Ayrton Senna is back in the limelight as F1 moves to Brazil for the Sao Paulo GP. Naturally, the gaze also shifts to his brand, which is an umbrella organization overlooking the institute and various NGOs established by Senna’s family after his tragic death in 1994. The organization came into being through his sister Vivianne. Currently, her daughter and Senna’s niece Bianca Senna is running it as its CEO.
Bianca Senna is also the sister of Bruno Senna, Ayrton’s nephew who briefly raced in F1. She is committed to honoring the legacy of the Brazilian great, who left an indelible mark on the sport.
bianca senna, ayrton’s niece, presenting lando the pole position tyre ❤️ pic.twitter.com/TDCiV4vHLZ
— ray (@ln4norris) November 3, 2024
Even after his death, Senna‘s influence helped the FIA curate safety measures for drivers. A lot of those, including the circuit layout change of Imola, came into force with the intention of avoiding another fatal crash.
Talking about her uncle’s legacy, Bianca once said, “He was much more than a Formula 1 driver. His story transcended the titles he had. What is unique about Ayrton was his values, he is still inspiring people even today. His motto was, to become the best of yourself, you have to have a lot of determination and guts to get where and what you want.”
How Bianca is keeping Ayrton’s legacy alive through her work
Six months after Ayrton Senna’s fatal crash, Vivianne founded the Instituto Ayrton Senna. The institute has since then invested upwards of $80 million in different NGOs. It is headquartered in Pinheiros, Sao Paulo, Brazil. The institute also sells Senna merchandise and auctions originals/replicas of Ayrton Senna’s racing gear to raise funds.
These funds are then forwarded to schools that impart education in all parts of Brazil. They also work towards empowering educators and school managers to get better at their craft and trickle down their good work to the students. As of 2012, the organization prepared 60,000 teachers with almost 2 million children benefitting from the mission.
Bianca earlier worked as the Director of Branding for the institute under the presidency of her mother Vivianne. She took over the role of the CEO in 2020, helping the brand create new products and expand the areas of merchandising through innovation. These brands are ‘Senna’ (www.senna.com), ‘Ayrton Senna’ (www.ayrtonsenna.com.br), and ‘Senninha’ (www.senninha.com.br).
