His boyhood dream had become a reality.