“Wanted Me to End My Business”: Ayrton Senna’s “Selfish” Motives Caused Ugly Split With Close Confidante

Ayrton Senna’s priority has always been racing and everything else has come later for him. The late Brazilian driver was so passionate about racing that at times he also acted extremely selfish. One of Senna’s close aides, Keith Sutton, has recently shared light about how emotionless the three-time F1 champion was at times.

In Tom Rubython’s book, The Life of Senna, Sutton explains in the prologue how the three-time F1 champion’s “selfish” motives once resulted in an ugly split between them. Sutton provides an interesting insight into Senna’s nature by referring to a bittersweet moment they shared back in 1988.

After Senna won his first championship in 1988, he was all over the moon. Since Sutton was his close friend, Senna decided to gift him with free tickets to join him in his celebrations in Brazil. While Sutton was more than happy to join Senna in the same, he believes that this moment also “marked” a time when they went their separate ways.

While referring to Senna’s character, Sutton notes in the book, “His focused and selfish side, which we would see so many times in the years ahead, came out. He wanted me to end my business and work for him full-time as his personal, private and exclusive photographer“.

However, Sutton was not impressed by Senna’s request. Sutton revealed in the book that he had his own ambitions. He wanted to form his own agency and could not achieve his ambition if he would just work for Senna.

Sutton reveals that while Senna accepted his decision, they were never close again. “He understood and accepted my decision, but from that moment on we were never close again,” revealed Sutton.

Sutton credits Senna for helping him start his photography career

Although Keith Sutton was far from happy to see how “selfish” Ayrton Senna was at the time, he did credit the legendary Brazilian driver for helping him kickstart his photography career.

In the same book, Sutton credits Senna for having a huge influence in his life and revealed that the two shared some fantastic moments together.

Sutton has now established himself as one of the top photographers in the world of F1. He has clicked pictures of some of the greatest drivers in the sport such as the likes of four-time champion Sebastian Vettel and reigning champion Max Verstappen.