The Qualifying Master

When Senna was actively racing, he drove againts many great drivers, and other middle field drivers who can compete with the front runners as well. Almost any car you put in the grid can win,this was due to the turbo era. It really does not matter who has the fastest car, what matters is that the drivers are the ones who are fast. This is good because the viewers can see the real talent and bravery of the drivers. Senna was the king of qualifying. Most of Senna's team mate were out paced in qualifying consistently.

When Senna was given the opportunity to drive for a competitive team, he can get the results others could not. When Senna was driving for Lotus, he proved that in a decent car with plenty of reliability he can win races, and also take pole position more often. This was a great way to proved also to the critics that he had what it takes to win in a car that was not a world beater. This shows that he can trancend the normal limitations of the car. Senna always did what others couldn't do, which was the 1 lap qualifying mastery. It was almost as if Senna was a robot when he's on a qualifying lap. He hardly made mistakes on qualifying and he always take the pole. He was almost too fast for himself sometimes. Like the time in 1988 Monaco GP, he out qualified his team mate by almost 2 seconds. That's very impressive and to top it all off, he was racing against none other than the great racing driver, Alain Prost.

Before Senna's untimely death, he had a massed a 65 pole position. That record stood there in the record book for more than a decade. Only Schumacher beaten his record by 1 more pole but Senna never had made it 15 years of racing in formula 1.

The Classic of All Wet Wheather Race

The best of all wet weather race of all time was of course to me was Donnington European Grand Prix in 1993. This remarkable race was a testament to the legendary rain master, Ayrton Senna. Senna was the all time great when it came to racing in a wet weather conditions. It was a sensation just to watch Senna drive in a rain condition because he controls the car as if the car was attached to his body. His car control in a rain condition was uncanny. That's why he was called the rain master by his peers his fans and everybody else that seen him race.

It was in Donnington European Grand Prix that we all saw the greatness of Aryton Senna. Ayrton can only manage to qualify 5th position and the Williams and the Bennetons were ahead of Senna. That season for Mclaren was not good, engine supplier Honda left and they used a lower spec Ford engine which was lower horsepower than the Bennetons and Williams. Even the Bennetons were giving the Mclaren a hard time, yet despite all these problems and issues, Senna was out there showing what he can do in a car that was not fit to be in the front runner. After the qualifying, it was race day and it was a nightmare for drivers because they had to start in a damp track. Remember the optimum position to be in a wet weather race is to be in front because if your behind other drivers, you'll get blinded by the spray that comes out of the wheel of the car in front of you. Despite this handicap and a low horsepower car, Senna was fighting it out in the track.

At the beginning as the race started all ready Senna was challenging for position. He was scything through the field and he eventually passed the two Bennetons that were ahead of him. It was seems as though that Senna would stop his hunt but he kept the pressures on the William's driver as well. Senna overtook Hill coming out of the turn, then it was Prost's turn to be overtaken at the next corner. The best of all is that Senna did all this in just one lap, not half way through the race. He just did this in just one lap, now that is astonishing despite his car not being the best he still managed to pull it off win it. Now that is a complete sign of a great driver and an even better testimony for his status of legendary rain master.

Schumacher vs Senna

No one would ever know which driver was better, is it Senna or Schumacher. We can only look at their achievements and try to draw a conclusion to see if one has a better edge than the other. This is only in my opinion so I will try to be impartial about this post. It is truly hard to compare two great drivers in their perspective time. Both are successful drivers both won many races and World Drivers Championship. Statistic alone is not a good indication of being the greatest, Schumacher does own all the record in the book but there's more to it than that.

Senna never had the domination that Schumacher had because in his era, Senna had to face the most formidable opponents. Great drivers such as Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell, Nelson Piquet, and other midfielders who can snatch couple of wins. But the four that was mentioned were world champions. It was hard to imagine that Senna could win not one but three world championship against these greats. The most obvious of the greats that really gave a hard time to Senna was of course Alain Prost. Alain was his greatest nemesis and probably the greatest competitor he had for all the years he was racing in Formula 1.

Schumacher only raced Senna in 1992, 1993, and 1994. In those days Senna did beat Schumacher and up until the 1994 Schumacher did have the upperhand on Senna. Yet, Senna claimed pole positions in those 3 races. Williams had the best car for 1994 but not at the beginning of the season because they were still trying to sort out the car without their active suspension. The Williams team benefitted from this active suspension a lot thus taking it out was a big blow in their car's performance. Anyway, after Senna's inevitable death, there were no champions left that contended with Schumacher. Now don't get me wrong Schumacher was the best driver at that time so if any great that challenge him at that time, then he would be regarded as the best of the greats. Just as when Senna had Prost in the years he had to race for Mclaren. Schumacher only had Hill and Hakkinen to compete againts, although Hakkinen could give Schumacher a run for his money he never made a serious treat to be his all time nemesis.

Both Senna and Schumacher were aggressive drivers when they raced against their opponents. Senna was regarded as a dangerous man when he ran to Prost's Ferrari in 1990, but Senna did admit it. He had pole so he was entitled to move from the dirty side of the track to the clean side (The dirty side is the right side of the track) of the track. Schumacher did more aggressive tactics when it came to winning the title. In 1994 in came down to the wire, and he had to win in Australia to clinch his first world title. He knew he won't be able to keep up with the Williams of Damon Hill on the straight so he tried to decrease the downforce on his car to be able to match the Williams speed in the straight. Although Schumacher held off the rampant Williams, he couln't keep the lead. Then Schumacher cracked under pressure and ran wide letting Hill slip by. When they were side by side, Schumacher purposely rammed Hill's Williams. Schumacher was out, but Hill was unable to go any further because of the suspension damage that Schumacher caused. So Schumacher won the world drivers champion by 1 point, if he didn't smashed Hill's Williams, Hill could have won.

Fast forward to 1997 when the Williams still had the car capable of winning races. Damon Hill no longer drives for the team, but they had another driver who had what it takes to win. He was Jacques Villeneuve and he was now the leading driver for Williams in 1997. Schumacher had a strong race in this season, but Villeneuve was there to prevent him from taking the title. Then it came down to the wire again, it was the Spanish GP in Jerez. Schumacher got overtaken by Villeneuve and he tried to get even by ramming Villeneuve, but it backfired and Schumacher's Ferrari went to the gravel and unable to get back on track. Schumacher was penalized for that horrendous move and he was thrown out of the championship standing.

Overall Senna had more competition in his era and he didn't do as much underhanded tricks as much as Schumcher. Senna will admit that he did it because he had reason while Schumacher will completely lie about it. So these are some of the factors you should look at when you decide on who you want to choose as the greatest driver between the two. Obviously I will cover more in depth of the quality these two drivers had, but that would be in a separate post.

Mclaren Honda & Senna the Ultimate Force

Back in the 1980's the team that would dominate would normally be either the Williams or the Mclaren. After Honda supplied both William and Lotus in 1985 to 1987 they moved to Mclaren. It wasn't a coincidence that when Senna moved to Mclaren so did the engine supplier Honda. Back in the years when Senna raced for Lotus, the engine lotus used was obviously Honda engines. Over the years Senna developed a strong bond between Honda and himself. To put it together Honda at that time was producing an engine that is both realible and powerful, while Mclaren were good at making a great chassis. The only thing that is left was the all conquering Senna. Once all the jigsaw puzzle was complete they were unbeatable, you only need to watch the 1988 Formula 1 season to justify this claim.

In 1988 the Mclaren Honda was the dream team, and also the pairing of the two greatest drivers at that time which was Senna and Prost. Right from the first Grand Prix, the Mclaren drivers were unstoppable. It was only in San Marino GP that the Mclarens were not victorious but out of 18 races the Mclaren team dominated 17 races. Even today that record has not been surpass by any other team. That winning record was a testament to the the force that Mclaren Honda had. Coupled that with the drivers that they had at that time which was Senna and Prost, this was obviously the ultimate team at that time.

Clash of the Titans

One of the most exciting racing feud was obviously between Prost and Senna. In 1988 season Senna finally had the chance to step up to the plate and claim the world championship title that has eluded him for years. The only problem was his team mate, Alain Prost who has 2 titles already in his name. So for Senna to take the title away from him was a tall order. Prost unknowingly chose a team mate whose skill was beyond of that of most racing driver. It was a match made in heaven between the two. Prost the professor against the speed king Senna, it was inevitable that they were going to have friction inside the team. Prost driving style won him plenty of races in 1988, although he had more points againts Senna. At the time the rule was that whoever had the most wins will win the title. It was 7 win for Prost and 8 wins for Senna. That year saw Senna finally take his first title and beat his nemesis also.

Racing is in my blood by Senna

His most applauded quote was "Racing is in my blood" this truly signifies a man commited only to racing. That's it no other choice of profession can match his desire to race, to compete and win it. No other Drivers are truly committed enough as he was, he was almost possessed when it comes to perfection. A class of his own, is a title befitting to a man who made such an impact in Formula 1. In 1989 the duel between the two great drivers was in penultimate race which was in Suzuka. Prost had been fed up with opening the door on Senna, this time Prost made his move on Senna by shutting the door at the chicane. This move made both the drivers stop dead in their tracks. Although Senna got the push from the marshalls, he still had to catch up to the race leader. With the superb pit crew getting everything done in a hasty matter Senna got out to go for broke. Senna did win but with complications with the FIA. Then the FIA told Senna that he made an illegal overtaking maneuver on Prost, thus punishing him and giving Prost even more points to clinched his 3rd World Drivers Champion. After Senna was castigated by the big honcho, Balestre president of the FIA. Senna gave an outstanding remark about his punishment, that led other teams boss, managers, drivers themselves to symphatized with him. Senna wasn't just a great driver, he was also strong in mind. Other drivers would have succumb to the intense politics in Formula 1, but Senna showed that no matter what happens he would still race because that was all there is for him.

1984 Monaco GP

This race was hailed for the magnificent drive of Senna. Qualifying only in the 13th place was the best he can do at that time. That time he raced for the Toleman which was nowhere near the class of Mclaren, Williams and Ferrari. But Senna refused to juse sit idly and watch as the big dogs race. When racing in Monaco it is essential that you get the pole position because of the narrow width of the track and its a street circuit so its harder to overtake. The only way to win this for Senna was to have everybody crash and he finishes first. Although that didn't happen, there was a blessing for him as the race got started. It was a downpour and most of the drivers were going off track and losing positions. This was a blessing for Senna because he was the best when racing in the wets, so he started to overtake more drivers as the race progressed. It was 4 seconds shaved off of Prost's time every lap. The rain was pouring more and more yet Senna didn't struggle and kept on the pressure on Prost until the race was terminated. It was a close victory for Prost, if the race continued Senna would have won that race