Senna (film)

Senna is a 2010 British documentary film that depicts the life and death of Brazilian motorracing champion Ayrton Senna, directed by Asif Kapadia. The film was produced by StudioCanal, Working Title Films, and Midfield Films, and was distributed by the parent company of the latter two production companies, Universal Pictures.

The film begins with Sennas arrival into Formula One during the 1984 season, briefly covering his time at Toleman and Lotus before concentrating on his time with the British team McLaren the association that brought his rise to global fame and becoming a World Champion. The drama of this period of his career centers on his rivalry with his team mate Alain Prost, and his political struggles with the then head of FISA JeanMarie Balestre, climaxing during the 1989 and 1990 seasons, when Senna and Prost were involved in controversial clashes which decided the drivers world championship title, in 1989 for Prost and in 1990 for Senna.The film portrays the increasingly complex dynamics and tumult that characterized Sennas years as world champion, his battle to improve his sports safety, and his reactions as he witnesses accidents and eventually the death of Austrian fellowdriver Roland Ratzenberger the day before his own. We see and hear through Sennas point of view that innovative computerization led in these years to the technological domination of the Williams cars, with Prost joining Williams and, in a fallout with Senna, refusing to be on a team with Senna any more. The documentary reaches its finale as Prost retires and Senna takes up a champion driver spot with Williams, the Grovebased team in 1994, just as Formula One rules change, disallowing computerization, and the Williams cars undergo rapid reconfiguration that proves fatal. In the culminating weekend of his life, at the that years San Marino Grand Prix, footage shows Senna under extreme stress, troubled as safety conditions reveal their weaknesses in one track accident after another over three consecutive days. Rubens Barrichello is injured in a crash during Friday qualifying, Ratzenberger is killed in an accident during final qualifying on April 30, and at the start of the race JJ Lehto stalls and is hit at high speed by Pedro Lamy. The safety car is brought out, and when racing resumes on lap 7, Senna cr

Source: Wikipedia