21 March 1960 is a significant day in the history of motorsport, as it marks the birth of Ayrton Senna da Silva, the future three-time Formula One World Champion and one of the greatest legends of Formula One. The winner of victories in 1988, 1990 and 1991, he was snatched from the jaws of fate on 1 May 1994. His career still has countless fans to this day and, three decades later, his legacy is still vivid in many people’s minds.
Initially, like many others, he began his passion at a young age with go-karting. Where he won first place in several races.

With the 1983 British F3 title and F3 victory in Macau under his belt, Senna made his debut for the Toleman stable and proved in his first year that he was a star of the future. And Pat Symonds, who later won world titles with Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso, was right there with him.
In an unexpected turn of events, Senna left Toleman at the end of 1984 to sign for Lotus, where he scored his first F1 victory in 1985 in difficult conditions – in the rain.
He won 6 races for Lotus between 1985 and 1987, and was part of the battle for the world title in 86 and 87, but retired at some point in the season. Senna finally made it to the finish line in 1988, winning his first world title in a season in which McLaren had demolished the competition, winning 15 of 16 races. He was up against one of his biggest rivals, Alain Prost, who he had to beat to win the world title.
By the 1991 season there was no question who would be world champion. Of his 7 victories that year, one stood out: the first on home soil, achieved at the cost of an incredible effort. At the end of the season, Senna moved to McLaren, a team powered by a Honda V6 turbo engine. In 1988 Senna became team-mate of the then two-time world champion Prost. Many dramatic incidents peppered the season’s races, with the pair winning 15 of McLaren’s 16 races.
The 1988 season began with Prost’s victory in Brazil, where Senna was disqualified for changing to his reserve car after the second start, which is illegal. In Monaco, the Brazilian was also leading, but crashed into the barriers and crashed out, while Prost won.