The legacy of Ayrton Senna, 30 years on

Pelé, Ronaldo, Zico, Marta … All of Brazil’s truly immortal sporting icons are footballers, that is, with the exception of Ayrton Senna, one of the greatest racing drivers ever to have lived — if not the greatest.

His achievements do not do his greatness justice, not least because his career in Formula One — the world’s top table of motor racing — was cut short after he suffered a fatal accident during the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, exactly 30 years ago today. He died aged just 34.

Senna’s three Formula One world championships (1988, 1990, 1991) pale in comparison to the seven each won by Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton, but his influence on the sport is perhaps better measured by what these other legends of motor racing have to say about his legacy.

Hamilton frequently pays tribute to Senna, calling him his “eternal hero.” When competing in the Brazilian Grand Prix, the British driver often uses a helmet design inspired by Senna’s iconic yellow, green, and blue headgear. Schumacher, meanwhile, has spoken of the “privilege” it was to race against the Brazilian. Indeed, Schumi won the San Marino Grand Prix on the day Senna died.

Furthermore, it is difficult to properly quantify Ayrton Senna’s importance to Brazil as a nation, and how hard the country took his premature death.

Senna was a successful and proud Brazilian at a time where there wasn’t terribly much for the Brazilian population to be proud of. Hyperinflation, eye-watering social inequality, and troubling poverty rates were frequent headlines. But, so were Ayrton Senna’s victories.

After his death, the federal government declared three days of mourning, and the arrival of Senna’s coffin in São Paulo was made a one-off national holiday.

He was given a state funeral. More than two million people reportedly took to the streets of São Paulo to see off their hero, as...