In an exclusive interview for the Italian website F1inGenerale, thirty years after the tragedy at the Imola circuit, Italian journalist and Ferrari insider Leo Turrini remembers Ayrton Senna: “I adored Ayrton. His was a total dedication to speed.”
“Ayrton Senna for my generation was much more than a champion,” said Leo Turrini, journalist for the Italian newspaper based in Bologna, Il Resto del Carlino, and a paddock legend with over 350 GPs covered. He wanted to begin his very personal memory of Ayrton Senna.
Because yes, for Leo Turrini, Ayrton Senna was much more than a driver. He was a source of inspiration and above all a friend.
“When I had the opportunity to spend some time with him, I always admired his total dedication to speed. But also his human sensitivity, although he was not a saint. I adored Ayrton also for his fragility,” the journalist recalls.
The fragility of the Brazilian reflected in a contradictory personality. And the memory shifts to that 1990 Japanese Grand Prix: “At the beginning of that year, Ayrton told me that if necessary, he wouldn’t hesitate to push Prost off if that would guarantee him the world title. I wrote it. And he did it. Of course, it wasn’t an honorable gesture, but he was so disturbed by what happened in 1989 during the first collision that the accumulated resentment led him to revenge without hesitation.” – Leo Turrini added.
Ayrton Senna’s invitation to Alain Prost and the mystery about life after F1
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Yet, Ayrton Senna didn’t hate Alain Prost. On the contrary. Like that time he invited him to dinner, as Leo Turrini recalls: “When Prost stopped racing, for Senna, Alain became like a friend. The Frenchman had just retired as world champion and Ayrton had taken his place at Williams. Senna was in France to kick off the World Cup later won by his Brazil and called Prost to ask him where he was going to dinner that evening. Ayrton had this contradictory humanity that always made him very close to me.” – the Italian journalist continued.
And about Ayrton Senna the driver…
“Ayrton was exceptional,” recalls Leo Turrini. “I will never forget those laps in the downpour at Donington in 1993. But I could also mention other feats of his. I often wondered what he would have done after his career if it weren’t for that terrible weekend in Imola. Who knows if he would have stayed in the world of Formula 1 or would have disappeared, dedicating himself to something else. I don’t have an answer. But he was certainly in love with speed and competition.” – the Ferrari insider concluded.
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