Senna: a testament to a great racing driver
17th October 2022Senna was released back in 2010, portraying the life of the Formula 1 legend, icon and world champion, Ayrton Senna – a must-watch for fans.
How does one portray a sports legend in the best possible way, without underselling or Hollywoodizing his ability? The documentary crew, who directed, produced and created Senna were faced with that very question.
While Senna was a superb driver in his peak, the BAFTA-winning team had to discover the perfect recipe to create an incredible documentary which could live up to Senna’s standard as well as his fans image.
Led by Asif Kapadia, the team secured 20 awards including the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) and the British Independent Film Awards, where the film won the ‘Best Documentary’ category. In addition to being nominated for 19 more awards.
What is even more incredible is, as reported by IMDB: the director/producer, Kapadia, ‘knew little about the life’ of Senna. It was an intentional act by the producers, ‘so he had a fair look at the film material.’
Senna’s documentary is a great watch, for new and current F1 fans, as the story is progressed by archive footage and interviews with those who were there, Senna’s family members and Senna, himself.
Senna is the story of an up-and-coming racing driver who had the potential to break many records and set the benchmark for the rest of the field, for those on the grid at the time and for those yet to arrive. However, it is also a story which will meet a sudden – and tragic – end.
Perhaps one of the documentaries darkest moments comes at the podium celebration at the 1993 Australian Grand Prix, where – albeit no one knew at the time – Alain Prost (Williams) and Senna (McLaren) shared their final podium together.
However, the darkest part of it all comes from what Professor Sid Watkins (F1’s Doctor) said following the death of Roland Ratzenberger, during the 1994 San Marino GP.
Watkins said:
“Ayrton got very, very upset and cried a bit, and that’s when I said to him, you know Ayrton you’ve been three times world champion, you’re the fastest man in the world, and you like fishing.
“So I said why don’t you quit, and I’ll quit, and we’ll just go fishing.
“And he said: Sid, I can’t quit.”
In a retrospective view, through the tragic and heartbreaking moments of the sports dark history, Senna is not just a testament to a fantastic racing driver. It also highlights F1’s great strides in improving driver safety, following the deaths of Ratzenberger and Senna as well as Martin Donnelly’s crash at the 1990 Spanish Grand Prix.
As F1 becomes ever-more popular and new fans continue to funnel into the sport, thanks to F1’s ever-growing international presence and Netflix’s Drive to Survive, Senna should be a film that is found on everyone’s must-watch list.
That’s it for the article; Senna: a testament to a great racing driver! When did you first watch the documentary and what did you think of it? Let us know in the comments!
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
