Many big names loom large over the history of F1. But it’s possible that none in recent times resonate in quite the same way that Ayrton Senna does. Firstly, because his legend lives up to the romantic notion of a racing driver: singleminded, mercurial, outspoken and occasionally righteous, he did incredible things - and looked good doing them. Secondly, he had an equally talented (but very different) rival in the shape of Alain Prost. Thirdly, of course, he did not live to see old age. So his story cannot tarnish.
Consequently, we’ve already had an excellent, feature-length documentary about Senna’s life - Asif Kapadia’s seminal film released in 2010 - but it is no surprise, given the surge in F1’s popularity, that Hollywood (or in this case, Netflix) has returned to the narrative. ‘Senna’ is a new six-part drama series starring Gabriel Leone as the three-time world champion, and is said to lavishly recreate, ‘the story of Senna’s racing career, as well as his life and relationships’.
As you might imagine, Netflix, despite announcing its intention to make a fictional drama about the Brazilian back in 2020, very definitely thinks of this now as a partner piece to Drive to Survive - and it could hardly ask for a more dramatic plot, or for a more exciting time than F1 in its ‘80s and ‘90s pomp. The just-released trailer provides ample evidence of the trouble it has gone to when recreating the wheel-to-wheel action that characterised the era - let’s just hope that the CGI effects (often an issue when it comes to film or TV shows based on motorsport) manage to live up the real-life spectacle.
Elsewhere we get a glimpse of the people Senna worked with and competed against, including Niki Lauda (Johannes Heinrichs), Prost (Matt Mella) and even Ron Dennis (Patrick Kennedy). The series is said to have been created in partnership with Senna’s family, so it would probably be unreasonable to expect a truly multifaceted, warts-and-all version of his life - but with so much of it played out in the public eye, there is sure to be reenactments of many scenarios that have gone down in motorsport lore. We, for one, can’t wait. Best mark November 29th in your calendar.
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