Ayrton Senna's Last Lap - Jalopnik Comments

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

cgates1 — Sat, 03 May 2008 09:50:33 EDT

I remember this season and this race vividly. I was a big Senna fan, and I remember thinking that he was literally going to win every race in the Williams-Renault. The ELF rocket fuel, the Renault V-10 and clearly the best driver... instead it was 3 poles and out.

I think, though, if you want to watch some Senna footage, this isn't the best. Watch the qualifying lap at Aida at the Pacific Grand Prix from '94, or watch a compilation of his battles with Prost and Mansell.

cgates1

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

readplays — Fri, 02 May 2008 21:41:05 EDT

@Tomsk: Wow.

readplays

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

sladehayes — Fri, 02 May 2008 13:42:18 EDT

Uggh... I have re-written this 4 times, because its too hard to capture how upsetting it is to watch this happen. Senna, Moore, Dale, and Petty were all taken too soon. This is kinda going back a bit, but watching Rich Vogler die was actually worse than Senna (I missed the race that day and saw it on the news) because it happened live, and you could just tell that there was nothing they could do. Terribly sad.

I can only hope they're all together trying to out brake each other into the turns somewhere above.

sladehayes

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

Tyson — Fri, 02 May 2008 11:41:13 EDT

I'm glad you guys posted this video. That said, there isn't any way I can watch this, its too depressing at 8am.

Tyson

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

workingonyourinvoice — Fri, 02 May 2008 11:21:26 EDT

@Red AuerБЯд╒╒: very true. Gave me chills reading it.

workingonyourinvoice

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

nick2ny — Fri, 02 May 2008 11:13:33 EDT

Out of all Senna's laps, this is the one you had to choose for this post? You're breaking my heart guys. Refuse to watch.

nick2ny

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

layabout — Fri, 02 May 2008 11:10:05 EDT

[www.rediff.com] Damon Hill was Senna's team mate at the time,it's interesting to read what he said about what happened. click the link

layabout

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

layabout — Fri, 02 May 2008 10:59:49 EDT

@Maxichamp: Not atall true about the safety car. Check the facts,don't make them up.

layabout

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

Maxichamp — Fri, 02 May 2008 10:48:10 EDT

Makes the Lewis-Fernando feud last season seem childish and petty.

As Reubens breaks the record for the most races by any F1 driver, we should remember his mentor, Senna.

Incidentally, the safety car was a bone stock Opel Vectra. By the second lap, its brakes were gone. The slowness of the Vectra kept all the cars' tires frigid and contributed to the accident.

Maxichamp

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

layabout — Fri, 02 May 2008 10:43:16 EDT

Shame that nobody ever mentions Roland Ratzenberger who died in a qualifying the day before Senna died.

layabout

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

skyln95 — Fri, 02 May 2008 10:36:54 EDT

great salute to the master of the grand prix, and the master of the rain.

skyln95

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

layabout — Fri, 02 May 2008 10:31:54 EDT

Senna is an all time great & is still sadly missed. I just wish people would stop exaggerating things just because of sentiment.

layabout

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

7Seven — Fri, 02 May 2008 10:31:15 EDT

Nope, like others I don't want to watch that.

Better to loof for a video of his first few laps at Donington for the Euro GP as a tribute...

7Seven

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

FreeMan — Fri, 02 May 2008 10:07:05 EDT

Wow.

Today's my birthday.

what a way to start the day.

@readplays: Amen.

FreeMan

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

Placebo — Fri, 02 May 2008 10:01:57 EDT

The thing is, I always hated Senna. I was much more of a Prost man. Senna was ruthless and passionate, to the point of driving people off the track. When he joined Williams (my then favorite team), I began to understand more about the man. All too soon he was gone, and it's taken quite a while for me to understand his unique skills. He was an awesome driver and such an enigma. Part of the mystery and attractiveness of F1 is great pilots like Senna.

I still remember sitting stunned as the accident unfolded live. When he moved, I was very grateful... when he didn't move again I was sure that he was very deeply injured. Although the coverage tried to quickly cut away, I remember a huge patch of red remaining on the ground as the helicopter took off.

I got that some feeling of dread last weekend when Heikki appeared to go under the tire wall in Barcelona. At the break I told my wife that it looked like Heikki had a bad accident. Thankfully, safety has improved dramatically since Ayrton's accident. After Ayrton's accident, I began consciously hoping for a safe race just before the lights go out each time. It's my way to remember Ayrton... his lasting legacy for me, I guess. What a loss F1 suffered that day.

Placebo

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

lobo8310 — Fri, 02 May 2008 09:49:52 EDT

Crazy thing is, the day before the race, Senna told a friend he was worried about racing tha race. He saw Roland´s and Barrichello´s crash that weekend.

Then, after he died, TV showed scenes of him just before the race, looking at his car........he was very dark, looked like he was praying, thinking a lot.

Very freaky.

lobo8310

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

Movado — Fri, 02 May 2008 09:31:13 EDT

To be fair, I don't think Formula One died that day, it changed, evolved and adapted. Like any thing that needs to survive it, F1, too changed and produced some great motor-sport greats, we should not forget or under value that. I too watched that race, and yes it was sad, but I have watched many other ones after it and there were great many that were absolutely brilliant.

Immortality scale is not measured by length but quality of life and he, Senna, had a brilliantly shiny one. Respect.

Movado

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

TurboBrick — Fri, 02 May 2008 09:27:20 EDT

@SundaySundayFnC: Add Henri Toivonen to that list, that video of his Group B missile going down the side of a mountain in flames. Scary stuff back then and now.

I have the Eurosport broadcast of the '94 Imola race on my PC. The film crews were not very discreet, the chopper cam shows the paramedics pull Senna out of the cockpit and trying to revive him. That was a horrible weekend and the second time I had to see one of my favorite drivers die.

TurboBrick

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

crankcase — Fri, 02 May 2008 09:15:20 EDT

May 1, 1994 is permanently burned into my memory. Senna is the best ever.

I remember one of his first races for Toleman (a mid-pack team), at Monaco. It was pouring rain and every few laps I would see Senna moving inexorably through the field. Just as he was cutting the leader's gap, the race was red flagged due to the conditions. I've no doubt he would've won.

Not an F-1 weekend goes by without thoughts of why such a great driver was taken from us too soon. F-1 has never been the same.

It's telling that here we are 14 years later and still greiving his loss.

God speed Ayrton

crankcase

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

Al Navarro — Fri, 02 May 2008 08:42:25 EDT

@Novaload:
Reading your last sentence, my monitor got a little blurry.

Al Navarro

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

Al Navarro — Fri, 02 May 2008 08:34:32 EDT

@sos10:
I will break one of my guidelines, and say "Fuck, that's an accurate statement."

Al Navarro

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

SundaySunday — Fri, 02 May 2008 08:03:53 EDT

It's always so surreal when one of the greats is taken from us early.
Ayrton Senna
Greg Moore
Dale Earnhardt

I feel fortunate that I got to see Moore and Senna race during their respective reign. Godspeed, brothers. I will raise a glass tonight in your honor.

SundaySunday

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

Sloop_John_B — Fri, 02 May 2008 07:58:59 EDT

vaya con dios

Sloop_John_B

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

SeanKHotay — Fri, 02 May 2008 07:46:25 EDT

Sorry, add me to the list of folks who can't watch this...

SeanKHotay

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

kooper — Fri, 02 May 2008 07:41:48 EDT

Close to one of the saddest days of my life. Same day I went from being a kid to becoming something else.

Senna had such a profound influence on so many people, the comments here proving as much. He was the greatest ever, no matter what the Johnny-come-latelies have to say about Schumi or Raikkonnen or Lewis or whoever.

kooper

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

RayBee — Fri, 02 May 2008 03:44:26 EDT

Blending a unique natural talent that had no equal with a passion to win that was second to none.

That was Senna.

I agree... this was the day Formula One died.

RayBee

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

Jeremias — Fri, 02 May 2008 03:44:11 EDT

this song is Played on the Brazilian transmissions of F1 whenever a Brazilian pilot wins a F1 GP, But some how "ALL" Brazilian assimilates the song to senna.

I just got some spine chill and sad filling whenever I listen to it.

Jeremias

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

WhoDatHoon — Fri, 02 May 2008 03:31:09 EDT

Senna lives on. Forever.

WhoDatHoon

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

Adamskiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiy — Fri, 02 May 2008 03:12:44 EDT

@offyatindy: The last split-second of the in-car view shows the back end get loose and wiggle, disrupting his turn and apparently sending him straight towards the wall. I could as well be wrong, but to me the video does seem like that was his last.

Adamskiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiy

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

3wheeler — Fri, 02 May 2008 02:59:29 EDT

I remember this. I was 21, it was dinnertime, and I was sitting in the Colin Campbell pub swigging beer. I'll never forget.

3wheeler

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

Eric Merrill — Fri, 02 May 2008 02:32:16 EDT

I just came home from work, and watched this on my laptop in complete darkness...

I was five when this happened, and unaware of it, until today.

Reading about him, about his death, then watching the video, complete with a countdown...it seems so completely serene, and your insides are yelling the whole time.

I feel obligated to do something positive, now. It's one thing to shed a tear for the good old days, to play a song about them and sigh...it's another to watch the death clock of a hero. If someone wound you up to one minute-thirty...what would you do? Imagine if somebody took a one minute-thirty video of you in your daily life and when it came to a sudden stop...told you to imagine it was over.

No drinks for me...straight to bed, because I have a friday off tomorrow, and it's getting wrung.

Eric Merrill

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

Tomsk — Fri, 02 May 2008 01:21:54 EDT

@Tomsk: So is this:

Tomsk

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

Tomsk — Fri, 02 May 2008 00:55:57 EDT

Absolutely, positively hero material, even if you couldn't care less about racing (or cars, period). Yes, he had his faults, but doesn't everyone?

Part of me wishes I followed F1 when he was around, but the other part is glad I didn't, since I didn't really have to go through the pain when it happened (though I experienced that pain anyway when Earnhardt was killed).

This is definitely worth watching:

Tomsk

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

Stuntdriver — Thu, 01 May 2008 23:28:13 EDT

the day senna died, f1 died with him...

there is no more senna, fangio, clark, villeneuve and many others... times will come... but they won`t be forgoten...
true legends, true gentlemans, true human beings and true to heart drivers...may all them reast in peace and with all the glory they deserve...

as some comenter say`d before...

gentleman..."see you at the finish line"

Stuntdriver

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

Gerard Drewpardieu — Thu, 01 May 2008 23:02:13 EDT

I remember that day so vividly because it was so surreal on so many levels for me.

I was travelling from France on a train, heading to my new apartment in Swizterland where I was starting school at Art Center (Europe) the next week. I was so pissed off that I was in Europe for the first time in years and couldn't watch the F1 race. So when I arrived at my new apartment, I met my new roommates (a daunting moment for any 18 year-old) and when I saw that the race was still on tv, I thought I'd break the ice by asking who won.

The reply was a cold and haunting, "Senna was, but he died in a crash".

Ugh. Hey roomy. I'm going to have to sit down now.

He later apologized when he realized that I was a genuine fan and not just making small talk, but that's the way I found out, and it will always mark the mood of the most stressful days of my life.

He was never my favorite person, but he was always an exciting driver to watch and a foil for my Ferrarista soul.

Gerard Drewpardieu

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

Bluegoose — Thu, 01 May 2008 22:55:49 EDT

As I recall, a driver had crashed at that exact arear earlier in the race and there was still debris left on the track and it hit his helmet right before impact. I may be wrong, but I thought that was a major contributor to his death.

Bluegoose

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

Bluegoose — Thu, 01 May 2008 22:51:41 EDT

World War II fighter aces and Championship Race car drivers have something in common. In both cases, many of the best of them died before retirement.

Bluegoose

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

superbad — Thu, 01 May 2008 22:46:19 EDT

@Corvette_Thunder: "Him and Jim Clark are the two greatest ever, I don't care what the stats say about Schumi."

Quoted for agreement.

superbad

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

offyatindy — Thu, 01 May 2008 22:42:27 EDT

I agree LamerX. That lap seemed very calm. I am not sure that video really showed his last lap.

As I recall it (watching it live) Senna was furiously trying to stay ahead of the new up and coming young driver - Michael Schumacher. Schumi had Senna in his talons and wouldn't let go. Sad that this was their only major battle.

offyatindy

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

Nurburgringer — Thu, 01 May 2008 22:41:57 EDT

I'd never seen the in-car footage before, and honestly watching it wasn't very powerful, but then reading the wiki page has brought a troubling tightness to my forehead.

Maybe it's because he didn't go up in a tumbling fireball of a crash, but 'just' left the track and almost benignly hit a wall (like Earnhardt). For someone so dazzlingly talented, so effortlessly controlled, I feel like he almost deserved to go through the pearly gates in a flamingly spectacular, middle fingers up way.
Then again the way it went down doesn't matter at all. Motor sports, especially F1, is not golf.
The speeds and forces involved can easily stop all life functions 10 times over things even slightly go tits up. Any one of 1000's of parts could fail, or a split second lapse in concentration at any second can mean death, quick or otherwise.
Ayrton accepted this and did it anyway. A brave and wild soul, indeed.
Tudo Bem, Senna.

Nurburgringer

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

LamerX — Thu, 01 May 2008 22:31:07 EDT

Man it almost seemed like a slow, calm lap around the track. I've never seen that before, and wow was it intense just knowing what was going to happen.

LamerX

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

timrussell — Thu, 01 May 2008 22:04:41 EDT

I remember watching the race on tape. I hadn't head about Senna. I got home and started watching, my father said he'd heard "one of those guys got killed today". I responded "Not Senna, not Senna" and then a few min later I see the accident, I can still see that car leave the track. {tear}

timrussell

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

readplays — Thu, 01 May 2008 21:48:05 EDT

@Novaload: after reading this post I resumed loading cd's on my new computer. i came upon a warren zevon album and of course had to set things aside and go on youtube to watch his last appearance on letterman- hadn't seen it since it aired.

from Breaker Morant;
Live each day as though it were your last; one day you're sure to be right.

readplays

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

Turkina — Thu, 01 May 2008 21:47:48 EDT

@anaxomander: That's how I felt. You knew you were watching the last seconds of a great man's life, ticking down.
Godspeed, Ayrton Senna.

Turkina

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

Adamskiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiy — Thu, 01 May 2008 21:44:45 EDT

@Spasticteapot: Someone should start up a racing league, with the only rules being that is must be a wheeled vehicle with an internal combustion engine, no intentional contact or interference, and maybe some safety rules like requiring a HANS device.

So basically, he with the most money has the best chance....that would actually be where you get true innovation, not like it is today where every car is, like Spasticteapot said, identical.

Adamskiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiy

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

AndyS — Thu, 01 May 2008 21:44:20 EDT

I remember when this happened. I was in shock. I was hoping for a great season with him in a Williams, which was the dominant team at the time. He had so much raw talent. He is the greatest F1 driver ever.

AndyS

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

smalleyxb122 — Thu, 01 May 2008 21:41:33 EDT

Back when it happened (I would've been 15), I didn't follow racing. Any racing. Nor did anyone I knew. I hadn't ever heard of Ayrton Senna.

It wasn't until years later when Car and Driver ran a story entitled What Killed Ayrton Senna? that I first learned anything about the man.

Thereafter, whenever I see or hear his name, I need to read what is written, or hear what is said. Truly one of the greats.

I still don't follow racing, save watching an occasional race if I happen upon it whilst channel-surfing, but my heart holds a special place for those at the top of their game who are taken too soon. Ayrton Senna is there.

We will never know what other greatness he could have achieved. We can only be grateful for that to which we were witness.

smalleyxb122

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

Novaload — Thu, 01 May 2008 21:39:35 EDT

Zen indeed. We none of us know when we are starting our last lap.

Novaload

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

Number_Six — Thu, 01 May 2008 21:38:05 EDT

I was in Heathrow airport and had just broken up with the love of my life when I saw this on the news. I found an empty corner in the departure lounge and had at it like a wee girl.
@Corvette_Thunder:Agreed.

Number_Six

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

mcryder — Thu, 01 May 2008 21:37:33 EDT

"At a given day and a given circumstance, you think you have a limit. And you then go for this limit, and you touch the limit, and you think "okay, this is the limit". As soon as you touch this limit, something happens in you so that you can go a little bit further. With your mind power, your determination, your instinct and your experience as well, you can fly very high." - Ayrton Senna

mcryder

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

tenbeers — Thu, 01 May 2008 21:33:18 EDT

I can't believe it's been so long. I miss the Senna/Prost rivalry, F1 was actually interesting back then.

tenbeers

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

Spasticteapot — Thu, 01 May 2008 21:20:41 EDT

Watching this video makes me wonder how Formula One has been made so impossibly dull. The cars are nearly identical, with advanced driver assists compensating for differences in individual skill.

Sometimes, things really were better back in the good ol' days.

Spasticteapot

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

Bee1 — Thu, 01 May 2008 21:19:46 EDT

Another sad day in the history of racing.

Bee1

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

OldeEnglishD — Thu, 01 May 2008 21:09:28 EDT

Whenever a great person in any field passes, it is a sad day. I was not a huge F1 fan when this happened, but even so I could tell from the reaction of the racing community that an all time great had died. I am raising a glass to you as I type....

OldeEnglishD

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

smart42 — Thu, 01 May 2008 21:01:35 EDT

Couldn't play the clip, the real event is still burnt into my memory and will always be.

Druthers? go out doing something you are passionate about, VS wasting away in some God forsaken 10 x 10 room awaiting tonight's movie and tapioca treat, discussing the pros and cons of various denture fixatives and the absorbency rates of Attends "Overnites".

Give me the last glory lap anytime.

I too will now go have a single malt and raise my glass.

smart42

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

AmishJohn — Thu, 01 May 2008 20:55:40 EDT

You know things aren't good when the rescue team isn't scrambling around. You saw the same thing when Dale Sr. hit the wall in Daytona - rescue teams just standing there, looking into the car, knowing there's nothing to be done.
Wonder what the lap times ol' Ayrton is putting in on the road course at Fiddler's Green.

AmishJohn

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

WilliamG. — Thu, 01 May 2008 20:44:52 EDT

I remember hearing about this in school, and it doesn't seem like 14 years ago. The car looks so antiquated, and it's strange seeing so much head movement from a driver in this age of the HANS device.

Tragic. I wish I had been involved in motorsports back then and could have watched him race.

WilliamG.

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

charles_barrett — Thu, 01 May 2008 20:44:14 EDT

@graverobber- Same great taste, new low price!: You conniving bastard...!
Hit me with the Broadway Showtune AND Barbra double-whammy...! I can barely see my monitor through my tears... the Broadway albums are like setting a pile of fresh-sliced onions in front of me...! Pass the Kleenex™ please...

Okay, you jokester, we've had our vaudeville over-the-top fun. See ya round these parts later, buddy-boy!

charles_barrett

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

bzr the paranoid android — Thu, 01 May 2008 20:36:15 EDT

Watching him barrel to his death, you want to run in there, screaming, "don't go on! It'll be the end of you!" but you're helpless, forced to watch him resign to his fate.

It's like listening to cockpit flight recorders when the pilots know they're doomed, praying to their loved ones, contemplating their final moments...

bzr the paranoid android

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

Feds — Thu, 01 May 2008 20:24:07 EDT

Every hair on my body is standing up. I'm going to go have a scotch and be glad for the opportunity to do so.

Feds

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

sos10 — Thu, 01 May 2008 20:13:53 EDT

The day Formula One died.

sos10

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

sliderule — Thu, 01 May 2008 20:07:01 EDT

that is sad especially considering he's doing (was) doing something he absolutely loved to do, which was to drive quite fast. I was a fan(and still am in my heart) for Gilles Villeneuve. Take a look at some of the driving maneuvers he accomplished. You'll end up finding the footage of his last drive which is horrific. All good things come to an end...

sliderule

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

thebeerbitch — Thu, 01 May 2008 20:02:44 EDT

Heikki's accident on Sunday was pretty scary, just because it took so long for Speed to show his status. I was scared he would be just like Senna.

thebeerbitch

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

syrax — Thu, 01 May 2008 20:02:38 EDT

I lived in Jardins neighborhood in São Paulo when he died and the fire truck with his body passed through my street. I was too little to understand what happened, but I remember everyone crying and taking pics when a white pigeon landed in his coffin and flew away.

syrax

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

anaxomander — Thu, 01 May 2008 19:52:07 EDT

It sounds stupid, but watching this with the Youtube ticker counting down really brought it home for me. It's easy to talk big about "going out doing what you love" or some baloney, but seeing :15...:14... flash by as Senna takes that final right hand turn, it's... well, it's pretty damn sad.

anaxomander

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

graverobber- Same great taste, new low price! — Thu, 01 May 2008 19:48:24 EDT

@charles_barrett: Well, then we might as well go all the way:

graverobber- Same great taste, new low price!

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

TechnoDestructo — Thu, 01 May 2008 19:46:35 EDT

"Ayrton Senna's Super Monaco GP 2" wasn't that great.

TechnoDestructo

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

Al Navarro — Thu, 01 May 2008 19:42:55 EDT

@readplays:
well put.

Al Navarro

Ayrton Senna's Last Lap

Al Navarro — Thu, 01 May 2008 19:42:28 EDT

I remember exactly what I was doing when I saw that happen.

It was the weekend after I proposed to my wife. We were in the living room of our old apartment on the Upper West Side, getting ready to head out to PA to have the first "get together with both sets of parents to celebrate" brunch.

I saw that crash, and they weren't getting him out of the car...and he wasn't moving. I remarked to Laura "It doesn't look good." before turning off the TV and heading out to our car. On the drive back to the city that night, I heard it on the radio.

da Silva, immortal...

Al Navarro