Just 4 days before his tragic accident in Imola 1994, Ayrton Senna was discussing a move to Ferrari with the former chairman of the Italian team, Luca di Montezemolo.
The Ferrari boss said that he met Senna at his home in Bologna on Wednesday 27 April and the Brazillian had told him that he really appreciated Ferrari’s stance against the excessive use of electronic aids for driving.
On the 20th anniversary of Senna’s death in 2014, Montezemolo said that Senna made it clear to him that he wanted to end his career racing at Ferrari.
The Ferrari boss added that they had agreed to meet again to discuss the details further and how they could overcome his contractual obligations.
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Ayrton Senna would have won more titles
In his 10 years of racing in Formula 1, Senna had won 3 championship titles with McLaren. On top of that, he had also bagged 41 race wins and 65 pole positions after 160 race starts.
Many experts have speculated that had Senna not met the tragic racing accident, he would have bagged a few more titles and might have even come in the way of Michael Schumacher’s 7 titles.
In one way or the other, he would have changed the outcome of the racing in the 90s. Had he been able to finalise the Ferrari talks, he would have caused a massive shuffle around the paddock ultimately changing a few championship results.
McLaren MP4/4:
McLaren’s entry for 1988, it won 15 out of the 16 races of the year, giving McLaren and Ayrton Senna their respective championships. The team were able to achieve 199 points, a record which would stand until the 2002 when it was broken by Ferrari F2002. pic.twitter.com/25jTwzjmXx
— bennus (@bennusf1) December 31, 2022
Senna lost more than $1 Million in a coin flip
Back in the late 80s, Senna had seemed an exit from Lotus to join the McLaren F1 team because it was clearly the fastest car on the grid and he wanted to become a world champion.
McLaren boss Ron Dennis revealed that while the talks with Senna proceeded there came a time when it seemed like Senna might not join the team. It was because of the salary negotiations.
Ultimately, Dennis had suggested flipping a coin and settling the feud and because it was a fun thing to do, Senna agreed.
The coin was tossed, Dennis won and a three-year contract was signed with a salary of half a million dollars. In that fun exercise, Senna lost $1.5 Million in his salary negotiations with Dennis.
Also Read: How Ayrton Senna lost $1.5 Million in salary after a coin toss
