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despite having the more advanced car.

The 94 season would turn out to be the last however for the man who had become an idol of mine as a blown engine would see him leave the first race of the season while being in second place after having been passed by Schumacher in pits though not in racing conditions. The second race like the first would see Senna win pole position but again not the race as a first lap collision on the very first turn would see Senna knocked out of the race which Schumacher like the previous race would go on to win. The season was shaping in to a strange one as Senna twice had managed to get on pole but had not managed to finish either race due to first mechanical difficulties and then a crash.

It was after those two first races that San Marino came which is known as the fastest race in Formula one. Perhaps there was something that weekend in Italy but what ever it was an Austrian driver named Ratzenberger was killed that weekend during practice. The third race like the first two of that season saw Senna start from pole position with Schumacher in second place but unlike the previous two Senna kept his lead till another mechanical failure as had been the case during the first race saw him crash in to concrete wall at a speed of 320 kilometers per hour. The sight was one my mind will never get rid of: seeing Senna crash with his car almost exploding as it hit that wall; the force of which left Senna unconscious as he was taken to hospital by helicopter where he arrived in a coma after which he passed away. I must admit tears was my reaction as I heard the news that Senna had died for he in the two years I had known of him had become an idol to me not only because he could win races in Formula won in spite of having a car which was at least as far as 92 and 93 far inferior to those of his rivals but for his competitive nature which placed winning above everything.

To many Senna was a man who was winner though one who was aloof, selfish, arrogant and self-centered however to those whose opinion be such I say that they have the right to think as they see fit but I also say to them to look at how he once could have one a race as he was in first place and on the last lap with the driver's championship already his rather then rack up another win for himself allowed his team mate Gerhardt Berger to get the victory. They might also consider how after the 92 season he congratulated Mansell for having won; claiming Mansell had been the better driver who deserved to win and making no reference to how he had had the better car which he did not use as an excuse.

Many might ask if I believe Senna to have been better then Schumacher and to those that do I would say that with Formula One being a sport in which perhaps 85 percent of winning depends on the car and so few on the driver it would be hard to say but I in my never humble opinion would say that he was as good. Schumacher naturally won more races and world titles but then again Schumacher did race more years (almost twice as many) and without having to face such strong competition from the likes of Prost, Mansell, Piquet or Lauda. I for my part ask what would have happened and how great Formula One would have been if Senna and Schumacher would have gone on to hold the great rivalry that should have been had Senna lived on.

Learn more about this author, Gianni Truvianni.
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