Prost, Piquet, Mansell… see Ayrton Senna’s biggest rivals | formula 1

From karting to Formula 1 titles, Ayrton Senna was always fueled by competitiveness and the desire to beat his rivals. With world championships decided in exciting crashes and overtaking, Senna had several rivals in motorsport throughout his career. O ge highlights some of the Brazilian idol’s main rivals on the tracks.

Who was Ayrton Senna, the last Brazilian three-time F1 champion?

Ayrton Senna’s first great rival appeared in São Paulo during his karting days. Mario Sérgio de Carvalho was the one who fought the most with the three-time Formula 1 champion for titles. The rivalry on the tracks was so great that the two did not speak to each other after the races.

In 1976, the rivals formed a pair to compete in the Three Hours of Interlagos. The race had more than 180 laps and Senna and Mario Sergio were in the lead from the 39th lap onwards. The two also did not speak to each other during the dispute and maintained their great rivalry.

Considered by Senna as the greatest opponent of his career, Terry Fullerton was the Brazilian’s teammate while still in karting, in the Italian DAP. Experienced and world champion in the category, the Brit gave no relief to the young driver who promised so much on the track. The two were together between 1978 and 1980.

– He was very experienced. I enjoyed running with him because he was fast and consistent. He was, for me, a complete pilot. I have good memories of that. It was pure competition, pure racing. No politics, no money involved. I learned a lot from him – said Ayrton Senna when asked who was his biggest rival in his career.

Winning is good, but beating Argentina… Senna also had a “hermano” to call his rival. On the arrival of the Brazilian idol in single-seaters, the Argentine Enrique “Quique” Mansilla. Just like Ayrton, his opponent had also left his country to take part in the Formula Ford 1600, in England.

At the Mallory Park Circuit, also in England, Senna and Mansilla collided and had to abandon the race. It wasn’t just the cars that crashed, but also the drivers. A disagreement between the rivals ended in real conflict off the track.

In Formula 1, Martin Brundle never showed much brilliance during the twelve years he spent in the category. Victory at the top of motorsport did not come to the driver, but the memory of the times of British Formula 3 remained in his mind and that of his rival at the time, Ayrton Senna.

In 1983, the two competed for the F3 title race by race and point by point. The category title was decided in the last race. Ayrton Senna won the cup that lifted him into his Formula 1 career. The rivalry stopped there and did not continue in the new category.

When Senna arrived in Formula 1, Nelson Piquet was already established in Brazil. Two-time world champion, Piquet received a visit from the newcomer in the garage looking for tips on the new category. The visit, however, was not reciprocated, which hurt Ayrton at the time. In 1984, the two began exchanging barbs in the press and clashing on the dance floor.

Each took three world titles in Formula 1. Between collisions, podiums, fights and defenses, the barbs grew outside of racing over the years. On one occasion, Senna stated that “no one really liked” his compatriot, and that he could disappear. Piquet, in response, said that Ayrton “didn’t like women”. The case ended up in court but did not proceed, and the duel continued in the clues and in the statements.

The rivalry between Nigel Mansell and Ayrton Senna began in 1985, when the Brazilian “took” the Brit’s place at Lotus. Mansell went to Williams, where years later he fought memorable battles with the Brazilian. In some races, the “Lion” went after the three-time champion in the paddock to look for the tracks, but was stopped beforehand.

Everything could have come to a head in 1991, when they were competing for the world title, but the relationship became friendly. Mansell won the British GP that year and finished the race with a historic ride. Ayrton Senna, who had broken down in the race, got into the Brit’s Williams and stayed there until the pits.

One cannot talk about Ayrton Senna without mentioning his rivalry with Alain Prost. Teammates at McLaren and opponents on the track, the two drivers starred in Formula 1 in the late 1980s and early 1990s, with three world titles in the category decided between them at the Japanese GP.

The relationship between Prost and Senna began with companionship. The Frenchman was responsible for “recommending” the young Brazilian from Lotus to McLaren, who hired him in 1988. Ayrton took the F1 title even before the great rivalry began for good. The following year, the breaking of a “gentleman’s agreement” between the two pilots began a sequence of friction.

A crash between opponents in Suzuka took the cars off the track. Prost abandoned and Senna returned to the route, but, even though he won, he ended up being disqualified by the race direction. With this, the Frenchman won his third championship in 1989. A year later, in the same race, but with Alain in the Ferrari, the two collided in the first corner, both retired and Ayrton Senna took the 1990 world title.

After Alain Prost’s retirement in 1993, the rivals started talking more often. The Frenchman says that they spoke before the Imola race in 1994, when Ayrton Senna died. At the funeral of the Brazilian idol, Prost carried the coffin at the invitation of Senna’s family.

The rivalry between Senna and Schumacher was interrupted by the Brazilian driver’s early death at Imola. In the last two seasons, the German had already shown that he could be a thorn in the side of the three-time world champion, and arrived in 1994 to be Williams’ main opponent. With Senna’s retirement in the first two races, Schumi’s path was open. In the third race, in Imola, Ayrton’s fatal accident occurred. The German was world champion that year.

Years before Senna’s death, the two had the most heated discussions. In 1992, at the French GP, a touch from Schumacher took the Brazilian out of the race. In the paddock, Ayrton, with his finger raised, charged the young German and said that, on a future occasion, he would be the one to throw the car first.