WAS SENNA A GOOD CAR SET UPER?

 

Nelson Piquet and Francisco Rosa (guru of Brazilian drivers who went to Europe) categorically stated that Senna was not a good car driver, which is why a legend was created about this subject, despite the two never having worked directly with Senna in the same team. ​The people who worked with him say exactly the opposite.

 

Below are the statements of the engineers, team managers and drivers who lived and worked with Senna in the same team, I believe that these people have more knowledge to give their opinion on the matter.

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“Ayrton gave a lot of information about the right car, at the right pace and with the right priority criteria. And that for an engineer is life...”

(Alex Hawkidge head of the Toleman team during the 1983 tests - Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qV6yO0H5ZA&t=189s (Canal Automobilismo Brasil))

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“The first time we used Michelins I went to the tests. That's when Ayrton impressed me more than any other time. Under the agreement with Michelin we would race on the tires they had used last year (83) and which, as they themselves admitted, were not competitive. We didn't get promises that we would have the same tires as McLaren. McLaren had a sort of Minerva vote that would exclude us from receiving comparable equipment. We ran on the old tires, crossing different components. Ayrton managed to keep improving the car. That surprised even the Michelin technicians.”

(Alex Hawkidge Team Leader Toleman-The Face of a Genius pg 89)

 

“Without a doubt, he was not only interested in the engine. From the beginning of each operation with us, he spent a lot of time with me, to understand how the engine worked, to understand what was important governing the engine, temperature, regime, supply pressure and how these parameters interacted with each other. One thing that's hard to understand, but he did. He was a boy who understood that he had dialogue with technicians and engineers. He was so interested in her engine that it was his. And that for us was fascinating. Very positive.”

(Bernard Dudot - Engineer at Renault)

 

“Mostly for the team, what mattered to us, so that was the way to guide us in the development of things in terms of the engine. In other words, he made choices, and we realized that he was never wrong, orienting himself perfectly. He was very driven by instinct, which was so right, that I trusted him. He always helped me, and did everything he could to make sure. It was his temper.” 

(Bruno Mauduit – Engineer at Renault)

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The head of the Porsche 956 team praised Senna a lot, saying that he was quick right away, and said that Senna felt that the car understeered too much. Senna spent 4 hours talking about the car's problems with the team boss who created a dossier with 35 items to be improved. The following year, this same car with these improvements suggested by Senna won the 1000 km of Nurburgring. This shows how Senna passed good information to the Engineers.

(Porsche 956 Team Leader - Reproduced Canal Automobilismo Brasil Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHReztm6EDA&t=818s)

 

“The combination with his disposition was what impressed me the most. And his total ability to concentrate when he was in the car testing, qualifying or racing. For me it was a mobile computer. I could remember details of a test, I could do this and much more. He saw every little detail because he was 110% dedicated. And we, 100%. So he also demanded 110% of us.”
(Dick Bennets- West Surrey Racing team boss- Toyota F3 1983 and source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?)

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“He could remember in detail what the car was doing and would call me 3 or 4 days later suggesting a new adjustment on the car. In those days we didn't have computers, but Ayrton had his mental capacity...”

(Dick Bennets- West Surrey Racing team boss- Toyota F3 1983 - Ayrton Senna Saudade- What was missing to know pg 90)

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"He spent more than an hour describing a single lap... I worked with Senna at McLaren from 1990 to 1993, it was an incredible experience and two world titles. Telemetry data is extremely important but it is in essence a giant mass of data. Without pilot analysis, it is useless."

(Dieter Gundel former McLaren and Ferrari engineer)

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“He came in, made some adjustments to the car, they were driver adjustments, really, and he wanted to set it up for himself… We had set the car up exactly as Weaver (the team's official driver) had driven it. He left again and did ten more laps and equaled the time we had achieved on pole. After ten more laps, it was his first time in a Formula Three, don't forget, he became one of the first drivers to reach 53 seconds at the Silverstone Club circuit. This was amazing, absolutely amazing. Whatever adjustments he made, we kept them and Weaver went on to win three races after that. We won with Senna's adjustments in Donington, Jerez and Nogaro.”

(Eddie Jordan on the first test in F3- Book The Face of Genius pg 51 and 52)

 

“Both people at Lotus and Renault commented during 1985, that Ayrton had made them learn a lot about the thing, thanks to his incredible perception of mechanical problems combined with his speed... Renault technicians stated that they didn't even know why they were using telemetry, such is the level of precision of Ayrton’s information.”

(Francisco Santos- Yearbook F1 1985 pg 34)

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“Few people really realized how hard Ayrton worked to achieve success, how much he gave of himself. I lived it and learned from him what it means to work in F1.”

(Gerhard Berger AS-His victory, his legacy pg 122)

 

“He (Senna) explained what change was necessary to gain tenths of a second. I discovered differences that I didn't see. After the races I always wanted to analyze the performances on the computer. I checked the information and looked for negative points to be corrected.” 

(Gerard Ducarouge- Lotus Design Engineer)

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“Once in Spa, he spent an hour and forty minutes describing a single training lap, with all the impressions, sensations, and especially with all the technical data, rpm numbers, oil pressure, etc. At each location, at each turn, the middle of the turn, the exit of the turn... then we matched everything he had said with the telemetry data, just like that, with absolute precision. It was unbelievable..." (AS-His victory, his legacy pg 120/121)

(Gerard Ducarouge- Lotus Design Engineer)

 

“I think the difference is, in Nelson's time, drivers spent a lot more of their free time with the team, with me, with the designer in general. At the time of Ayrton, not so much – we only really got together with the technical team during tests, or in training, or in races. Nelson and I spent most of the week together. But both (Nelson and Ayrton) had a lot of technical skill.”

(Gordon Murray former McLaren and Brabham engineer)

 

“He took it easy, jumped in the car, came back, gave us good feedback, very good information. From there you could see that the guy would be a world champion.”

(Herbie Blash- on the Brabham test in 1983 The Face of a Genius pg 75)

 

“In four days of testing I learned more from this guy (Senna) than in the whole year from the other driver.”

(Mezzanotti - Pirelli tire engineer during tire tests in Brazil in 84)

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"His technical knowledge, his photographic memory, his ability to concentrate on every lap he took in a race car, no matter the circumstances, his determination to win, his intensity and his conviction, all added up to put him one step above the others." 

(Michael Kanefuss, Ford Sporting Director for 25 years, met Hill, Clark and Fittipaldi)

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“He was very good because he paid attention to every detail. I tweaked the car here or there, but he went into the little details, so he was fantastic.”

(Mika Hakkinen in an interview with Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear English Show)

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"Senna has a rare feeling for understanding how machines worked."

(Neil Oatley- McLaren engineer, Jornal O Globo 03/27/1994 pg 51)

 

“Lotus mechanics said they couldn't hide anything from him. Senna had a rare ability, even among great drivers: he knew how to read the car's behavior, mechanically evaluate it. If he had any doubts about the gearbox he would make you take it apart. He spent hours walking around, looking at the car. After a lap, he reported to the mechanics all the variations that the car suffered, for example in which corner he was using more fuel and when that was spent. Tireless sensitivity and memory.”

(Nigel Stepney Lotus-The Elect pg 44)

 

“He is an excellent test driver. Very sensitive to engine characteristics. He notices the slightest differences. We compare it with the data on the computer. So we found out which way he should go.”

(Osamu Goto, Honda Chief Engineer)

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“It was not possible to find a collaborator like that in any other pilot. No one has ever given us such accurate information, especially about things our computers could never tell us. Nobody took us that far... and look, we had work with top riders like Piquet and Prost...” (AS-Your victory your legacy pg 121)

(Osamu Goto, Honda Chief Engineer)

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“It's hard to believe this, but if we wanted to get the gearbox ratios we had to ask the driver to look at the rev counter at the end of the straight. So the pilots' requirements were very different and the driver had to really understand what was really happening with the car. And Ayrton was truly exceptional at that. Definitely exceptionally bright.” (Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nK4WCRItonM (CANAL ENERTO)

(Pat Symonds-Engineer at Toleman, later Benetton and Williams)

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“The big difference between Ayrton and the others is his incredible power of concentration. Want an example? After those incredibly fast laps, a lap we think is only possible with eyes on the track. Senna gets out of the car calmly, and describes to us curve by curve, straight by straight, how many revolutions per minute the engine was doing, what was the turbo pressure and the grip of the tires and he remembers every second of the track with an accuracy capable of astonishing the most I need computers. He is outstanding, without a doubt. There may be the same. Better than him, I doubt it.” 

(Peter Warr- Team Lotus Chief)

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“His approach was to sit down with the engineers and confirm that the things that were supposed to be done on the car had been done. About the preparation he spent a lot of time with the tires because in those days, there were a lot of tire options. He would do a program with the engineers and I about what we wanted to test how we wanted to test, when to run full tank, how many laps we would go to test this and that. And he went on from there.” 

(Peter Warr- Team Lotus Chief)

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"Ayrton was unique, special. He was in another world and you had to understand that when you talked to him. While he was extremely boring and thorough with every detail – driving all the technicians crazy – he I could take a clearly inferior car and win." 

(Pierre Dupasquier, Michelin Competition Director)

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“Ayrton was the first driver to worry about collecting all the reports on the car's performance and poring over them until late at night. It was common for him to take the reports with the telemetry data home and return the next day full of questions or suggestions for engineers. He was obsessive-compulsive in that respect.”

(Ron Dennis- McLaren Team Principal- Hero Book Revealed pg 238)

 

“Senna is the man. He had the ability, even at that stage and at that age, to know what the car was doing, he knew what he wanted the car to do, and he knew how to talk to an engineer. He's brilliant, we just have to have him.”

(Rory Byrne in 1983 - Design Engineer for the Toleman, Benetton and Ferrari teams)

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“He (Senna) was probably the most sensitive individual I've seen in a cockpit in terms of feeling the car... He would feel the car on every surface his body came into contact with.”

(Steve Hallam, interview "Senna was phenomenal" Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns0EqoNtimo ​)

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"He was a fantastic racing driver, he had all the characteristics of a modern racing driver, he was extremely competitive, he was intelligent, he had a very good memory, he was very sensitive, he knew exactly what the car was doing and he was very articulate in communicating that to the engineer... He was very sensitive to set-up changes. Sometimes on the grid he would ask for ¼ pressure in the tyres before the start of the race, which was almost imperceptible. He was very good at development, working on the engine... he would make a lot of changes to the engine set-up, then you could relate your lap times to fuel economy figures and all sorts of information straight from his head..." 

(Steve Nichols former McLaren and Ferrari engineer Interview for English Reporter, YouTube Video “Steve Nichols on Senna” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNhNmDwr7j4&t=21s)

 

"He was a really nice guy to work with.... He made the car go faster."

(Steve Nichols former McLaren and Ferrari engineer Interview for English Reporter, YouTube Video “Steve Nichols on Senna”)

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"His (Senna's) feedback was very good. And when we went through a meeting we had a setup sheet and everything on an F1 car is adjustable. So there's a blank space to fill in caster, camber, rake, wing levels, setup of shock absorbers, spring level, stabilizer bar rotation, everything. With some drivers you would go to the meeting and know that he wouldn't change that and maybe you could fill that in beforehand. With Senna you couldn't fill a single space. He liked to pass each of these parameters in each corner. In each corner he liked what it was like at the braking entry, in the middle, at the exit and at the change of direction, each curve, each parameter and then you could fill it in. And you could pass some hours to go through all of this. And in the end maybe it changed a lot of things."

(Steve Nichols former McLaren and Ferrari engineer, source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FneiSX1ruL8)

 

“Alain wanted to win races. Senna, in addition to winning, was deeply involved with the Japanese project. Prost was the carburetor, Senna the electronic injection. In fact, the difference in the feedback Senna gave the engineers was brutal. He was one more computer. It looked forward from a technological point of view, while Prost stuck to traditional features. The truth is that Alain realized who Ayrton was and started to complain.”

(Takeo Kuichi, Honda Engine Engineer)

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“To talk directly, this means: diving intensely into the pursuit of mastering telemetry, and into the new electronic monitoring system that was introduced by Honda in the 1987 season. Ayrton , unlike many pilots, loved this work tool and made it an often decisive weapon in future duels against Alain Prost."

(Yoshitoshi Sakurai, Honda Engine Engineer)

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WEBSITE AUTHOR’S OPINION:

 

Senna was excellent at setting up the engines and understanding tire behavior, but not so good at setting up the chassis. After he started working with Prost at McLaren, he learned how to adjust the chassis and became a great car adjuster, despite still being below Piquet, Prost and Lauda in this regard.