AYRTON SENNA THE HARD EDGE OF GENIUS CHRISTOPHER HILTON Photographs by Keith Sutton Christopher Hilton covered motor sport for the Daily Express for several years, particularly Grajnd Prix racing. He has written extensively on other sports and covered four Olympic Games. He has had four novels published, also Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost (both Corgi paperbacks), and Conquest of Formula 1. Christopher Hilton lives in Hertfordshire. 'Hilton reveals more about the Brazilian sensation than the driver will want us to know' - Jim Dunn, Scotsman 'A unique and in-depth work' - Peter Dick, Formula magazine, Toronto Also by Christopher Hilton ALAIN PROST and published by Corgi Books AYRTON SENNA The Hard Edge of Genius Christopher Hilton Photographs by Keith Sutton CORGI BOOKS AYRTON SENNA: THE HARD EDGE OF GENIUS A CORGI BOOK : 0 552 13754 5 Originally published in Great Britain by Patrick Stephens Ltd PRINTING HISTORY Patrick Stephens edition published 1990 Corgi edition with additional material published 1991 Corgi updated edition published 1994 Corgi updated edition reprinted 1994 Corgi updated edition reprinted 1995 (twice) Corgi updated edition reprinted 1997 Copyright © Christopher Hilton and CBS/SONY Publishing Inc 1990,1991,1994 The right of Christopher Hilton to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988. Condition of Sale This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Corgi Books are published by Transworld Publishers Ltd, 61-63 Uxbridge Road, London W5 5SA, in Australia by Transworld Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd, 15-25 Helles Avenue, Moorebank, NSW 2170, and in New Zealand by Transworld Publishers (NZ) Ltd, 3 William Pickering Drive, Albany, Auckland. Printed and bound in Great Britain by Cox & Wyman Ltd, Reading, Berkshire. To the memory of Ayrton Senna, for memories which are not temporal and kindnesses which will not be forgotten Contents An Appreciation ix 1 The Hall of Mirrors 1 2 Horses and Karts 13 3 Twitchy Little Tyrants 31 4 Return of the Prodigal Son 53 5 Starlet Wars 77 6 For Whom the Bells Toll 95 7 The Transporter 107 8 The Losing Game 123 9 The Warr Zone 139 10 Diary of a Champion 161 11 The Bitter Year 189 12 Equilibrium... ? 211 13 The Hall of Fame 241 14 The Long Journey Home 265 15 Statistics 281 Index 297 AN APPRECIATION Ayrton Senna 1960-1994 The week after his death, the immensity of Ayrton Sen­ na's life became much more sharply defined than it had been while he was alive. It is almost haunting to start an appreciation with a contradiction like that, but it happened. The images of lap 7 of the San Marino Grand Prix, Imola on 1 May 1994 - a man in a racing car he could suddenly no longer control, a wall and in less than one second a desperate, desperate impact - were a beginning and an end: another contradiction. The week after, we did come to understand the immen­ sity of his life for the first time, because it overrode world events: for a sportsman, this seemed to me unprecedented. It moved far, far beyond being the main story on news bulletins and front pages. Brazil, his beloved Brazil, surrendered to naked grief and commentators there could find no precedents of their own except, maybe, the deaths of a president or two, and even then they weren't sure. Thousands upon thousands lined the streets in Italy as the coffin was borne to the airport and the journey home. At Didcot, near Oxford, the factory gates of the team for whom he drove, Williams, were decorated by bouquets which anonymous people brought; but it moved far, far beyond that, too. The week after, Ayrton Senna seemed larger in sum than the tributes paid, the obituaries, the hasty documentaries of his career, the tears of other drivers, the daily probing to discover the cause of the accident, the clips from old ix interviews where - so slowly and so rationally - he'd spo­ ken of danger. He seemed everywhere and ever-present. It is perhaps the final contradiction, and it made true reali­ zation of lap seven, Imola, extremely difficult. Uncounted millions in uncounted places around the world would need time for that, a long time, and I include myself among them. In death he moved to something more than a great racing driver, perhaps the greatest racing driver. He assumed greatness as a man because, under the impetus of the finality of Imola, the sharp, posthumous definitions by so many friends and the occasional foe revealed his true stature. In retrospect his weaknesses as well as his strengths were central to this. If he had been 'only' strong, 'only' a winner of races and World Championships, 'only' a multi­ millionaire, that wouldn't have been the same thing. There would have been grief, but not this grief. Ayrton Senna was an astounding compound of contra­ dictions, many of them extreme. They lived sometimes awkwardly, sometimes comfortably within him and they never failed to exercise a formidable fascination among those near and far who followed him. This Corgi book first appeared in 1991, born of the hardback by Patrick Stephens Ltd. As you'll see, I sub­ mitted the manuscript to Senna and he approved it with only a few corrections - and added, intriguingly, some of his own insights. In this new edition his career is fully completed, but, out of respect for the words he approved, I have left the main weight of the text entirely alone. It is the most authentic way to capture his life and times. He deserves nothing less. x interviews where - so slowly and so rationally - he'd spo­ ken of danger. He seemed everywhere and ever-present. It is perhaps the final contradiction, and it made true reali­ zation of lap seven, Imola, extremely difficult. Uncounted millions in uncounted places around the world would need time for that, a long time, and I include myself among them. In death he moved to something more than a great racing driver, perhaps the greatest racing driver. He assumed greatness as a man because, under the impetus of the finality of Imola, the sharp, posthumous definitions by so many friends and the occasional foe revealed his true stature. In retrospect his weaknesses as well as his strengths were central to this. If he had been 'only' strong, 'only' a winner of races and World Championships, 'only' a multi­ millionaire, that wouldn't have been the same thing. There would have been grief, but not this grief. Ayrton Senna was an astounding compound of contra­ dictions, many of them extreme. They lived sometimes awkwardly, sometimes comfortably within him and they never failed to exercise a formidable fascination among those near and far who followed him. This Corgi book first appeared in 1991, born of the hardback by Patrick Stephens Ltd. As you'll see, I sub­ mitted the manuscript to Senna and he approved it with only a few corrections — and added, intriguingly, some of his own insights. In this new edition his career is fully completed, but, out of respect for the words he approved, I have left the main weight of the text entirely alone. It is the most authentic way to capture his life and times. He deserves nothing less. x CHAPTER ONE The Hall of Mirrors Autumn was the coldest season, autumn was frozen into images so cold they carried frostbite within them. Sunday 21 October 1990, the Suzuka circuit Japan, one o'clock local time. An official stood motionless for a moment on the rim of the track, waiting. With a theatrical flourish he drew the flag in front of him, hoisted it high in his right hand and sprinted across the rear of the grid in bouncy-bouncy bounds, waving it to signal that all twenty-five were at rest. The red light came on. It flicked to green faster than the blink of an eye. Way up there at the front of the grid Ayrton Senna, heading the right-hand column of cars, was feeding the power into his Marlboro McLaren Honda. Alain Prost, heading the left-hand column, was feeding the power into his Ferrari. Senna's power was so enormous, so sudden that the McLaren moved towards the centre of the track under its impetus. Already Prost had nosed his way ahead. It was less than two seconds into the Japanese Grand Prix. At six seconds Prost was completely in front, Senna directly behind him. At seven seconds Prost had the Ferrari posi­ tioned mid-track but angling into the first comer which was coming at him in a great rush: an unfolding right. At eight seconds Senna had thrust the McLaren towards the inside of Prost. At nine seconds Senna's front wheels were alongside the flank of the Ferrari but never further than the Ferrari's rear wheels — and that for no more than a milli-second. Prost was still turning into the comer, still tinning across Senna . 1 They touched, the Ferrari's rear wing was wrenched off and flung savagely away like debris on to the track, the McLaren's front left wheel was wrenched clean off and both cars were engulfed in a vast rolling ball of dust as they went off across the broad run-off area and this ball was rolling at frantic speed exactly like a dust-storm driven on some terrible wind.