Senna

Justin: I'll be quite honest. When Senna was alive I probably wasn't his biggest fan. He played the part of pantomime villain in my house where "Our Nige" was hero worshipped through the 80's and into the 90's. Plus, when I first started watching F1 I was only 6 in 1985, so by the time Senna passed in 94 I was probably developing more of an admiration for him.

It's only after something disappears that you start to realise what you are missing. That's what I have done with Senna as I have plenty of books about him and I have his title years on video, as well as the 1993 review with THAT first lap at Donnington in the wet....the lap that Murray Walker calls the greatest ever single lap he has ever seen driven by anyone.

I went to see the documentary Senna the other day and found it to be an emotional, moving, poetic and at times disturbing film tracing the career of the 3 times world champion.

The footage is amazing, with the director having received special permission from Bernie to raid his footage material store at Biggin Hill. This consists of such things as driver briefings we have never previously seen, Senna on TV shows in Brazil flirting shamelessly with pretty woman presenters and footage shot in and around the paddock.

It starts with Senna arriving on the karting scene in Europe and from there charts his rise up to the top in Formula 1 and ends with his death at Imola in 1994. Actually the last piece of footage is quite beautiful and shows you the man behind the driven enigma of Senna....he is asked who is the greatest individual he has faced on the track (I believe this footage was from his later Mclaren years, possibly 93...)....not Prost, not Mansell, but a karting chap by the name of Terry Fullerton...because it was pure racing, no politics.

You see his infamous interview with Jackie Stewart, which until now I had only read about...hehe...funny! You see the friendly moments he had with Prost before their relationship descended into trying to run each other off the road. You see Piquet and plenty of other drivers standing up for Senna in a driver briefing, with Senna himself getting so emotional that he walks out!

I don't like agreeing with Ron Dennis, but from this film you do get a true sense of what the man was really like, on the track and away from it.

Senna's open and honest remarks about not being invincible and being afraid of dying on the track are particularly poignant and upsetting as we all know what's coming.

Obviously in a film about Senna, he won't be portrayed as anything but a true hero battling the authority of the FIA. Prost contributed to the film and probably knew he wouldn't be portrayed in the best light at times, but I must say, from what I knew of their rivalry before I would say it's not as black and white for me as it was.

It's a well put together film, with Senna himself narrating via interviews over the footage.

The pain and despair at the fateful weekend in Imola is apparent as soon as Rubens goes off at 170 mph. Of the 3 crashes his actually looked the worst, going airborne before smashing into the armco.

Prof Sid Watkins was a good friend of Senna and he asked him not to race that weekend after Rubens was injured and Roland Ratzenberger died, he said they could both retire and go fishing there and then. Senna simply replied "I cannot".

If the piece of suspension that hit Senna in the head and pierced his helmet had hit 6 inches higher or lower he would have walked back to the pits.

I actually forgot that Prost was in the Williams pit at the time of Senna's accident.

All in all, it's a brilliant film and beautifully done frankly.