‘Senna’ TV Recap & Ending Explained: Did Ayrton Senna And Niki Lauda Create The Driver’s Association?

Formula One, or F1, as a sport, has always fascinated many people around the world. Thanks to Netflix’s Drive to Survive, F1 is finally back in everyone’s lingo and it is even more popular. Rush, directed by Ron Howard, is another popular movie that delved deep into the rivalry between Niki Lauda and James Hunt. Senna, however, is arguably considered one of the best F1 drivers to have lived. He is still considered an enigma, and the documentary on him by Asif Kapadia expanded on that. Senna, the brand new Brazilian Netflix Original miniseries, is about the famed F1 driver who was considered a rebel and expands on the life he led until he became the world champion. As his relationships with family and friends are also explored, it gives the audience a peek into why he was considered a rebel.

Spoilers Ahead

How did Ayrton Senna get into Formula Ford?

The six-episode miniseries began with footage of people around Brazil watching the San Marino Grand Prix, held in Italy. Ayrton Senna da Silva, aka Senna, had his car crash into a concrete wall on the track, sending the commentators and his family, friends, and fans into a frenzy, as none of them knew what the outcome of this crash would be. The story goes into flashback as the audience is introduced to Senna as a child being a car enthusiast and his father Milton building him a toy car in his own factory. Senna was from a rich family, and his father took his enthusiasm for driving seriously. 

Senna was widely supported by his parents, who took him for several go-karting competitions across the world. As Senna was getting into his teens, he showed interest in joining Formula Ford through his childhood friend, who got him to meet personnel who would train him. Senna asked his father to give him a year to work on this. He agreed to come back to Brazil after a year to join his father’s business and finish his education.

Did Senna retire early?

Senna, back then, was in love with Lillian, his childhood sweetheart, who supported his endeavor and decided to join him for his stint with Formula Ford. Lillian and Senna got married and moved to England with him. Soon Senna was picking up steam, and he was being noticed by many teams for Formula 3 racing. Senna turned out to be an aggressive driver who would fight for his points to get to the top of the table. Around that time he met F1 reporter Laura Harrison, who found him interesting as he showed the caliber of a great driver from an early age. A year later Senna became a talk-about driver, but Lillian was not keen on staying in England for another year as she was homesick. For the sake of his marriage, he moved back to Brazil as promised to his father and announced an early retirement so that he could focus on building a family with Lillian.

Which team did Senna join first?  

However, Senna still kept getting requests to join Formula Three racing, and he began to wonder if he should continue in his pursuit to become a race car driver. His conversation about the same with Lillian did not go as planned, as she was not keen on following him around the world. The couple split up as a result, and Senna went back to Europe to continue pursuing his dream. His father and mother supported him as he was confident about the support he would get. Senna’s aggressive nature on and off the track was a bit problematic for many teams. This was the reason why he wasn’t being scouted by any team when he showed interest in moving up to F1. Finally, an up-and-coming team, Toleman, offered to take him on as a driver, and that was his start as an F1 driver on major circuits around the world.

Who was Senna’s biggest competitor?

After his stint with Toleman, Senna moved to the Lotus team, and his biggest competitor from that point was Alain Prost, who drove for McLaren. Their bitter rivalry extended to outside the track as well. Since Alain was bidding to be the world champion, Senna gatecrashing with his aggressive style was suddenly a problem for him. The FIA also began to favor Alain over Senna during many races. One such instance had the race director stopping the race just before the completion of the final lap. Alain stopped, but Senna, being himself, completed the lap, yet he was disqualified from the race for breaking the rules. Their rivalry was covered by all the media, especially Laura Harrison, who was extensively writing about their competition by publishing pictures of Alan and Senna’s verbal spat. 

What statement did Senna make against the FIA?

Senna joined Alan on his team, McLaren, and the rivalry intensified between the two. During a race at Suzuka, Japan  Alan and Senna’s cars collided, and the latter blamed his teammate for pushing him off the track. This led to him being fined and disqualified. Unfair rules such as this one forced Senna to hold a press conference criticizing the FIA and the rules under the leadership of Jean-Marie Balestre. He also blamed the politics ruining the sports, and Jean was specifically accused of showing favoritism. Many assumed this would be the end of Senna, but his team, McLaren, supported his stance, but  there was a clear divide between him and the officials.

Did Senna win the race in Brazil?

In the year 1991, Senna was driving for Mclaren at the Brazilian Grand Prix, his home ground. Senna had not never had any titles in his home country before, and since he had won many podiums, at the Brazilian Grand Prix, he was a crowd favorite. The Brazilians, however, were mean supporters who were vocal about their displeasure towards Jean-Marie Balestre. As expected, Senna won the race despite facing several issues with his car. Senna was injured in the race, but he was proud to have won on his home turf. His father, Milton da Silva was by his side at the end of the Brazilian race. 

What happened at the San Marino Grand Prix?

Just before the fatal San Marino Grand Prix, Senna had come across an article written by Laura, which accused him of being a bad example for the new generation of drivers cropping up. This made him upset, and he cut ties with Laura. Laura and Senna had developed a professional relationship over the years as she was following him and the Grand Prix’s around the world, chronicling every aspect of the sport. Senna was a fan of Laura until he read the article. His mother decided to show him the fan mail they had been receiving from children. This was to indicate that there were kids that looked up to Senna and his rebellious nature of standing up to the people that wronged him. 

Senna was touched after realizing that he had impacted a generation with his go-getter attitude and there were children who were keen to follow in his footsteps to become race car drivers. During the trial session over the San Marino Grand Prix weekend, Senna was upset at the fact that the FIA had brought in many changes and added new rules. One of them being limited usage of electronic aids that was previously beneficial for the protection of the drivers in case of accidents. At this point Senna was on the Williams team, and he was not satisfied with the car as well after driving it during a trial session. Senna was a world champion and had won three titles. His plan to win more titles was the reason he had moved to Williams, but the team was unable to provide him the support he needed. Senna was a team guy from the start, but he was also a very pro-driver person who always spoke in favor of the security and safety of people like him who drive at high speeds. His stance led to division in the F1 community, as there were people that agreed with his stance while many were in favor of the FIA’s changes. It was believed the current change was made to put Senna on the back foot in the 1994 season and fade him out eventually. 

During the race weekend, Laura Harrison approached him with the intention of writing a biographical piece on Senna, as he was a world champion. Senna was initially not keen, but her concerns about the change of rules made him agree to do the interview with her. Senna could be a gullible person who constantly looks for people willing to hear him out. It was during the San Marino Grand Prix weekend that two crashes took place. Rubens Barichello was gravely injured, and Senna was by his side in no time. The next day, Roland Walter Ratzenberger, another driver, met with a deadly crash during the qualifying round, and sadly he succumbed to his injuries, shaking Senna to the core. 

Were Ayrton Senna and Niki Lauda able to create the driver’s association?

Senna began to complain about the bad track to Alain Prost, Niki Lauda, and Williams team manager Ian Harrison. Senna was very particular about the safety and security of the drivers, and he felt the FIA was corrupt and not hearing out the drivers and their concerns about the track. Senna and Niki Lauda had a conversation about a driver association that would strictly be about showcasing safety concerns. The organization’s goal would be to make sure the FIA brought out rules that would ensure the drivers remain safe on and off the track. These rules should be enforced on the teams who were building and upgrading cars. Niki was vocal and in support of forming this organization, and wanted Senna to be the president. Niki Lauda was a formidable voice in the field of F1, as he was also one of the legends in the sport. He was a Ferrari driver in his heyday and continued working for the legendary team. It was briefly mentioned that Senna was being considered by Ferrari as their next driver, but the man was not keen on joining the team. Niki and Senna were planning to build an association that would keep future drivers safe while on track. The fact that the FIA officials went ahead with the race even after Roland Walter Ratzenberger was killed in the qualifying race crash made Senna livid. He made sure to have a conversation with Alain as well, who, despite their rivalry on the track, agreed to back his plan to start the drivers association. 

Alain Prost was also of the belief that Senna would be a great president of the association because of his genuine concern for the people driving these expensive race cars. Alain Prost chose to support Senna because he knew his ex-rival was doing the right thing. He might have also faced issues himself as a driver, and it made sense to him why Senna was going after the FIA. The FIA president was not keen on cancelling the race even though Senna pleaded for the same. Senna was clearly shaken after Roland Walter Ratzenberger’s death, and he wanted the FIA to be more humane and cancel the race to commemorate the driver as he died by doing something he loved. Senna was tired of the FIA not hearing the drivers out as they were making it difficult for him and other drivers to enjoy F1 as a sport. 

On the day of the race, Senna carried with him Roland’s jersey that he wore when he was killed. This was his way of paying tribute to his peer, who had a needless death that could have been avoided. Senna was confident he would win the race and commemorate Roland at the end of it. As the whole world’s eyes were on Senna, with him being a world champion, he crashed his car into a concrete wall on the track. This crash turned out to be fatal, leaving Senna gravely injured. To everyone’s shock, Senna succumbed to the injuries. The news of his untimely death spread across the world as he died doing what he loved, driving a race car. This death proved his words right, that everything about that track was wrong. It took the deaths of two renowned drivers for the FIA to finally make major changes in the rules and regulations regarding driver safety. Senna and Roland’s death also fast-tracked the formation of the drivers’ association. The organization made FIA adhere to their concerns in the near future. Ever since, as per the data available, there were no deaths that happened on the F1 track. Senna’s dream came true, but at the cost of his life.

The show ended with the footage of Senna from a young teen to a prolific F1 race driver. There were several footages with his teams and the rival to expand on his legend. Senna was indeed a legendary driver, and many till date look up to him for the changes he spearheaded for the drivers’ safety.