What was it that made Ayrton Senna great?

Answer 1

I find many of these comments interesting, because when I think of the things that defined Senna as a great driver, none of them are about his winning championships or even winnings races. To me, it seems like that is reversing cause and effect. He was not a great driver because he won, he won because he was a great driver. And even if he never managed to win a championship, he still would have been a great driver for the same reasons (reference Sterling Moss for more on great drivers without championships). And as for thoughts of mortality while driving? If you have time to focus on anything other than driving, then you just aren't going very fast, and F1 drivers tend to be very fast!

Senna had amazing car control. Yes, every driver that reaches the level of F1 has great car control, but even here, he was a level beyond most. This really stood out when conditions limited traction.

Senna drove with great consistency. Most don't seem to recall Senna as a precise driver. This was often the key to his great qualifying, as well as managing to stay in a race or keep a good result when leading or winning just weren't possible.

Lastly, the reason many don't recall Senna as being as precise as he was is because he seemed so passionate... and many can't bring passionate and precise into understanding. Personally, I don't see these as contradictorary, but the fact that they can be viewed that way just adds to his mystique. Senna was a hot head... sometimes a little to much and to his disadvantage. But it also afforded him a single mindedness in his pursuit of a win, either in tracking down the next car ahead of him, or in a mad rush to drive away from someone behind him.

Answer 2

For me, it has to be his incredible rain driving skills. While Prost was sometimes scared of driving in the rain, Senna never stood back and, in the rain, he put up some of his most stunning pieces of driving. A few stand out: Monaco 1984, when he was catching leader Prost at 4 seconds a lap in an uncompetitive Toleman when the red flags ended the race, Portugal 1985, his first victory in a Renault-powered Lotus, and the mind-blowing frst lap at Donington in 1993 (he won that race by over a minute). Donington was considered by many to be "the Drive of the Century".

The mystery still surrounding his untimely death is one of the reasons why Senna's figure will be envelopped more and more, over the years, into an air of legend. As someone else said, he died doing what he did best. Driving a race car.
It was a shock to everyone, but I believe that for him it was just a fraction of a second... and then nothing.
Senna will always be remembered by true Formula 1 fans.

Answer 3

Simple. He was the best driver in a time where the cars did not have many of the driver's aids that have been a part of F1 for too long. Many of the driver's aids are gone now, but for years, the driver of a top line car was more a navigator than a driver. The car could do much of the operating, it ust needed to be told where to go. Senna had to tell his car where to go, and how to do it. He had to drive it. A couple of years ago, F1 was a joke with the amount of driver's aids. Senna didn't need that crap to win.

Answer 4

What didn't make him great? He was full of life and had the biggest appetite I've ever seen in a race car driver to win. It was instinct for him to reach for the ultimate goal of winning the way a lion hunts for it's prey. His eyes told the story of his focus and his driving told the story of his skill. He thrived on being the best, for it was his motivation to be king of his craft. As technical, and as gifted a driver as Michael Schumacher and Alain Prost were, as noble and defiant as Damon Hill was, Ayrton was the only one to make it seem so natural as though he was truly apart of the car and the track was merely the surface to which he glided over with ease. Dry, rain, anything; he raced to live life as only he knew it.

Answer 5

when senna got into a racing car, you had a feeling that he dint care if he died in that car , as long as he could be fastest....

he was an enigma, a deeply religious man who couldnt trust anybody not even his teammates...

his loyalty to his family and friends was beyond question but he jmped teams as soon a he found out they could not deliver...

senna was not designed to be second or third, he was designed to first...and like all extremes he was not a very likable person...as a person he certainly had his faults as a driver almost none...

in the days before telemetry, he could relay to his engineers the particular RPM at any given corner...

he died doing what he loved best...

Answer 6

It should be the titles he won against driver like mansell prost patresse. Plus he would have won more if he didnt die at that moment. Maybe more than Shumacher plus Shumacher would have had a really hard time trying to beat Senna.

Answer 7

Ok, besides the F1 trophies that he had won, his warm character and his abilities in the wet won many people over.

Some champions do not exhibit both, just either one or the other but never both.

Answer 8

One of the things that stands out to me was his sheer speed. He was awesome at setting blazing fast qualifying times. His skills in wet conditions were also amazing.

Answer 9

Wel,i think its cause he managd to drive in dif teams and still managed to win...he went to 3 teams,schumacher 2..thats why alot say he was that great...

Answer 10

He had the passion and the talent to be great.