Ayrton Senna would have turned 50 today. His record - 162 F1 starts - 3 F1 Championships - 41 wins - 65 poles. He won more than 25% of his F1 starts. Won 40% of the of the pole positions.
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March 21, 2010 9:15 a.m. alstevens New Reader
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March 21, 2010 9:19 a.m. aussiesmg SuperDork
The greatest of the greats, R.I.P. my hero.
The greatest unanswered question is, would Schumi have been who he is if Ayrton Senna DiSilva had survived.
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March 21, 2010 9:29 a.m. autoxrs Reader
Senna will always be the greatest in my book. My CRX adorns a Senna logo on the hood.
A master in the rain: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sU8pWyfyDIM
A master in the dry: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ueshHKkLLE
1988 and 1989 were the two greatest F1 seasons.
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March 21, 2010 4:13 p.m. friedgreencorrado Dork
aussiesmg wrote:
The greatest of the greats, R.I.P. my hero.
The greatest unanswered question is, would Schumi have been who he is if Ayrton Senna DiSilva had survived.
He'd still be "somebody" because of his talent (and personality), but he would not have won seven. And I say that as a Schumi fan. In fact, I was actually urging Michael on that morning. I remember seeing Ayrton going off the road and thinking, "..man, that looked like something broke. He's gonna be sore tomorrow.."
They would have been absolutely titanic battles. We got cheated.
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March 21, 2010 4:19 p.m. TJ Dork
autoxrs wrote:
Senna will always be the greatest in my book. My CRX adorns a Senna logo on the hood.
A master in the rain: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sU8pWyfyDIM
A master in the dry: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ueshHKkLLE
1988 and 1989 were the two greatest F1 seasons.
I loved the dry version. The wet version was an awesome driving display with a way to heavy dose of midi Bette Midler for my tastes. I like to hear the engine not some soundtrack.
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March 21, 2010 4:24 p.m. aussiesmg SuperDork
friedgreencorrado wrote:
aussiesmg wrote:
The greatest of the greats, R.I.P. my hero.
The greatest unanswered question is, would Schumi have been who he is if Ayrton Senna DiSilva had survived.
He'd still be "somebody" because of his talent (and personality), but he would not have won seven. And I say that as a Schumi fan. In fact, I was actually urging Michael on that morning. I remember seeing Ayrton going off the road and thinking, "..man, that looked like something broke. He's gonna be sore tomorrow.."
They would have been absolutely titanic battles. We got cheated.
My point exactly, I wonder how many of the 7 titles each would have won.
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March 22, 2010 7:24 a.m. spitfirebill Dork
I remember very well that Rob Walker, when he was giving his evaluations each year on F1 drivers, said that Senna was too frail and fragile. This was before Senna had started winning.
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March 22, 2010 7:43 a.m. Giant Purple Snorklewacker SuperDork
Senna was a fantastic physical talent. He was also a passionate, arrogant, flaming shiny happy person who cried foul and threw childish temper tantrums when things didn't go his way.
Schumacher had similar physical skills although Senna probably had an advantage there. But where Senna was passionate - Schumacher was cold, passionless, calculating and ruthless. His approach to winning was likely to have provided better results over the long haul. Combined with strategy & leadership from Ross Brawn and Jean Todt they had the better overall combination. They were a juggernaut.
Its a shame we never got to see how it panned out.
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March 22, 2010 10:03 a.m. Adrian_Thompson HalfDork
In the comparison I think that Ferrari were also so far ahead of everyone else during many of the Chin's 7 that you can't draw parallels.
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March 22, 2010 10:25 a.m. Giant Purple Snorklewacker SuperDork
Adrian_Thompson wrote:
In the comparison I think that Ferrari were also so far ahead of everyone else during many of the Chin's 7 that you can't draw parallels.
Well, when Schumacher/Todt/Brawn arrived, Ferrari was a mess that had not had a drivers championship since Jody Scheckter in 1979 nor a constructors since 1984. Those guys built the dynasty.
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March 22, 2010 10:45 a.m. Tom_Spangler Reader
While Schumacher/Senna would have produced some great battles in the 90s, by the time The Chin went on his big run of consecutive titles in 2000, Senna would probably have been past his prime or retired. So I think he still woud have ended up with a bunch of titles, Senna or no Senna.
However, had Senna lived, guys like Damon Hill, Villeneuve, and Mika Hakkinen might have had a much tougher time winning their titles.
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March 22, 2010 10:53 a.m. Giant Purple Snorklewacker SuperDork
Tom_Spangler wrote:
While Schumacher/Senna would have produced some great battles in the 90s, by the time The Chin went on his big run of consecutive titles in 2000, Senna would probably have been past his prime or retired.
True - he was in the prime of his career in 90. Its likely that he would have been in a DTM car by '95 at 35yrs old.
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March 22, 2010 11:59 a.m. oldsaw Dork
Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:
Tom_Spangler wrote:
While Schumacher/Senna would have produced some great battles in the 90s, by the time The Chin went on his big run of consecutive titles in 2000, Senna would probably have been past his prime or retired.
True - he was in the prime of his career in 90. Its likely that he would have been in a DTM car by '95 at 35yrs old.
As GPS noted, Schumacher owes a lot of his success to his teaming with Brawn,Todt, et al, at both Bennetton and Ferrari.
If Senna had survived, Schumacher may not have won his first two titles in '94 or '95. In fact, neither of them may have won the WDC title as they would likely have taken each other out with their ruthless on-track antics.
I have great respect for both driver's talents behind the wheel, but it stops there.
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March 22, 2010 12:01 p.m. Adrian_Thompson HalfDork
oldsaw wrote: If Senna had survived, Schumacher may not have won his first two titles in '94 or '95. In fact, neither of them may have won the WDC title as they would likely have taken each other out with their ruthless on-track antics.
Too true, I would have laughed to see it. While I admire both as drivers, I think they both left/leav a lot to be desired as human beings. That's a polite way of saying I can't stand either of them :)
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March 22, 2010 12:40 p.m. autoxrs Reader
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOGiguIUyZ4
Watch that, remember that it was qualifying. You cannot see that kind of humanity in modern F1 or any other racing.
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March 22, 2010 12:49 p.m. oldsaw Dork
autoxrs wrote:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOGiguIUyZ4
Watch that, remember that it was qualifying. You cannot see that kind of humanity in modern F1 or any other racing.
That clip is part of the reason why Senna remains such an enigma. Perhaps he was atoning for all the "god-blessed" shenanigans he pulled in previous years.
And Schumacher is much the same as he is renowned as a VERY generous benefactor to charitable organizations across the world.
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March 22, 2010 1:55 p.m. Lesley SuperDork
Thanks for posting that clip, I don't think a shiny happy person would be capable of a selfless act like that.
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March 22, 2010 2:31 p.m. chuckles New Reader
Not clear what was going on, so it's probably tacky to say it's not Hailwood trying to help Regazzoni in '73...
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March 22, 2010 3:25 p.m. oldsaw Dork
chuckles wrote:
Not clear what was going on, so it's probably tacky to say it's not Hailwood trying to help Regazzoni in '73...
Hailwood's actions were beyond heroic.
Reports of his fatal road accident suggested he positioned his car so his side of the vehicle would take the brunt of the impact; an effort to save the lives of his daughter and son who were traveling with him.
Sadly, he and one of his children perished when the other car ran into them.
