Nobody can forget the legendary and popular Ayrton Senna’s fatal crash at the 1994 San Marino GP. This was the first time a driver lost their life since the 1982 Canadian GP. Former F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone and former FIA president Max Mosley feared the Brazilian’s demise may hurt the sport’s popularity. However, much to their surprise, it had the opposite effect and revived F1’s popularity, as explained by Ecclestone recently.
In an interview with Racing News 365, the 93-year-old said, “In the end, Formula 1 became more popular. I think it was because there was so much talked about what had happened. There was never an incident before that made people open their eyes a bit more. This was the one that did that”.
Ecclestone’s point further highlights how the three-time champion’s death impacted F1 much more than previous incidents. The former F1 honcho also cited that they used to move on, as drivers losing their lives was not uncommon back in the day. For instance, Gilles Villeneuve crashed and died at the 1982 Belgian GP. And just a month later in Canada, Riccardo Paletti lost his life.
Senna‘s death resulted in F1 taking several steps to increase safety measures as driver’s welfare became a priority concern to address. It is for the same reason that F1 has fortunately witnessed much fewer fatal incidents in the recent past. And when it comes to Senna, he is still fondly remembered despite 30 years having passed since his unfortunate death.
Bernie Ecclestone discussed the legacy left behind by Ayrton Senna
Three decades after Aryton Senna’s passing away, Bernie Ecclestone has admitted that the legendary Brazilian driver is “a big miss for all of us”. Despite passing away at the age of just 34, Senna left a lasting impact and not just on F1.
Senna used his massive platform to compact poverty in his country. The Instituto Ayrton Senna is an NPO that helps young Brazilians achieve their dreams in multiple sectors of life.
This, among other things, was the difference between Senna and the other drivers. This is also why millions across the globe still love the three-time F1 champion.
Ecclestone was also in agreement with this perception of Senna, and hence, added, “He (Senna) was a special guy. He was that much different to the rest of the drivers. Now, if you ask anyone to name a Formula 1 driver [from the past], immediately they will say Ayrton“.
Since Senna was such a huge figure in F1, even many of the current drivers have admitted that they idolized the late Brazilian. Lewis Hamilton is arguably the biggest figure among the current racers who has time and again expressed his love for Senna. The Briton looked up to Senna to such an extent that he even became an honorary citizen of Brazil.
