Ayrton Senna, the unique charismatic champion in the history of Formula 1, is a major source of inspiration for many authors. In this commemorative year, 30 years after the tragedy of May 1, 1994, “Magic” has once again been the subject of abundant editorial activity. Among others, we can cite the Eternal Sennaby Daniel Ortelli Thomas Woloch and Dominique Leroy, as well as the sacrificed icon by Lionel Froissart.
Rémi Boudoul offers us here “Ayrton Senna, speed in his blood”an evocative title that gives a mischievous nod to Senna’s famous quote, “Racing is in my blood”which he had delivered at a press conference in Australia after the controversial crash at Suzuka in 1989 and his disqualification. An engineer by training but also a former driver, Rémi Boudoul has already published biographies on Charles Leclerc and Fabio Quartararo. With Senna, he is tackling a sacred monster but with a completely original approach.
Senna as we have never read him before
Indeed, the bias, which can be disconcerting at first but gives all its flavor to this work, is to tell the life of Senna in the first personas if we were immersed in the mind of the Brazilian champion.
This angle obviously gives the story an intimate and emotional force tenfold, the author skillfully mixing the sporting and private aspects. Senna’s love life and professional career are constantly intertwined and, for those who were partly unaware of this aspect, you will discover the stirring and passionate love life of the world champion, in search of happiness as much as he chased victories and titles on the track. Some might find this sensationalist or futile, but a world champion remains above all a human being, and we cannot underestimate the considerable influence that the personal and private environment can have on the performance of a champion, who displays his public facet in the practice of his sport and plays, in one way or another, a role.
In the end, the effect is quite striking since it gives us the sensation of reliving with a new prism a saga whose ins and outs every F1 fan knows, from his exploit in Monaco 84 to the duel with Alain Prost via his victory at Interlagos 1991 and of course the last tragic moments of Imola. The story transcribes well, with its share of imagination obviously, the complex, tormented and whole soul of this pathological perfectionist. We even let ourselves be surprised, especially in the evocation of the fateful moments, by an almost poetic approach which allows, finally, to exorcise this trauma which has remained deeply anchored in the memories of millions of fans.
Thus, even an enlightened Ayrton Senna fan, knowing his career by heart, can be carried away by this evocation that is both rich and original. A beautiful tribute in itself to a champion who was a character from a novel, a hero in the true sense of the term.
To summarize
30 years after his death, Ayrton Senna continues to fascinate, because his phenomenal talent and his memorable sporting career were combined with an enigmatic, charismatic and captivating personality. The biography “Speed in the Blood” immerses us, in the first person, in the world of this exceptional driver.
