Editing Ayrton Senna (section)

==Racing legacy==

===Appraisals===
Near the end of his career, Senna was almost universally recognized as the best driver in the sport. In 1990, he was named [[L'Équipe Champion of Champions|''L'Équipe'' International Athlete of the Year]]. In 1993, a poll of Formula One drivers gave Senna a near-unanimous vote as the best driver in Formula One.<ref>{{cite news |last=Allsop |first=Derick |date=10 July 1993 |title=British Grand Prix: Guile confronts genius on a grand scale |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/motor-racing--british-grand-prix-guile-confronts-genius-on-a-grand-scale-the-calculating-prost-and-the-brilliant-senna-take-one-of-sports-great-duels-to-silverstone-tomorrow-derick-allsop-reports-1484074.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925224845/http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/motor-racing--british-grand-prix-guile-confronts-genius-on-a-grand-scale-the-calculating-prost-and-the-brilliant-senna-take-one-of-sports-great-duels-to-silverstone-tomorrow-derick-allsop-reports-1484074.html |archive-date=25 September 2015 |access-date=19 September 2017 |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |location=London}}</ref>

Following Senna's death, various polls and ranking services have rated him the best driver of all time.

* 2004: A poll on the ''[[F1 Racing]]'' magazine.
* 2009: A poll of 217 current and former Formula One drivers conducted by ''[[Autosport]]'' magazine.<ref name="Straw">{{cite news |last=Straw |first=Edd |date=10 December 2009 |title=Drivers vote Senna the greatest ever |url=http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80517 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091213114607/http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80517 |archive-date=13 December 2009 |access-date=10 December 2009 |work=autosport.com |publisher=[[Haymarket Group|Haymarket Publications]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=10 December 2009 |title=Formula 1's Greatest Drivers: 1. AYRTON SENNA |url=http://f1greatestdrivers.autosport.com/?driver=1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091213114732/http://f1greatestdrivers.autosport.com/?driver=1 |archive-date=13 December 2009 |access-date=10 December 2009 |work=autosport.com |publisher=[[Haymarket Group|Haymarket Publications]]}}</ref>
* 2010: A poll of F1 drivers conducted by German newspaper ''[[Bild am Sonntag]]''.<ref>{{cite news |date=23 July 2010 |title=Alonso voted best driver |url=http://sify.com/sports/alonso-voted-best-driver-news-news-khxqOjgjchi.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100726141740/http://sify.com/sports/alonso-voted-best-driver-news-news-khxqOjgjchi.html |archive-date=26 July 2010 |access-date=27 July 2010 |work=[[Sify]]}}</ref>
* 2012: A poll of ''[[BBC Sport]]'' journalists.<ref name="bbctop20">{{cite news |date=20 November 2012 |title=Formula 1's greatest drivers. Number 1: Ayrton Senna |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/20324109 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602214908/https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/20324109 |archive-date=2 June 2021 |access-date=22 November 2012 |work=BBC Sport}}</ref>
* 2020: Formula One, sponsored by [[Amazon Web Services]], used AWS machine learning algorithms to compare drivers' qualifying performances. The algorithm named Senna the fastest qualifier of all time.<ref>{{cite news |date=18 August 2020 |title=Hamilton? Schumacher? Senna? Machine learning reveals the fastest F1 driver of the past 40 years |url=https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/hamilton-schumacher-senna-machine-learning-reveals-the-fastest-f1-driver-of.3DwwPLW4glCmlunjciH1Cz |access-date=10 August 2024 |work=F1 |publisher=formula1.com}}</ref> 

In April 2000, Senna was inducted into the [[International Motorsports Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{cite web |date=2 November 1999 |title=International Motorsports Hall of Fame adds Andretti |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HDgfAAAAIBAJ&pg=2027,265093&dq=ayrton+senna+international+hall+of+fame&hl=en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211124161333/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HDgfAAAAIBAJ&pg=2027%2C265093&dq=ayrton+senna+international+hall+of+fame&hl=en |archive-date=24 November 2021 |access-date=1 November 2020 |page=D2 |newspaper=Herald-Journal}}</ref> That year, the British public also voted Senna's opening lap of the 1993 European Grand Prix, the 43rd in the list of the ''[[100 Greatest (UK TV series)|100 Greatest Sporting Moments]]''.<ref>{{cite web |title=100 Greatest sporting moments – results |url=http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/G/greatest_sporting/results.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020204090913/http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/G/greatest_sporting/results.html |archive-date=4 February 2002 |access-date=28 August 2014 |work=[[Channel 4]]}}</ref>

===Driver safety===
Towards the end of his career, Senna became increasingly preoccupied with the dangers of his profession. On the morning of his death, he spoke with current and former rivals and friends, including [[Niki Lauda]] and [[Alain Prost]], about reforming the Formula One drivers' union, the [[Grand Prix Drivers' Association]]. Senna wanted the GPDA to advocate for safety reforms.<ref>{{cite news |last=Schot |first=Marcel |title=The F1 FAQ |url=http://atlasf1.autosport.com/2000/bel/faq.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090211172802/http://atlasf1.autosport.com/2000/bel/faq.html |archive-date=11 February 2009 |access-date=16 June 2012 |website=Atlas F1}}</ref>

Following the events of Imola 1994, Formula One enacted a variety of safety improvements. These included improved crash barriers, redesigned tracks, higher crash safety standards, and significant cuts to engine power. On-track medical procedures were revised, and the Tamburello corner and other parts of the Imola circuit were altered in 1995.<ref>{{cite news |last=Alsop |first=Derick |date=12 May 1994 |title=Motor Racing: Hill confronts life on the track after Senna |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/motor-racing-hill-confronts-life-on-the-track-after-senna-after-the-double-tragedy-at-imola-it-is-back-to-the-wheel-derick-allsop-reports-from-monte-carlo-1435486.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210404112630/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/motor-racing-hill-confronts-life-on-the-track-after-senna-after-the-double-tragedy-at-imola-it-is-back-to-the-wheel-derick-allsop-reports-from-monte-carlo-1435486.html |archive-date=4 April 2021 |access-date=16 August 2012 |work=The Independent |location=London}}</ref>

===Racing persona===
Senna was often quoted as using driving as a means for self-discovery and racing as a metaphor for life, saying: "The harder I push, the more I find within myself. I am always looking for the next step, a different world to go into, areas where I have not been before. It's lonely driving a Grand Prix car, but very absorbing. I have experienced new sensations, and I want more. That is my excitement, my motivation."{{sfnp|Collings|Edworthy|2002|p=238}}

Senna was proud of his driving ability, and responded angrily to criticism. In 2000, ''Autocourse'' noted that "Senna was the one driver who genuinely cared where he was ranked in [''Autocourse''<nowiki/>'s ranking of the year's] Top 10 drivers," and took being placed below his rivals as a personal slight.<ref>{{cite book |title=[[Autocourse]] 2000-01 |date=2000 |publisher=Hazleton Publishing |isbn=9781874557791 |editor-last=Henry |editor-first=Alan |editor-link=Alan Henry}}</ref> (Senna was ranked No. 1 in 1988, 1991, and 1993.) In 1990, ''Autocourse'' dropped Senna from No. 1 to No. 2 to criticize him for wrecking Alain Prost at Suzuka in 1990. Senna was so outraged that despite being given the No. 1 driver award in 1991, Senna refused to write the usually customary foreword by the year's World Champion; Honda's Head of Racing wrote the foreword instead. In 1993, ''Autocourse'' ranked Senna No. 1 even though Prost took the title that year, writing that Senna had "intense egocentricity and uniquely flawed genius" and "matchless genius in the wet".<ref>{{cite book |title=[[AUTOCOURSE]] 1993-94 |date=1993 |publisher=Hazleton Publishing |isbn=1-874557-15-2 |editor-last=Henry |editor-first=Alan |editor-link=Alan Henry |page=14}}</ref>

Although Senna cultivated a public image of "an inward-looking, aloof driver who is hard to get along with,"<ref>{{Cite news |last=Siano |first=Joseph |date=1991-03-17 |title=Senna Has Room To Improve Driving |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/17/sports/auto-racing-senna-has-room-to-improve-driving.html |access-date=2024-10-08 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> Senna was close friends with McLaren teammate [[Gerhard Berger]]. The two frequently played practical jokes on each other.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Veenstra |first=Rob |date=16 September 2015 |title=History: The story of Berger and Senna |website=GPToday |url=https://www.gptoday.net/en/news/f1/205039/history-the-story-of-berger-and-senna |access-date=7 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221209193255/https://www.gptoday.net/en/news/f1/205039/history-the-story-of-berger-and-senna |archive-date=9 December 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> Berger summed up their relationship by saying "He taught me a lot about our sport, I taught him to laugh."<ref>{{Cite web |date=21 March 2012 |title=A star was born {{!}} Ayrton Senna - A Tribute to Life |url=https://www.ayrton-senna.net/ayrton-senna-a-star-was-born/ |access-date=7 July 2022 |website=ayrton-senna.net |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220523102140/https://www.ayrton-senna.net/ayrton-senna-a-star-was-born/ |archive-date=23 May 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> Senna's press officer selected Berger and [[Emerson Fittipaldi]] to lead the procession of Formula One greats at Senna's funeral.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-05-06 |title=Formula One champions Jackie Stewart, Alain Prost were not allowed in front of Ayrton Senna's coffin |url=https://www.autoweek.com/racing/formula-1/a1895296/formula-one-champions-jackie-stewart-alain-prost-were-not-allowed-front-ayrton/ |access-date=2024-10-08 |website=Autoweek}}</ref>