The Immortality of Ayrton Senna

No, it wasn't his death that made him immortal. It would have been unfair for that to be the case. That chance or fate or some winding curve took Ayrton Senna da Silva away from us early is one thing. That, on the other hand, this same misfortune and premature demise are the reason for our nostalgia is something very different. No, we don't miss Senna because he occupied the 'pole position' in the curious designs of death, we miss him because since his departure, motorsport has descended into the realm of common disciplines; sad sports that have lost the ability to amaze people.

Brazil has had three Formula 1 world champions, but neither Emerson Fittipaldi, the pioneer in the field, nor Nelson Piquet, a calculator behind the wheel, ever awakened the ardor that 'The Magician' provoked aboard his single-seater, not even on their best day. Within him lived a vital impulse that forced him to challenge himself. And that was his offering in each competition. If, as often happened, he had to lead in a Grand Prix, his rivals no longer had proper names and when Alain Prost or Nigel Mansell, his fiercest antagonists, were already left behind, his indomitable temperament pushed him to test the limits of speed, jeopardizing his survival with each lap.

In the face of this risky vocation, 'Professor' Prost, his most prominent Salieri, criticized him at the time: "He believes he can't be killed because he has faith in God, and that is dangerous." On the Tuesday that marked 24 years since that gloomy afternoon in San Marino, Prost himself posted a heartfelt photo with his former rival on social media. Many moons have passed since the fierce disputes in Japan, where they were on the verge of coming to blows. A silly consolation, but consolation nonetheless, Alain knows that he and Ayrton had settled their quarrels when the impertinent skull surprised the São Paulo star on the same track where they had celebrated with champagne three years earlier.

It's not about all that could have been but about what was. Melancholic and still incredulous, the motorsport fan selectively abstracts and laments that Senna died at the age of 34 when he still had a successful path ahead of him. He forgets that his days of glory were intense and incomparable. He also overlooks the fact that for Ayrton, risks were the way he had decided to confront destiny. That recklessness, comparable to that of Villeneuve (also deceased on the track), was an adrenaline rush to which he became addicted since racing karts in São Paulo. Therefore, death was a possible variable, a dark shadow capable of denying the pinnacle of motorsport the heat that fueled the races.

The mourning has not ceased because since his disappearance, not even Schumacher and his multiple titles have been able to match him. It's because Ayrton recorded unfathomable sailing routes. That's why his farewell still hits harder than his luminous legacy. It's not fair. Senna's life justifies it, not his death.