Ayrton Senna is regarded as one of the best drivers to grace Formula 1. At raw talent, he is even regarded as the greatest. His three championships with McLaren are a big testament to that.
Many even think that had he survived the fatal crash in 1994, he could have added more to his kitty, as at 34, he could have gone for a few more years. But fate had written an unfortunate end to him.
However, his mystique has only grown over the years. F1 would have been really unlucky if he hadn’t been witnessed on a global stage because that was going to be the case early in his career.
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Ayrton Senna was being talked out of his racing career
Senna, before getting into F1, was plying his trade in karting. After winning across South America, it was time to get into the real cars. He decided to move to Europe, but at the same time, his family was trying to get out of this ‘racing nonsense’.
Initially, Senna wasn’t totally dismissive of the idea of getting a normal life. He went to Sao Paulo University for three months but soon realized it wasn’t his calling, and he got himself out there and, ultimately, Brazil.
In 1980, Senna flew to the United Kingdom and lived in Norwich for a while. He spent approximately $12,000 to secure a seat with a Formula Ford 2000 team. In today’s money, that would be $66,000 roughly. From there onwards, the rest is glorious history.
The Brazilian race driver soon had a dramatic breakthrough in F1 and was the most desirable driver. By the time he died, his net worth was around $200 million. Adjusting to today, it is around $365 million.
He was only surviving on eggs in England
At 20, Senna dared to cross the Atlantic Ocean and leave his home to pursue his dream. The soon-to-be phenomenal F1 driver was living alone in Eaton, in the suburbs of Norwich.
At that time, he was reportedly only surviving on eggs to survive. Nothing remotely related to Brazil was around him. Back then, Senna also had a limited vocabulary of English.
The only things he could say were what he had learnt while watching the television. Thus, it was a hard journey to survive. But his determination made him survive and make one of the greatest F1 drivers, if not the greatest.
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