From F1 Cars to Bicycles- Ayrton Senna Had Perfect Retirement Plan in Place Before His Untimely Death

Ayrton Senna’s untimely death still hurts a lot of motorsport fans worldwide. Senna, who was already a triple world champion, could’ve won a lot more if he was alive to this day. Well into his retirement, he could have been seen as an expert or pundit. Tragically, he is no more. However, if the ill-fated crash that look his life never occurred, Senna would be well set today, because of a perfect plan he had for his life post F1.

Tom Rubython, in The Life of Senna: The Biography of Ayrton Senna wrote, “Senna had a new deal with Carraro [A bicycle factory] to manufacture a carbon-fiber bicycle called Senna that would carry his famous double ‘S’ logo. It had been planned for some time and was one of many new products under the famous ‘double S’ Senna brand.”

Apart from this, Senna also loved cars and bike collections. Therefore, his retirement plan was top-notch. Notably, Senna not only wanted Carraro to make bicycles with his logo but also import them to Brazil.

Senna’s plan for retirement, however, didn’t come out of nowhere. There was a time when the former Brazilian driver feared for his life as he felt that the cars were too quick. On top of this, the FIA banned the driver aids during this period and these, combined together might have urged Senna to plan his retirement way ahead.

Despite his fearless nature, Ayrton Senna also feared speed

Even though Ayrton Senna is known for his fearless driving and speed, he was too afraid for his life while he was driving the cars at a very high speed. The fear increased when the FIA decided to ban driving aids for drivers.

The FIA banned the driving aids in order to generate more exciting racing in F1. Furthermore, having the driving aids installed in modern cars would also make the cars very fast as well as complex. Interestingly, Senna was the man who initially supported the driver aids ban when he was at McLaren, but his stand on it changed when he moved to Williams later on.

Notably, the three-time world champion was also worried about the young drivers. Speaking about this, Gerd Kremer of Mercedes-Benz said in Tom Rubython’s book, “The last time I saw Ayrton was in Brazil, at the Grand Prix. It was his birthday and he told me he was worried. He was afraid something would happen to him. He was frightened for the young drivers.”

Nevertheless, Ayrton Senna had the chance to save himself by asking for tire walls to be put at the Tamburello corner, which he did not. Therefore, Tom Rubython believes that it was the driver himself, who was responsible for his own death.