“I offered him to switch to Ferrari in 1995″ – Jean Todt, the ex-Ferrari boss, reveals why Ayrton Senna never raced for the Prancing Horses.
It would probably have been the most-talked-about pairing in the sport’s history, but it never happened.
Ayrton Senna, a three-time world champion, almost raced for Ferrari, but it did not become a reality due to a technicality.
Jean Todt, currently the team principal of AlphaTauri, was the team boss of Ferrari when Senna was offered a seat for the 1995 season. But he wanted it for the season prior.
“Even if the Ferrari is as slow as a Volkswagen Beetle, I still want to be driving it on my last start, my last lap, my last race. Ferrari is the myth of Formula One. The tradition, the soul, the passion”
Ayrton Senna, Wednesday, 27 Apr 1994.📷📚 “Fatal Weekend” by Tom Rubython pic.twitter.com/Lx4MhgNdDF
— Petrolhead 🏁 (@NuvolariTazio1) November 21, 2021
The problem?
Ferrari had already confirmed contracts with Jean Alesi and Gerhard Berger. They choose to honour their agreement, the same season Senna tragically passed away during the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.
“A few weeks after I arrived [at Ferrari], I met Ayrton Senna during the Monza weekend at the hotel we were staying at on Lake Como.
“I offered him to switch to Ferrari in 1995, but he was pushing for 1994. We already had two drivers under contract, Jean Alesi and Gerhard Berger, so we couldn’t satisfy his request, and when Ayrton asked why, I explained the situation to him.
“He didn’t give up, telling me that in Formula 1 contracts don’t count, but I replied that for me a contract has to be respected. So we offered him a deal for 1995, but unfortunately we know what happened.
“I wanted a top driver, because when I joined Ferrari, the people in charge of the chassis said that you didn’t win because of the engine, for others the problem was the chassis, and for others the responsibility was the drivers.
“So I said to myself, there’s a variable we can eliminate: if we get the best driver in the world, or at least a driver who’s already a world champion, we can eliminate an excuse.
“If we had Senna, no one would have been able to point the finger at the driver, which is why we got Michael afterwards.”
