05-01-2019, 09:17 PM
https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/moto...93511.html
Pressure does funny things to the human mind. Different people find different ways to deal with it, depending on how great the pressure is. For Sebastian Vettel now, that pressure is the weight of not winning a Formula One world championship for five years. For Lewis Hamilton, it is the constant desire to keep winning.
For Ayrton Senna, it was the weight of an entire nation.
Senna died 25 years ago today on a weekend that shocked the world well beyond the motor racing community. Yesterday saw the 25th anniversary of the Roland Ratzenberger’s death, the Austrian driver killed during qualifying for the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola. As was and is F1’s way, the show must go on despite the dangers posed to drivers – particularly in an era where safety measures were nowhere near what they are today – being abundantly clear. Sadly, Ratzenberger would not be the last driver to lose his life behind the wheel of an F1; he would not even be the last one killed that weekend.
Ayrton Senna's record as a Formula One driver speaks for itself: three World Championships, 41 race victories, 65 pole positions - and he would surely have exceeded these were it not for his tragic death at Imola. But that doesn't tell the full story of this complex individual: there was more to him than his prowess behind the wheel. He's also remembered for his drive to help the underprivileged children back in Brazil: he donated millions of dollars per year to this cause, and this didn't even come to light until after his death .
Nevertheless, he did have a darker side to him as well. He attracted his fair share of critics - who will point to moments such as the start of the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix, where he would win the World Championship provided that arch-rival Alain Prost failed to finish the race. So, he simply rammed Prost off the road at the first corner, assuring himself the title, but putting both of their lives at risk. As such, for all his talent and his philanthropic efforts, it's impossible for an objective observer to lavish him with unqualified praise.
What nobody will deny is, he was a legend both on and off the track. A flawed legend, for sure - but a legend nonetheless.
R.I.P. Ayrton Senna
21st March 1960 - 1st May 1994
Pressure does funny things to the human mind. Different people find different ways to deal with it, depending on how great the pressure is. For Sebastian Vettel now, that pressure is the weight of not winning a Formula One world championship for five years. For Lewis Hamilton, it is the constant desire to keep winning.
For Ayrton Senna, it was the weight of an entire nation.
Senna died 25 years ago today on a weekend that shocked the world well beyond the motor racing community. Yesterday saw the 25th anniversary of the Roland Ratzenberger’s death, the Austrian driver killed during qualifying for the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola. As was and is F1’s way, the show must go on despite the dangers posed to drivers – particularly in an era where safety measures were nowhere near what they are today – being abundantly clear. Sadly, Ratzenberger would not be the last driver to lose his life behind the wheel of an F1; he would not even be the last one killed that weekend.
Ayrton Senna's record as a Formula One driver speaks for itself: three World Championships, 41 race victories, 65 pole positions - and he would surely have exceeded these were it not for his tragic death at Imola. But that doesn't tell the full story of this complex individual: there was more to him than his prowess behind the wheel. He's also remembered for his drive to help the underprivileged children back in Brazil: he donated millions of dollars per year to this cause, and this didn't even come to light until after his death .
Nevertheless, he did have a darker side to him as well. He attracted his fair share of critics - who will point to moments such as the start of the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix, where he would win the World Championship provided that arch-rival Alain Prost failed to finish the race. So, he simply rammed Prost off the road at the first corner, assuring himself the title, but putting both of their lives at risk. As such, for all his talent and his philanthropic efforts, it's impossible for an objective observer to lavish him with unqualified praise.
What nobody will deny is, he was a legend both on and off the track. A flawed legend, for sure - but a legend nonetheless.
R.I.P. Ayrton Senna
21st March 1960 - 1st May 1994
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