Ayrton Senna was three-time Formula 1 champion: 1988, 1989 and 1990, all with McLarenVideo reproduction / Senna by Ayrton
Published 04/30/2024 07:00
A character very rich in stories and content produced over the last 40 years, Ayrton Senna will receive two more miniseries on streaming in 2024, the 30th anniversary of his death, on May 1, 1994. On Wednesday (1), Globoplay premieres the documentary “Senna by Ayrton”while Netflix prepares the fiction ‘Senna’, still without a release date.
The productions retrace the steps of the three-time Formula 1 champion both on and off the track. And they aim to reach not only the fans who saw him shine on the track, but also perpetuate Senna by showing new generations who he was, what he did and his importance for Brazil and motorsport. Each one with a different idea to deliver.
“Senna is a very easy character to tell, because he is very big, it is a very curious and interesting trajectory”, says one of the directors of Globoplay’s production, Rafael Pirrho.
Also ahead of other documentaries on streaming, such as Eurico Miranda and the Libertadores do Fluminense title, Pirrho had a lot of material in the three chapters. There were more than 150 hours of Globo files on Ayrton Senna, as well as other TV channels. Extensive research into the proposal to show the pilot’s own statements to the press, to tell his storyin a kind of autobiography.
“It was a challenge to make a documentary that could bring a different approach. It’s all told from his point of view, his perspective, his truth. And what we find are archival pearls. They’re not new because we’re talking about a career that has been told a lot. These are things that people haven’t seen or don’t remember”, says the director.
Senna and Piquet’s statements to the press
One of these pearls is an interview carried out by singer Roberto Carlos, who drives his car and talks to Senna, in 1988, right after the first world title. There are also passages about the relationship with Xuxa and the holidays in Angra dos Reis. But the main focus is to tell the pilot’s trajectory, from his first roller cart, at the age of four, through the difficulties at the beginning of his career, when he went to live in England, to Formula 1.
Senna comments on the tests in 1983 by Williamns, Lotus and McLaren, and the difficulty of finding a seat for the 1984 season. Then there are statements throughout each season by Toleman, Lotus and McLaren to present how each year went. The relationship with the disaffected and also three-time champion Nelson Piquet through the press, in the first of three chapters, draws attention.
They are speeches that start out cold on both sides and evolve into provocations and ironies, even insinuation by Piquet that the rival would be homosexual, this part was not explored in depth. “For us to know the story is one thing. The other is to hear him tell it. They were very different pilots, both very talented. And clearly you see this relationship deteriorating, with one uncomfortable with the other”, says Pirrho.
O The same goes for Prost. The rivalry is seen to grow little by little at McLaren, winning the first title in 1988. The controversial disputes that ended in deliberate clashes between the two to define the championships – in 1989 for the Frenchman and 1990 for the Brazilian – are the culmination of the fight between the two geniuses, told in the second episode, which focuses on the peak, until the third championship, in 1991.
“Senna’s relationships with Piquet and Prost are different things. Senna, in 88, praised Prost, who was already two-time champion. And you see that the rivalry escalated a little throughout that championship. It speaks volumes about Senna’s competitiveness, and that I also think he brought this aura of an idol, he was always very incisive, very aggressive, sometimes criticized by other drivers, but he was also very cool to support”, he says.
The agony in the last three years
Senna’s career then entered a difficulty that until then had not been encountered in Formula 1. His anguish at not being able to compete with the Williams in 1992 and 1993, is evident in the statements. As well as his great performance in McLaren’s last year, with historic races, such as victories in the Brazilian GP and on the Donington Park track, both in the rain.
And the documentary ends with the dream becoming a tragedy at Williams in 1994. driver discomfort – with the change in rules and, mainly, with the car facing a powerful Benetton of Michael Schumacher, – this anguish increases. Mainly because we know the end of this story, in the fateful San Marino GP, with the strong crash that would kill Senna and shake an entire country, accustomed to seeing him win and bring joy to a people who were coming from very heavy economic and political crises.
“He’s the best driver on the grid, but he didn’t have the best car, failing to win in 92 and 93. And then you have Senna in the best team, you think they’ll be happy, you create expectations that he’ll break all the records. And it happens what happened. It’s a very difficult moment for us to understand how he’s going to tell it, but it also helps to understand who he was”, says the director, who adds:
“His death is very impactful in the history of Brazil. It goes beyond sports, Formula 1 and brings a lot of feelings. At the same time, I think it gives the grandeur of who Senna was. He reached a level of idolatry that I have never seen and I don’t know We’ll see him again. He was more than an idol, he was a kind of hero.”
‘Senna’ series on Netflix
Initially scheduled to be released in 2023, the Netflix series about Ayrton Senna was postponed until 2024, after a change of direction and other problems. Divided into six episodes, the production, which promises to focus more on personal relationships and personality, will also tell the story of Senna, but through fiction. AND begins with the first steps in Europein Formula Ford, until the driver’s death.
Actor Gabriel Leone plays the three-time world champion, while Pâmela Tomé will play Xuxa and Gabriel Louchard will play Galvão Bueno. Frenchman Matt Mella will give life to rival Alain Prost. Directed by Vicente Amorim.
With international production, most of the recordings took place in Argentina – racing scenes were at the Buenos Aires, Balcarce and San Cayetano racetracks – but also in São Paulo, Angra dos Reis (RJ), Uruguay and the United Kingdom.
A miniseries will be in two languageswith Portuguese when the moments are in Brazil and English, when Senna is abroad.
